Supreme Council of Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada is composed of 450 deputies, who are presided over by a chairman (speaker). The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capital Kyiv. The deputies elected in the 21 July 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election were inaugurated on 29 August 2019.

The Verkhovna Rada developed out of the systems of the republican representative body known in the Soviet Union as Supreme Soviet (Supreme Council) that was first established 26 June 1938 as a type of legislature of the Ukrainian SSR after the dissolution of the Congress of Soviets of the Ukrainian SSR.Verkhovna Rada
in the Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine

The 12th convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR ( elected in 1990) issued the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, introduced elements of a market economy and political liberalization, and officially changed the numeration of its sessions, proclaiming itself the first convocation of the "Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine". The current parliament is the ninth convocation. Because of the War in Donbas and the unilateral annexation of Crimea by Russia, elections for the constituencies situated in Donbas and Crimea were not held in the 2014 and 2019 elections; hence the current composition of the Verkhovna Rada consists of 424 deputies.

In the last elections to the Verkhovna Rada, a mixed voting system is used. 50% of seats are distributed under party lists with a 5% election threshold and 50% through first-past-the-post in single-member constituencies.Parliament passes law on parliamentary elections
''Kyiv Post'' (17 November 2011) The method of 50/50 mixed elections was used in the 2002, 2012, 2014 and 2019 elections; however, in 2006 and 2007, the elections were held under a proportional system only.Ukrainian communists to seek return to proportional electoral system
, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2012) According to the election law that became valid on 1 January 2020, the next election to the Verkhovna Rada, set for 2023, again will be held under a proportional scheme.

Name

The name ''Rada'' ( uk, Рада) means "council", "rede". The institution originated in the time of Kyivan Rus, and then represented a council of boyars and of higher clergy. In the 17th and 18th centuries the Dnieper Cossacks used the term to refer to the meetings where major decisions were made; the Cossacks elected new councils by popular vote.

The Ukrainian People's Republic between 17 March 1917 and 29 April 1918 had a Central Rada. The West Ukrainian People's Republic and the Ukrainian government-in-exile each had a UNRada (Ukrainian National Rada).

''Verkhovna'', the feminine form of the adjective meaning ''supreme'', derives from the Ukrainian word meaning "top".

Another name, used less often, is the ''Parliament of Ukraine'' ( uk, Парламент України).

History

Before independence

* Central Rada in 1917–18
* Ukrainian National Rada in 1918 (West Ukraine)
* Labour Congress of Ukraine in 1919 (along with West Ukrainian delegates)
* Rada of the Republic in 1921 (exiled in Tarnów, Poland)

The Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic replaced the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets and was a type of legislative authority of Soviet Ukraine according to the 1937 Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR. The All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets had already been renamed the Supreme Council in 1927. The Congress of Soviets was initiated by its Central Executive Committee, which it elected and held accountable. The last chairman of the committee was Hryhoriy Petrovsky (also known as Grigoriy Petrovskiy in Russian transliteration).

The first elections to the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR took place on 26 June 1938. The first session of the parliament took place in Kyiv from 25 July through to 28 July 1938. The first Chairman of the council was Mykhailo Burmystenko who later died during World War II. In 1938, a Presidium was elected by the council that was chaired by Leonid Korniyets. The Presidium represented the council whenever it was not in session.

During the war the Presidium was evacuated to the city of Saratov in the Russian SFSR. On 29 June 1943, the Presidium issued an order postponing elections for the new convocation for one year while extending the first convocation. On 8 January 1944, the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR in agreement with the Communist Party decided to relocate the Presidium of the Supreme Council from Kharkiv to Kyiv. New elections were scheduled for 9 February 1947 for the Council.

Post-Soviet period

Until 24 August 1991, Verkhovna Rada kept the name Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR.

The first partially free elections to the Verkhovna Rada and local councils of people's deputies were held on 4 March 1990. Although the Communist Party still remained in control, a " Democratic Bloc" was formed by numerous parties, including People's Movement of Ukraine (''Rukh''), Helsinki Watch Committee of Ukraine, Party of Greens of Ukraine, and many others.

The twelfth convocation of the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR issued the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine on 16 July 1990, and declared Ukrainian independence on 24 August 1991, at approximately 6 p.m. local time. At the time, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada was Leonid Kravchuk. The Act of Ukrainian Independence was overwhelmingly supported in a national referendum held on 1 December 1991. On 12 September 1991, the parliament adopted the law "On the Legal Succession of Ukraine". Thus, the VR became the ''Supreme Council of Ukraine''.

