Greku A. Administrative and legal principles of ensuring civil justice in the conditions of martial law and post-war reconstruction of Ukraine

The thesis for the degree of candidate of juridical sciences on speciality 12.00.07 – Administrative law and a process; financial law; information law. – PrJSC «Higher educational institution «Interregional Academy of Personnel Management». – Kyiv, 2025. The dissertation is devoted to the scientific analysis of the administrative and legal regulation of ensuring civil proceedings in Ukraine in the context of martial law conditions and the prospects of post-war reconstruction. The positive and negative aspects of the current state of administrative and legal regulation of the functioning of courts in civil proceedings are determined. The main problems of today regarding the observance of the principles of fair trial are identified, including: suspension of the activities of a number of courts in connection with the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine; damage and destruction of court premises; looting of some courts; complicating the possibility of timely submission of documents to judicial institutions due to the introduction of martial law; ensuring access to the court session for each participant, because due to the lack of electricity and communication, there are cases when persons cannot be present at court hearings, even online; violation of the basic principles of international and national legislation due to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine; ensuring the security of the trial, etc. A program for adhering to the principles of fair trial under martial law is proposed, by linking justice with accessibility, democracy, morality, legality, and developing appropriate scientific approaches; creation of a special procedure for the implementation of the principles of fair trial in practice; explanation of the rights and freedoms of the participants in the trial; advanced training of court employees regarding fair trial; improvement of legislation. The main directions of improving the administrative and legal principles of ensuring fair trial and access to justice by increasing transparency in decision-making and procedures in the field of justice in Ukraine are formulated. It is proved that the preparation of the case for trial is complicated due to the military actions of Russia on the territory of our state. A number of changes and additions to the procedural legislation of Ukraine are proposed in terms of preparing a case for trial, taking into account the challenges of today related to the conditions of martial law. The importance of the evidence base at the preparatory stage of the court case is investigated. It is proposed to consider the term «evidence base at the preparatory stage in civil cases» as a set of evidence that can potentially be submitted to the court or demanded by the court or already provided/collected and contained in the materials of a civil case, on the basis of which the court establishes the presence or absence of circumstances (facts) substantiating the claims and objections of the participants in the case, and other circumstances that are important for the resolution of a civil case. It is noted that the interaction of the parties and the court in the process of collecting evidence should be based on the principles of: respect, responsibility, taking all possible actions aimed at forming a proper evidence base. As a result of theoretical and legal study, a proposal was made to introduce the author’s methodology for improving the procedural aspects of pre-trial consideration of cases during wartime. The importance of mediation as a procedure for pre-trial dispute resolution is pointed out; introduction of clear deadlines for each stage of case preparation; preliminary determination of evidence; standardization of procedural documents; simplification of formal procedures; expansion of electronic exchange of documents; legislative and practical work on bringing the pre-trial consideration of cases in line with modern conditions, etc. It is proved that in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine, the administrative and legal principles of ensuring justice need to be improved to guarantee the efficiency and accessibility of justice, taking into account specific challenges. The main directions for such improvements are proposed: strengthening the protection of human rights; improving the remote form of justice; ensuring the adaptability of the judicial system; development of special administrative and legal measures to protect judges in risk areas; simplification and acceleration of procedures for considering cases related to the country’s defense capability; increasing transparency and communication; improvement of mechanisms of cooperation with international human rights organizations.