'Referendum on Peace' is political metaphor rather than specific legal instrument - Fmr CEC dpty chair

Holding a "referendum on peace" is not legally justified, believes Andriy Mahera, Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission (2007-2018).

"The Constitution of Ukraine quite clearly outlines when, who and on what issues can hold a referendum. The space for political improvisations here is much narrower than is often imagined in public discussions," he wrote in a column for "Dzerkalo Tyzhnia".

According to him, the only legally regulated form of a referendum remains the all-Ukrainian referendum. At the same time, as Mahera noted, the Constitution establishes an exhaustive range of subjects that can appoint it.

The President of Ukraine appoints an all-Ukrainian referendum only in one case - to approve a law on amendments to sections I, III or XIII of the Constitution, already approved by the Verkhovna Rada. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, for its part, can only call a referendum on changing the territory of Ukraine - and exclusively within the constitutional logic of preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state.

The possibility of a popular initiative is separately provided for, but there is a fundamental restriction here: such a referendum cannot go beyond the Constitution and concern issues that, by their nature, are not allowed for referendum consideration.

"In the public space, the formula "referendum on peace" is used more and more often. However, from a legal point of view, it is more of a political metaphor than a specific legal instrument," said Mahera.

According to him, this formulation can mean different things: approval of an international treaty, agreement on its individual conditions, general political consultation with citizens or a plebiscite. None of these options is provided for in this form by the current constitutional model.

In his opinion, the issue of international treaties is especially fundamental. The Constitution clearly delimits powers in this area: the President of Ukraine concludes international treaties, and the Verkhovna Rada gives its consent to their binding nature or adopts a decision to denounce an already existing international treaty.

Mahera emphasized that even theoretically, the conclusion of international treaties that contradict the Constitution of Ukraine is possible only after amendments are made to the Basic Law. At the same time, the Constitution itself contains strict safeguards. It cannot be changed if the proposed changes involve restrictions on human rights and freedoms, the elimination of independence, or the violation of the territorial integrity of the state. In addition, the Constitution directly prohibits making changes in conditions of martial law or a state of emergency.

"Therefore, even hypothetically, it is impossible to legalize through a referendum decisions that go beyond the constitutional provisions on sovereignty and territorial integrity. That is why the "referendum on peace" in the legal sense is a fiction - it has no permissible subject," he noted.