Since 1997, June 28th has been celebrated as Constitution Day in Ukraine. However, the country’s fundamental law has been in existence for a remarkable 313 years.
In the distant year of 1710, Pylyp Orlyk drafted an agreement to regulate relations between the Hetman, the Cossack elders, the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and the Swedish king. This document was known as the “Agreements and Resolutions on the Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporozhian Host…”
The principles embodied in those laws are still evident today: the separation of powers, the fight against corruption, and the establishment of boundaries. In other European countries, such concepts would only emerge several decades later. Therefore, the “Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk” is considered one of the earliest in Europe.
The sovereignty of Ukraine underwent further changes as new legal documents were introduced:
- The Constitution of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UNR) on April 29, 1918.
- The Small Constitution of the Western Ukrainian National Republic (ZUNR) on November 13, 1918.
- The Temporary Constitution of Carpathian Ukraine on March 15, 1939.
Only five years after the declaration of Ukraine’s independence, at 9:18 am, the Constitution of modern Ukraine was adopted. Fifteen draft versions were proposed, and it took six years to finalize. It is no wonder that the international community considers it one of the most democratic constitutions in the world. Perhaps this is because it traces its origins back to the time of the Cossacks.
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