| State Council of Crimea | |
| Coa Pic: | Emblem of Crimea.svg |
| Coa Res: | 110px |
| House Type: | Unicameral |
| Leader1 Type: | Chairman |
| Leader1: | Vladimir Konstantinov from 17 March 2014 |
| Party1: | United Russia |
| Members: | 75 |
| Structure1: | 2nd State Council of Crimea.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 250px |
| Voting System1: | Parallel voting |
| Last Election1: | 8 September 2019 |
| Next Election1: | 2024 |
| Session Room: | 2019 Inauguration of Sergey Aksyonov (2019-09-20) 02.jpg |
| Meeting Place: | Building of the State Council of Crimea, Simferopol |
The State Council of Crimea is the parliament of the Russia-administered Republic of Crimea. It claims to be a continuation of the 'Supreme Council of Crimea'[1] following a vote by the Ukrainian parliament to dissolve the Supreme Council of Crimea.[2] [3] [4] The Parliament is housed in the Parliament building in the centre of Simferopol.
Following the events of 2014, Crimea is a territory currently under dispute between Russia and Ukraine with Russia administering the territory but most countries continuing to recognise the territory as Ukrainian.
During the period of time in which Crimea was controlled by Ukraine, the Parliament was unable to appoint the Prime Minister of Crimea on its own, being able to appoint him only with the advice and consent of the President of Ukraine. This restriction did not sit well with the Parliament and its constituents, creating a long-standing rift between them and the national government of Ukraine.
As the Crimean crisis unfolded, the Parliament building was seized by unidentified pro-Russian gunmen. Under their control, the Parliament removed the incumbent Ukrainian-consented Prime Minister of Crimea and unilaterally appointed Sergey Aksyonov in his stead. The disbandment was also caused by the belief that the Crimean Parliament collaborated with Russian troops in the region against Ukrainian authorities.[5] Days later, the Crimean Parliament reunified its territorial jurisdiction with the city of Sevastopol into a single united nation and unilaterally declared their independence from Ukraine following a referendum. This newly formed nation then acceded to Russia which ultimately transferred the Crimean Parliament under a newly formed federal subject of Russia.
The Supreme Council of Crimea was regulated according to a legislation passed by the Ukrainian parliament on 10 February 1998.[6] The parliament lacked the right of initiative but was authorized to fix its own election date under the Crimean constitution.[7] [8] [9]
The way council members were elected was changed several times. From the 1998 elections, a majoritarian system had been introduced that did not ensure the proper proportional representation of Crimean minorities in the council, especially that of Crimean Tatars.[10]
On 27 February 2014, during the 2014 Crimean crisis, Refat Chubarov, leader of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and member of the Council of Ministers of Crimea, said that unknown gunmen seized the Building of the Supreme Council of Crimea on Karl Marx Street and the building of the Council of Ministers on Kirov Avenue in Simferopol.[11]
Fifty gunmen occupied the building of the Crimean legislature, barricaded the building and installed machine guns at the front entrance. Roman Sohn from the EUobserver wrote that, "[the gunmen] let in [the Speaker of the Parliament] and the members of the presidium of the Crimean legislature, while denying entry to officials of its executive office."[12]
The Council then proceeded to hold an emergency session and passed a motion of no confidence in the Council of Ministers and adopted a resolution to terminate its powers.[11] Such session, however, was described as being, "under siege and in violation of all due process" by Roman Sohn from the EUobserver. The parliament dismissed the chairman and Prime Minister of Crimea, Anatolii Mohyliov, pursuant to Article 136 of the Constitution of Ukraine, and replaced him de facto with Sergey Aksyonov, leader of the Russian Unity party. This act has sparked some debate in the international community, as the Constitution of Ukraine establishes that the council can only appoint the Prime Minister in consultation with the President of Ukraine.[13] [14] The contention strives on disagreements on who is the actual legitimate President of Ukraine, with the newly installed government in Ukraine considering the newly installed Oleksandr Turchynov as the incumbent Acting President, while the Council considers Turchynov's appointment as illegitimate.
The Council then voted to hold a referendum on the independence of Crimea on 25 May 2014.[15] Olha Sulnikova, head of information and analysis department of parliament, reported on the phone from inside the parliamentary building that 61 of the registered 64 deputies had voted for the referendum resolution and 55 for the resolution to dismiss the government.[16] According to another source three members of all the 64 members of the supreme council could not vote for the Crimean referendum as their voting cards did not work in the system.
