Procedural document must be signed by a person after the main text of this document or information on its annexes (if any) - SC GC

The graphic display of the signature, located, in particular, in the upper left corner of the first page before the text of the document, and not at the end of the document after the text is presented, cannot be considered as a proper fulfilment of the requirements of the procedural law regarding the signing of a procedural document.

This conclusion was made by the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.

In the case at hand, the applicant filed a lawsuit against the police department for compensation for non-pecuniary damage caused by the unlawful actions of police officers.

The first instance court ruled that the claim was returned to the applicant.

By decision of the court of appeal, the appeal against the decision of the court of first instance was returned to the applicant, as the signature in the appeal was not placed under the text of the appeal, but in the upper left corner of the first page, before the text of the appeal.

After examining the case, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court stated that the signature should be placed after the main text of the document in order to confirm the valid expression of the person's will and agreement with its contents.

This is because the signature identifies the author and confirms that the person signing is familiar with the document and agrees with its contents. In a legal sense, a signature is a confirmation of a certain action, agreement or obligation and gives the document legal force.

Signing a document before its text, which is due to the applicant's solely unmotivated personal desire, as well as signing a procedural document in any other place, but not at the end of it, and giving such a document legal force (signed status) would not be consistent with the task of civil proceedings, as it would raise doubts about its legal consequences and the true intentions of the author of such an appeal.

Article 356 of the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine, which regulates the form and content of an appeal, provides for a certain sequence of legislative provisions. Only after determining the entire scope of mandatory information referred to in part 2 of Article 356 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, the legislator indicates that the appeal must be signed by the person filing it or by a representative of such person.

Thus, the proper fulfilment of the requirements of the procedural law regarding the signing of a written document is to sign after the main text of the document or information about its annexes (if any), which will indicate the author's actual approval of the document and make it impossible to distort its content. Such an approach will prevent the applicant from abusing his procedural rights to challenge the legal force of the document (signing or not signing it), and will also eliminate doubts among other participants in the relevant legal relations regarding the legal consequences of filing such a document.

In the present case, the cassation appeal filed on behalf of the plaintiff contained a graphic representation of the signature located in the upper left corner of the first page before the text of the said appeal, but was not signed by the plaintiff after the text of the appeal. The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled to close the cassation proceedings in this case due to the fact that the cassation appeal was not signed by the person who filed it.

Ruling of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 11 September 2024 in case No. 930/191/23 (proceedings No. 14-72цс24) - https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/122061994.

This and other legal opinions of the Supreme Court are available in the Database of Legal Positions of the Supreme Court - https://lpd.court.gov.ua.