The history of formation and development of court decisions review in the civil procedural law of Ukraine

Abstract

The article presents the historical aspects of the formation and development of the institution of the review of court decisions in the civil process of Ukraine. The civil procedural rulings that govern the procedure for reviewing court decisions in each period of civil procedural law history are analysed, and the main reforms of the civil procedural legislation that have influenced on the development of the institution of the review of court decisions due to newly discovered or exceptional circumstances are identified.
 It draws attention to the fact that for a long time the formation of procedural law took place without the institutions of review of court rulings, in particular, the review of newly discovered circumstances. For instance, in the Kyivan Rus' judgments could be enforced immediately after their proclamation. The period of staying of Ukrainian lands under the rule of the Polish and Lithuanian legislature and was referred to as the "domination of foreign law". During this period, we adhere to the Second Lithuanian statute of rules that enable a person to seek of judicial review. The most prominent monument of procedural law of the Cossack Hetmanate era was the Ukrainian Code of 1743, also known as «The Rights under which Little Russian people are suing», which also provided for the possibility of review in an extraordinary way of review and revocation of court rulings.
 The next period of civil procedural law development should be considered in view of the division of Ukrainian lands and the corresponding influence of the Austrian and Russian empires on the law of our state. The Austrian Civil Procedure Code of 1895 provided for the possibility of reviewing court decisions in the form of an appeal and cassation. On the territory of Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire, the main act was the Statute of Civil Procedure of 1864 which provided for the possibility of judicial review in the event of the opening of new circumstances or falsification of acts on the basis of which a decision was made; and where the judgment is taken against a defendant who did not appear for trial and whose whereabouts were unknown.
 The events of 1917 initiated the so-called "soviet" or "socialist" law. For a long period, court decisions were either not reviewed or reviewed in exceptional circumstances. Only after the declaration of independence of Ukraine the judicial reforms were began, also for the institution of judicial review as one of the elements of the right to a fair trial.