Ukraine's top court scraps law cutting president's powers

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."

The constitutional amendments were approved under President Leonid Kuchma. His successor, Viktor Yushchenko, himself sought to abolish the reforms, which helped to create the conditions for the political crises of his presidency.

Yanukovych, who was elected in February, said in his Constitution Day address to the nation on July 6 that the reform caused a "misbalance" and a "serious crisis of power," and proposed reviewing the constitution.

Some analysts argue that abolishing the reform will put too much power in the hands of the Ukrainian president.

Without the court ruling, Yanukovych's supporters would likely find it impossible to restore the president's earlier powers, as 300 votes in Ukraine's 450-strong Supreme Rada are required to change the constitution. Yanukovych's coalition in parliament is 35 votes short of that level of support.