Constitution of Ukraine (1996)

The independence charter, amended and defended, its sovereignty now under arms.

Overview

Adopted June 28, 1996 after prolonged deadlock, the Ukrainian Constitution established a presidency parliament hybrid, refined by the 2004 Orange revolution amendments toward parliamentarism and reversed in 2010, then restored in 2014, and trimmed again by the 2019 presidential powers reduction. It entrenches Ukrainian as state language while guaranteeing minority rights, declares Ukraine a sovereign state with an EU and NATO course in the 2019 amendments, and directs the decommunization turn in constitutional identity. The 2022 full scale invasion made its provisions on territorial integrity existential. The constitutional court navigates war time doctrine with martial law extending electoral suspensions.