The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996.

[5] In February 2019 the constitution was amended to require governments to seek European Union and NATO membership.

It was signed almost immediately in the parliamentary chamber by the outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and promulgated on the same day.

[10] If no coalition in parliament could be formed to appoint a Prime Minister, the President would have no choice but to call new parliamentary elections.

[11] The 2004 constitutional amendments were passed in the Parliament only with limited consultation and discussion between political forces, in the context of the Orange Revolution.

They therefore attracted criticism from several internal (Ukrainian political parties) and external bodies (the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the Venice Commission).

The Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner received several reports alleging that the resignation of four judges in the run-up to the decision occurred as a result of extensive pressure by the executive.

[20] According to Radio Free Europe, the measure was not signed by the then-President Viktor Yanukovych, who was subsequently removed from office.

[21] The reinstatement of these amendments was adopted according to the 2014 Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine.

On 7 February 2019, the Verkhovna Rada voted 334 to 17 to amend the constitution to state Ukraine's strategic objectives as joining the European Union and NATO.