Restriction of passive suffrage: the problems of constitutionality

Actuality of the theme pays attention on the problem of lustration in today’s government. This problem appears due to the requirement of civil society to have radically updated and purified government. The activation ofthis problem caused because of the constitutional uncertainty in sphere of criminal record. The Law fixed the fact that criminal record is a reason of restriction the right to be elected in general elections of the President of Ukraine. This reason becomes practically important in connection with appeal which Central election commission made to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The question of this appeal were official interpreting of the state of article 92, part 1, clause 20, article 103 part 2 and 6 of the Constitution of Ukraine and also article 9, part 2 of the Law «Election of the President of Ukraine». The article shows us the problems of restriction in realization political rights and freedoms, the limits of legislative restrictions in realization passive suffrage. Also, there we analyze the legal position of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the practice of the European Court of human rights in the context of their possible influence on solving this problem. Special attention is paid to criminal record as a criterion for restricting the right to be elected. To sum up, we want to say that establishing additional requirements by Law for the subjects of government is acceptable. They are directed on formation the proper corps of governmental service and public opinion about the credibility of the government and also on its authority and legitimacy in society. Having a criminal record is not compatible with the achievement of these objectives but its domestic formulation and application are unnecessarily wide. That is why it needsgreater differentiation depending of the kind and gravity of the crime.