The Supreme Court explained when a lawsuit of an incapacitated person cannot be left without consideration

If before the start of the preparatory court session the court receives an amended statement of claim signed by the guardian of the incapacitated person as their legal representative, leaving the original claim without consideration on the grounds that it was signed by the incapacitated person is unlawful – the court is obliged to continue the substantive consideration of the case. This conclusion was made by the Supreme Court in the composition of the panel of judges of the Second Judicial Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court.

On May 6, 2026, the Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court reviewed in simplified proceedings the cassation appeal of a Limited Liability Company in the case filed by Person_1 against PJSC, LLC, third parties: the state registrar of the Registration Department of the Poltava City Council of Poltava Region, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Person_2, Person_3, Person_4, Person_5, regarding the recognition as unlawful and cancellation of the decision of the state registrar.

The court of first instance left the claim without consideration, reasoning that the statement of claim was signed by an incapacitated person.

The appellate court disagreed with the conclusions of the court of first instance, canceled the ruling, and sent the case back for further consideration to the court of first instance.

The Supreme Court agreed with the conclusions of the appellate court and noted that the right to access to court is guaranteed by Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and when applying procedural norms, excessive formalism that may lead to unjustified restriction of such a right should be avoided.

According to Article 59 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, the rights and interests of an incapacitated person in court are protected by their guardian or another legal representative.

In this case, after the commencement of proceedings but before the start of the preparatory court session, the court received an amended statement of claim signed by the guardian of Person_1, who informed the court of his authority as the legal representative of the incapacitated person.

The Supreme Court emphasized that under such circumstances, the court of first instance was obliged to consider the submission of the amended statement of claim by the legal representative and continue the substantive consideration of the case, rather than leaving the claim without consideration on formal grounds.

Thus, the appellate court reasonably canceled the ruling of the court of first instance, since the submission of the amended statement of claim by the guardian eliminated the deficiencies in representing the interests of the incapacitated person in the case.

More details and the text of the Supreme Court ruling dated May 6, 2026, in case No. 554/3107/25 (proceeding No. 61-10220sv25) can be found at this link.

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