Constitution Day (Ukraine)

Constitution Day День Конституції
Stamp of Ukraine commemorating the holiday
Observed by	Ukraine
Type	National
Significance	The anniversary of the signing of the Ukrainian constitution of 1996
Celebrations	Speeches by politicians
Date	28 June
Next time	28 June 2016
Frequency	annual

Constitution Day (Ukrainian: День Конституції) is an Ukrainian public holiday celebrated on 28 June since 1996.^[1][2] It commemorates the anniversary of the approval by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) of the Constitution of Ukraine on 28 June 1996.^[2][3]

Most Ukrainian do not see it as a holiday, but as an ordinary day off; about 10% even thinks it should be a working day (12% in 2008; this number had shrunk from 14% in 2003).^[4] Only in Western Ukraine the holiday is among the list of most respected holidays in Ukraine.^[5]

Soviet Constitution day (7 October) was never observed in the Ukrainian SSR (the predecessor of modern Ukraine).^[6]

References

1. Yulia Tymoshenko Goes On Trial A Day Before Constitution Day, Eurasia Daily Monitor (30 July 2011)
2. 1996: THE YEAR IN REVIEW, The Ukrainian Weekly (29 December 1996)
3. Ukraine marks Constitution Day, Ukrinform (28 June 2014)
4. (Ukrainian) Як Ви ставитеся до Дня Конституції України? (динаміка, 2003-2008) How do you feel about the Constitution Day of Ukraine? (Recurrent, 2003-2008), Razumkov Centre (27 June 2008)
   Більше половини українців не вважають День Конституції святом More than half do not consider Ukrainian Constitution Day holiday, Razumkov Centre (27 June 2008)
5. (Ukrainian) Травневі свята найменше люблять на Заході України - опитування May holidays like least in Western Ukraine - poll, Gazeta.ua (30 April 2010)
6. The Ukrainian Resurgence by Bohdan Nahaylo, University of Toronto Press, 1999, ISBN 0802079776 (page 402)

External links

• Ukraine celebrates national holiday – the Constitution Day, small explanation of the day and the Constitution of Ukraine by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry (28 June 2014)