About electronic tools in judicial decision enforcement: practice and challenges was discussed by lawyer, deputy head of the NAAU Committee on Electronic Justice and Cybersecurity of Legal Practice Tetiana Rabko during a professional development event for lawyers held at the National Academy of Advocacy.
The lecturer thoroughly analyzed electronic tools in judicial decision enforcement together with the participants, namely
- 1. Powers of representation of parties in enforcement proceedings through the prism of electronic justice.
- 2. Functionality of the ‘Enforcement Documents’ section for the Claimant.
- 3. Changes in the procedure for refunding court fees for court decisions.
- 4. Electronic documents of enforcement proceedings.
- 5. Digital interaction with state and private enforcers: submission of petitions and applications.
Within the characterization of electronic tools in judicial decision enforcement, the focus is on the following:
1. Powers of representation of parties in enforcement proceedings through the prism of electronic justice
The issuance and delivery of enforcement documents are carried out by the court that rendered the relevant decision, in paper or electronic form using the Unified Court Information and Communication System or its separate subsystem (module) that provides document exchange.
Enforcement writs/orders of the court are presented in electronic form using the Unified Court Information and Communication System by filling out the relevant procedural document forms provided for in the Regulation on the Unified Court Information and Communication System. The enforcement writ/order of the court presented in electronic form is affixed with the qualified electronic signature of the judge (in the case of collegial consideration, the qualified electronic signatures of all judges on the panel).
Simultaneous issuance by the court of an enforcement document to the same person in paper and electronic forms is not allowed.
In accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On Enforcement Proceedings,’ the authority of a lawyer as a representative is confirmed by one of the following documents:
1) Power of attorney;
2) Order issued in accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On Advocacy and Legal Practice’;
3) Mandate of the body (institution) authorized by law to provide free legal aid, issued in accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On Free Legal Aid’.
If extracts from the EDR or powers of attorney were issued before 03.02.2024, they must be reissued. To do this, the organization’s manager must:
- Select the document called ‘Extract from the EDR.’
- Click the ‘Reissue Extract from the EDR’ button for the respective document, then issue new powers of attorney.
To issue an electronic power of attorney on behalf of a legal entity, click on the EDR extract. It is important that if you choose to create a power of attorney, the authority will be granted on behalf of a natural person, not a legal entity.
2. Functionality of the ‘Enforcement Documents’ section for the Claimant:
- Initial details;
The list of state and private enforcers is presented as expandable lists.
- Enforcement document;
All fields of the application to the enforcement service in a step-by-step template will be automatically filled in according to the information provided by the court apparatus employee and from the user’s ES cabinet.
- Claimant;
At the Claimant step, information is available for editing regarding the address, phone number, and email.
- Claimant’s payment details;
- Debtor;
- Application text;
- Attachments.
Important:
- If an electronic ED is submitted for enforcement, its registration in the ASVP is done automatically.
- Simultaneous submission of one enforcement document issued in electronic form to different bodies of the state enforcement service and/or private enforcers, as well as simultaneous submission of one enforcement document in electronic and paper form, is not allowed. Before opening enforcement proceedings for a document submitted in electronic form, the enforcer must check for open enforcement proceedings for such enforcement document in the automated enforcement proceedings system (p. 2 of Section III of the Instruction on the Organization of Compulsory Enforcement of Decisions).
- The original document on payment of the court fee, fine (as a means of procedural coercion) in paper and/or electronic form is attached to the case materials (criminal proceedings).
- Before sending the enforcement document, the responsible court employee checks the debtor’s voluntary payment of the court fee, fine (as a means of procedural coercion), and other payments to the budget.
- Based on the verified information in the ASDS received through information interaction, the responsible court employee marks the enforcement document with a note of voluntary execution, indicating the date of payment by the debtor, payment document number, payment amount, payment method, signature of the responsible court employee, date of the entry. (Paragraph 12 of Section XIX of the Instruction on Recordkeeping in Local and Appellate Courts of Ukraine).
3. Changes in the procedure for refunding court fees for court decisions
On January 7, 2025, the order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated 26.11.2024 No. 606 ‘On Amendments to the Procedure for Refunding (Reallocating) Funds Erroneously or Excessively Credited to State and Local Budgets’ entered into force, registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 10.12.2024 under No. 1888/43233.
This order introduced changes to the mechanism of refunding court fees in cases specified in Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Court Fees.’
According to the new procedure, the Treasury bodies refund the court fee in all cases exclusively based on an electronic submission generated by the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine or its territorial administration or the relevant court.
To refund the court fee, the payer must apply with a statement to the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, its territorial administration, or the respective court where the case is being heard.
Together with the application for the refund of court fees from the budget, the payer submits to the specified authorities the original or a copy of the payment instruction confirming the transfer of funds to the budget.
4. Electronic documents of enforcement proceedings
According to the second part of Article 28 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Enforcement Proceedings,’ enforcement documents are sent exclusively in electronic form to bodies and persons who have electronic cabinets in the ESITS or its separate subsystems (modules) that provide document exchange.
In addition, enforcement documents may be sent additionally, based on a written request from such persons to their addresses specified in the enforcement document.
The party to whose electronic cabinet the enforcement documents will be sent is considered to be properly notified of the enforcer’s decision.
‘Documents of EP’ Section:
This section in the user’s Electronic Court cabinet contains a list of enforcement documents that have been generated and sent by the enforcer.
The list of documents is presented in the form of a table with the following attributes:
- Enforcement proceeding number;
- Decision number;
- Decision date;
- Decision title;
- Proceeding status;
- Date of document receipt in ES;
- Amount of debt in UAH;
- Enforcer/DVS name;
- User role;
- ED (link to the enforcement document).
In the enforcement document preview window, users have access to:
- Ability to check the QES;
- Ability to download the document with the signature file in a zip archive;
- Ability to view the document in an enlarged format.
5. Digital interaction with state and private enforcers: submission of petitions and applications
- Register of private enforcers of Ukraine (https://apvu.com.ua/reyestrpv):
Main information contained in the Register:
- Full name of the private enforcer.
- Number and date of the private enforcer’s certificate confirming the right to carry out activities.
- Area of activity—administrative-territorial unit where the enforcer can operate.
- Office address.
- Contact information—phone, email.
- Activity status—active, suspended, revoked, etc.
- State enforcement service bodies of the interregional offices of the Ministry of Justice (https://minjust.gov.ua/ddvs/ regional-offices/upr-ta viddily-dvs):
Main information provided by the Ministry of Justice website regarding the SED bodies:
- Full name of the state enforcement service body.
- Location address.
- Mailing address.
- Official email address.
- Contact phone numbers of the SED body.
- Bank details of the SED body for payment of debt for enforcement proceedings.
Algorithm for submitting a petition/application to the enforcer online:
- Document preparation:
- Prepare a petition or application in accordance with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Enforcement Proceedings’;
- Format it in PDF;
- Attach a document confirming the representative’s authority in the enforcement proceedings.
- QES signing:
The document must be signed with a qualified electronic signature.
To sign the document with electronic signatures, you can go to the site https://ca.diia.gov.ua/sign https://czo.gov.ua/sign or Then choose to sign the file using the Electronic Signature or Diia.Sign.
The signed document can be downloaded, and information about the signatory can be viewed.
When downloading the signed QES document, the ZIP folder will contain: the document to which the QES was applied, the document signed with the QES, and the protocol of creating and verifying the qualified and enhanced electronic signature.
- Send to the official email of the private enforcer/SED body.