Everyone is used to think that litigation is a) expensive and b) long, and therefore there is a little hope that through the court it is possible to restore violated rights quickly and unprofitably .
What is the current and long-term situation in commercial courts, how much will it cost to file a lawsuit and how long will it take for the court to consider the lawsuit?
The costs of the proceedings can be divided into two parts: the payment of court fees and the costs of professional legal assistance ( a lawyer).
Court fee. If the claim in your case is the recovery of funds (property claim), you must pay 1.5% of the amount of the claim. For example, if you want to collect a debt from a counterparty for unfulfilled obligations under the contract in the amount of UAH 1 million, you need to pay UAH 15,000 court fees.
If the claim is of a non-material nature (for example, invalidation of the contract, invalidation of the decision of the general meeting of the business entity, etc.), the amount of the court fee is 1 subsistence level per able-bodied person (UAH 2,189 as of the date of publication).
Lawyer. Another category of costs is the services of a lawyer. The services of a lawyer in the court of first instance, as a rule, start from UAH 10,000. This amount will include analysis of the case, formation of a legal position, writing and filing a statement of claim, participation in court hearings. The formation of the cost of a lawyer’s services depends on the complexity and circumstances of the case, as well as the amount of the dispute.
Until November 2017, the payment for the services of a lawyer was non-refundable, and unlike the court fee, you could not collect these costs from the defendant. In the adopted amendments to the procedural legislation, the legislator provided for the possibility of recovering from the losing party in the dispute the costs of professional legal assistance (lawyer). In order to exercise this right, it is necessary to submit a preliminary calculation of court costs in the filed statement of claim, and not later than 5 days after the court decides to submit to the court a calculation of court costs, which must include an act of services and a contract .
It must be said that the courts of commercial jurisdiction most clearly adhere to the deadlines for proceedings. Disputes can be considered by the Commercial Court in the form of general and simplified (without holding court hearings) proceedings.
The deadline for consideration of the case by the court of first instance of the general proceedings is 105 days: within 5 days from the date of filing the claim proceedings are opened, 60 days are given for preparatory proceedings (but in exceptional cases may be extended for 30 days), within 30 days the essence of the dispute, and finally within 10 days from the date of the decision is its full text.
The maximum consideration of the term of consideration of the case in the simplified procedure is 70 days: within 5 days from the date of filing the claim proceedings are opened, within 60 days the dispute is considered, and at the end within 5 days the full text of the decision.
Conclusion. There is no doubt that the best way for the parties to resolve a dispute is through mediation (dispute settlement procedure with the participation of a neutral mediator) and pre-trial settlement of the dispute. This will save time, nerves and can maintain a good relationship with the contractor. But there are cases when the other party does not want to go to conciliation, and in such cases the legal way to protect their rights is to go to court. If you dare to defend your rights in court, such protection in the commercial court of first instance will be about three months, and at the end of the trial, in case of victory, you will be reimbursed.
Author Lindyuk Svyatoslav, lawyer of corporate law practice and court representation Patriot.Legal.
Patriot.Legal is a company that provides legal and audit services.