Learn about the state stucture of Ukraine

Read the text.

On the 24th of August 1991 Ukraine became independent. It started building the democratic state. Ukraine became a presidential parliamentary republic. Over a short period a new system of state structure was created.

Acording to the Constitution of Ukraine the state power is divided into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The body of the legislative power is the Verkhovna Rada, which consists of 450 deputies.

Each deputy represents an area of the country, that is called a constituency. The elections to the Verkhovna Rada are held every 5 years. Voting is organised in the form of secret ballot and from the age of 18.

The Verkhovna Rada is headed by the Chairman and is responsible for making laws. It has special committees, which discuss and introduce bills for debating at parliamentary sitting. It discusses the questions connected with the State Budget and adopts the Budget of the coming year.

The head of the country is the President who is elected for 5 years. The executive power is headed by him.

The main body of the executive power is the Cabinet of Ministers. It is formed by the Heads of Ministries: Minisry of Economics, Finance, Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Health, Education and Science, Youth and Sports and others. The Head of the Cabinet who is also called the Prime Minister, is appointed by the President but the appointment must be approved by the Verkhovna Rada. The Prime Minister is responsible to the President and the Verkhovna Rada.

The judicial power is represented by the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, nominated by the Verkhovna Rada. There are also local and regional courts. The people have opportunity to directly participate in the realization of justice through people’s assessors and jurors. The Courts watch over the executive and legislative powers. The Constitutional Court has the right to declare laws and actions of the government unconstitutional.

Speak about the state structure of Ukraine.

Do the tasks.

Task 1. Find the word that does not go with the others in meaning.

judicial, executive, compulsory, legislative
power, authority, justice, amendment
language, deputy, vote, elections
federation, monarchy, republic, establishment
equality, rights, proclaim, duties
government, court, judge, law

Task 2. Match the questions with the answers.

When was the Constitution of Ukraine adopted?
What is the Cabinet of Ministers in our country?
What kind of state is Ukraine?
Can every citizen of Ukraine be elected President?
What are the main obligations of Ukrainian citizens?
Is the use of languages of national minorities guaranteed by the Constitution?

a. It is a sovereign, democratic republic.

b. Yes, by the Article 10 of the Constitution.

c. On the twenty-eighth of June, 1996.

d. Defence of their Motherland, respect for the state symbols, paying taxes.

e. No, he must be a citizen of Ukraine, and must be at least 21 years old.

f. It’s the highest body of the executive power.

Task 3. Fill in the gaps with the words below. There are two extra words in the list.

ambassadors, consists, adopted, published, independence, emblem, blue, yellow, anthem, liberation, colours, contemporary, trident, document

The National symbols of Ukraine: the National Flag, ___1___ and ___2___ were adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in 1992. The Ukrainian flag ___3___ consists of horizontal stripes. The top is ___4___. And the bottom is ___5___. These ___6___ of the sky, the rivers, and the golden fields were symbols of Kyivan Rus long before the introduction of Christianity.

The ___7___ national emblem of Ukraine is the Trident. The first image of a ___8___ appeared in the ninth century A.D. when Ihor, Prince of Kyivan Rus, sent ___9___ to sign a treaty with the Byzantine Emperor and they sealed the ___10___ with a trident.

The Anthem of Ukraine is of quite recent origin. The poem of the scientist and poet Pavlo Chubinskyi was ___11___ in 1863 by the Lviv journal “Meta”, and in the same year it was set to music by the Galician composer Mykhailo Verbitskyi. In 1917 the song was officially ___12___ as the anthem of the Ukrainian state.