Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in the Lugansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic PAVEL BIRIUKOV Voronezh State University, Universitetskaya pl., 1, Russia, 394000, Voronezh Professor E-mail: birukovpn@yandex.ru

Part I. Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in the LPR The Lugansk People's Republic (hereinafter LPR) was proclaimed on April 27, 2014 within the territory of the Lugansk region of Ukraine. The Basic Act of the LPR (Constitution) was adopted on April 27, 2014. The Constitution entered into force on May 18, 2014. According to Art. 7 of the Constitution, the Republic has its own Constitution and legislation in force throughout the territory of the LPR. The acts of the Republic must be published.

According to Art. 86 of the Constitution, acts and other statutory acts in force on the territory of the Republic "before the entry into force of this Constitution are applied in a part that does not contradict the Constitution." Courts in the Republic administer justice in accordance to the legislation of the Republic. The Constitution has the highest legal force, direct effect and is applied throughout the territory of the Republic. The Act "On Normative Legal Acts in the Lugansk People's Republic" establishes a hierarchy of normative legal acts. The LPR codes, acts and other normative legal acts should not contradict the Constitution. Acts should not contradict the codes.

Art. 6 of the Act "On the judicial system" on April 30, 2015 fixes "the binding force of judgments of foreign courts, international courts and arbitration in the territory of the Republic is determined by international treaties of the Republic." Unfortunately, the LPR has not concluded such international treaties yet. The act "On the Supreme Court of the Lugansk People's Republic" 2015 determines the powers of the Supreme Court, its composition. The Supreme Court of the Republic resolves "issues related to the international agreements of the LPR“ (Art. 2).

According to the information from the LPR, the economic courts of Ukraine in the Republic do not function. The powers, procedure of formation and activities of the of Arbitration Court shall be established by the Act "On the Arbitration Court of the Lugansk People's Republic". This act has not been adopted yet. June 14, 2018 this act was rejected in the second reading. So, there are no arbitration courts in the LPR. Article 1 of the draft of the Code Civil Procedure (hereinafter CCP) provided for: "The procedure for civil proceedings in the courts of general jurisdiction is determined by the Constitution of the Republic, this Code and other acts adopted in accordance to it." If an international treaty of the Republic establishes other rules of civil proceedings than those provided by the act, the rules of the international treaty must be applied. The recognition and the execution in the territory of the LPR decisions of foreign courts are determined by international treaties of the Republic and this Code (Art. 13 of the draft CCP).

Chapter 45 of the CCP is devoted to the recognition and enforcement of decisions of foreign courts and arbitrations. In principle, the norms of the Code correspond to the rules of the Russian CCP. So, the decisions of foreign courts are recognized and enforced in the Republic, if this is stipulated in the international agreement of the LPR. Decisions of foreign courts shall mean decisions on civil cases, with the exception of cases on economic disputes and other cases related to the implementation of entrepreneurial and other economic activities, verdicts in cases concerning compensation for damage caused by the crime.

The decision of a foreign court may be presented for compulsory execution within three years from the date of its entry into legal force. The petition for the recovery is considered by the court at the place of residence or the location of the debtor in the Republic. In the event that the debtor does not have a place of residence or location in the Republic, or his location is unknown, at the location of his property (Article 439 of the CCP). Article 440 of the CCP contains the requisites of the application for compulsory execution of the decision and a list of required documents.

You can see the list of required documents, that must be attached: 1) a copy of the decision of a foreign court certified by a foreign court, on the authorization of whose enforcement the petition has been initiated; 2) an official document stating that the decision entered into legal force, if this does not follow from the text of the decision itself; 3) a document on the execution of the decision, if it was previously executed in the territory of the relevant foreign state; 4) a document from which it follows that the party against whom the decision was taken and who did not take part in the process was informed in due time and in due course of the time and place of the case; 5) a certified translation of these documents into one of the official languages ​​of the LPR.