Interfax-Ukraine reported "it is impossible to find out whether all the 64 members of the 100-member legislature who were registered as present, when the two decisions were voted on or whether someone else used the plastic voting cards of some of them" because due to the armed occupation of parliament it was unclear how many members of parliament were present. The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten suggested in an article from 9 March, that 36 members had been present at the voting procedure.[17] Enver Abduraimov, member of the parliament presidium, said that he did not go inside when he saw that raiders who secured the building were confiscating all communications devices from deputies. Andriy Krysko, head of the Crimean branch of the Voters Committee of Ukraine, announced that no one from the parliament secretariat was in the building when voting took place.[16]
Vladimir Konstantinov, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea, and the new de facto Prime Minister, Sergey Aksyonov, announced that they refused to recognize the dismissal of Viktor Yanukovych as President of Ukraine, and viewed him as legitimate.[18] [19] Aksyonov added "we will follow his directions".[20]
On 1 March 2014, the Acting President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, signed a decree declaring the appointment of Sergei Aksyonov unconstitutional.[21]
On 15 March 2014, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada dissolved the Supreme Council of Crimea. A total of 278 MPs, out of 296 registered for the meeting on Saturday, voted for the relevant decree.[22]
The Supreme Council had the power to solve any and all matters under the Constitution of Ukraine, the Constitution of Crimea, and Ukrainian laws within the terms of reference of the Autonomous Republic, except those that were required to be solved by a local referendum, or by the Council of Ministers of Crimea and other executive bodies of the republic.[23]
The council's specific powers were as follows:
The Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall also exercise any and all other powers as may be conferred upon it by the Constitution of Ukraine and Ukrainian laws, as well as those conferred upon it by the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the statutory acts of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Supreme Council was governed by its own internal rules, adopted on 30 June 1998 and subsequently amended.[24]
All legal acts of the council had to be published and promulgated in Ukrainian, Russian, and Crimean Tatar. Common and every-day work had to be written in Russian, while correspondence to Ukraine had to be written in the state language selected by Ukraine. Legal drafts and other acts could have been submitted in Russian, Ukrainian, or Crimean Tatar but the Secretary had then to translate them into the language required by its respective proceeding.
All sessions, including those of its Presidium and committees, had to be transparent and open to the general public, except those restricted by other laws and regulations. The council could, however, choose to conduct its business confidentially if and only if a majority of the members of the total composition of the body voted to do so.
At the first plenary session of the council, the Chief Electoral Officer of Crimea ordered members of parliament to form factions and coalitions. The formation of parliamentary factions and coalitions was conducted in accordance with the Ukrainian law that regulated the procedure specifically for Crimea.
Plenary sessions were conducted if and only if attended by more than half of the deputies of the total composition of the council.
Voting could take place openly, by roll-call, or in secret by using an electronic voting system or ballots.
The 1998 Constitution of Crimea established that in order to aspire to be a member of the supreme Council one had to:[25]
No individual with a record of deliberate crime, if no such criminal record has been quashed and expunged in accordance with the procedure established by law, would be elected member of the council.
Elections for the council were held every five years with the last election of the Supreme councilof Crimea held in October 2010. The next election had been scheduled for sometime in 2014.
Members were elected for a five-years term.[26]
Members of parliament were characterized into two main groups: those elected to represent a single-member district on first-past-the-post and those elected to represent multiseat districts on single non-transferable vote. For this purpose, Crimea was divided into 50 districts all with a similar size in terms of population. The other 50 represent multiseat districts. Both groups served alongside each other with equal rights and powers.
Factions are a form of association of members of parliament legally recognized by the council. They are formed on the basis of personal written statements of deputies elected in multi-member constituencies and single-mandate majoritarian constituencies for elections of deputies of the council from Republican organizations of political parties.
The council is presided by a Presidium composed by the Chairman, a First Deputy Chairman, and a Deputy Chairman as ex-officio members.
The Presidium of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be formed for purposes of coordination of the business of the bodies of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, assistance to the members of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea with execution of their duties, preparation of sessions and exercise of other powers.
The Presidium of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be composed, ex officio, of the Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the first vice-chairman and vice-chairman, together with the chairmen of the standing committees of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Presidium of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be headed by the Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The proceedings of the Presidium of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be determined under the Constitution of Ukraine, Ukrainian laws, the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Regulations of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and other statutory acts of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
See main article: Chairmen of the Supreme Council of Crimea. The Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall, at its first session, elect, by secret ballot and from among its members, the Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall represent the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea before the President of Ukraine, the Supreme Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Ukraine's central and local public authorities, the bodies of local self-government, enterprises, establishments and organisations, citizens and citizens' associations; the functionaries and bodies of other states, their regions, citizens' associations, establishments and organisations; before any and all international organisations; and the Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall manage the activity of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall:
Any and all other powers and the proceedings of the Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as well as those of the first vice-chairman and the vice-chairman, shall be determined pursuant to the Constitution of Ukraine, Ukrainian laws, the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Regulations of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be accountable and responsible to the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea may be dismissed by the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, if more than a half of the total membership of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea have voted in favour of such dismissal.
The procedure of early dismissal of the Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be determined by Ukrainian laws, the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Regulations of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall hold office until the opening of the first session of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of a new convocation, except cases of early termination of powers of the Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Chairman of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea may from time to time make prescriptions within the limits of his authority.
