Ukraine president seeks court order blocking high court from ruling on decree News
Ukraine president seeks court order blocking high court from ruling on decree

[JURIST] Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko [official website; JURIST news archive] asked a lower court in Kiev Tuesday to block the Constitutional Court of Ukraine [official website, in Ukrainian] from ruling on his April 2 decree dissolving parliament [text; JURIST report] by challenging the court's actions and alleging corruption [press release]. This follows his rejection of the Constitutional Court's authority [JURIST report] last week after the court appointed Valeri Pshenischny as new chief justice. Yushchenko had previously dismissed Pshenischny from the court [JURIST report].

Pshenischny was named to the presidency of the Constitutional Court following the resignation [JURIST report] of former Chief Justice Ivan Dombrovsky last week. In April, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yiktor Yanukovych [BBC profile] and leaders of Parliament filed a legal challenge to Yushchenko's dissoluton [JURIST report], leading to the present court battle. AP has more.