Recent Legislative Changes on Court Fee Rates and Payment Procedures

Baker&McKenzie, Kyiv, 
Ukraine, Thu, Sep 3, 2015

Implications for disputeparticipants

The Law introduces changes related to payment of court fees to the CommercialProcedure Code of Ukraine, the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, the Code ofAdministrative Procedure of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine "On CourtFees". In particular, court fees rates were substantively increased, thelist of entities released from obligation on payment of court fees wasshortened, at the same time certain payment procedures were clarified and theprocedure for court fee reimbursement was improved. 

What the Law says

Under the new Law:

• different court fee rates were introduced for individuals(individuals-entrepreneurs) and legal entities, providing for significantlyhigher rate for legal entities;
• payment of court fee was cancelled for filing of application on recognitionand enforcement of foreign court decision in Ukraine according to theinternational agreement binding for Ukraine, if such agreement does not providefor payment of court fee for application to the court, appellate and cassationcourts;
• non-residents were allowed to pay court fees by in foreign currencies as perthe official rate determined by the National Bank of Ukraine as of the date ofpayment;
• an option to pay only 10% of court fee for filing of administrative claim of materialcharacter  was cancelled (before the new Law, the rest of the fee shouldhave been collected under the court decision);
• grounds for reimbursement of paid court fee amounts were clarified (inparticular, reimbursement may be applied in case of termination of proceedings,inter alia, appellate and cassation proceedings, unless such terminationresults from claimant’s refusal from its claim, which is approved by thecourt).

Conclusion

The new Law has significantly increased court fee rates and introduceddifferent rates for certain categories of payers (individuals,individuals-entrepreneurs and legal entities) with the rate for legal entitiesbeing significantly higher. At the same time, the new Law provides foradditional options on court fee payment by non-residents and in some sortsimplifies the procedure of recognition of foreign courts decisions in Ukraine.