First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in accordance with the order of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea on the distribution of responsibilities: assists the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the organization of work for the preparation, adoption and implementing regulations, decisions and other acts of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea, making its Bureau, preparation consideration of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea questions about reports of permanent and temporary commissions of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Executives bodies formed, elected and formed the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; submit proposals to the agenda of the meetings of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea and its Bureau for reference; reviews and approves draft resolutions, decisions and other acts of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea for reference; considers official documents submitted to the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea, on management, signs of resolution to them, gives orders.organize the supervision of execution of judgments, decisions and official commissions of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, decisions and orders of its Bureau, as well as official documents for reference; arrange for the preparation and holding of meetings and other events Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and its organs on reference; organizes the interaction of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic The Council of Ministers of Crimea Autonomous Republic of Crimea, software control of its activity; coordinates the work of the standing committees supervised by the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea; coordinates the monitoring of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the activities of the Accounts Chamber of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea; organizes interaction and control of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic Crimea for activities Ministries and Republican Committee of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, other bodies executive authorities Autonomous Republic Crimea, bodies executive with a special status on the management supervised them standing committees Verkhovna Rada Republic of Crimea; provides organizational support for interregional relations, meetings with officials, representatives, delegations regions of other states, citizens' associations, institutions and organizations; organizes work on issues related to property management belongs to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; replaces the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in his absence; exercise other powers in accordance with the regulations acts of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the decisions of its Presidium, orders and orders of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in accordance with the order of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea on the distribution of responsibilities: assists the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the organization of work for the preparation, adoption and implementing regulations, decisions and other acts of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea, making its Bureau, preparation consideration of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea questions about reports of permanent and temporary commissions of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Executives bodies formed, elected and formed the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; submit proposals to the agenda of the meetings of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea and its Bureau for reference; reviews and approves draft resolutions, decisions and other acts of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea for reference; considers official documents submitted to the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea, on management, signs of resolution to them, gives orders; organize the supervision of execution of judgments, decisions and official commissions of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, decisions and orders of its Bureau, as well as official documents for reference; arrange for the preparation and holding of meetings and other events Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and its organs on reference; coordinates the work of the standing committees supervised by the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea; organizes interaction and control of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic Crimea for activities Ministries and Republican Committee of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, other bodies executive authorities Autonomous Republic Crimea, bodies executive with a special status on the management supervised them permanent commissions of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; organizes cooperation with local authorities, rayon state administrations; organizes accommodation, mode of fire protection and security access control in a building of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; provides interaction with citizens' associations, including Republican in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea political offices parties, and the media; competition commission headed by the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea and oversees the certification of civil servants of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; the Presidency of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea draft decisions on the removal of documents from the control; replaces the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in his absence and the absence of the First Deputy Chairman Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; exercise other powers in accordance with the regulations acts of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the decisions of its Presidium, orders and orders of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Secretariat session of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea: a) registers parliamentary inquiries, inquiries, reports, statements, proposals and other materials to the Verkhovna Rada; organize the work necessary to ensure deputies materials and information; c) provide explanations on the work of the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada Autonomous Republic of Crimea is in session; g) organize the work with appeals coming to the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea during the session. 2. Secretariat session may involve the work of experts, consultants. At the initiative of the chairman of the secretariat session (in his absence - Deputy Chairman or Secretary of the session) it provided information on the word for the evening session after the break.
The standing and interim committees of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be the bodies of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea elected from among the members of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea for purposes of study, preliminary consideration and preparation of matters coming within its terms of reference, and also to exercise the control over the implementation of statements and resolutions of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
2. The powers and proceedings of the standing and interim committees shall be determined by the Regulations of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the statutory acts of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. 3. With a view to exercising the control over the observance of the Ukrainian privatisation laws, the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall form the Watchdog Committee of the Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea for Privatisation.
4. The Supreme Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall, upon any and all matters coming within its terms of reference, establish other bodies and determine their organisational structure, powers and proceedings.
The current committees are:
On 14 September 2014 → two factions were formed at the opening session of the new parliament formed after the 2014 Crimean parliamentary election.
The current seats occupied by each faction are as follows:
| Party | Seats | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ER | 70 | 71.06% | |
| LDPR | 5 | 8.14% | |
| Total | 53.61%% |
Only two parties overcame the election threshold: United Russia won 70 mandates of the Crimean Republic's State Council 75 seats because its candidates won in all 25 single-member constituencies and it won 71.06% of the party-list vote; the other 5 mandates went to the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia who won 8.14% of the party-list vote.[27] [28] [29] The voter turnout was 53.61%.[28]
803 candidates had tried to win seats; 108 candidates in one of the single-member constituencies and the rest as candidates as member of 12 political parties.[29]