Ukrainian Supreme Court throws out 1st lawsuit against Zelensky's Rada dissolution decree
KYIV. May 27 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Supreme Court has refused to open proceedings in a case brought against President Volodymyr Zelensky's decree 'On the early termination of powers of the Verkhovna Rada and calling extraordinary elections.'
"The Supreme Court concluded that, in accordance with part two Article 147 and part one of Article 150 of the Constitution of Ukraine, an examination of all Ukrainian parliamentary and presidential legal acts without exception on the subject of their constitutionality is the remit of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine," the Supreme Court said in a ruling posted on its Facebook page on Monday.
The plaintiff explained that an early Rada dissolution violated his right as a voter who voted the parliamentary elections on October 26, 2014, and that he wanted the current parliament to continue working, the court said. He also claimed that scheduling early elections, for July 21, violated his voter's rights by disrupting his plans for this summer holiday and to vote in regularly-scheduled parliamentary elections this fall.
The Supreme Court noted that the Code of Administrative Court Proceedings only regulates the procedure for considering public-law disputes resulting from a subject exercising his power mandates, namely, the administrative functions, whose consideration is not under direct jurisdiction of other courts.
"The decision states that the constitutional process of parliament dissolution and the involvement of the president of Ukraine in this process is not a form of exercise of his administrative functions and cannot fall under control of a court of administrative jurisdiction," the statement said.
The ruling can be appealed at the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court within 15 days.
It was reported that the first lawsuit against the president's decree dissolving parliament was filed by a member of the public of May 23.
Later that day the Supreme Court said it had received a second similar lawsuit.
On May 24 the Constitutional Court received a request from 62 parliamentarians asking it to check the constitutionality of the presidential decree.