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UKRAINIAN BILLS OF RIGHTS The Ukrainians have several documents resembling the Brit ish and American Bill's of Rights. The English Oharta of 1215 which was the statement of laws and customis for the country, preceded the British Bill of Rights of 1689 declared by the parliament in London Which in turn stated that the king cannot raise money with out consent of-parliament. These British documents have served as basis and example for the Ameri can Bill o*f Rights (tlhe first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1791), and later on for many other countries, but Ukraine had its first Bill of Rights m'any years ,prior to the British act. And while the British Magna Charta of 1215 was wrest ed by the barons from the king John, tlhe Ukrainian Code of Rights, known as “Ruskaya Prav- da” was proclaimed by the Uk rainian sovereign himself 185 years earlier. The Ukrainian Great Prince Yarosflav, the Law giver, o-f Kiev, “issued Ruskaya Pravda” in 1031, it being a codi fication of legal practices in Uk raine of tihat time. Yaroslav tried through it to establish better law and more or der and to reform his courts. These reforms were of great sig nificance since his laws had been in force for many centuries. Es pecially noteworthy are the simi larities between ‘‘Ruskaya Prav- da” and the later Lithuanian Stat ute which was based upon the law of Polotsk, the most autonomous part of the Kingdom of Kiev. The early Ukraine recognized quite in the manner of Christen dom, the trial by tlhe jury assist ant to a representative of the Prince. Like the West, Ukraine did not yet acknowledge either capital punishment, the legal use of torture, the penalty of judicial flogging, or a regular prison sys tem. In the year 1654 Ukraine, a mi litary Republic under Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky, united with Czarist Russia. The.n in tlhe trea ty of Pereyas'lav democratic pri vileges were guaranteed. To men tion only the first one: “Firstly favor us, Thy Czarist Majesty, with the confirmation of our rights and privileges as they were ‘ab antiquo’ in Ukraine, which had its own laws and its privileges. Let no Voyvoda, or Boyar, or Stolnik (Muscovite officials)' in terfere with our property or our Laws. Ukraine must be governed by her own people.” Other articles guaranteed elec tion of Hetm'an, receiving of Am bassadors by him, Ukrainian ar my, privileges of clergy and laity, and collection of taxes. These articles had been con firmed by the Czar Alexis Roma noff on March 27, 1654, and they were on Statute Book of the Rus sian Empire until 1917. More re cently, on January 22, 1918, the Ukrainian Rada (Council) at Kiev proclaimed democratic principles for free Ukraine. A Constituent Assembly was to convene of three hundred elected members. President of the assem bly was also tlhe President of Uk rainian Republic. State sovereignty in Ukraine was reserved for the Ukrainian people and the minority races, and was to be administered by the Ukrainian Parliament. The Cabinet was formed by the President of the Republic, but the confirmation of it depended on the decision of the majority of the Parliament. The chief guardian of the Con stitution of the Ukrainian Repub lic was the S-upreme Court, which was to consist of the judges ap pointed by the Parliament. These fundamental Laws went so far as to recognize the person al autonomy for minorities, so that for instance Jews scatter ed all over Ukraine could form their racial autonomy for cultural purposes. The Ukrainian leaders and au thors, whenever they mentioned political questions, were and are expressing their support for de mocratic freedoms, like those guaranteed in the American Bill of Rights. Of course, they con demned the lack of personal and social freedom in Soviet Union whiclh is oppressing the Ukrain ian people. UKRAINIAN GIRL REIGNS AS EMPRESS OF DETROIT The Empress of Dentoit’s 250th birthday is a green-eyed Ukrain ian brunette who never entered a beauty contest before and did so this time because one of her col lege professors told her to do so. She is Pauline Gugely.k, 20, a Wayne University senior, gor geous, hard working and aston ishingly, a conscientious scholar who stays up until 2 A.M. study ing. She hasn’t decided whether she wants two college degrees or three—psychiatry, sociology, psy chology and was the recipient of a scholarship in 1948 from the Ukrainian graduates of Metropo litan Detroit and Windsor. Her father, Paul, came to De troit from Ukraine 31 years ago. Her mother, Novella, is a native Detroiter of German descent. JUNE KOWALCHUK’S SUCCESS June Kowalch-uk, 23, o-f Regina, Saskatchewan, a lyric soprano, appeared at Massey Hall in Tor onto, where she was awarded first honors and a cash scholarship of $1,000 in the “Singing Star of To morrow” radio program. Recently she appeared as a guest soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
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