Litigation Lawyers in Ukraine

What are the types of Courts in Ukraine?

The Court System in Ukraine

The Ukrainian judicial system is formed by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, High Courts, Appeal Courts and First Instance Courts. Our litigation lawyers in Ukraine can offer more details.

What are the responsibilities of the Courts in Ukraine?

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine was established in 1996 and it’s formed by 18 judges for a period of 9 years. The judges are appointed by the president, the parliament and the congress of judges. The cases are usually submitted by the President, the Supreme Court, at least 45 Members of Parliament, the Ombudsman, and the Crimean legislature. The main responsibility of the Constitutional Court is verifying if the laws and decrees issued by the Parliament, President, Cabinet or Crimean Parliament are according to the Constitution of Ukraine.

Supreme Court and First Instance Courts

The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest judicial instance Ukraine. It consists of the Grand Chamber and 4 cassation courts: the Cassation Civil Court, the Cassation Administrative Court, the Cassation Criminal Court and the Cassation Commercial Court.

The High Anti-Corruption Court hears top-level corruption cases (the High Specialized Court for Civil and Criminal Cases was liquidated in the 2016–2017 judicial reform).

Administrative cases are heard by district administrative courts and administrative courts of appeal (the High Administrative Court of Ukraine was liquidated).

Commercial cases are heard by commercial courts and commercial courts of appeal (the High Commercial Court of Ukraine was liquidated).

The Ukrainian first instance courts are formed by the district courts (hear criminal and civil cases involving private persons), commercial courts (when a legal entity or state institutions are involved), district administrative courts.

The Courts of Appeal (involving criminal and civil jurisdiction) may be regional courts of appeal, court of appeal of the capital of Autonomous Republic of Crimea, courts of appeal of the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol, commercial courts of appeal, administrative courts of appeal. The courts of appeal are responsible for hearing cases already judged in the first instance courts. Their decision is permanent and can be appealed only at the Supreme Court.

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What are the responsibilities of the Arbitration Court in Ukraine?

The law which governs the arbitration in Ukraine is the Law of Ukraine “On International Commercial Arbitration” (for domestic disputes, the Law “On Arbitration Courts”).

Arbitration in Ukraine

An arbitration court consists in three members, unless otherwise agreed by the parties in the arbitration agreements. The chair of the arbitration court is the member which received the vote from the other two members. The rights and attributions of the arbitration court members are stipulated in the arbitration agreement. The arbitral tribunal must follow the laws chosen by the parties involved in the trial. The national courts are not allowed to intervene in arbitral proceedings with certain exceptions prescribed by these laws.

The following matters cannot be presented in front of an arbitration court: any trials of exclusive jurisdiction of state courts, trials regarding the invalidation of acts, matters provided by actions of commercial contracts related to state needs, trials related to the registration or liquidation of foreign companies or non-profits organizations, or a legal entity in Ukraine, cases referring to the  validity of information in Ukrainian state registries and other cases where Ukrainian law provides that state courts must be involved.

Any other dispute may be presented in front of the arbitration court, if an arbitration agreement was signed by the parties involved.

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How long does Litigation in Ukraine take?

A litigation in Ukraine may take several years if appeals are made on the initial decision and if the process is a complex one.