OSCE Support to Ukrainian Constitutionalism: What Can be Built on the Legacy of the Constitution of 3 May 1791?

The event is dedicated to the anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, a milestone in history and constitutional law in Rzecz Pospolita - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It enshrined the division of powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches according to Montesquieu’s theory, it established a constitutional system of monarchy and vested legislative power in the Sejm, the Polish-Lithuanian Parliament. It introduced political equality between burghers and nobility and paved the way for modern citizenship. This document culminated a centuries-long common constitutional tradition that included Neminem captivabimus, Nihil Novi, Articuli Henriciani, Pacta et Constitutiones of Pylyp Orlyk. This tradition became a receptive milieu for Enlightenment ideas of separation of powers and popular sovereignty.

The war against Ukraine poses unprecedented challenges to the constitutional judiciary both in terms of its functioning and delivering justice. This event will provide opportunity to discuss on the international level the needs of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine’s (CCU) and constitutional justice stakeholders' ability to protect human rights under extreme conditions of ongoing war.

This effort is part of the project implemented within the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine with extra-budgetary contributions from donors, listed here 

More information: Oleksandr.Vodyannikov@osce.org.