The article examines the general characteristics of a claim as a statement on the merits of a case in civil and economic proceedings. It is noted that the separation of statements on the merits of the case is typical only for legal proceedings, while for other types of civil and commercial court proceedings, similar types of procedural documents are not allocated. The Code of Criminal Procedure and Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine gives an exclusive and identical list of statements on the merits of the case, among which the statement of claim is included. A statement of claim as a statement on the merits of the case formulates a material and legal claim regarding the subject of the dispute, to which the court of first instance must give an answer, having considered the civil or economic case on the merits. A statement of claim acts as a form of existence of a claim in a civil and economic process. A lawsuit cannot exist outside of the statement of claim, although its individual elements may appear outside of this procedural document. For example, the subject matter or cause of action may be recorded in the application for change of subject matter or cause of action. A statement of claim as a statement on the merits of the case is a procedural document issued by the parties to the case (their representatives), but not by the court. In this case, it cannot be considered a law- enforcement document, even if the plaintiff will refer to the legal norms that qualify his claim or its grounds in the content of the claim statement. A statement of claim in a civil and economic process can be filed by a large number of participants in the case (their representatives): the plaintiff, the defendant, a third party with independent claims, a court representative, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, a prosecutor, a body of state power or local self-government, a legal and a natural person in the cases provided for by law. The peculiarity of the statement of claim as a statement on the substance of the dispute is that its nature is related to material and procedural law, the appearance of this document affects the course of material and procedural relations. In addition, the statement of claim acts as a stage document, since it is not possible to submit it at every stage of the civil or economic process.