I have to admit that my colleague Fyodor Venislavsky was right in his assertion that the martial law law prohibits the dismissal of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Let me remind you of this correspondence discussion. A colleague opened the Law “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law” and found there the current Article No. 10 “Inadmissibility of terminating the powers of public authorities and other state bodies under martial law.” She says that:
“During the period of martial law, the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine cannot be terminated.” Remember this phrase “termination of powers” - it will be decisive.
I, in turn, referred to the Constitution of Ukraine and, in particular, Article 115, which states that “The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, whose resignation was accepted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, continues to exercise its powers until the start of the work of the newly formed government.”
And in fact, our dispute was in the following plane: when the prime minister/CMU is fired, is this “termination of powers”? Or is there continuity of power? And here the law or the regulations of the Rada do not provide an answer other than... a random norm that accurately puts everything in its place.
Remember, I wrote that when the Cabinet of Ministers is changed, all bills are withdrawn from it automatically? So this happens on the basis of two laws:
1. Law of Ukraine on the Cabinet of Ministers, Art. 27.
2. Law of Ukraine on Regulations, Art. 105.
But the main thing here is: in both cases, this withdrawal of bills from the previous government occurs precisely because of the “termination of powers.” And if we look at the history of the latest government changes: either Yatsenyuk to Groysman, or already in this convocation Goncharuk to Shmygal, then this is exactly what happened. That is, every time in a similar situation it was termination of authority.
Therefore, yes, the dismissal of the prime minister and the election of a new government is “termination of the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers.” That is, it is now directly prohibited by Article 10 of the martial law law.
And therefore, colleague Venislavsky is right : to replace Shmygal, the authorities must now either change the law of Ukraine on martial law... or violate it. Other creative options are not possible for the reasons described above.
PS But when did this stop someone...
