Deadlines for appealing court decisions in Ukraine

Article 273 of the Civil Procedure Code provides that a court decision enters into force after the expiration of the period for filing an appeal. The term for filing an appeal against a court decision according to Art. 354 is 30 days from the day of announcement of the full text of the decision. Court rulings may be contested within 15 days from the date they enter into legal force: from the day of announcement or from the moment of signing by the judge.

If the judge read only a brief summary of the verdict at the hearing (the introductory and operative parts), it is worth asking when the full text can be obtained. The court has 5 working days to formulate the decision. After this period, the parties may familiarize themselves with the court decision.

The argument that a party did not receive copies of the decisions is not considered valid by the court and does not prevent the decision from taking effect. If a party missed the deadline for filing an appeal, they can petition the court for an extension of the appeal period. For this, it is necessary to attach to the application evidence confirming the circumstances of missing the filing period. The judge determines whether the reasons are valid and decides whether to extend the time for appeal in court.

You can read about the right of participants in the judicial process to challenge a court decision on our website Appealing court decisions in Kyiv. An appeal may be filed by the plaintiff, the defendant and other persons whose interests are affected by the court verdict. In some cases, the prosecutor may also challenge the verdict.

The procedure for appealing court decisions is governed by the procedural code. Within the prescribed time limits it is necessary to draft and file an appeal with the registry of the court that issued the decision.

The court decides whether to consider the appeal and whether to open appellate proceedings. Usually from the day of filing an appeal it takes from a week to a month. The plaintiff can check with the appellate court registry about the timing of the case hearing.

If the appellate court does not satisfy your claims in whole or in part, there is the option to appeal to the cassation instance. It is important to justify the reasons for filing the complaint and indicate why you consider the issued verdict unlawful.

Appellate courts have lost the right to overturn first-instance court decisions and send cases back for a new hearing. According to Part 2 of Art. 307 of the CPC of Ukraine and Art. 199 of the CAO of Ukraine, appellate courts refer the case for continuation of consideration in the court of first instance in the event of annulment of a ruling.

An appeal to the cassation court can be filed only after receiving the decision of the appellate court. You cannot skip the stage of consideration in the appellate court. Grounds for filing a cassation appeal may include violations of procedural law and improper application of legal norms by the court.

The final stage of contesting court decisions is an appeal to the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

Lawyers of the Nakaz law firm, after reviewing the case materials, will tell you how many times a court decision can be appealed. As a rule, a decision can be appealed three times in courts of different instances.

The number of days allowed to appeal a court decision is established by Article 354 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine. Parties may file a complaint:

• against a court decision – within 30 days from the day it is announced;
• against a court ruling – 15 days.

If the deadline is missed, the plaintiff must present to the court arguments proving the need to extend the appeal period.

According to Article 358 of the CPC, the court denies the opening of appellate proceedings in the following situations:

• the decision is not subject to appeal;
• the applicant has withdrawn a previously filed appeal;
• a ruling has been made refusing the appeal of that person;
• the plaintiff did not file a motion to extend the appeal period, or those reasons were not recognized by the court as valid.

Refusal to open appellate proceedings is notified to the plaintiff no later than 5 days from the date of receipt of the appeal.

In the appeal you must indicate:

• the name of the court to which the appeal is addressed;
• the full name or full legal name of the plaintiff;
• the date and number of the judgment being appealed;
• the grounds and arguments for the illegality of the judgment;
• the applicant’s request to have the decision reconsidered;
• a list of attached documents.

In an appellate or cassation complaint you should clearly set out the reasons for the appeal and indicate the provisions of the law that were violated by the court decision. Lawyers of the Nakaz law firm can help correctly draft and file an appeal or cassation in court. Qualified specialists will be able to properly prepare procedural documents, respond to the opponents’ arguments and contest them.