ON JANUARY 28, A MEETING OF THE INTERREGIONAL WORKING GROUP OF REGIONAL COUNCILS ON JUSTICE REFORM (RCJR) WAS HELD ON THE TOPIC OF “OPTIMIZATION OF THE CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE”. JUDGES, LAWYERS, AND SCHOLARS FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS OF UKRAINE WORKING IN THE FIELD OF CIVIL JUSTICE, TOGETHER WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS FROM THE EU PROJECT “PRAVO-JUSTICE”, IDENTIFIED AND DISCUSSED THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE AND OFFERED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THEIR ELIMINATION.

“Following four years of application of the procedural codes, we can now safely identify what works and what does not work in practice. Our goal is to discuss the problematic aspects of the civil procedure practice in order to develop a common position of the Interregional Working Group of the RRRP on ways to optimize it, address the existing shortcomings, and submit consolidated proposals for possible changes to the legislator ,” said Oksana Tsymbrivska, Chief National Expert of the EU Project “Pravo-Justice”, Justice Sector Policy and Coordination Component.“Active involvement of legal practitioners from the regions and representatives of the RRDC allows us to participate in the development of changes to the procedural codes, and, importantly, to do so on the basis of objective data,” added Erik Svanidze, c. о. Head of the EU Project “Pravo-Justice”. In his introductory speech , Remco Van Rie, international expert of the EU Pravo-Justice Project, shared the latest trends in improving civil procedure in European countries. “The model rules of civil procedure developed by the European Institute of Law should become a guideline for legal reform in various EU member states. They are based on best practices, which we define as activities that lead to fast, high-quality and inexpensive proceedings that are accessible to all legal entities and individuals and are based on the actual circumstances of the case and the proper law. I hope that these rules will be relevant for Ukraine,” Remco Van Ri emphasized. Among the model rules cited were, in particular, the following:

  • The parties, their counsel and the court should cooperate to facilitate a fair, efficient and expeditious resolution of the dispute.
  • The court should facilitate the amicable settlement of the dispute at any stage of the proceedings.
  • The parties and their lawyers should cooperate with the court to facilitate a proportionate dispute resolution process.
  • The parties are obliged to cooperate to avoid unnecessary disputes and costs, to facilitate the prompt resolution of their dispute by mutual agreement and, if such resolution is not possible, to organize further proceedings in a proportionate manner.
  • A meeting to organize the case should be held as early as possible.
  • The regulations are currently being translated into Ukrainian and will soon be available for review.

In his turn, Semen Kravtsov, national expert of the EU Pravo-Justice Project, spoke about the prospects for simplifying civil proceedings and changing the general attitude to the role of the court in the process. He also presented an infographic developed by the Project with general principles on which amendments to all procedural codes should be based. In particular, these principles relate to general principles, case consideration, procedural behavior of participants, digitalization, and appeals. In the next part of the meeting, the members of the RRPC presented and discussed proposals to eliminate procedural problems they face in the regions, starting with the general provisions of the CPC, consideration of cases in the court of first instance, and ending with the review of court decisions and their enforcement. Each participant had the opportunity to express his or her position and to hear the opinion of international expert Remco Van Ri. The discussion was moderated by Roman Chumak, coordinator of the Kharkiv RPRP, attorney, managing partner of the Ares law firm. Among other things, the following problematic issues were highlighted by the RRRP representatives:

  • The need to strengthen the role of the court in civil proceedings to ensure effective judicial proceedings. The need for the court to define a principled basis for its case management activities.
  • Simplification of court procedures for certain categories of disputes.
  • Improving mediation procedures in civil proceedings, introducing mandatory pre-trial mediation.
  • The need to resolve the issue of prosecution for contempt of court and abuse of procedural rights.
  • Risks of unjustified recusal of judges.
  • The alternative of using writ and summary proceedings, which delays the process and overloads judges.
  • Inconsistency of terms for consideration of an application for a court order.
  • Unregulated consequences of filing an application with the court in violation of the rules of jurisdiction.
  • Too long a period of preparatory proceedings in general action proceedings.
  • The amount of the claim price is too high for admission to cassation appeal, which significantly affects the accessibility of the cassation court.
  • Too long timeframes for filing a cassation appeal and deciding whether to open cassation proceedings, and others.

Based on the results of the discussion, a comparative table (current version, proposed changes and the issues they address) will be compiled with consolidated proposals of the RRRP to optimize the Civil Procedure Code. The proposals will be submitted to the working group on optimization of procedural codes under the Legal Policy Committee, which includes three COJ representatives. Additional informationRegionalJustice Reform Councils (RJCs) were established with the support of the EU Project “Pravo-Justice” and operate in Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa regions and Donbas. To date, members of the Councils have been actively involved in the preparation of a draft law on mediation, amendments to the Bankruptcy Code, proposals to improve legislation on enforcement proceedings, the introduction of an electronic court, and discussions on the concept of transitional justice. The RECs act as permanent working groups that promote the implementation of reforms in accordance with the bottom-up principle: by bringing region-specific challenges and their potential solutions to the level of central authorities. One of the forms of the COJR’s activities is the format of interregional working groups to analyze the current state of affairs and develop proposals for reforms in various areas of justice. The previous activities of the interregional working groups resulted in the development of proposals for the Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Judiciary for 2021-2025, a report on mediation in administrative cases, and a report on mediation in civil and commercial cases. The latter have been presented and approved by the Legal Reform Commission under the Presidential Office, the Ministry of Justice, the High Council of Justice, and other central-level politicians.

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