The Constitutional Court of Ukraine adopted a decision on the norm on deductions for breach of contract with a higher education institution

On March 11, 2026, the First Senate considered the case at a plenary session and adopted Decision No. 2-p(I)/2026 on the constitutional complaint of Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Paderin regarding the compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine (constitutionality) of Clause 5 of Part One of Article 46 of the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education” dated July 1, 2014 No. 1556-VII (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 1556).

According to paragraph 5 of part one of Article 46 of Law No. 1556, one of the grounds for expelling a higher education student is “violation of the terms of the agreement (contract) concluded between the higher education institution and the person studying, or the individual (legal entity) paying for such education.”

According to the author of the petition, the application of the contested provision of Law No. 1556 in his case led to a violation of the right “not to be held liable for an act not recognized by law as an offense” guaranteed by Part Two of Article 58 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Having examined the constitutional submission and the materials attached to it, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine adopted a Decision, by which it recognized as constitutional paragraph 5 of part one of Article 46 of Law No. 1556,

however, he pointed out that the Kyiv Court of Appeal in its resolution of October 3, 2023 in the case of Paderin V.O. incorrectly classified the liability applied to him as disciplinary and, accordingly, incorrectly assessed the grounds for deduction provided for in paragraph 5 of part one of Article 46 of Law No. 1556.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine concluded that “the liability in the form of deduction for violation of the terms of an agreement (contract) provided for in paragraph 5 of part one of Article 46 of Law No. 1556 is related to the failure to fulfill civil legal obligations arising from the conclusion of an agreement (contract).”

In addition, the Court indicated that “the legislator may detail the procedure for implementing the constitutional right to higher education also in the manner of determining the requirements for the implementation of the educational program and individual curriculum, including compliance with the rules of academic integrity, however, the detailing of such a procedure may not seek to excessively expand the aforementioned requirements, not conditioned by the goal of achieving the learning outcomes determined for the relevant level of higher education, since this may be used as a basis for expelling the student.”

The decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is binding, final and cannot be appealed.