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A People's Deputy of Ukraine (Ukrainian: народний депутат України, narodnyi deputat Ukrayiny) is a member of parliament, legislator elected by a popular vote to the Verkhovna Rada (the parliament of Ukraine). Often People's Deputies of Ukraine are referred to simply as the "deputies". However it should be distinguished that regular deputies are members of regional and local councils, while people's deputies are elected to the national parliament, Verkhovna Rada. Prior to 1991, it was named the Congress of People's Deputies of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Contents
- Requirements to candidates
- Requirements to the deputys mandate
- Oath of office
- Immunity
- Termination of office
- Tushky
- Knopkodavy
- References
The main statutes that define the order of elections, rights and duties of the People's Deputies of Ukraine are outlined in Articles 76 - 81 of the Constitution of Ukraine. There are 450 people's deputies of Ukraine who are elected based on the general, equal and direct electoral right. The deputies may be appointed to various parliamentary positions such as the chairperson (speaker) of parliament, a head of a committee or a parliamentary faction, etc. Upon its appointment to the office each people's deputy of Ukraine receives a deputy mandate.
People's Deputies that ran for the parliament as self-nominated candidates will join factions if they wish.
Since 2016 (In line with new anti-corruption rules) all senior public officials (thus also people's deputies) must declare their wealth in an electronic database.
Requirements to candidates
The People's Deputy of Ukraine may be elected a citizen of Ukraine who at the day of elections turned 21, has the right to vote, and resides within Ukraine for the last five (5) years. There were number of deputies who before being elected to parliament held the citizenship of Ukraine no more than two years. Among them were Dmytro Salamatin, Vadim Novinsky, and others.
A citizen of Ukraine cannot be elected to the Verkhovna Rada if he has a conviction for committing a crime and that conviction is neither extinguished nor taken out of records by the law established order.
Requirements to the deputy's mandate
Each deputy carries out his/hers duties on a continuous base.
A deputy may not possess any other representative mandates, be appointed to the state service, be placed in other salaried positions, participate in other paid or entrepreneurial activity (except for teaching, scientific or artistic), be a member of a governing body or a supervisory council of a company or organization that are for profit. A candidates that was elected into parliament has to submit to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine documents confirming their dismissal from their previous work place within 20 days after the election.
The requirements for the incompatibility of a deputy's mandate with other types of activities are established by the Law.
In case of appearance of circumstances that breach the requirements for the incompatibility of a deputy's mandate with other types of activities, the People's Deputy of Ukraine in a 20-day term from the day of appearance of such circumstances stops that activity or submits a personal statement of resignation as the People's Deputy of Ukraine.
On 13 March 2012 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared unconstitutional a ban on the participation of public officials and people's deputies in general meetings of companies or organizations that work for profit.
In October 2016 a requirement was placed upon deputies to declare their wealth. In the first register the 413 deputies cumulatively declared wealth of about $460 million. Reacting to public criticism, deputies cancelled a salary rise that would have doubled their salary. This measure was part of an Anti-Corruption Package passed into law in October 2014, which was a requirement of international financial support for Ukraine.
Oath of office
Before assuming office, the Verkhovna Rada's deputies must take the following oath before the parliament:
In original Ukrainian:
In English translation:
Prior to the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election the oath was read by the eldest deputy before the opening of the first session of the newly elected Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), after which deputies affirm the oath by their signatures under its text. At the first session of the newly elected Ukrainian Parliament on 27 November 2014 all the deputies simultaneously read out the oath.
A refusal of taking the oath is followed by the loss (forfeiture) of a deputy's mandate.
An authority of the People's Deputy of Ukraine starts from the moment of taking the oath.
Immunity
Article 80. The parliamentary immunity is guaranteed to the peoples' deputies of Ukraine.
The peoples' deputies of Ukraine do not carry a legal responsibility for the results of voting and their saying in the parliament and its bodies, except the responsibility for an insult or a defamation.
The peoples' deputies of Ukraine cannot be held criminally liable, detained or arrested without the agreement of the Verkhovna Rada.
Termination of office
The authority of peoples' deputies of Ukraine elapses with each office termination (end of convocation) of the Verkhovna Rada.
The authority of the People's Deputy of Ukraine is terminated early in case:
The Verkhovna Rada terminates the powers of people's deputies appointed to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Tushky
The term tushky is a popular political term which refers to a member of Verkhovna Rada who participates in party switching.
Knopkodavy
Knopkodavy (lit. "button-pushers") refers to members of Verkhovna Rada who cast a vote for other members of parliament in their absence. Deputies voting for non-present colleagues is notorious in Ukraine and is also referred to as "piano voting". Before the start of every session of the parliament, deputies will register personally with their people's deputy cards and personal signatures. The deputies should also register via the parliamentary electronic system at the session hall, and thus other people will be unable to register in place of deputies. On 22 February, 2013, procedural measures were implemented to prevent multiple voting. Voting for other deputies is now prohibited by law. Despite this, deputies have stated they could not take part in votes, although their votes were registered in parliament. In April 2011 a vote of a deputy was registered although the man had died four days before the voting. A bill on introducing voting of lawmakers with help of a touch-sensitive key was not passed in mid-March 2011.