The Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the decision regarding the unlawfulness of Judge Alexander Tupitsky’s dismissal by Zelensky from the Constitutional Court

The Supreme Court of Ukraine has upheld the decision to declare President Vladimir Zelensky’s decree dismissing Constitutional Court judge Alexander Tupitsky as unlawful.

This information was reported by Ukrainian media, citing materials from the Supreme Court’s Grand Chamber.

The court’s decision stated, “The appeal was dismissed and the appealed decision remains unchanged.”

In the autumn of 2020, a conflict arose between Zelensky and Tupitsky after the Constitutional Court ruled against the legality of a provision that held officials criminally responsible for inaccurate declaration of their assets. The President labeled this decision a threat to national security and on March 27, he revoked a 2013 decree appointing Tupitsky and Alexander Kasminin as judges to the Constitutional Court, essentially triggering a constitutional crisis.

In January 2021, the State Bureau of Investigations of Ukraine brought charges against Tupitsky for giving false testimony and witness bribery. The court also prohibited him from appearing at his workplace.

Tupitsky contested his removal from the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the court declared Zelensky’s decree unlawful. The case was subsequently sent for appellate review in the Supreme Court’s Grand Chamber. On November 30, 2021, the Constitutional Court refused to swear in two new judges appointed by Zelensky in place of Tupitsky and Kasminin because they did not consider the latter two as having been dismissed. Tupitsky and Kasminin had to participate in the court’s proceedings remotely since security no longer allowed them into the court’s building. The Constitutional Court’s decision to refuse to swear in Zelensky’s appointees received support from the Venice Commission.