PROCEDURAL ISSUES OF PROCEEDING IN CASES ON ELECTIONS AND REFERENDUM UNDER MARTIAL LAW

Abstract

The scientific article is devoted to the study of the main aspects of proceedings in cases related to the legislation on elections and referendums, including the classification of electoral disputes, determining the specifics of legal regulation, and prospects for further improvement of legal regulation of the studied area. It is stated that article 273 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine defines the procedure for appealing actions, decisions or omissions of election commissions and their members. Electoral and referendum commissions are responsible for organizing relevant processes, ensuring compliance with the law and ensuring equal access to it. The Central Election Commission should monitor the observance of citizens’ electoral rights. administrative courts exercise control over the activities of election commissions and make final decisions on electoral disputes in accordance with the rules of the CAS of Ukraine. The position is substantiated that if at least one of the stages of the electoral process is declared invalid, including the establishment of unreliability of data in the CEC protocol on the election results, this may lead to the fact that the elected person loses his status and powers, since their legitimacy is based on the legality of the election. The introduction at the legislative level of the possibility of early termination of the powers of an elected person by a court decision (or another body after a judicial procedure) due to the discovery of previously unknown data indicating the impossibility of a person’s participation in elections or other serious violations of electoral legislation provides for a preventive nature. It is concluded that the amendments to the Code of Administrative Procedure, which were introduced by including procedural norms, were enshrined in electoral laws, especially in the Electoral Code of Ukraine. However, this approach is not always effective. These rules, which form an integral part of substantive law and are supported in the Code, are not always harmonized with other procedural rules. Therefore, the norms concerning the judicial protection of electoral rights should be included only in the procedural law and should not violate its unity.