CCU Recognized Part Eight of Article 176 of the CPC as Unconstitutional
The Second Senate of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine adopted Decision No. 4-r(II)/2026 in the case of the constitutional complaint of Serhiy Hnezdilov. The Court recognized part eight of Article 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine as unconstitutional and postponed the invalidation of this provision for three months.
The decision states that the mandatory application of the preventive measure in the form of detention for servicemen suspected or accused of committing certain military criminal offenses is inconsistent with the Constitution of Ukraine.
The Constitutional Court concluded that the legislator’s establishment of exclusively the harshest preventive measure — detention — for servicemen suspected or accused of committing a number of crimes violates the requirements of parts one and two of Article 29 of the Basic Law of Ukraine. In particular, this does not ensure the necessity of adopting a reasoned court decision as a result of judicial discretion, which, according to the Court, distorts the essence of justice.
The Court also stated that the contested provision of the Criminal Procedure Code does not comply with Articles 6, 21, parts one and two of Article 24, part one of Article 28, part two of Article 64, and part two of Article 124 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
The reporting judge in the case was Constitutional Court judge Vasyl Lemak.
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