Litigation In Ukraine, legal disputes, including civil, commercial, administrative, criminal, and other law cases, are resolved by courts of general jurisdiction, which, alongside the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, form the Ukrainian judicial system. Administrative courts are endowed with powers to resolve disputes with public administrative agencies (i.e. with state and municipal authorities). This includes, in particular, appeals against unlawful acts or omissions committed by state officials. Commercial courts resolve disputes of a commercial nature between legal entities and/or individual entrepreneurs. The exclusive jurisdiction of commercial courts extends to, inter alia:

• corporate disputes
• disputes related to the record of title to securities

Companies willing to defend their rights in a court of law would normally file claims with local courts of general jurisdiction. Judgments of local courts may be appealed to courts of second instance (appeal courts). Rulings of the latter may be further contested in high specialized courts (the High Commercial Court, the High Administrative Court, and the High Court in Civil and Criminal Matters)

Arbitration

Commercial disputes involving both Ukrainian and foreign entities can be adjudicated by arbitration courts (institutional or ad hoc), either in Ukraine or abroad. Under Ukrainian laws, disputes between “companies with foreign investments” and their shareholders as well as between such companies and other Ukrainian entities can be settled in international commercial arbitration courts in Ukraine. As an alternative to international arbitration, foreign investors can choose to appeal actions of their Ukrainian counterparts before the ICSID, when a dispute does not arise out of a mere failure to abide by the party’s contractual obligations but amounts to an assault of the investor’s rights by the State acting through its agencies or controlled persons.