On 11 November 2023, the second stage of the VIII All-Ukrainian Scientific Competition "Human Dimension of Law" dedicated to the memory of Marko Orzikh, an outstanding constitutionalist, academician of the Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Academy of Political Sciences, the Ukrainian Municipal Academy, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, author and expert on the draft constitutions of the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR (1977 1978), and the Constitution of Ukraine (1996).
The competition was organised by Marko Pylypovych's family and students, as well as members of the Department of Constitutional Law and the Scientific Society of Young Scientists, Postgraduates and Students inspired by his life example. The winner of the Competition traditionally receives a cash prize named after M. P. Orzikh.
The competition was held in two stages. About 20 research papers by undergraduate and postgraduate students from various higher education institutions were submitted for the first stage. Based on the results of the first stage, the competition committee selected the eight best written papers, and their authors were invited to make a public defence and present the key ideas of their research papers in a remote format (taking into account the restrictions of martial law).
The competition programme consisted of the following reports:
- Hasanov Anar Dzhavanshyrovych, 3rd year student of the Faculty of Civil and Commercial Justice of the National University "Odesa Law Academy", with the report "Inadmissibility of holding elections during the martial law in Ukraine".
- Anastasiia Kostiunina, 2nd year student of the Law Faculty of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, with a presentation on "Constitutional Analysis of Elections under Martial Law in Ukraine".
- Iryna Baranetska, 1st year student of the Faculty of Civil and Commercial Justice of the National University "Odesa Law Academy", with a presentation on "Interaction between the right to respect for private and family life, media activities and their influence: balance and challenges".
- Koziychuk Bohdan Romanovych, 3rd year student of the Law Faculty of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, with a presentation on "Problems of restoring the Constitution of Ukraine in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and other occupied regions".
- Shmatlay Anastasiia Oleksandrivna, 2nd year student of the Faculty of Law of the Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytsky University of Management and Law, with a presentation on "Establishment of the Institute of Constitutional Complaint in Ukraine: Current Status and Prospects for Improvement".
- Tetiana Shulga, 4th year student of the Department of Law of the Kyiv Professional College of Tourism and Hospitality, with a presentation on "Acquisition of ownership of a thing through the prism of legal regulation of secret will in Ukraine and foreign countries".
- Oleksandr Shevchuk, 3rd year student of the Law Faculty of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, presented a report on "The Ombudsman Institution in Ukraine during the Armed Conflict: Legal Role and Peculiarities of Functioning".
- Vladyslav Pirogov, 1st year postgraduate student of the Department of Constitutional Law of Ukraine at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, with the report "The Problem of Interpretation of Article 151-2 of the Constitution of Ukraine: Theoretical and Practical Approaches to its Solution".
The selection of the winner of the Competition was a difficult task for the competition committee, which included Judge of the Supreme Court, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor Albert Anatoliiovych Yezerov, Head of the Department of Constitutional Law, attorney-at-law, member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor Dmytro Serhiiovych Terletskyi, Professor of the Department of Constitutional Law, attorney-at-law, member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine, Ph, Professor Mariana Afanasieva, researcher at the University of Erebro, private notary, member of the Commission on International Cooperation of the Notary Chamber of Ukraine, member of the Commission on Notarial Deontology of the International Union of Latin Notaries, PhD, Associate Professor Yurii Orzikh, Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional Law, PhD. Yurii Batan.
The speeches were evaluated on a five-point scale based on the following criteria: relevance, achievement of the purpose of the work, originality and independence of the research, accessibility of the presentation, substantiation of the conclusions of the work and their practical significance, oratory, quality and creativity of the presentation, relevance to the topic of the competition and references to the legacy of M. P. Orzikh, answers to questions, compliance with the rules of the report and questions to other participants.
All participants presented original, independent research, the conclusions and recommendations of which are aimed at improving the legal culture, legislative regulation and generalisation of theoretical knowledge.
As a result of summing up the results, the winning paper was presented by Vladyslav Pirogov (supervisor - Yuriy Barabash, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Professor of the Department of Constitutional Law of Ukraine at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Doctor of Law, Professor). In his work, he proved that "when addressing the issue of proper ensuring of the right to a fair trial for everyone in respect of whom the CC judges have adopted an act of dismissal from the position of a judge, the CC is bound by the principles formulated in the judgment of the ECtHR in the case of Covesi v. Romania regarding the content of guarantees of access to court for such persons", "it is justified to state that Articles 55(1) and 55(2) of the Constitution guarantee the broadest possible guarantees of access to justice for persons who held the position of a CC judge". The author is convinced that "under no circumstances can the Constitution be interpreted in such a way that it actually means that the public authorities neglect the principle of binding by the fundamental values which the Constitution itself declares inviolable. Therefore, the interpretation of any constitutional provision, including the provision of Article 1512 of the Constitution, should certainly be given in terms of the duty of the Constitutional Court to protect the "unchanging (material) core of the Constitution". The author emphasises that "the material core of the Fundamental Law of Ukraine (its eternal provisions), and thus the basis of the constitutional order of Ukraine, is the triad of values enshrined in Article 157(1) of the Ukrainian Constitution. The constitution-maker has defined these values as (1) human and civil rights and freedoms, (2) independence and (3) territorial integrity."
Congratulations to the winner! We thank all participants for their active participation and wish them success and new achievements!
You can watch the video of the 2nd round of the competition at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy91MbBJas4G0kvwMH5HkyfyVLrnr_cK6