Reevaluation of Values

The Sixth Meeting of the World Congress of Ukrainian Jurists, held on October 18 in Kyiv, addressed issues of the current condition of the political and legal system of Ukraine and the prospects and ways of its development as well as the problems of implementation of constitutional, political, administrative, and socioeconomic reforms. The meeting delegates stressed that the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine brought forth a new legal situation in which the person, his or her life, happiness, honor and dignity, personal inviolability, and security have been recognized as the highest values on the legislative basis. The fundamental law has become a determining factor in ensuring state sovereignty and fostering democracy, as well as a guarantee of irreversibility of socioeconomic and political transformations.

Addressing the meeting, President of the World Congress of Ukrainian Jurists, Chairman of Ukraine’s Union of Jurists, member of the Supreme Council of Justice, and People’s Deputy of Ukraine Valery Yevdokymov said, “Over the past couple of years, the public has come to believe there is a need for a transition to a new stage of development of our statehood. Such a transition implies drastic changes of the how Ukraine is building its statehood. To make further development possible the state needs to embrace a new political system, that of a parliamentary-presidential republic.”

The practical part of the meeting was dedicated to topical issues of the constitutional reform in Ukraine. The meeting delegates adopted a resolution putting forward a number of reform steps to be taken in the domain of state- building as well as in the political, socioeconomic, and humanitarian spheres.

The meeting delegates listened to reports of the Congress management and elected its new members. For the third consecutive time Valery Yevdokymov was elected president of the World Congress of Ukrainian Jurists, while vice president of the Ukrainian American Bar Association Andrew E. Steckiw (USA) was elected first vice president of the congress. Among the vice presidents elected at the meeting were Ukraine’s Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych, first deputy chairman of Ukraine’s parliamentary committee for legal policy Mykola Onyshchuk, and President of the Ukrainian Collegium of Foreign Jurists Danylo Kurdelchuk.