The purpose of the article is to establish the special features of the form of government enshrined in the original version of the Constitution of Ukraine, and thus to carry out its correct scientific classification. Adopted on June 28, 1996, the Constitution of Ukraine introduced the form of governance, the constitutional features of which testified the conditionality of its definition as the semi-presidential republican. The features of this form of governance caused a significant distortion of the essence of a semi-presidential republic. The form of governance essentially restricted the influence of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the executive branch and administratively subordinated it to the President of Ukraine. Therefore, the form of governance did not ensure the balance of the “separated powers”, but ensured the dominant role of the President of Ukraine in the state mechanism. The original edition of the Constitution of Ukraine did not establish certain fundamentally important elements of a semi-presidential republic. In particular, it did not consolidate the parliamentary investiture of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as a condition of its authority. The possibility of parliamentary responsibility of the Cabinet of Minister of Ukraine depended on political will of the President of Ukraine, and the level of influence of the Head of State on executive branch eliminated its dualism. Under such conditions, the application of checks and balances by the Verkhovna Rada became significantly complicated to the President of Ukraine and impossible to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Although structurally the President of Ukraine was not connected with any of the constitutionally determined authorities, in fact he turned out to be the head of the executive branch. This was certified by such authorities of the President of Ukraine as the right to appoint members of the Government, unrestricted right to remove them from their positions, right to terminate the authorities of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, right to cancel governmental acts etc. Although, the form of governance revealed obvious functional resemblance to the presidential republic, it was not identical. The form of governance, established by the original edition of the Constitution of Ukraine, did not reveal a “strict” separation of powers and foresaw existence of the institutions not typical for the presidential form of governance. Therefore, the form of governance established by the original edition of the Constitution of Ukraine could not be defined as the semi-presidential republican or presidential. Considering the level of presidentialization of the form of governance, it would be a mistake to consider it also as a partial deviation from the semi-presidential republic. Essentially, the form of governance established by the original edition of the Constitution of Ukraine could not be adequately classified in terms of the generalized trichotomous division of the republic. It would be scientifically correct to determine it as a transitionally presidential republic.

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Procjuk I, Podil derzhavnoi vlady v umovakh riznykh form derzhavnoho pravlinnia (Pravo 2012) (in Ukrainian).

2. Protasova V, Parlamentsko-prezydentska respublika: sutnist, osoblyvosti, riznovydy (Pravo 2009) (in Ukrainian).

3. Serjoghina S, Forma pravlinnia: pytannia konstytuciino-pravovoii teorii ta praktyky (Pravo 2011) (in Ukrainian).

Journal articles

 4. ‘Konstytutsiina reforma v Ukraini: perebih, stan i perspektyvy. Analitychna dopovid (2007) 1 Natsionalna bezpeka i oborona (in Ukrainian).

5. Shapoval V, ‘Forma derzhavnoho pravlinnia jak konstytuciinyi modus vivendi suchasnoi derzhavy’ (2009) 10 Pravo Ukrainy (in Ukrainian).

6. Shapoval V, ‘Vykonavcha vlada v Ukraini u konteksti formy derzhavnoho pravlinnia (dosvid do pryiniattia Konstytutsii Ukrainy 1996 roku) (2016) 3 Pravo Ukrainy (in Ukrainian).

7. Shapoval V, ‘Vykonavcha vlada v Ukraini u konteksti formy derzhavnoho pravlinnia (dosvid pislia pryiniattia Konstytutsii Ukrainy 1996 roku)’ (2016) 4 Pravo Ukrainy (in Ukrainian).