Dear friends,

Please find hereby the full English translation of the (infamous) amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution proposed by the Lugansk People’s Republic.  Thanks to AS for his overnight translation of this document!

The Saker
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SECTION X [1]

LEGAL STATUS OF SEPARATE REGIONS

OF DONETSK AND LUGANSK OBLASTS

Article 139[1]. A number of regions, cities, and other settlements of Donetsk Oblast form a separate region with special status.

A number of regions, cities, and other settlements of Lugansk Oblast form a separate region with special status.

The list of regions, cities, and other settlements of the Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts forming separate regions with special status, and the bases for such status of these regions shall be defined by the special law of Ukraine.

Local self-governing agencies of separate regions with special status shall have Charters regulating their status, for which questions of acceptance, confirmation, and registration shall be defined by a separate Law of Ukraine.

Local self-governing agencies of separate regions with special status may adopt decisions on the accession to associations, with creation of common administrative structures. Associations of separate regions with special status shall have the Charters regulating their status, for which questions of acceptance, confirmation, and registration shall be defined by a separate Law of Ukraine.

Separate regions with special status (or their associations) shall be an integral constituent part of Ukraine; and within the limits of powers as defined by the Constitution, separate laws of Ukraine, and also by agreements on demarcation of powers between these regions, their associations and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the ministries, and other central executive authorities of Ukraine, shall independently resolve issues related to their conduct.

Article 139[2]. Separate regions with special status (or their associations) shall form election commissions in the territory of these regions.

Election commissions of the separate regions with special status (or their associations) shall be independent and not subordinated to agencies of legislative and executive power or other election commissions.

Article 139[3]. The state shall ensure financial independence of separate regions with special status by means of:

1) assigning to budgets of separate regions with special status, sufficient sources of financing as to ensure their balancing, correspond to the volume of assignments, and be under the authority of separate regions with special status and local self-governing bodies of these regions;

2) annual definition of the covered expenditures of the State budget of Ukraine, directed to state support of social and economic development of these regions;

3) providing financial help and implementation of other forms of financial cooperation;

4) conclusions with separate regions with special status (and/or their associations) of agreements on economic, social, and cultural development of these regions, agreements on demarcation of powers between these regions (and/or their associations) and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the ministries, and other central executive authorities;

5) introduction of a special economic mode for implementation of economic and investment activity in the territory of these regions;

6) cooperation for development in separate regions with special status of cross-border cooperation.

Article 139[4]. In separate regions with special status, three shall be a special order and special status of local government providing separate legal regulation.

Local self-governing bodies of separate regions with special status (or governing bodies of their associations) for the purpose of providing law and order and public safety shall have the right to create agencies to protect public order (national militia).

Principals of such agencies shall be appointed to positions and be removed from positions by decision of local self-governing bodies of separate regions with special status (or governing bodies of their associations).

Article 139[5]. Local self-governing bodies of separate regions with special status (or governing bodies of their associations) shall implement standard regulation on issues regarding:

1) agriculture, woods, land resources and land use, and use of other natural resources;

2) land improvement and open pits;

3) public operations, trades and crafts; charity;

4) city planning and housing;

5) tourism, hotel business, fairs;

6) museums, libraries, theaters, other cultural institutions, historical and cultural monuments;

7) general use transportation, highways, water supply systems;

8) hunting, fisheries;

9) sanitary and medical services;

10) use of Russian language;

11) conducting business activity, establishment of the order of state supervision and monitoring of business activity, and also guarantees for conducting such activity;

12) system and powers of executive bodies of local self-government, and also the central executive authorities, courts, and prosecutor’s office within the delegated powers;

13) implementation of economic and investment activity within a special economic mode;

14) implementation of cross-border cooperation.

