Research Article

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Historical background. – 3. Preparedness and the COVID-19. – 3.1. Business continuity. – 3.2. Administrative adaptations. – 3.3. Access to the premises and hygienic measures. – 3.4. Working conditions. – 3.5. Medical issues. – 3.6. Revealed cases of COVID infections. – 3.7. Protocolary activities. – 3.8. Communication. – 3.9. Safety and security. – 3.10. Interinstitutional coordination. – 3.11. Jurisdictional issues. – 3.12. Caseflow at the Court. – 3.13. Organisation of the Court Registry. – 3.14. General Court. – 3.15. General Court Registry. – 4. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Moving away from arbitration and towards ‘investment courts’ in investor-state disputes. – 3. The Achmea case: a further blow to the popularity and use of arbitration in Europe. – 4. Follow-up: the aftermath of the Achmea case. – 5. Arguments behind the current European anti-arbitration stance. – 6. Are proposed alternatives an adequate reply to the weaknesses of investor-state arbitration? – 7. Conclusion

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. France: Simplified Procedures for the Recovery of Small Credits. – 3. Spain: Juicio Verbal and Monitorio Notarial. – 4. Italy: the Justices of the Peace. – 5. Concluding Remarks

Summary: – 1. Introduction. – 2. The Notion and Types of Separate Proceedings and Their Place in Court Civil Proceedings. – 3. Criteria for Distinguishing Separate Proceedings. – 4. European Small Claims Procedure as Separate Proceedings – General Issues. – 5. Relationship Between the European Small Claims Procedure and Other Separate Proceedings: 5.1. Order for Payment Proceedings. 5.2. Writ of Payment Proceedings. 5.3. Electronic Writ of Payment Proceedings. 5.4. Simplified Procedure. 5.5. European Order for Payment Procedure. – 6. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Evolution of Appeal Measures in Civil Proceedings under the Polish Law. – 3. The Origin and Nature of the Extraordinary Complaint. – 4. Grounds for Appeal with the Use of an Extraordinary Complaint. – 5. Authority to File and Dates of Filing an Extraordinary Complaint. – 6. Judicial Resolution Following Extraordinary Complaint Examination. – 7. Concluding Remarks

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Features of Settlement Agreements. – 3. Enforcement of a Mediated Settlement Agreement and Its Refusal. – 4. Final Provisions of the Singapore Convention. – 5. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Harmonisation as a Result of National Law Reform. – 3. Harmonisation as a Result of Competition between Procedural Systems. – 4. Intended Harmonisation. – 5. Final Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. E-justice in Ukraine and in Austria. – 2.1. E-justice and the Tasks of the Civil Procedure. – 2.2. Current State and Strategy of E-justice Development in Ukraine. – 2.3. Current State and Strategy of E-justice Development in Austria. – 2.4. Common Elements of E-justice in Ukraine and Austria. – 2.4.1. Submission of the Statement of Claim, Applications, other Documents to the Court in Electronic Form. –2.4.2. Electronic Evidence. – 2.4.3. Consideration of the Case in Electronic Form. – 3. Potential Risks and Benefits of E-justice Experience in Austria and Ukraine. – 3.1. The Main Features of E-justice and Risks. - 3.2. What Makes the Procedure More Effective? – 4. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction – 2. Defining Online Mediation. – 3. Technologies Used in Online Mediation. – 4. Areas of Application. – 5. Known Benefits. – 6. (Un)obvious Drawbacks. – 7. Solutions and Potential for Improvement. – 8. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. The Judicial System of Poland at the Present Stage. – 2.1. Constitutional Tribunal. – 2.2. The Common Courts System. – 2.3. Supreme Court. – 2.4. National Council for Judiciary. – 3. Judicial Reform in Ukraine in 2016: Problems of Implementation. – 3.1. General Characteristics of the Judiciary in Ukraine. – 3.2. Status of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine: Main Innovations. – 3.3. Status of the Supreme Court and Courts. – 3.4. Status of the High Council of Justice. – 4. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Technological Solutions for Justice in the Digital Age. – 3. Risks of Using Digital Instruments in the Justice System. – 4. Algorithmic Justice: Is It Possible? – 5. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Legal interest and abuse of civil procedural rights. – 3. Abuse of right in the Polish civil procedure. – 4. Abuse of right in the European civil procedure. – 4.1. Abuse of the right to file an action and the right of defence in European procedural right. – 4.2. Abuse of right under Regulation on insolvency proceedings and regulation No. 2015/848. – 4.3. Abuse of procedural rights under the Regulation on jurisdiction and recognition of court decisions and their execution in civil and commercial cases and the Regulation No. 1215/2012 on jurisdiction and recognition of court decisions and their execution in civil and commercial cases. – 5. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Sources of Law of Small Claims. – 3. The Purpose and Principles of the Institute of Small Claims. – 4. Value of a Claim. – 5. Change of the Value of a Claim. – 6. Consideration of Small Claims. – 7. Representation of the Parties during Small Case Consideration. – 8. Evidence and Prooving when Considering Small Claims. – 9. Appeal against Court Decisions in Small Claims. – 10. Cassation Appeal against Court Decisions in Small Claims. – 11. Conclusions

