On April 8, 2022, the scientific, pedagogical and student community of the Faculty of Law took part in an online meeting with the Chairman of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Knyazev on "Current state and problems of war justice" moderated by the Ukrainian Bar Association.
The President of the Supreme Court said that the judiciary and the Supreme Court are taking many measures to resolve those urgent issues that arise in the judicial field in connection with the war. "The work of the courts in the territories where the fighting is taking place is complicated, but the work of reviewing cases is being done to the extent possible. Distance examination of court cases is being introduced. The jurisdiction of cases for continuing cases and reopening lost proceedings has also been changed. As a result of enemy shelling, some courts have been destroyed, so it will be even more difficult to resume their work as, first of all, new premises have to be found," said Mr Vsevolod.
It has been noted that work is under way to introduce the new mechanisms necessary to ensure the continued administration of justice in war situations, considerable legislative work is progressing, and a number of laws have been adopted to simplify the procedural possibilities for handling cases, particularly in criminal proceedings. Activities are also carried out to identify collaborating judges, with subsequent application of accountability. Access to the Unified State Register of Court Decisions has been temporarily suspended, except for judges, to ensure the safety of participants in the proceedings. But access to the registers of legal positions on jurisprudence is retained and in high demand.
Vsevolod Knyazev expressed the position that it would not be advisable to introduce separate military courts and that military cases should be heard by the courts of the existing judicial system. Increased efforts to develop e-justice on the application of artificial intelligence technologies have been noted.
According to the President of the Supreme Court, there are many questions about the restoration of time limits for filing procedural documents during martial law. "Military status is a valid reason for missing the deadline, but each judge will assess this reason individually, within the framework of the case at hand," said the Chairman. The view was expressed that more work should be done to draft a bill to eliminate judicial immunity for enforcement of Russian court judgments in favour of the Russian party by the judiciary of the international judicial systems.
At the end of the meeting, Vsevolod Knyazev answered numerous questions from lawyers and online meeting participants sent to the hotline, as well as highlighted the secondment of judges and the prospects for the e-Court.