The Constitution of Ukraine was adopted by the thirteenth convocation of the Verkhovna Rada on 28 June 1996, at approximately 9 a.m. local time. The parliament's fourteenth convocation officially changed the numbering of the convocations proclaiming itself the ''third'' (democratic and independent) convocation of the Verkhovna Rada. After the Orange Revolution, constitutional amendments were adopted in December 2004, by the fourth (fifteenth) convocation of the Verkhovna Rada. On 1 October 2010, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine overturned the 2004 Amendments, considering them unconstitutional. On 21 February 2014, parliament reinstated the December 2004 amendments to the constitution.Ukrainian parliament reinstates 2004 Constitution
Interfax-Ukraine (21 February 2014)

In 2017 and 2018, the website of the Verkovna Rada was the most popular among all websites of the parliaments of UN member states.

Location

The Verkhovna Rada meets in a neo-classical building on Kyiv's vulytsia Mykhaila Hrushevskoho (Mykhaila Hrushevsky Street) and Ploshcha Konstytutsii (Constitution Square). The building adjoins Mariinskyi Park and the 18th century Mariinskyi Palace, designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, which serves as the official residence of the President of Ukraine.

After the transfer of the capital of the Ukrainian SSR from Kharkiv to Kyiv in 1934, a whole set of government buildings was planned for the city. In 1936, a contest for the construction of the new parliament building was won by architect Volodymyr Zabolotny.

The original building was constructed from 1936 to 1938. Having been destroyed in the Second World War, the building was reconstructed from 1945 to 1947, with the rebuilt glass dome one metre higher than the original.

Other locations

* Palace Ukraina (the 1999 presidential oath of Leonid Kuchma)
* Ukrainian House (21 January 2000)
* Building of budget committee (6–8 vulytsia Bankova on 4 April 2013)

Mission and authority

The Verkhovna Rada is the sole body of legislative power in Ukraine. The parliament determines the principles of domestic and foreign policy, introduces amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, adopts laws, approves the state budget, designates elections for the President of Ukraine, impeaches the president, declares war and peace, appoints the Prime Minister of Ukraine, appoints or confirms certain officials, appoints one-third of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, ratifies and denounces international treaties, and exercises certain control functions. In Ukraine there are no requirements for the minimum number of signatures (of deputies) to register a bill. In general the parliament adopts about 200 bills per year.Legislative spam: why the Council does not reach the hands of really important initiatives
Ukrayinska Pravda (17 April 2019) An average of five to six bills are registered daily in parliament. As a result of this in the spring of 2019 parliament had more than 10 thousand registered and under consideration bills it had yet to debate.

All procedural regulations are contained in the Law on Regulations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The latest version of the document was adopted on 16 December 2012, in which through the initiative of the President of Ukraine amendments were made concerning registration and voting by parliamentarians. 2012 became a year of numerous changes in regards to the document, among which were changes to the election of the chairman. Bills are usually considered following the procedure of three readings; the President of Ukraine must sign a law before it can be officially promulgated.

Until 2017 the parliament appointed and dismissed judges from their posts and permitted detention or arrest of judges (those powers were transferred to the Supreme Council of Justice).

Composition

The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral legislature with 450 people's deputies ( uk, народний депутат) elected on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through a secret ballot.

Parliamentary factions, groups, and parties

All members of parliament are grouped in parliamentary factions and groups. Members of parliament who were elected from a certain party list are not necessarily members of that party. Parties that break the 5% electoral threshold form factions in the parliament. The formation of official parliamentary factions is regulated by the Verkhovna Rada's rules and procedures.

Only 15 or more deputies may form a parliamentary faction and an MP may be a member of only one faction at a time. The chairman and his two vice-Chairman may not be the heads of factions.Rada amends regulations of its activities
''Kyiv Post'' (8 October 2010) Under current parliamentary rules a faction of non-partisan politicians can not be smaller than the smallest faction of a political party.

Deputies who are expelled from factions or decide to leave them become individual lawmakers; individual deputies are allowed to unite into parliamentary groups of people's deputies that again have at least 15 deputies. Several influential parties have been founded after originally being formed as a faction in the Verkhovna Rada, for example, the Party of Regions, All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" and Labour Ukraine