Summary: – 1. Introduction. – 2. Electronification of civil justice, – 3. Preparatory stage of civil proceedings. – 4. Possibilities of group action in Lithuanian civil procedure. – 5. Concluding remarks

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. International Standards of Lustration of Judges: Basic Model and Ukrainian Perspectives. – 3. Lustration, Vetting, and Assessment of Judges: European Experience and Ukrainian Perspectives. – 4.  Lustration of Judges in Ukraine: Fundamental Challenges and Basic Results. – 5. Efficiency of Lustration: An Empirical Approach. – 6. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Historical Background. – 3. Right to Court in Polish Case-law and Jurisprudence. – 4. The Way to View Absolute Procedural Premises. – 5. The Impact of Party Autonomy on Ending Polish Civil Proceedings without a Judgement. – 6. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Privatization of civil justice. – 3. The Rule of Law concept. – 4. Does Privatized Justice Undermine or Promote the Rule of Law? – 5. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Existing Extrajudicial Mechanisms for Rights Protection of Financial Services Consumers in Ukraine. – 3. World Models of the Financial Ombudsman as the Basis for the Financial Ombudsman Institute in Ukraine. – 4. The Genesis of the Concept of a Financial Ombudsman in Ukraine. – 5. Current Legal, Institutional and Theoretical Prerequisites for Establishing an Institute of Financial Ombudsman in Ukraine. – 6. Preparation of the Draft Law of Ukraine ‘On the Institute of a Financial Ombudsman’. – 7. Compliance of the Draft Law of Ukraine ‘On the Institute of a Financial Ombudsman’ with the Principles of the Directive on Consumer ADR. – 8. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Settlement Agreements Signed by the Parties, in Respect of Which a Judicial Decision has not yet been made to Approve or to Refuse Approval. – 3. Settlement Agreements Signed by the Parties, the Approval of Which Was Denied by the Court. – 4. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. The History of Ukrainian Commercial Courts Development. – 3. Novels of Commercial Procedure in the Context of Judicial Reform. – 4. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction. The Right to a Fair Trial and Independence of the Judiciary. – 2. Elements of Judicial Independence. – 3. Judicial Reforms in Eastern Europe: General Overview. – 3.1 Serbia. – 3.2 Northern Macedonia. – 3.3 Poland. – 3.4 Hungary. – 3.5 Romania. – 3.6 Moldova. – 3.7 Ukraine. – 4. Common Features of the Analysed Judicial Reforms in the Countries of Eastern Europe. – 5. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. The Notions of an ‘Effective Remedy’ and an ‘Effective Remedy for Excessive Length of Proceedings’. – 3. Creating an Effective Remedy for Excessive Length of Proceedings in North Macedonia. – 3.1. Some General Facts and Figures about the Macedonian Human Rights Dossier at the ECHR. – 3.2. No Effective Length-ofproceedings Remedy until 2005. – 3.3. A First Step towards Creating an Effective Remedy. – 3.4. Other Steps forward. – 4. Follow up: some Aspects of Practical Implementation of the Length-of-proceedings Remedy in North Macedonia. – 5. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. The Modern Concept of the Registration of Rights to Real Estate and Their Encumbrances in the Light of Their Implementation. – 2.1. General Regulations. – 2.2. Agencies Authorized to Conduct State Registration. – 2.3. Arguments in Favor of Acknowledging State Registration of Real Rights and Their Encumbrances as Interior State Functions and the Introduction of Responsibility of the State for Mistakes and Intentional Violations Made by State Registrars. – 3. Forms of Participation and Functions of Notaries in the Process of Actualizing State Politics Pertaining to the Registration of Rights to Real Estate and Their Encumbrances. – 3.1. Historical Development of the Notaries Public on the Territory of Ukraine. – 3.2 Subjects of the Implementation of Notarial Activities. Arguments for Creation of Open Corporations. – 4. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. – Introduction. – 2. Open Judicial Decisions and Open Enforcement Procedure. – 2.1. Automated System of Enforcement Proceedings: How Does It Work? – 2.2. The Unified Register of Debtors: Who Controls the Information? – 2.3. The Register of Decisions Enforcement of Which is Guaranteed by the State. – 3. Conclusion.

