In a brief summary of its 9-11 December plenary session, Venice Commission welcomed the news Ukraine appointed two new judges of Constitutional Court.

Many hope the veiled nod of approval from the Venice Commission may help unlock a legal impasse Ukraine was steeped in after Volodymyr Zelensky moved to nominate two new court judges ousting Constitutional Court chief Oleksandr Tupitski and court judge Oleskandr Kasminin in late 2020.

Ukraine’s  Supreme Court overturned Zelensky’s decision casting a doubt on his authority over Tupitsky removal and the case is now pending before  the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

The future of  Zelensky’s picks – Oksana Gryshchyk and Oleksandr Petryshyn – still hangs in the air. He appointed them new Constitutional Court judges in late November but they haven’t been formally sworn in as the rest of the highest court  judges have balked at the move arguing his former fellow judges were removed in a rather questionable way.

Today’s statement from Ukraine’s Constitutional Court announcing the news from the Venice Commission signals the Constitutional Court can swing to approve rejig of its own makeup to cap the bitter feud with the Ukrainian president over its own makeup.