Impeachment in Ukraine

Impeachment in Ukraine is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against the President. Article 111 of the Ukrainian Constitution states that "The President of Ukraine may be removed from office ... by the majority of the constitutional composition of the ... Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by the procedure of impeachment, in the event that he or she commits state treason or other crime."

Impeachment can also occur for People's Deputies of Ukraine.

President

The issue of the removal of the President of Ukraine from office by the procedure of impeachment is initiated by the majority of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. To conduct the investigation, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine establishes a special temporary investigatory commission whose composition includes a special Prosecutor and special investigators. The conclusions and proposals of the temporary investigatory commission are considered at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. For cause, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, by no less than two-thirds of its constitutional composition, adopts a decision on the accusation of the President of Ukraine. The decision on the removal of the President of Ukraine from office by the procedure of impeachment is adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by no less than three-quarters of its constitutional composition, after the review of the case by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the receipt of its opinion on the observance of the constitutional procedure of investigation and consideration of the case of impeachment, and the receipt of the opinion of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to the effect that the acts, of which the President of Ukraine is accused, contain elements of state treason or other crime.

In the event of the pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine in accordance with Articles 108, 109, 110 and 111 of Constitution, the execution of duties of the President of Ukraine, for the period pending the elections and the assumption of office of the new President of Ukraine, shall be vested in the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, for the period of executing the duties of the President of Ukraine, shall not exercise the powers envisaged by subparagraphs 2, 6-8, 10-13, 22, 24, 25, 27, and 28 of Article 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Impeachment of Viktor Yanukovych

The Ukrainian revolution of February 2014 took place after a series of violent events towards protesters in the capital of Kiev that culminated with the flight and subsequent impeachment of the then-President of Ukraine. While articles of impeachment against Viktor Yanukovych were passed by the Verkhovna Rada Committee in 2014, on February 22, 2014 MPs voted to "remove Viktor Yanukovych from the post of president of Ukraine" on the grounds that he was unable to fulfill his duties and to hold early presidential elections on May 25.^[1] The vote came an hour after Yanukovych said in a televised address that he would not resign. He subsequently declared himself to still be "the legitimate head of the Ukrainian state elected in a free vote by Ukrainian citizens".

Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada №764-VІІ of 23.02.2014 «On conferring powers of the President of Ukraine on the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada according to article 112 of the Constitution of Ukraine»

Given that President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych withdrew from performing the constitutional powers The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine hereby resolves:

1. To confer the powers of the President of Ukraine on Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych according to article 112 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
2. The given Resolution shall enter into force upon its adoption.

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada О.TURCHYNOV

Yanukovych signing agreement with opposition, 21 February 2014

Rada votes

Party		Yes	No	Abstention	Did not vote	Not present
	Party of Regions	36	0	0	2	96
	Batkivschyna	86	0	0	2	0
	UDAR	41	0	0	0	1
	Svoboda	36	0	0	0	0
	Communist Party of Ukraine	30	0	0	1	1
	Independent	99	0	0	1	17
Summary[2]		328	0	0	6	116

The action did not follow the impeachment process as specified by the Constitution of Ukraine (which would have involved formally charging the president with a crime, a review of the charge by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and a three-fourths majority vote – i.e. at least 338 votes in favor – by the Rada); instead, the Verkhovna Rada declared that Yanukovych "withdrew from his duties in an unconstitutional manner" and cited "circumstances of extreme urgency" as the reason for early elections. Oleksandr Turchynov was then voted by parliament Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament and acting President and Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Parliament

Article 80 of the Ukrainian Constitution states that the parliamentary immunity is guaranteed to the peoples' deputies of Ukraine. The peoples' deputies of Ukraine do not carry a legal responsibility for the results of voting and their saying in the parliament and its bodies, except the responsibility for an insult or a defamation. The peoples' deputies of Ukraine cannot be held criminally liable, detained or arrested without the agreement of the Verkhovna Rada.

References

1. "Rada removes Yanukovych from office, schedules new elections for May 25", Interfax-Ukraine (24 February 2014)
2. Поіменне голосування про проект Постанови про самоусунення Президента України від виконання конституційних повноважень (№ 4193) — за основу та в цілому Archived March 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.