Bogdan Vrublevskiy, lawyer
Regardless of declared martial law status, according to the Law of Ukraine “On the Martial law status” courts of Ukraine are obliged to administrate justice based on the law of Ukraine and international treaties. Thus, openness of court proceedings is recognized as one of the main principles of justice. This principle means that no one can be restricted from obtaining in court information (verbally or in writing) with respect to re results of court consideration of his case.
The courts adhere this principle in regions not being the high-intensity battlefield and not being under occupation. Parties to the court proceedings continue to receive court notices on the date of court hearings as well as copies of court decisions via mail at their registered addresses.
At that, the question is how court documents may be received by internally transferred persons not staying at their registered addresses?
The Law of Ukraine “On amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Juridical system and the status of judges” regarding administration of justice during martial law status or state of emergency” adopted by the Verkhovna Rada and submitted for the President’s signature, is to govern this issue.
Upon the amendments to the law enter into force, it will become available to send notices regarding information on the court, which is considering the case, parties to the court proceedings and the matter of the dispute, as well as on the place, date and time of court hearings via Unified State Web-Portal of Electronic Services (including via mobile app “Diya”).
Moreover, the party to the case will have the right to receive court decisions and enforcement orders in electronic form via “Diya”.
Initially, the changes in format of administration of justice began back in 2020, when quarantine measures were introduced in the territory of Ukraine due to pandemic COVID-19.
The system of notification for the parties to the court proceedings have been efficiently working since then.
The following means of duly notification of the parties to the case are defined by the Ukrainian legislation so far:
At the same time, according to the authors of amendments to the law, described here-above, notification of the party to the case via “Diya” will not be equal to the official court notice. It is aimed to ensure the better way of notification so that the party to the case is able to undertake needed measures to protect his rights and legal interests.
Non-official status of notice via “Diya” makes it to be an additional way of notification of the parties to court proceedings. Hence, such a notice will have no legal effect.
Therefore, the court is still obliged to notify the party to the case by official means of notification listed here-above. The notices being sent via “Diya” will be used as an additional way of notification.
It is also suggested that meetings of the judges are allowed to be held remotely via video-conferences.
Such an idea is not really new in the field of justice. It has been some time of using service EasyCon, which makes available participation in the court hearings via video-conference without visiting the court office.
In addition, taking advantage of video-conferences for holding meetings of judges will be instrumental for due consideration of current issues of court work in full compliance with security measures.
The amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Juridical system and the status of judges” were anticipated by public since for the latest few years web-portal of electronic services “Diya” has been developing and integrating in all spheres of life in Ukraine extremely fast.
Ultimately, adaptation of the legislation to the present-day realities provides the possibility to ensure not only access to information of the status of court case, but also to maintain security measures during the court proceedings.