{"id":1962,"date":"2026-04-08T23:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/osnovnue-principu\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T03:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T00:19:14","slug":"osnovnue-principu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/en\/blog\/osnovnue-principu\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-action settlement of disputes in 2026: the demand, mediation, deadlines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 28 August 2025 the Commercial Code has no force, and with it went Article 222 and its compulsory pre-action demand. A demand is now compulsory only where the contract or a specific statute requires it. Mediation suspends the running of limitation, and a settlement reached before the hearing on the merits begins returns 50 % of the court fee.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Law No. 4196-IX ended the Commercial Code of Ukraine on 28 August 2025, and that is the biggest change in pre-action practice in a decade. The provision on the demand procedure, which in-house lawyers had worked to for decades, no longer exists, so the line \u201cin accordance with applicable law we hereby send this demand\u201d now rests on nothing in a great many letters.<\/p>\n

That does not mean pre-action settlement has gone. It has moved where it belongs: into the contract, into specific statutes and into the procedural codes. Whether the parties wrote a demand procedure into the dispute resolution clause now decides directly whether a court will accept a claim without prior correspondence.<\/p>\n

What changed after the Commercial Code was repealed<\/h2>\n

Until 28 August 2025 Article 222 of the Commercial Code set both the form of a demand and the time for answering it. Once the code fell, what remained were the Civil Code\u2019s general rules on obligations and freedom of contract. There is one practical consequence: the \u201cDispute resolution\u201d section in new contracts must be written out in detail, stating when a demand is sent, how, how long the other side has to reply and what silence means.<\/p>\n

If the contract has no such clause, no law obliges you to send a demand before suing. Exceptions come from specific provisions: Article 925 of the Civil Code, for instance, requires a demand to be made to a carrier before suing on a contract of carriage. Tax matters have their own rules, where an administrative challenge to a tax assessment notice<\/a> is a separate procedure with its own deadlines.<\/p>\n

The demand: when it really is compulsory<\/h2>\n

A demand remains the cheapest instrument even when it is not compulsory. It fixes the moment from which the debtor is in default, grounds the charge of three per cent per annum plus inflation losses under Article 625 of the Civil Code, and in court shows the claimant\u2019s good faith when costs are allocated.<\/p>\n

Its content must be specific: who is demanding, from whom, under which contract, exactly what sum and for what, with the calculation and the date for payment. A vague \u201cplease settle the outstanding balance\u201d produces no legal consequence at all. Send it by registered post with a list of contents or through the electronic document system named in the contract, since a message in a chat app is harder to prove. We handle such documents within pre-action settlement of commercial disputes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Demand,<\/p>\n

Mediation: what it offers beyond talking<\/h2>\n

The Law \u201cOn Mediation\u201d No. 1875-IX has been in force since 2021 and rests on four principles: voluntary participation, confidentiality, the mediator\u2019s neutrality and independence, and the parties\u2019 self-determination as to what they agree. The mediator takes no decisions and weighs no evidence; their task is to bring the parties to an outcome both are willing to perform.<\/p>\n

The main procedural advantage is that Article 263 of the Civil Code lists the parties\u2019 mediation agreement among the grounds that suspend the running of limitation. Negotiations therefore no longer eat into the time for going to court, and a party that genuinely tried to settle does not lose the right to sue. That matters especially now that limitation, suspended on 2 April 2020, resumed running on 4 September 2025 under Law No. 4434-IX, and the three years are ticking again as normal.<\/p>\n

An agreement reached in mediation is an ordinary contract and is performed voluntarily. If one side breaks it, court still follows, but the claim is then about the agreement rather than the original dispute, which usually makes it easier to prove.<\/p>\n

Judge-assisted settlement<\/h2>\n

This is a procedural tool that works once proceedings are already open. The Civil Procedure Code devotes Articles 201\u2013205 to it: settlement takes place with the parties\u2019 consent before the hearing on the merits begins, in joint and closed sessions, and the whole process may not exceed thirty days and cannot be extended. The Commercial Procedure Code and the Administrative Procedure Code have equivalent provisions.<\/p>\n

The judge who conducts the settlement may not then hear the case on the merits, and that is what allows the parties to speak frankly. If they agree, the dispute ends in a settlement, a withdrawal of the claim or an admission. If not, the case goes to another judge and is heard in the ordinary way, and what was said in the sessions cannot be used as evidence.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Instrument<\/th>\nBasis<\/th>\nTimeframe<\/th>\nWhat it gives<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Demand<\/td>\na contract term or a specific statute<\/td>\nthe reply period from the contract<\/td>\nfixes default, grounds a claim under Art. 625<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mediation<\/td>\nLaw No. 1875-IX<\/td>\nas the parties agree<\/td>\nsuspends the running of limitation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Judge-assisted settlement<\/td>\nArts. 201\u2013205 CPC<\/td>\nup to 30 days, no extension<\/td>\na settlement without a hearing on the merits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Settlement before the merits hearing<\/td>\nArts. 142, 207 CPC<\/td>\nany time before the hearing begins<\/td>\n50 % of the court fee returned<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

What it costs and what it saves<\/h2>\n

The court fee on an individual\u2019s non-monetary claim is 1,331.20 UAH, and a company\u2019s 3,328 UAH; on a monetary claim it is one per cent of the value for an individual, within 1,331.20 to 16,640 UAH, and one and a half per cent for a company. Article 142 of the Civil Procedure Code returns half the fee to the claimant where, before the hearing on the merits begins, a settlement is made, the claim is withdrawn or the respondent admits it. On a large claim that is real money.<\/p>\n

Time is saved too: a civil case with an appeal runs from six months to a year and a half, while an exchange of demands takes weeks and judge-assisted settlement is capped at thirty days. At Svarog pre-action settlement costs from 5,000 UAH, a written opinion on the prospects from 5,000 UAH and drafting a contract with a sound dispute resolution clause from 5,000 UAH, whereas handling a civil case end to end starts at 25,000 UAH and a commercial one at 30,000 UAH. The full list of rates is on the page of legal service prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What to do, in order<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Reread the contract and find the dispute resolution clause. It is that clause, not the law, which now decides whether a demand is compulsory and how long the other side has to reply.<\/li>\n
  2. Calculate limitation. The three years under Article 257 have been running normally since 4 September 2025, so check the deadline first and plan the negotiations afterwards.<\/li>\n
  3. Draft the demand with the calculation, the contract clauses cited and a clear date for payment. Send it by registered post with a list of contents and keep the receipt.<\/li>\n
  4. If the relationship is worth keeping, propose mediation and sign the mediation agreement: from that moment limitation is suspended.<\/li>\n
  5. Once a claim has been filed, apply for judge-assisted settlement before the hearing on the merits begins. The window is thirty days.<\/li>\n
  6. Put the agreement into a settlement and submit it for approval before the merits hearing starts, so that half the court fee comes back.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Typical mistakes<\/h2>\n