Ukraine continues to adapt its justice system to modern challenges, in particular through the introduction of remote proceedings. This was discussed at the presentation of the analytical report “Remote Hearings in Civil, Commercial and Administrative Proceedings” prepared by the NGO Interregional Expert Center “PRO Justice” with the support of the EU Project Pravo-Justice..

Roman Chumak, co-founder and chairman of the NGO MEC PRO Justice, said that the study aims to identify the most common problems in the implementation of remote justice and provide specific recommendations for their solution. “Today, in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion, ensuring access to justice is a challenge that can be solved through the effective administration of remote hearings. We propose a human-centered approach that takes into account modern technologies and the difficult conditions faced by millions of citizens,” he emphasized.

Olena Fonova judge-speaker of the Economic Court of Luhansk Oblast, co-founder and deputy head of the NGO MEC PRO Justice, added that the research team analyzed about 20,000 court decisions. “We see a significant increase in the number of applications for participation in court hearings via videoconference. This shows that this format is in demand. At the same time, there is a need to regulate technical and legislative aspects,” she said.

Among the key challenges highlighted by the report’s authors:

– technical problems during video conferencing;
– shortcomings of procedural legislation;
– the need to improve the level of training of litigants in the use of electronic means.

The authors also presented a number of legislative initiatives, including draft laws No. 8358, No. 9090, and No. 9091, which provide for the improvement of remote justice mechanisms.

Special attention was paid to the international experience of digitalizing justice. According to Roman Chumak, successful examples of electronic communication in Spain, Estonia, and Latvia can serve as a guide for Ukraine.

At the end of the event, the participants emphasized that remote proceedings are not only a challenge, but also an opportunity to make justice more accessible and secure even in difficult conditions.

The full text of the report is available http://surl.li/rmvgmv

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