The Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) has declared unconstitutional a provision of the law "On Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases" that allowed the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to independently establish temporary restrictions on the rights and freedoms of individuals and legal entities amid the spread of infectious diseases.
According to a statement by the CCU's Communications and Legal Monitoring Department posted on the court's website, on Sept. 29 the CCU issued a ruling in a case concerning a constitutional petition by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the constitutionality of a provision in Part Four of Article 29 of the Ukrainian law "On Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases" of April 6, 2000, No. 1645-III, as amended.
"Having considered the issues raised in the constitutional petition, the court concluded that the separate provision of Part Four of Article 29 of the law, namely: 'temporary restrictions on the rights of individuals and legal entities shall be established,' contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine," the CCU said.
According to the statement, it is precisely the challenged provision of the law that allows the Cabinet of Ministers to restrict constitutional rights and freedoms amid the spread of infectious diseases dangerous to human life and health, "because the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine did not initially regulate such a significant issue as the restriction of rights and freedoms under the specified conditions by law, but authorized the highest executive body to carry out such regulation."
"Any doubts that state authorities may have regarding their powers in matters of restricting rights and freedoms must be interpreted from the standpoint of protecting those rights and freedoms, which also includes a guarantee that they may be restricted exclusively on the basis of law," the CCU quoted from the ruling.
At the same time, the Constitutional Court emphasized that the Cabinet of Ministers may, on the basis of and in accordance with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, regulate by normative acts matters concerning the implementation of temporary restrictions on constitutional rights and freedoms, provided that the Constitution and laws of Ukraine define the grounds, legitimate purpose, scope and manner of the relevant restrictions.
Thus, as the CCU explained, the government's powers consist of specifying the procedure for implementing restrictions on rights and freedoms established by Ukrainian laws, rather than independently establishing new restrictions.
"The provision of Part Four of Article 29 of the law declared unconstitutional ceases to have effect from the date on which the court adopted this ruling," the CCU's Communications and Legal Monitoring Department said.
