All projects that were heavily funded by European donors before the war failed.
The war finally showed that many court proceedings and processes do not correspond to modern realities. Ukraine needs to quickly create an electronic court, said in an interview with ZN.UA the chairman of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Knyazev, with whom Inna Vedernikova spoke.
“The first signals that many procedural rules need to be changed and simplified, of course, gave the code. Well, the war finally pointed the way. This applies to the use of information technology in litigation. The issue, which has long been resolved in most developed countries of Europe and the world, is in its infancy. For the past four years, the e-court has not been set up by the relevant services. As a result, we find ourselves in a situation where it is physically impossible to get to court, and there is, in fact, no electronic court, “Knyazev said.
According to him, the Supreme Court has already drafted an interim bill in this regard, which allows cases to be heard remotely.
Speaking about the services responsible for the failure to implement the e-court system, Knyazev noted that these are specific units of the State Judicial Administration. The President of the Supreme Court added that despite the huge amount of money – hundreds of millions of hryvnias allocated for the entire previous period – the state has not been able to move even ten percent in this direction.
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At the same time, there were developments, and some elements of the e-court system were even tested in 2018. However, Knyazev did not want to comment on the pre-war situation regarding the launch of such a court.
“I will not comment on the pre-war period, but on the present, we are now very active in cooperating with our Polish colleagues, who have recently switched to the format of e-court. Their judicial system is very similar to ours. So now we are working out a methodology with them. The issue of financial security is difficult. I am currently negotiating with a number of international organizations, including the EBRD, on this issue, “Knyazev said.
At the same time, he added that it is difficult to say how much money the West should invest. This will be clear when Ukraine amends the codes accordingly. Knyazev noted that the question is how deep we will decide to go into the e-court system. Or it will be rather fragmentary, with cases of a certain category. Or all cases will be considered electronically. Or only in those areas where hostilities are taking place. According to Knyazev, there is constant communication with the chairmen of parliamentary committees on this issue.
The chairman of the Supreme Court added that he did not yet agree on a parliamentary mono-majority and a committee on the bill. And there is currently no support from the Verkhovna Rada for the introduction of remote consideration of cases.
“Promising and positive in all respects (including anti-corruption) is full automation, as in developed countries. But there are already completely different issues. While we are arguing over how to scan documents in the office, they have given first instance cases to artificial intelligence. In parallel, answering the moral question of whether a person has the right to have his case reviewed by a person. Do you understand the size of the abyss? Compared to these countries, we are just at zero point, “said the President of the Supreme Court.
However, he noted that it is possible to set a strategic goal now and start moving in small steps. Give standard cases (alimony and minor offenses, for example) to a computer with the subsequent right to turn to a judge in case of disagreement, gradually reducing the cost of huge human and financial resources.
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Knyazev also noted that the departure of the authorities, including courts, is a demotivating signal for citizens , which indicates that you need to give up . He added that it is very difficult to predict which court may be in the occupation and need to be evacuated.