Hier You can see the list of requirements for the refusal to enforce the decision of a foreign court: 1) the decision on the law of the country in whose territory it is adopted, has not entered into legal force or is not enforceable; 2) the party against whom the decision was taken was deprived of the opportunity to take part in the proceedings due to the fact that it was not given a timely and duly with notice of the time and place of consideration of the case; 3) the consideration of the case refers to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in the LPR;

4) there is a legally enforceable court decision in the LPR adopted in a dispute between the same parties, on the same subject and on the same grounds, or in the proceedings of a court in the Republic, there is a case brought on by a dispute between the same parties, on the same subject and on the same grounds before the institution of proceedings in a foreign court; 5) the execution of the decision may damage the sovereignty or threaten the security of the Republic or is contrary to the public order of the LPR; 6) the deadline for presenting the decision for compulsory execution expired and this period was not restored by the court in the LPR at the request of the recovery.

In 2016, the Ministry of Justice of the LPR established the Bailiffs Service. The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic on October 18, 2016 approved the Interim Procedure for the Execution of Enforcement Proceedings in the territory of the LPR. However, in these documents there is no indication of the execution of foreign judgments. Thus, the legislative regulation of the issue of recognition and enforcement of decisions of foreign courts is clearly insufficient. There are no international treaties on the execution of foreign judgments. Separate decisions of courts of Ukraine regarding alimony are accepted for execution, but without special procedure. Accordingly, the general judicial practice of recognition and enforcement, as far as I know from sources in the LPR, is missing.

I think, that the future of LРR is problematic I think, that the future of LРR is problematic. The only chance is to unite with the DРR. But it will be quite a different story.

Part II. Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in the DPR The Constitution of the Donetsk People's Republic (hereinafter DPR) was adopted on May 14, 2014 and entered into force on September 11, 2015. According to Art. 86 of the Constitution and other normative legal acts in force on the territory of the Republic before the entry into force of the Constitution are applied in part that does not contradict it. Thus, on May 16, 2014 - the date of the "fixed" legislation of Ukraine, which is also considered the legislation of the Republic.

After this date, it is necessary to define «the right» legislation. June 2, 2014 the Decree "On the application of legislation on the territory of the DPR in the transitional period“ by DPR Council of Ministers was adopted. According to the Decree the acts of Ukraine and other states are applied on the territory the DPR in part that does not contradict the Declaration of Sovereignty and the Constitution of the Republic. This document makes it difficult to understand the legal system of the DPR. Now the Decree is valid in a new edition - on January 10, 2015.

June 29, 2015 the Act "On international treaties of the Donetsk People's Republic" was adopted. The Act «On Normative Acts» 2015 approved the hierarchy (хайерарки) of normative acts in the Republic. The Order of the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the DPR of January 9, 2015, approved the "Provisional Procedure for the Implementation of Arbitration Proceedings." According to the Order, arbitration cases are resolved in accordance with the rules established by the Code of Arbitration Proceedings and Code of Civil Proceedings of Ukraine effective as of the day of adoption of the Declaration of Sovereignty (April 7, 2014).

The Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) and the Code of Arbitrage Procedure (CAP) are not adopted in the Republic. The norms of the relevant codes of Ukraine are applied. They are similar to the corresponding norms of the CAP and the CCP of the Russian Federation. At the same time, there is a rapid reorientation to the legislation of the RF. Legislation of Ukraine is not applied on purpose. Since international treaties on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in the Republic have not been concluded, the courts do not consider such cases

Conclusion I believe that the DPR is a stronger entity than the LPR Conclusion I believe that the DPR is a stronger entity than the LPR. I think that it should become the center of Novorossia. June 24, 2014 Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics announced a decision to unite in a confederal state - the Union of People's Republics (Novorossiia). However, in the spring of 2015, the agreement on the confederation was suspended. The project was "frozen", since the creation of Novorossia is not envisaged by «the Minsk agreements». Thus, the project "Novorossiia" can be renewed, "if Kiev violates the announced ceasefire, if there is an escalation of hostilities."

Thank you for attention! © P. Biriukov, 2018