All 18 judges are present at the court session, despite some of them earlier refusing to study the decree, citing pressure. The court session had been repeatedly postponed until the judges were provided with bodyguards. A ruling requires 12 votes.
Both President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych have said they are ready to abide by the court decision whatever it is. Yushchenko told journalists Monday he would not backtrack on his decree but admitted there was a possibility of delaying elections.
Yushchenko signed the decree to dissolve the Supreme Rada April 2 after 11 opposition members defected to the ruling coalition. The parliament and government dominated by the prime minister refused to obey the order and referred it to the Constitutional Court.
The court will discuss the issue on the day when both the president and prime minister will be in Europe. Yushchenko will travel to Brussels to meet with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pottering, to discuss the domestic situation.
Yanukovych will go to Strasbourg to address a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
