On September 21, 2017 at 11:00 a.m., in the press center of the Donetsk News Agency, a briefing by Natalia Mogutova, the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court and Head of the Arbitration Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, was given.
During the briefing, there were summed up the results of the work of the courts of general jurisdiction and the Arbitration Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic for the period from 01/01/2017 to 31/08/2017.
The main tasks of arbitration courts are: protection of the rights and interests of organizations and citizens protected by law; uniform and correct application of legislation throughout the territory of the Republic; promotion by legal means of compliance with legislation and strengthening of the rule of law in economic relations.
Within the competence of the Arbitration Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic is to monitor under cassational procedure the legality of court decisions on cases considered by the Arbitration Court of the Donetsk People's Republic. The Arbitration Chamber also performs the functions of the court of first instance on matters of extraordinary complexity.
During the first half of 2017, significant work was done to improve justice.
The Supreme Court of the DPR constantly provides methodological assistance to the Arbitration Court of the Donetsk People's Republic in the implementation of arbitration proceedings, drafts and addresses information letters explaining the practice of applying arbitration and arbitration procedural legislation. When needed, the Supreme Court of the DPR holds briefings with judges of the Arbitration Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, where judges familiarize themselves with decrees and orders of the Chairman of the Supreme Court and Head of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court, and examine new legislation regarding arbitration cases.
As of September 1, 2017, in the Arbitration Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, justice is being administered by 3 judges; in the Arbitration Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic – by 4 judges.
For the period from January 1, 2017 to September 1, 2017, the court has initiated proceedings on 1,034 cases, of which 898 were received in 2017. During this period 677 cases has been already heard, among them:
- decisions were rendered on 536 cases, including 365 satisfied requests for arbitration;
- 99 judgements of dismissal were given;
- 42 judgements of terminating the proceedings without prejudice were delivered.
Unheard remain 357 cases, including 33 suspended cases.
Most of these judgements are being appealed on cassation.
As of September 1, 2017, the Arbitration Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic registered 305 cases under cassational procedure. During the said period, the panel of judges has considered 257 arbitration cases, including: 65 cases sent to the Arbitration Court, 1 arbitration case quashed, and 2 cassation proceedings terminated.
The Arbitration Chamber has heard 160 arbitration cases on cassation appeal against decisions of the courts of first instance. Upon the results of the consideration 115 decisions were left unchanged, 2 decisions were changed, 43 decisions were reversed, of which: new decision were rendered on 26 cases, 15 cases were sent back for retrial, proceedings were terminated on 1 case, and 1 case was quashed.
The Arbitration Chamber has heard 29 arbitration cases on cassation appeal against judgements of the courts of first instance. Upon the results of the consideration 23 judgements were left unchanged, 2 judgements were reversed, of which: 1 judgement decided on a point of substance, 3 cases sent back for retrial, and 2 cases sent back for further hearings.
As of September 1, 2017, in the supervisory instance of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, there were 78 pending appeals against court decisions on arbitration cases; of them decisions were rendered on 42 appeals, namely: 34 reports were prepared on the absence of grounds for appeal against court decisions, 2 appeals were made, 6 judgements were made on dismissal of review of a court decision in the exercise of supervisory powers, 1 appeal was left undecided.
Apart from this, in 2017, there were 12 pending appeals against decisions on arbitration cases in the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, of which: upon consideration of supervisory appeals - 2 cases, on the initiative of the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic - 6 cases, and on the initiative of the Prosecutor General of the Donetsk People's Republic - 4 cases. In total, over the said period the Presidium of the Supreme Court has withdrawn 2 appeals, and has heard and satisfied 8 appeals. Upon the consideration of the appeals 15 decisions on arbitration cases were reversed, 13 of them had been judgments rendered by the courts of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Compared to the previous year, the number of cases registered and heard by the Arbitration Court of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Arbitration Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic has significantly increased, which indicates that the republic's economy is developing dynamically, the judicial system in the Donetsk People's Republic is gaining momentum, and the authority of the judiciary of the Donetsk People's Republic is growing.
Currently, the most common categories of cases heard by arbitration courts of the Donetsk People's Republic are disputes over the collection of debts under land lease agreements, disputes between legal entities on the performance of contractual obligations, disputes on the recognition of ownership.
Moreover, recently, the number of cases on which the Inspectorate for the Protection of Consumer Rights of the Donetsk People's Republic is a party to a case has increased.
Arbitration courts promote the formation of certain customs, business ethics, provide an opportunity to find resolutions in connection with non-payments and in general discipline economic relations.
Justice is administered on the basis of legality, independence, subordination, equality of all before the court.
