Constitution Day () is a Ukrainian

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

celebrated on 28 June since 1996.1996: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
,

The Ukrainian Weekly ''The Ukrainian Weekly'' is the oldest English-language newspaper of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, and North America. Founded by the Ukrainian National Association, and published continuously since October 6, 1933, archived copie ...

(29 December 1996) It commemorates the anniversary of the approval by the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(Ukraine's parliament) of the

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

on 28 June 1996.

History

51 hours after taking office as

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

, after winning the 1994 Ukrainian presidential election,

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

created the Constitutional Commission, which led to the adoption of a

constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

in 1996. (At the time the 1978 Constitution of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was in force in Ukraine.Ukraine celebrates Constitution Day today

RBC Ukraine RBC-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 2006 as a division of the Russian media holding RBC Group (short for RosBusinessConsulting), it left in 2010 and in 2015 it completely came under the control of Ukrainian media businessman ...

(28 June 2021)) The Constitution was adopted by the

at 9:20 am on 28 June 1996 after deputies had worked all day and all night on the project, remaining in the session hall without breaks.The Constitution of Ukraine is 25 years old! Unusual facts about the main document that few people know

(27 June 2021) 315 people's deputies, out of a needed 300, voted for the adoption of the Basic Law. Constitution Day did become a

in Ukraine because its foundation was enshrined in the constitution itself (it is the only

that is mentioned in the constitution).See how the Constitution of Ukraine was adopted 25 years ago: historical photos

(28 June 2021) Soviet Constitution day (7 October) was never observed in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

(the predecessor of modern Ukraine). In the

2000s File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center (1973–2001), World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty on the left during the September 11 attacks, terrorist attacks on Sep ...

, most Ukrainians did not see Constitution Day as a holiday, but as an ordinary day off; about 10% believed it should be a working day (12% in 2008; this number had shrunk from 14% in 2003). Only in

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...

was the holiday among the list of most respected holidays in Ukraine.Травневі свята найменше люблять на Заході України - опитування ''May holidays like least in Western Ukraine - poll''
Gazeta.ua (30 April 2010) In the

2010s File:2010s collage v22.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was Death of Muammar Gad ...

, the popularity of the holiday hovered around 5% according to research by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). The

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

that started on 24 February 2022 led to a reappraisal of this and other public holidays in Ukraine. A March 2024 study by KIIS found that the popularity of

Independence Day of Ukraine Independence Day of Ukraine (, ) is a public holidays in Ukraine, state holiday in Ukraine, celebrated on 24 August in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, Declaration of Independence of 1991. History When Ukraine was st ...

and Defenders Day had both almost more than doubled (from 37% to 64% and from 29% to 58%). Constitution Day did not nearly reach those figures: but it did became twice as popular, from 14% in 2021 to 29% in 2023 and in (an opinion poll held in February) 2024 28% of KIIS respondents labelled the holiday "most important or favorite".

References

External links

Ukraine celebrates national holiday – the Constitution Day
small explanation of the day and the

by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry (28 June 2014)
Birth of the Ukrainian State and Constitution
Culture of Ukraine Society of Ukraine 1996 establishments in Ukraine Public holidays in Ukraine

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

June observances Constitution of Ukraine Summer in Ukraine Recurring events established in 1996 {{Ukraine-culture-stub