Legal news in Ukraine: qualification assessment for local courts and IP court, fines for the use of police symbols, competition for lawyers of the free legal aid, remuneration for private performers, draft law on collecting court fees from the defendant

Qualification Examination for Local Courts and IP Courts

Qualifying examinations were held within the framework of the competition to local courts from October 29 to October 31, 2018. 876 candidates were admitted to the examinations.

The exam consisted of anonymous written testing, the results of which is checked by the computer, as well as the practical task of writing a draft court decision. Future judges compiled it according to the chosen specialization: local general courts, local administrative courts, local economic courts, and, if desired, several specializations.

Another 373 candidates from the number of persons who have not worked as an assistant judge for at least three years continue to receive special training at the National School of Judges of Ukraine.

In addition, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine has published the general results of the examination within the framework of the competition to the High Court on Intellectual Property.

In total, 210 candidates were admitted to the competition. The exam was written by 148 candidates. 63 candidates made it successful. They will be interviewed.

It should be noted, the reception of documents from the candidates to the 9 vacancies of the Appeals Chamber of the IP-court began. It will last until November 16th.

The Law on fines for illegal use of national police symbols has come into force

On November 2, 2018, the Law of Ukraine No. 2584-VIII «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine regarding the Use of Names and Attributes of the National Police of Ukraine» came into force.

According to the law, the signs of belonging to the police are police symbols, police uniforms, special ranks, departmental awards, a special badge and a police officer certificate.

The use of the police name or its derivatives, including those set out in a foreign language, attributes to the police is carried out solely by the police, and in other cases, by the decision of the police head.

Six months after the entry into force of this law, in May 2019, fines will be imposed for the illegal use of the National Police's symbolism.

The Law supplements the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses by Article 184-3 "Illegal use of the name and attributes of belonging to the National Police of Ukraine". It has been determined that the illegal use by a physical person of the attributes of belonging to the National Police of Ukraine or the illegal use by an individual on a vehicle of the name of the National Police of Ukraine or derivatives from him, including those set out in a foreign language, entail a fine.

Amendments to the procedure for the selection of lawyers of free legal aid were made

The Government has improved the procedure for conducting a competition for the selection of lawyers involved in the provision of free secondary legal aid. This is stipulated by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated October 31, 2018, No. 898.

In particular, the rules on mandatory certification by a lawyer of documents’ copies submitted for the competition are excluded from the order.

It is envisaged that the personal composition of the competition commission shall be approved by the relevant chief territorial department of justice in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regions, Kiev and Sevastopol on the proposal of the director of the relevant regional center or person performing his duties.

In addition, the norm was ruled out that during the contest may be present observers from foreign states and international organizations.

The amendments stipulate that for the competition are allowed only lawyers, whose information is included in the Unified Register of Advocates of Ukraine. The Legal Aid Coordination Center should check this data. If they meet the requirements, the lawyer shall be invited to complete the distance. The lawyer will receive an e-mail with a link to the address of the web page of such course, login and password, date and time of opening access to the course. In case of non-compliance of documents with the requirements or lack of information about the lawyer to the Register, the Coordinating Center informs the lawyer within 3 days.

At the same time, the lawyer may re-enter the registration procedure for participation in the contest – before the expiration of the relevant term.

It is worth mentioning that the of Ukraine National Bar Association expressed concern over ignoring the use of Register. The Association has appealed to the Council of Judges and the Prosecutor's Council on the need for the use of the Register, especially in criminal proceedings.

The government clarified the procedure for payment of remuneration to public and private

The Government has amended the procedure for compensation of state performers and the size of the basic remuneration of a private performer. This is stipulated by the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated October 31, 2018, No. 909.

The Resolution provides that in the case of execution of an executive document of a property nature, the state executors will get 2% of the sum collected or the value of the debtor's property, and 0.5% – the head of the state executive service body and his deputies, who are directly subordinated to the state executor. In this case, maintenance must not be paid for more than 12 months.

In a similar case, a private payer will receive a basic remuneration amounting to 10% of the amount of the debt in accordance with the procedure established by the Law of Ukraine «On bodies and persons executing compulsory execution of court decisions and decisions of other bodies».

If a private executor has ensured the performance of an executive document of a non-property nature, for which the debtor is an individual, he receives the basic remuneration in the amount of 4 sizes of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, and if the debtor is a legal entity, - in the amount of 8 sizes of the subsistence minimum.

The indicated Order is brought in accordance with the Law of Ukraine No. 2475-VIII «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine regarding the Establishment of Economic Preconditions for Strengthening the Protection of the Right of the Child to Proper Maintenance».

The government has filed a bill on collecting court fees from the defendant

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine introduced to the Verkhovna Rada a draft Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to Article 139 of the Code of Administrative Legal Proceedings of Ukraine».

The bill amends the second and third parts of Article 139 of the Code, which provides for the return of the plaintiff to the court fee (or its proportional part) in case of satisfaction of the court by the claim or part thereof irrespective of the status of the plaintiff (authority, economic entity, individual, etc.).

Thus, it is proposed that, upon satisfaction of the claim of the subject of authority, the respondent shall be charged with the legal expenses of the subject of authority «for payment of court fees, as well as related to the involvement of witnesses and the conduct of expert examinations».

In case of partial satisfaction of a claim, court costs are charged on both sides in proportion to the amount of satisfied claims. In this case, the court does not include in the court costs, which are subject to distribution between the parties, the expenses of the subject of power for lawyer assistance lawyer.

At the same time, the draft law does not apply to persons who have privileges to pay court fees in accordance with Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine «On court fee».

At the same time, it should be recalled that the drafters of the bill did not apply to the Secretariat of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights in order to analyze the possible deterioration of the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens as a result of its adoption.

The Commissioner believes that the introduction of a new procedure for the distribution of court costs does not correspond to the task of administrative legal proceedings to protect individuals from the arbitrariness of state authorities and violates its principles.