The EU Project Pravo-Justice and representatives of the legal community discussed the prospects of introducing the institution of group lawsuits in Ukraine

The EU Project Pravo-Justice together with the law firm Sayenko Kharenko and the Association of Lawyers of Ukraine held a round table "Prospects for the introduction of group lawsuits in Ukraine". The participants of the event were representatives of the judicial system of Ukraine, lawyers, and scientists.

Oleksandr Vasyuk, People's Deputy of Ukraine, and member of the Committee on Legal Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine thanked for the organization of the round table and emphasized the importance of joint work of legislators and experts on topics important for the European integration process.

"Ukraine has received the status of a candidate for EU membership, and this requires a lot of work in various areas. We need to adapt Ukrainian legislation as soon as possible and implement best practices. For this, the support of an expert environment is important to us. With joint efforts, we will be able to develop an effective mechanism and implement it in Ukraine, building a legal state," – Oleksandr Vasyuk said.

Anna Adamska-Gallant, the Key international expert on judicial reform of the EU Project Pravo-Justice, emphasized that the round table will be the beginning of a discussion on the topic of the introduction of group lawsuits in Ukraine, which is important in the context of the European integration of Ukraine into the EU.

"This issue is related, in particular, to the protection of consumer rights - one of the most important policies of the EU. Group lawsuits are one tool that can be used to do this. Within the framework of the activities of the EU Project, we want to present the experience of using this tool by various EU countries," – said Anna Adamska-Gallant.

According to Olena Sukmanova, partner of Sayenko Kharenko, the issue of collective lawsuits is not new for Ukraine. However, for now, it is worth talking about the two main goals of introducing the institution of collective lawsuits into procedural legislation.

"The first is to facilitate access to justice for citizens, the second is to reduce the burden on the judicial system. However, we do not have specific norms in the procedural legislation, which would allow us to effectively use the mechanism of collective lawsuits in various areas, for example, environmental, protection of consumer rights, etc., " – said Olena Sukmanova.

Vasyl Krat, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, considered the groups of legal relations to which it is possible to extend the institution of collective lawsuits, as well as the search for the optimal construction of the protection of a certain circle of persons. According to him, the tools available today already allow the use of these designs.

"The available private legal tools allow us to use the institution of group lawsuits, save time, and ensure procedural economy. Are separate norms and constructions necessary for the protection of a certain circle of persons? Of course, it is possible to reason from this point of view and research what needs to be improved, whether it is worth introducing a new construction, for example, without the construction of a legal entity, what to add in terms of material and legal regulation," – Vasyl Krat noted.

Sofia Danilov, a judge of the Bilotserkiv city-district court of the Kyiv region, and a member of the Donbas RJRC, spoke about the prospects for solving problems and the legal possibilities of the institute of group lawsuits.

The practice of applying group lawsuits in the Netherlands was highlighted by Cornelis van Ree, an international expert of the EU Project Pravo-Justice. In her turn, Anna Adamska-Gallant presented the experience of applying group lawsuits in Poland.

In addition, Roman Maidanyk, a professor at the Institute of Law of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, spoke about the legislative prospects for the formation of a class action institute in Ukraine.