Enforcement of decisions regarding foreigners in Ukraine

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• Code of Civil Procedure of Ukraine
• Law of Ukraine “On Enforced Execution Proceedings”
• Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons”

Legal status of aliens and stateless persons

According to paragraphs 6 and 15 of Part 1, Part 1 of Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons”, an alien is a person who is not a citizen of Ukraine and is a citizen (subject) of another state or states; a stateless person is a person who is not considered a citizen by any state under its legislation.

Article 26 of the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates that foreigners and stateless persons lawfully present in Ukraine enjoy the same rights and freedoms and have the same responsibilities as Ukrainian citizens.

According to Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons”, foreigners and stateless persons under the jurisdiction of Ukraine, regardless of the legality of their stay, are entitled to recognition of their legal personality and their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Foreigners and stateless persons are obliged to strictly observe the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, other normative legal acts, not to infringe upon the rights and freedoms, honour and dignity of other persons, interests of society and the state.

According to Article 13 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons”, a foreigner or stateless person is not allowed to enter Ukraine, in particular if during his/her previous stay in Ukraine, a foreigner or stateless person did not comply with a court decision or a decision of the state authorities authorised to impose administrative sanctions, or has other unfulfilled obligations to the state, natural or legal persons, including those related to the previous

Proceedings for the enforcement of decisions on aliens and statelessness

Pursuant to the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings”, the general provisions of enforcement proceedings apply to the enforcement of judgments against foreigners, stateless persons and foreign legal entities residing or registered in Ukraine or owning property in Ukraine, including property co-owned with other persons.

The procedure for enforcement of judgments against foreigners and stateless persons is set out in Article 77 of the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings” (No. 1404-VIII), which stipulates that the provisions of this Law shall apply to the enforcement of judgments against foreigners and stateless persons who reside (stay) or are registered in Ukraine, respectively, or have their own property in Ukraine, owned independently or jointly with other persons.

Thus, foreigners are subject to the same requirements and obligations for enforcing a court decision as Ukrainian citizens.

Thus, enforcement actions are carried out by the state enforcement agent at the place of residence, stay, work of the debtor or at the place of his property.

A private enforcement officer accepts enforcement documents for enforcement at the place of residence, stay of the debtor – a private individual or at the location of the debtor’s property.

Enforcement actions in enforcement proceedings initiated by a private enforcement agent in an enforcement district may be carried out throughout Ukraine.

Enforcement of a decision obliging the debtor to perform certain actions is carried out by the bailiff at the place of performance of such actions.

The bailiff has the right to take enforcement actions to recover the debtor’s income, identify and recover funds deposited in the debtor’s accounts in banks or other financial institutions, and securities accounts in depository institutions in the territory subject to the jurisdiction of Ukraine.

If it is necessary to verify information about the debtor’s presence or property or place of work in the territory not covered by the jurisdiction of the state enforcement officer, the state enforcement officer shall instruct the competent body of the state enforcement service to verify or inventory and seize property.

The procedure for issuing instructions, the grounds and procedure for carrying out enforcement actions in the territory covered by the jurisdiction of another body of the state enforcement service, and the transfer of enforcement proceedings from one body of the state enforcement service to another, or from one officer of the state enforcement service to another, are determined by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

For the purpose of verifying information on the presence of the debtor or his property or on the place of work in another enforcement district, a private enforcement officer has the right to perform such actions independently or to engage another private enforcement officer on the basis of an agreement on the authorisation to perform certain enforcement actions, the standard form of which is approved by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

Liability of stateless foreigners who do not comply with court decisions

The Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings” allows the state enforcement officer to apply to debtors (foreigners, stateless persons) all enforcement measures specified by the Law, which are established by Article 10 of the Law, namely:

• foreclosure on funds, securities, other property (property rights), corporate rights, intellectual property rights, objects of intellectual, creative activity, other property (property rights) of the debtor, even if they are owned by other persons or belong to the debtor of other persons, or the debtor owns them jointly with other persons;
• attachment of the debtor’s salary, pension, scholarship and other income;
• Attribution to the debtor of the assets specified in the judgment and transfer to the creditor;
• Prohibition on the debtor from disposing of and/or using property owned by the debtor, including funds, or imposition on the debtor of the obligation to use such property under the terms and conditions to be determined by the enforcement officer;
• Other enforcement measures
• other enforcement measures provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings”.

In addition, in order to effectively enforce the decision, the state enforcement officer has the right to apply to the court for a temporary restriction of the debtor’s right to travel outside Ukraine in case of evasion of the obligations imposed on him by the decision.

The issue of temporary restriction of the right to travel outside Ukraine is resolved by the court in accordance with the rules of civil procedure in the manner prescribed by Article 441 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Temporary restriction of a person’s right to travel outside Ukraine may be imposed by a court as a measure to ensure the enforcement of a court decision or a decision of other bodies (officials) which is subject to enforcement in accordance with the procedure established by law.

Temporary restriction of a person’s right to travel outside Ukraine shall be applied in accordance with the procedure established by this Code for securing a claim, with the particularities specified in this Article.

The court may issue a decision on temporary restriction of the right to travel outside Ukraine of a natural person who is a debtor under an unenforced court decision or a decision of other bodies (officials), if such person evades compliance with the obligations imposed on him/her by the relevant decision during the period until the obligations arising from the enforced decision are fulfilled in the enforcement proceedings.

A decision on temporary restriction of a person’s right to travel outside Ukraine may be issued by a court at the place of enforcement of the relevant decision upon a motion by a public or private enforcement officer. The court shall immediately consider such a motion without notifying the parties and other interested persons with the participation of the public (private) enforcement officer.

The court may cancel the temporary restriction of a person’s right to travel outside Ukraine upon a reasoned request of the debtor.

The court considers the request for cancellation of the temporary restriction of a person’s right to travel outside Ukraine within ten days from the date of its receipt at a court hearing with the notification of the parties and other interested persons with the mandatory participation of the public (private) enforcement officer.

Upon consideration of the application for cancellation of the temporary restriction of a person’s right to travel outside Ukraine, a court decision is issued, which can be appealed.

Refusal to cancel the temporary restriction of a person’s right to travel outside Ukraine does not prevent the repeated submission of the same application in case of new circumstances justifying the need to cancel the temporary restriction of a person’s right to travel outside Ukraine.</span.

For example, there may be situations where a foreigner is unable to enforce a court decision due to a lack of understanding of the Ukrainian language or unfamiliarity with Ukrainian enforcement procedures. There may also be difficulties in paying court costs or enforcing the judgment.