Court session recordings under martial law

Draft bill #8359 of January 13, 2023

Cosponsor: a group of MPs from the Servant of the People faction

Who is affected: citizens, foreigners and stateless persons who are participants in legal proceedings, and courts

Summary of the bill:

• while martial law or an emergency situation is declared and there is no possibility to make a video or audio recording of the court session, the secretary of the court session will have to record the proceedings in writing (write the protocol). The protocol will have to reflect the essential points of consideration. The protocol will have to be prepared within 5 days starting from the day when the court session ended
• while martial law or an emergency situation is declared and there is no possibility to send a court decision to the Register of Court Decisions, the court will have to send its decision immediately at the first opportunity, but no later than within five working days after the obstacles for sending the information are removed.

What is right:

• the bill will allow to proceed with court sessions during power outages that make the audio recording of court sessions impossible.

What is wrong:

• no changes are proposed for the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, although it also provisions that court sessions are supposed to be recorded
• permission not to provide audio recordings of court sessions while martial law or emergency situation is declared is too abstract. Courts might abuse this provision, and as a result, court sessions will not be recorded en masse.

Alternative solution:

• to add the option that if the audio recording is impossible for technical reasons then a relevant statement should be drawn up and added to the case materials. Court sessions without audio recording on such cases should be allowed only with the written consent of all participants of the process
• to amend the Criminal Procedure Code accordingly.