Article 139[6]. The duties of separate regions with special status shall include:

1) designation and carrying out of local referendums, elections of deputies of local councils, city, regional, rural, and settlement heads, confirmation of the composition of election commissions,and the manner of conducting elections and referendums;

2) investment with powers and the termination of powers of manager of executive power of separate regions with special status, and approval of the order of investment with powers and the terminations of powers of the specified persons;

3) management and disposition of the property belonging to separate regions with special status;

4) development, approval, and budget performance of separate regions with special status, as well as participation in development of the State Budget of Ukraine, for the purpose of accounting for the interests of separate regions with special status and ensuring their financial independence;

5) development, approval, and execution of programs of social and economic and cultural development, environmental management, and environmental protection;

6) participation in ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens, national consent, protection of law and order, and public safety;

7) ensuring the right to use, in the territory of separate regions with special status, Russian and other national languages;

8) protection and manner of construction of memorials, obelisks, memorial burial sites, and other monuments of history and culture, and also development of multinational cultures of peoples living in separate regions with special status;

9) initiation of the introduction of a state of emergency and establishment of zones of emergency environmental situation;

10) conclusion of contracts with foreign states or their administrative and territorial units, regarding issues associated with the activity of separate regions with special status;

11) establishment of rates of local taxes and fees;

12) establishment of the amounts of payments for the provided administrative services;

13) other functions within the delegated powers.

Article 139[7]. Justice in separate regions with special status shall executed by courts which are included in the uniform system of courts of Ukraine. Creation and elimination of courts, as well as appointment and dismissal of chairmen of the courts and judges in separate regions with special status shall be implemented in coordination with local self-governing bodies of separate regions with special status (or governing bodies of their associations).

The special features of the activity of the courts in separate regions with special status shall be established by the law of Ukraine.

Article 139[8]. Agencies of the prosecutor’s office of separate regions with special status shall be included in the uniform system of the prosecutor’s office of Ukraine. Agency heads of the prosecutor’s office in separate regions with special status shall be appointed to positions and be removed from positions in coordination with local self-governing bodies of separate regions with special status (or governing bodies of their associations).

The special features of the activity of the agencies of the prosecutor’s office of separate regions with special status shall be established by the law of Ukraine.

Article 116. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine shall:

1) provide for state sovereignty and economic independence of Ukraine, implementation of the domestic and foreign policy of the state, adherence to the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, and acts of the President of Ukraine;

2) take measures to ensure the rights and freedoms of the person and the citizen;

3) provide for execution of a financial, fiscal, investment, and tax policy; policies in the areas of labor and employment of the population, social protection, education, science and culture, conservation, environmental safety, and environmental management;

4) develop and carry out nation-wide programs of economic, scientific and technical, and social and cultural development of Ukraine;

4[1]) conclude with separate regions with special status (and/or their associations) agreements on the economic, social, and cultural development of these regions, agreements on demarcation of powers between these regions (and/or their associations) and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;

4[2]) promote the conclusion of agreements between the ministries and other central executive authorities of Ukraine, and separate regions with special status (and/or their associations) on economic, social, and cultural development of these regions, agreements on demarcation of powers between these regions (and/or their associations) and the specified bodies;

4[3]) promote development of cross-border cooperation in separate regions with special status;

5) provide equal conditions of development of all forms of ownership; exercise the administration of objects of state ownership according to the law;

6) develop legislation on the State budget of Ukraine and ensure execution of the State budget of Ukraine as approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and deliver to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reports on its execution;

7) implement measures to ensure the defense capability and national security of Ukraine, social order, and the fight against crime;

8) organize and ensure implementation of the foreign economic activity of Ukraine and the customs system;

9) direct and coordinate the operation of ministries and other executive authorities;

9-1) form, reorganize, and eliminate in accordance with the law, ministries and other central executive authorities operating within the bounds provided for in the scope of the executive authorities;

9-2) appoint to positions and remove from positions to represent the Prime Minister of Ukraine, principals of the central executive authorities who are not a part of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;

10) execute other powers as defined by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

Article 118. Executive power in oblasts and regions, the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol shall be carried out by local government administrations.

Special features of the implementation of executive power in the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol shall be defined by separate laws of Ukraine.

The composition of local government administrations shall be formulated by the chairmen of local government administrations.

