The Ukrainian Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that the 2004 constitutional reform transferring a significant amount of power from the president to the parliament was adopted in breach of the constitution.
The ruling is a boost for President Viktor Yanukovych, who has criticized the division of power between the parliament and the president, and his representative to the court said all the powers were immediately returned to the presidency.
"The Ukrainian court has all at once restored the norms of the 1996 Constitution in full. This means that now all public and legal relations in the country are regulated by that constitution, which has been recognized as the best European constitution by all international institutions," Yelena Lukash told journalists at the Constitutional Court.
A total of 252 Ukrainian lawmakers signed a petition to the court demanding the cancellation of the constitutional amendments, which came into effect in summer 2006, making the country a parliamentary-presidential republic.
The court said on Friday the bill passed on December 8, 2004, "does not correspond to the Ukrainian Constitution" because of "violations of constitutional procedures of its consideration and adoption".
RIA Novosti
