Two draft laws have been registered in the Ukrainian parliament to ensure the proper functioning of the judiciary during martial law or state of emergency in Ukraine:
- Draft Law “On Amending the Law of Ukraine 'On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges' in relation to Carrying Out Judiciary Functions during the Martial Law or the State of Emergency” (Law No. 7315); and
- Draft Law “On Amending the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Proceedings, the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, and the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine (in relation to Carrying Out Judiciary Functions during the State of Martial Law or the State of Emergency)” (Law No. 7316).
If adopted, Law No. 7315 will allow parties in a case to access the details of case information (e.g. the competent court, case subject matter, parties to the dispute, place, date, and time of a hearing) and obtain court decisions and writs of execution in electronic format via the Diia Portal.
Law No. 7316 will simplify procedural rules of administrative, civil and commercial court proceedings for a period of martial law or state of emergency. Those amendments will include the following:
- Notification requirements: In case it is impossible to notify or summon participants by regular means, a court will be entitled to notify or summon them by other means (e.g. mobile messages, messengers, emails, etc.) and by announcements over the official Ukrainian judiciary web portal. A participant, who receives such a notification/subpoena, will have to immediately inform the court of its receipt by the same means of communication.
- Terms of preliminary proceeding: The court will initiate a preliminary proceeding not later than 30 days after establishing the details of the parties’ notification of the case consideration and their ability to participate in the case. The preliminary proceeding shall be carried out within reasonable terms considering the participants’ ability to take part in the case.
- Terms of proceeding on merits: The court will initiate a proceeding on merits not later than 60 days after having established the details of the parties’ notification of the case consideration and their ability to participate in the case. The proceeding on merits shall be carried out within reasonable terms considering the participants’ ability to take part in the case.
- The case hearing: A court can consider a case without the participants’ presence based on the available case materials under the rules of the written procedure unless a party submits a motion to participate in a hearing via video conference or in-person.
- Serving the court decision: In case it is impossible to serve a court’s decisions to the parties by regular means, the parties will be informed about the decision through announcements on the official web portal of the Ukrainian judiciary.
- Appeal proceeding: The appeal courts will consider all appeals to the trial courts’ rulings under the rules of the written procedure without the participants’ notification.
- Cassation proceeding: The cassation courts will consider all commercial and administrative cases under the rules of written procedure based on the available materials in the case.
- Renewal of procedural terms: The court shall renew the procedural terms upon a motion of the concerned person, provided that the grounds for missing deadlines are well-justified and result from martial law or the state of emergency restrictions.
The above rules will apply both to the pending proceedings and proceedings initiated after the introduction of martial law or the state of emergency.
Both laws are yet to be adopted by the Ukrainian parliament and will come into force once signed by the President of Ukraine and officially published.
