Court letter not picked up at the post office: can this cause loss of the right to appeal

The Cassation Civil Court as part of the Supreme Court confirmed that missing the deadline for an appeal by itself is not a basis for its automatic renewal. A person must not only submit the appropriate application but also justify the valid reasons for missing the deadline. If this is not done, and the court properly notified about the need to correct the deficiencies of the appeal, the refusal to open appellate proceedings is lawful.

The case of apartment flooding reached the Supreme Court due to procedural deadlines

The Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court considered case No. 752/8914/22, which arose after a dispute between owners of two apartments due to repeated flooding of the dwelling. At the same time, the subject of the cassation review was not the circumstances of the flooding itself, nor the issue of the defendant's liability, nor the correctness of the compensation amount, but exclusively the legality of the appellate court's refusal to open appellate proceedings due to missing the deadline for appeal.

Circumstances of the case

The plaintiff went to court after his apartment was flooded twice due to damage to the radiator and the connection to the central heating radiator in the apartment located one floor above. The first incident occurred in April 2021, the second in April 2022.

According to him, as a result of the flooding, the ceiling, walls, and floor in the room, kitchen, and corridor were damaged. Referring to reports prepared by the housing maintenance workers, he requested to recover from the apartment owner UAH 67,143.73 in material damage and UAH 5,000 in moral damages.

What the court of first instance decided

The Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv partially satisfied the claim.

The court recovered UAH 5,000 in property damage and UAH 5,000 in moral damages from the defendant. The court refused the other part of the claim for material damages.

Why the appellate court refused to open proceedings

Disagreeing with the decision, the plaintiff filed an appeal.

The appellate court concluded that the appeal was filed after the expiration of the procedural deadline. Therefore, the court left it without movement and suggested the applicant submit a motion to renew the appeal deadline.

The court sent the relevant ruling twice to the address indicated by the plaintiff in the procedural documents. Both postal items were returned due to expiration of the storage period. In addition, the court tried to notify the applicant by the phone number he provided but received no response.

Since the plaintiff did not submit a motion to renew the deadline, the Kyiv Court of Appeal refused to open appellate proceedings based on paragraph 4 of part one of article 358 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Arguments of the cassation appeal

In the Supreme Court, the plaintiff insisted that the appeal was filed on time. In his opinion, the appellate court should have taken into account that the full text of the first instance court's decision was prepared later, independently verified its date of preparation, and accordingly correctly determined the start of the appeal deadline.

Position of the Cassation Civil Court

The Cassation Civil Court disagreed with the applicant's arguments and left the cassation appeal without satisfaction.

The Supreme Court noted that if an appeal is filed after the expiration of the established procedural deadline, the person must apply to the court with a motion to renew it and justify the valid reasons for the delay. The court is not entitled to renew the deadline without the participant's corresponding application and the reasons given for the delay.

The Cassation Civil Court also emphasized that renewal of the procedural deadline is a discretionary power of the court, exercised only after assessing the validity of the reasons for the delay. Such reasons can only be objective and insurmountable circumstances that actually prevented the person from timely performing the procedural action.

Moreover, the Supreme Court agreed with the appellate court's conclusion that the plaintiff was properly notified about the need to correct the deficiencies of the appeal. Procedural documents were sent to the address provided by the applicant himself, and attempts were made to contact him by phone. The fact that registered letters were returned due to expiration of the storage period does not indicate a violation of the notification procedure, since under such circumstances the person is considered properly notified.

The court also noted that the interested party bears the obligation to pay proper attention to protecting their rights and take necessary measures to monitor the progress of the court process. At the same time, the case materials contained no evidence that the plaintiff tried to obtain a copy of the court decision, learn about the case results, or timely correct the deficiencies of the appeal.

Supreme Court's conclusion

The Cassation Civil Court left unchanged the ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeal refusing to open appellate proceedings.

The Supreme Court concluded that the untimely filing of the appeal was caused by subjective circumstances, not objective reasons that prevented timely court access. Under such circumstances, there were no grounds for renewing the procedural deadline.

The court also drew attention to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, according to which the right of access to court is not absolute and may be limited by procedural rules, including appeal deadlines. At the same time, unjustified renewal of the deadline for appealing a court decision that has already entered into legal force would contradict the principle of legal certainty and guarantees of a fair trial provided by Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

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