The court of appeal has the right to suspend proceedings in the case of review of a court decision in similar legal relations (in another case) in cassation (para. 7, part 1, Art. 228 of the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine) - SC GC

Restrictions on the list of grounds on which the court has the right or obligation to suspend the proceedings at the stage of consideration of the case on the merits (Part 3 of Article 195 of the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine, Part 3 of Article 210 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine and Part 3 of Article 193 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine) are applicable only in the case of consideration of the case in the general action proceedings by the court of first instance and do not apply to the appeal and cassation proceedings of cases considered in a simplified manner.

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

In the case at hand, the court of appeal, having considered the defendant's motion, suspended the proceedings pursuant to para. 7 of part 1 of Article 228 of the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine in connection with the Supreme Court's review of a court decision in another case, which resolves the issue of deviation from the conclusions set out in the resolution of the Supreme Court, to which the plaintiff in this case referred in support of his arguments.

The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court was faced with the question of the possibility of suspending the proceedings on the said grounds, taking into account the provisions of part 3 of Article 195 of the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine, which provides that the proceedings in a case at the stage of its consideration on the merits are suspended only on the grounds established by paragraphs 1-3-1 of part 1 of Article 227 and paragraph 1 of part 1 of Article 228 of this Code.

Having analysed the provisions of the procedural codes, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court noted that only in general action proceedings preparatory actions for consideration of the case on the merits are set aside as a separate stage and there is a list of issues that the court must clarify before proceeding to the consideration of the case on the merits.

Appellate and cassation proceedings are considered in a simplified manner, which is due to the limits of the powers of the courts of these instances.

Since part 3 of Article 195 of the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine (part 3 of Article 210 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine and part 3 of Article 193 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine) limits the list of grounds on which the court has the right or obligation to suspend the proceedings in a case, and such limitations are set specifically for the stage of consideration of the case on the merits, it should be concluded that this rule is applicable only in the case of consideration of a case in the general action proceedings by the court of first instance.

Thus, the court of appeal reasonably concluded that there were circumstances entitling it to suspend the proceedings in accordance with para. 7 of part 1 of Article 228 of the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 5 March 2025 in case No. 910/13175/23 (proceedings No. 12-68гс24) – https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/126486058.

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.