“These are the courts that play a crucial role in the laws implementation” – Valentyna Danishevska

That was said by Valentyna Danishevska, President of the Supreme Court in her welcoming speech at the online Round Table "The right to a fair trial and measures to ensure the protection of corporate rights", organized to mark the 30th anniversary of the system of commercial (arbitration) courts of Ukraine. The event, which took place on 12 March 2021, was organized by the Supreme Court and the Council of Europe project “Further support for the execution by Ukraine of judgments in respect of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights”

Valentyna Danishevska congratulated the judges on the anniversary and said that this Round Table was the first in a series of events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of commercial (arbitration) courts in Ukraine. According to the President of the Supreme Court, the forthcoming events will be dealing with the protection of property rights and intellectual property rights, bankruptcy and other important issues.

The President of the SC pointed out that there had been significant changes in procedural and substantive corporate law in recent years. The entering into force of the new wording of the Code of Commercial Procedure of Ukraine at the end of 2017 was an important innovation, particularly, amending of the indications of commercial cases.

The most important novelty of substantive corporate law was the entry into force on 17 June 2018 of the Law of Ukraine "On Limited Liability and Additional Liability Companies". This law significantly changed the corporate law applicable to the most common form of entrepreneurial company – the limited liability companies.

Valentyna Danishevska said that the usual result of the laws amending, especially of the large-scale ones, was the need for its interpretation by the courts and its application in the case law. As she underlined, “Since the law operates in the way it is applied, these are the courts that play a crucial role in the proper implementation of the legislation”.

The Vice-President of the SC, President of the Commercial Cassation Court Bohdan Lvov said that commercial (arbitration) courts in Ukraine had a history of more than 200 years. According to him, the today’s world tends to create specialized courts dealing with the issues of bankruptcy, intellectual property, trade and finance etc. The commercial courts in Ukraine cover all these specializations.

He also expressed hope that domestic laws would be progressing in line with the world tendencies jointly with the Ukrainian economy development.

According to Bohdan Lvov, all the most acute issues in the practice of using efficient legislation will be raised at this Round Table and at the previewed events to seek possible ways to solve the problems. He wished the participants of the event fruitful work and further implementation of the learned lessons.

On behalf of the Council of Europe, Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, thanked Valentyna Danishevska and Bohdan Lvov for organizing this event as well as the Supreme Court for fruitful cooperation with all the CoE’s projects.

“Today's event deals with a very important procedural right, guaranteed by Article 6 of the Convention, that is the right to a fair trial. That very right enshrines the rule of law, on which a democratic society is built and the judiciary’s key role in the administration of justice is based”, said a speaker.

She said that the CoE project "Further support for the execution by Ukraine of judgments in respect of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights” helped Ukraine in providing accessible and effective justice through the execution of the ECtHR’s judgments in which violation of the right to a fair trial are established. "We are fruitfully cooperating with the Supreme Court within the framework of this Project on improvement of access to justice, strengthening judicial independence, as well as on solving the long-term and structural problems with the purpose to harmonize Ukrainian case law in line with the European standards of fair trial," said Olena Lytvynenko.

Acting Secretary of the Judicial Chamber for Cases on Corporate Disputes, Equity Rights and Securities of the Supreme Court, Volodymyr Studenets said that significant steps had been taken recently in Ukraine to reform corporate laws with the aim to approximate it to the European laws and today’s business environment.

He focused on importance of timing, quality and predictability of court decisions. The Supreme Court is entrusted with ensuring consistency and coherence of disputes resolution, including the corporate ones.

The speaker noted that, apart from resolving corporate and other disputes, the Chamber for Cases on Corporate Disputes, Equity Rights and Securities of the Supreme Court had to study and summarize the case law. The outcomes of these activities take the forms of reports or reviews of legal positions, and also presentations, which are revealed on the SC’s information resources.