A Judgement not Enforced Is not Only Needless, but Also Discrediting both the Courts and the State as a Whole - B. Lvov

On July 29, 2021, the Directorate of Justice and Criminal Jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine presented the Monitoring Report based on the results of the analysis of moratoriums that complicate enforcement of judgements and application of bankruptcy procedures.

In his welcoming speech, Vice-President of the Supreme Court, President of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court, Bohdan Lvov stressed the importance of the event and thanked the organizers for the large-scale work, and the EU Project Pravo-Justice – for many years of fruitful cooperation and constant support of positive initiatives.

The speaker noted that the non-implementation of court decisions for years had been a problem only for the courts and part of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine which represented the interests of the state before the European Court of Human Rights. The problem is that a judgment which is not enforced is not only needless, but also discrediting both the courts and the state as a whole.

There are currently 13 moratoriums in Ukraine in the sphere of enforcement of judgements and 11 in bankruptcy procedures. This is actually an opportunity legitimized by law for a debtor not to fulfill all or part of his/her obligations. According to the speaker, those under the moratorium are to some extent in comfortable conditions, because the result is already predictable. "Such an important tool tempts the state to use it to achieve a quick result. However, it should only be used as a surgical scalpel, not a blacksmith's hammer. But if it is ever necessary to use it, then only for the intended purpose and for a very limited time, so as not to destroy economic relations in the country," Bohdan Lvov is convinced.

The head of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court noted that the monitoring showed the existence of moratoriums for decades, so the researchers should compare the goal that had been declared 15-17 years before with the results that we had at the present moment. At the same time, Bohdan Lvov said that the question of whether the application of the moratorium corresponded to the declared goal and how measures related to the implementation and maintenance of the moratorium affected the economy, relations between enterprises, and investment attractiveness had never been investigated before. According to him, even now in the Supreme Court there are at least two appeals from the courts to the effect that the moratoriums were declared unconstitutional during the consideration of certain court cases. According to the current legislation, the courts applied to the Supreme Court with a request to consider addressing the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the moratorium issue.

The speaker noted the importance of the Report, as it was intended to define further state policy in that direction. In addition, the state for the first time raised this issue at the level of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. “This is a very important first step, and although it will not be easy in the face of budget deficits, it is important, relevant and better than any declaration since it is an indication of the state’s intention to build a civilized market. Even if there are criticisms, they will only contribute to the achievement of the ultimate goal – the improvement of the economic situation, the judicial sphere and the image of our state in the international arena", emphasized Bohdan Lvov.

The Monitoring Report on moratoriums that complicate the enforcement of judgements and the application of bankruptcy procedures can be found on the official website of the Ministry of Justice under the heading “Structure” / “Central Office of the Ministry” / “Structural Units of the Ministry” / “Directorate of Justice and Criminal Jurisdiction” / "Monitoring the Implementation and Analysis of the Effectiveness of Regulatory Legal Acts") by the link - https://minjust.gov.ua/uk/m/monitoring-vprovadjennya-ta-analiz-efektivnosti-npa.