Summary: – 1. Introduction. – 2. The Concept of Finality and its Relevance. – 3. Considerations Related to Finality. – 3.1. View of the Court. –3.2. View of the (Post-) Soviet Doctrine. – 3.3. Considerations that Support Finality. – 4. The Experience of Ukraine. – 5. The Experience of Lithuania. – 6. Possible Implications for the Two Nations. – 7. Conclusions.

Summary: – 1. Introduction. – 2. The Adversarial Principle of Civil Justice in Ukraine: Traditional Concepts of Implementation. – 2.1. Post-Socialist Trends in the Reform of Civil Procedural Legislation. – 2.2. The Right to a Fair Trial and the Competitiveness of Civil Proceedings. – 3. Balance of Adversarial Principles and Cooperation between Parties and Court in the Process of Civil Cases Consideration: a New View from Ukraine. – 3.1. Exchange of Pleadings and a New Procedure for Submitting Evidence in a Case. – 3.2. Prevention of Abuse of Procedural Rights during the Implementation of Adversarial Principle. – 4. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Proof as a Gradable Concept. – 3. Standards of Proof in Common Law Countries. – 4. Standards of Proof in Civil Law Countries. – 5. Is the Distinction Actually So Critical? – 6. Standards of Proof in Ukrainian Law. – 6.1. Recent Developments in Legislation and Jurisprudence. – 6.2. Lost Profit in Ukrainian Law. – 6.3. An O.J. Simpson Case Scenario in Ukraine? – 7. Conclusion.

Summary: 1. Introduction – 2. General Part: Overriding Objective – 3. Management of the Procedure – 4. Determination of Facts – 5. Findings of Law – 6. Consensual dispute resolution – 7. Conclusion

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. The Significance of the Convention as an Instrument of the European Public Order. – 3. ECHR and the Practice of the ECtHR as a Guide for the Reformation of Criminal Justice in Ukraine. – 3.1. The Principles of Criminal Proceedings: Freedom from Self-disclosure and the Right not to Testify against Close Relatives and Family Members; Immediacy of Testimonies, Objects and Documents Examination; Presumption of Innocence, Ensuring the Right to Defence and Their Implementation in the New CrPC of Ukraine 2012. – 3.2. Obligations of Ukraine Regarding the Creation of a System of Free Legal Aid. – 3.3. Positive Legislative Reaction of Ukraine to the Recommendations Made by the ECtHR Regarding the Standardisation of Measures to Ensure Criminal Proceedings and Precautionary Measures. – 3.4. Problems of Admissibility of Evidence and Ensuring the Rights of Individuals to Review the Materials of the Pre-trial Investigation. – 4. ECHR as a Living Instrument and Act of Direct Action. – 5. Reserves for the Improvement of National Legislation in the Context of Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in Accordance with the Legal Positions of the ECtHR. – 6. Conclusions

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Organizational measures. – 3. Conclusion.

