(17 May 2007)
File - 19 April 2007
1. Wide exterior of Constitutional Court building
2. Mid shot of judges, Ivan Dombrovsky, chief judge of Ukraine's Constitutional Court, on right
File - 10 May 2007
3. Wide top shot of Constitutional Court hall
4. Cameraman
5. Various shots of Dombrovsky speaking in news conference
6. Dombrovsky leaving news conference
7. Exterior of Constitutional Court building
STORYLINE:
The chief judge of Ukraine's Constitutional Court resigned on Thursday amid deliberations on the constitutionality of President Victor Yushchenko's decree to dissolve parliament and call early elections.
Court spokesman Ivan Avramov said Ivan Dombrovsky asked to resign and the court accepted the request.
He did not state the reason for Dombrovsky's request.
The court is deliberating on Yushchenko's April 2 decree to dissolve parliament and call snap elections for May 27.
Yushchenko later withdrew the decree and issued another one that still dissolved parliament but called for new elections on a different date.
After Yushchenko issued the second decree, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who had resisted Yushchenko's orders, agreed to early elections on an unspecified date.
Yushchenko issued the order to dissolve parliament after accusing Yanukovych and his majority coalition of trying to usurp power.
The court appointed Valery Pshenichny to replace Dombrovsky as chief judge.
He is one of three judges that Yushchenko had fired earlier this month, accusing them of violating their oaths.
Pshenichny and another of the fired judges challenged their dismissals in court.
A regional court this week suspended the president's order and restored the judges' jobs, but an appeals court cancelled that ruling.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
