Andrey Strizhak

Date of Birth: 21.11.1947

Andrey Andreyovich Strizhak - Judge of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in retirement, honored lawyer of Ukraine.

Place of Birth. Education. Born in the village of Dubrovka in the Uzhgorod district of Transcarpathia in a peasant family. Graduate of the Kharkiv Law Institute. Doctor of Law.

Career. He began his professional career as a locksmith at Uzhgorod ATP-06012. After military service and graduation from a higher educational institution (in 1971), he became an investigator at the Prosecutor's Office of the Ivanivsky District of Odessa Oblast. He then worked as an assistant prosecutor of Uzhgorod, prosecutor of the investigative department of Zakarpattia Oblast, and senior assistant to the district prosecutor until 1978.

From 1978 to 1988, Strizhak held the position of judge, deputy chairman of the Zakarpatska Oblast Court.

Since 1988 - Judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

Since 1996 - Chairman of the Zakarpatska Oblast Court, Chairman of the Appeal Court of Zakarpatska Oblast.

In December 2004, he was elected to the Constitutional Court as a judge at the VI Congress of Judges of Ukraine. Due to intentional delays by the Verkhovna Rada, which hoped that the Constitutional Court would review the restrictions of the political reform proposed by President Viktor Yushchenko, he took his oath only on August 4, 2006 (along with 13 newly elected colleagues).

From July 2007 to July 2010 - Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. He left his post due to the expiration of the three-year term of the chairman of the Constitutional Court.

Important Turning Point. Strizhak's appointment to the Constitutional Court preceded a series of personnel upheavals at the court that were triggered by a severe conflict between Yushchenko on one side and the Anti-Crisis Parliamentary Coalition and the Cabinet of Viktor Yanukovych on the other, culminating in the premature end of the term of the Verkhovna Rada of the V Congress. Initially, Strizhak's predecessor Ivan Dombrovsky resigned from his position as chairman of the Constitutional Court, which had to examine the constitutionality of two presidential decrees regarding the dissolution of Parliament (from April 2 and 26, 2007). The stated reason for the resignation was political pressure. Then attempts began by Yushchenko to dismiss the deputy chairmen of the Constitutional Court, Susanna Stanik and Valery Pshenychny, as well as Judge Vladimir Ivashchenko (the presidential office regarded their cooperation with the ruling coalition and violation of the oath as problematic). All this was accompanied by mass actions of supporters of the coalition and opposition outside the court walls.

Ultimately, the idea of holding early parliamentary elections prevailed, and the emotions surrounding the Constitutional Court subsided. Given the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine, Strizhak will also face difficult tasks in the future regarding significant and extremely principled issues for various political forces. In addition, Strizhak will need to restore the prestige of the Constitutional Court (certainly with the active participation of some domestic politicians), which has been brought to the brink of disaster by the confidence of society.

On February 22, 2013, Strizhak was relieved of his duties as a judge of the Constitutional Court due to reaching the age of 65.

Honored lawyer of Ukraine. Author of a number of scientific publications on administrative law.

31.10.2023