Ukraine

[UA] New Constitution

IRIS 1996-8:1/16

Mario Heckel

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

On 28 June 1996, five years after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Verkhovna Rada - the Ukrainian Parliament - adopted a new Constitution by 315 votes (with 36 votes against and 12 abstentions). According to the new Constitution, the Head of State is the President, with governmental powers in the hands of the Prime Minister. The Crimean peninsula is given autonomous status, with provision for its own parliament and legislation. An important and particularly extensive part of the Constitution (Articles 21 to 68) deals with fundamental rights. Alongside basic fundamental rights, such as the right to life (Art.27), the inviolability of human dignity (Art.21), and the prohibition of discrimination (Art.24), rights and basic freedoms relevant to the media are also set out in this part of the Constitution.

Article 34 covers the freedom of expression of opinion. Article 50 guarantees the right to and freedom of information. Copyright and rights concerning literature, art and "technical activities" are protected under Article 45. Here, as also in Article 31, which guarantees "other information", alongside privacy of correspondence and telephone conversations, there are unspecified provisions for the protection of the new media and their content. Furthermore, it is also specifically stated in the general part of the Constitution that censorship is prohibited (Art.15, para.3).

Finally, there is a National Council for Radio and Television, half of whose members are appointed by Parliament (in accordance with Art.85, no.20) and half by the President (in accordance with Art.106, no.13).