Second meeting of the Kharkiv Regional Justice Reform Council

On March 12, the Eastern Court of Appeal held a round table devoted to the actual problems of the application of bankruptcy law and ways of their solution, organized by the EU Project "Pravo-Justice" and the Office of the Ukrainian Bar Association in the Kharkiv oblast.

The round table started with the greetings from: Pavlo Tikhiy - Chairman of the Eastern Appeal Economic Court Dovydas Vitkauskas - Head of the EU Project "Pravo-Justice" Maksym Sheverdin - Member of the Board of the Ukrainian Bar Association, Managing Partner of Sheverdin & Partners Roman Chumak - Head of the UBA Branch in the Kharkiv oblast, managing partner of Ares

The main topic of discussion was the Institute of Bankruptcy of Individuals. The first was Arne Engels, a German bankruptcy lawyer and an international expert of the EU Project "Pravo-Justice"". In his report, he shared the experience of improving the German Insolvency Code, pointing out the main provisions of German law, which should be applied at a particular stage of the proceedings.

It should be noted that the participants of the discussion were the judges of the Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court, they drew attention to the colleagues for the presence in the new Bankruptcy Code of norms that are currently absent in the current legal framework, however, pointed to possible problems that may arise in judicial practice in connection with the adoption of a new act, one of which may be the question of the application of limitation periods in bankruptcy cases. Lastly, it was emphasized on the necessity of observing the sustainability and unity of judicial practice in this area, as well as transparency and openness for the participants in the process.

Legislative stories and perspectives in the context of the sale of debtor's property and the protection of the rights of creditors have become the subject of discussion. Roman Shargalo, Arbitrage Manager, Advisor to JSC "Krolevets & Partners", shared his experience on this topic. The speaker has made a comparative analysis of current bankruptcy legislation and the Bankruptcy Code, emphasizing the changes that have taken place in accordance with current legislation and the usual procedure. However, he pointed out the possible shortcomings of legal regulation, one of which is the exclusion of the possibility of entering into a settlement agreement in bankruptcy proceedings.

The report by Alexander Avramenko, lawyer of Norma-Lex, was held in a non-standard format. In particular, the plot was presented, the discussion of which was held in the form of discussion with other participants.

Stanislav Minkovsky, a judge of the Economic Court of the Kharkiv oblast, analyzed the jurisprudence on the subject under discussion and emphasized the importance of correct understanding and application of Articles 68, 70, 71, 78 and 86 of the new code.

Marc Brissett-Foucault, international expert of the EU Project "Pravo-Justice", spoke about the prosecutor's position in the French case. He disclosed the features of economic judges, emphasizing that judges of the appellate instance of the latter are mostly not professional judges, and businessmen elected by a special panel. And such a move is quite effective, because, as noted by Mark Brissett-Foucault, the number of cases filed in cassation proceedings is negligible.

Natalia Martyukhina, judge of the Eastern Appeal Economic Court, spoke about the practice of the courts regarding the procedure for selling the property of the bankrupt, and noted that the appellants in these cases are often banks and factoring companies.