Chairmen of local government administrations are appointed to the post and dismissed by the President of Ukraine on representation of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Chairmen of local government administrations, in execution of their powers, shall be responsible before the President of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and shall be accountable to and monitored by executive authorities of the highest level.

Local government administrations shall be accountable to and monitored by councils regarding the powers delegated by it by the relevant regional or oblast councils.

Local government administrations shall be accountable to and monitored by executive authorities of the highest level.

Decisions of the chairmen of the local government administrations that contradict the Constitution and laws of Ukraine or other legislation acts of Ukraine, may in accordance with the law be canceled by the President of Ukraine or the chairman of local government administration of the highest level.

The oblast or regional council can express loss of confidence in the chairman of the corresponding local government administration, on the basis of which the President of Ukraine shall render a decision and provide a reasonable response.

If loss of confidence in the chairman of the regional or oblast government administration has been expressed by two thirds of the deputies from the membership of the relevant council, the president of Ukraine shall render a decision regarding resignation of the chairman of the local government administration.

This article shall not be applied with respect to separate regions with special status, wherein the powers of the local government administration shall be executed by local self-governing bodies.

Article 128. The initial appointment to the post of professional judge for a period of five years shall be made by the President of Ukraine. All other judges, except judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, shall be selected by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for life terms, in the manner established by law.

The presiding judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine shall be selected to the position and dismissed by secret ballot by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in the manner established by law.

The special features of the appointment of judges and the activity of the courts in separate regions with special status shall be determined by separate law of Ukraine.

Article 133. The system of the administrative-territorial composition of Ukraine shall include: the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, separate regions with special status of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts, oblasts, regions, cities, regions in cities, settlements, and villages.

Ukraine shall include: the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, separate regions with special status of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts, Vinnytsia, Volynsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhitomir, Zakarpatye, Zaporozhye, Ivano-Frankovsk, Kiev, Kirovograd, Lugansk, Lvov, Nikolaev, Odessa, Poltava, Rivnensky, Sumy, Ternopol, Kharkov, Kherson, Khmelnitsky, Cherkassk, Chernovitsky, and Chernigov Oblasts, and the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol.

The cities of Kiev and Sevastopol, and the separate regions with special status of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts, shall have special status which shall be defined by the laws of Ukraine.

Article 140. Local self-government shall be the right of a territorial mass – the inhabitants of the village or voluntary integration in a rural mass of the inhabitants of several villages, a settlement, or a city – to resolve independently issues of local significance within the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

The special features of implementation of local self-government in the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol shall be defined by separate laws of Ukraine.

The special features of implementation of local self-government in separate regions with special status shall be defined by separate law of Ukraine.

Local self-government shall be carried out by a territorial mass in the manner established by law directly and through local self-governing bodies: village, settlement, and city councils, and their executive bodies.

Local self-governing bodies representing the common interests of territorial masses of villages, settlements, and cities, shall be regional and oblast councils.

The question of organizing the administration of regions in cities is within the competence of city councils.

Village, settlement, and city councils may permit the creation of house, street, apartment, and other self-organizing bodies of the population at the initiative of the inhabitants, and to allocate them their part of natural competence, finance, and property.

SECTION XV

TRANSITIONAL CLAUSES

1. Laws and other regulations adopted before the entry into force of the present Constitution, shall be operative to the extent that they do not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine.

2. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, after adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine, shall execute the powers provided by the present Constitution.

The next elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine shall be held in March, 1998.

3. The next election of the president of Ukraine shall be held the last Sunday of October, 1999.

4. The president of Ukraine, within three years after the entry into force of the Constitution of Ukraine, shall have the right to publish decrees, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and ratified by signature of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, on economic issues that have not been regulated by law, with simultaneous submission of relevant legislation in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the manner established by Article 93 of the present Constitution.

Such decree of the President of Ukraine shall come into force, if within thirty calendar days from the date of submission of the legislation (excluding days between sessions) the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine does not adopt the law or does not reject the presented legislation by a majority of its constitutional membership; and it shall be operative until the entry into force of such law passed by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on these issues.

5. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine shall be formulated in accordance with the present Constitution within three months after its entry into force.

6. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine shall be formulated in accordance with the present Constitution within three months after its entry into force. Until the creation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the interpretation of laws shall be carried out by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

7. Chairmen of local government administrations, after the entry into effect of the present Constitution, shall obtain the status of chairmen of local government administrations in accordance with Article 118 of the present Constitution, and after the election of chairmen of the relevant councils shall have the powers of chairmen of these councils.

8. Village, settlement, and city councils and chairmen of these councils after the entry into effect of the Constitution of Ukraine shall execute the powers defined by it before the election of a new membership of these councils in March, 1998.

The regional and oblast councils elected before the entry into force of the present Constitution, shall execute the powers defined by it until the formation of the new membership of these councils in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine.

Regional councils in the cities and the chairmen of these councils after the entry into force of the present Constitution, shall execute their powers in accordance with the law.

9. The prosecutor’s office shall continue to execute, in accordance with laws in force, the function of supervision of the observance and application of laws and the function of preliminary investigation — until the introduction into force of laws regulating the activity of state authorities on monitoring the observance of laws, and until the formation of a system of a pretrial investigation and the entry into force of laws regulating its functioning.

10. Until the adoption of laws defining the special features of execution of executive power in the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol in accordance with Article 118 of the present Constitution, executive power in these cities shall be executed by the relevant government administrations.

11. The first section of Article 99 of the present Constitution shall be introduced after introduction of the national monetary unit — the hrivna.

12. The Supreme Court of Ukraine and the Supreme Arbitration Court of Ukraine shall execute their powers in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine until the formation of a system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine in accordance with Article 125 of the present Constitution, but for no more than five years.

Judges of all courts in Ukraine who were elected or appointed before the effective date of the present Constitution shall continue to execute their powers in accordance with current law until the end of the term to which they were elected or appointed.

The judges whose powers ended on the effective date of the present Constitution, shall continue to execute their powers for one year.

13. The existing manner of arrest, detention, and confinement of persons suspected of the commission of crime, as well as the manner of conducting investigations and searching dwellings or other property of the person shall be preserved for five years after the entry into force of the present Constitution.

14. The use of existing military bases on the territory of Ukraine for temporary stay of foreign military formations shall be possible only under lease conditions in the manner defined by international treaties of Ukraine that have been ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

15. The next elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine after re-establishment of the principles of the Constitution of Ukraine in the edition of June 28, 1996 in accordance with the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine dated September 30, 2010, No. 20-rp/2010, regarding the matter of the observance of the procedure for amending the Constitution of Ukraine, shall be carried out the last Sunday of October, 2012.

16. The next election of the president of Ukraine after re-establishment of the principles of the Constitution of Ukraine in the edition of June 28, 1996 by Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine dated September 30, 2010, No. 20-rp/2010 regarding the matter of the observance of the procedure for amending the Constitution of Ukraine, shall be carried out the last Sunday of March, 2015.

17. The highest officials administering executive power operative in the territory of the separate regions of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts as of the date of adoption of these amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, shall continue to execute their powers until the termination of these powers in the manner established by acts of the separate regions with special status of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts. Approval of the manner of termination of the powers of the specified highest officials, and the adoption of decisions on the termination of their powers, shall belong in the exclusive control of the separate regions with special status of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts.

To provide in the law of Ukraine on modification of the Constitution of Ukraine the following clauses:

1. To establish that the Law of Ukraine “On the special order of local self-government in separate regions of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts” shall be operative without limitations of time.

2. To exclude to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, for three months from the date of publication of this Law, the corresponding temporary restrictions from the Law of Ukraine “On the special order of local self-government in separate regions of Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts”, as well as to exclude Paragraph 1 of Section 2 of Article 10 of this Law.

To provide for the adoption of the allowance in the Constitution of Ukraine (for example, to add to Article 17 or 18 the words: “Ukraine shall not be included within military blocks and unions, shall maintain neutrality, shall refrain from participation in military actions outside of its own territory.”) and/or the law of Ukraine, fixing firmly the non-bloc (neutral) status of Ukraine.