Summary: – 1. Introduction. – 2. The Right to a Fair Trial Under a Pandemic Condition: Are There Reasons to Derogate from the Fundamental Provision of the European Convention? – 3. Main Challenges of Criminal Judiciary Under Conditions of a COVID-19 Pandemic in Ukraine and Ways to Solve Them. – 3.1. Publicity under Conditions of Quarantine. – 3.2. Access to Videoconferencing as a Guarantee of the Right to be Heard in Court. - 3.3. Observance of Guarantees of the Victim’s Rights in the Conditions of a Pandemic. - 3.4. Reasonable Time Limits for Consideration of Criminal Cases in a Pandemic. - 3.5. Peculiarities of Judicial Control Proceedings in a Pandemic. - 4. Conclusions.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. The Right to a Public Hearing in the Light of the ECHR’s and the Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s Case Law. – 3. The Grounds for Passing a Judgment in Camera According to the Polish Code of Civil Procedure. – 4. Passing Procedural Decisions outside of a Public Hearing. – 5. Conclusion.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Judiciary Regulation in Ukraine and the Theoretical Dogmas. – 3. Two Views on the ‘Court’ Concept and Their Implementation in Ukraine. – 4. The 2016 Judiciary Reform in Ukraine in the Light of the EU Ukraine Association Agreement. – 4.1. The System of Courts. – 4.2. Status of Judges. – 4.3. Related Institutions of the Judiciary. – 5. Ukraine and International Courts’ Jurisdiction: A Challenge to National Sovereignty? – 6. Ukrainian Justice under Internal Separatist Terror and External Military Aggression. – 7. The Global COVID-19 Pandemic as a New Challenge to Ukraine’s Justice. – 8. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction – 2. Cassation Essence and Approaches to Appealing Ukrainian Cassation Court Decisions– 2.1. Persons Who Have the Right to Cassation Appeal – 2.2. Procedural Status of ‘Non-parties to the Case if the Court Decided on their Rights, Freedoms, Interests and (or) Responsibilities’ at Cassation Proceedings Stage – 3. Cassation Appeal Objects – 3.1. Grounds for Appealing Court Decisions on Application Merit Conditions – 3.2. Failure to Indicate Grounds for Appealing Court Decisions in Cassation: Procedural Law Quality Shortcomings – 4. Cassation Proceedings Closure: Remarks – 5. Conclusions

Summary: – 1. Introduction. – 2. Law versus Justice. – 3. Justice and the Function of Law. – 4. The Function of Law in the Retributive Judiciary in Slovakia. – 5. Final Evaluation.

Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Principle of peaceful enjoyment of property in ECtHR case-law. – 3. The ECtHR criteria for assessing the legitimacy of state interference in the right of peaceful enjoyment of the property. – 3.1. Grounds of the state interference provided by law. – 3.2. The purpose of interfering with property rights. – 4. 4. Determination of the principle of proportionality in the Ukrainian legal doctrine and its meaning for the limits of interference with property rights chosen. – 5. Conclusions.

Summary: – 1. Introduction. – 2. Accessibility of Justice in Civil Cases and Procedural Time Limits: General Principles. – 3. Observation of Procedural Time Limits under Quarantine Conditions: Experience of Ukrainian Legislation and National Courts. – 4. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction – 2. Legitimacy of Reducing a Judge’s Reward Under Conditions of Quarantine. – 3. Financial Independence of the Judiciary or Judges Only? – 4. Concluding Remarks.

Summary: 1. Introduction – 2. Implementation of the Civil and Commercial Procedural Codes in Ukraine: Findings and Observations. – 3. Conclusions and Key Recommendations. – Appendix: Questionnaires.

Summary: 1. Starting Points. – 2. Human approach. – 3. Debtor-biased or Creditor-biased System. 4. – Cooperation between Actors. – 5. The Role of Third Parties and Outsiders. – 6. Limitation Periods and Daily-life Protection. – 7. COVID-19 Proection. – 8. Conclusions.