Former Constitutional Court judge Mykola Kozyubra has passed away.

Ukraine has lost Mykola Kozyubra - a prominent legal expert, scholar, and educator. He was the head of the doctoral program in 'Law' at the National University of 'Kyiv-Mohyla Academy', a member of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in retirement, and a co-author of the Constitution of Ukraine. This was reported by 'Hlavcom' with reference to the Constitutional Court.

Mykola Kozyubra was born on November 28, 1937. He was born in the village of Teterivka, Zhashkiv district, Cherkasy region. He graduated from the law faculty of Kyiv State University named after T. G. Shevchenko. After that, he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR, and then studied in the postgraduate program of the State and Law Sector of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences. He got a job at the Institute of State and Law named after V. M. Koretsky, Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences. He was also a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the head of the department of general theoretical and state-legal sciences at the National University of 'Kyiv-Mohyla Academy'.

Mykola Kozyubra was one of the leading constitutionalists of Ukraine. He participated in the development of the Constitution of 1996 and served as a judge of the Constitutional Court in its first composition. After completing his term, he headed the department of state-legal sciences at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Mykola Kozyubra asserted that the Constitutional Court lost its independence back in 2003 when a group of professor-theorists who did not approve the third term of Kuchma or legitimized the 'tushkovaya' coalition was dismissed. He also pointed to the pressure from authorities on the judges of the Constitutional Court. Mykola Kozyubra did not rule out the possibility that judges could receive bribes for 'necessary' decisions. He also hinted at wiretapping of the judges' advisory meeting room by the special services.

The Time and place of farewell to Mykola Ivanovych Kozyubra will be announced later.