Reconceptualizing Stage-Based Legal Proceedings: A Comparative Analysis of European Models and Judicial Reform in Ukraine

Ihor Bychkov; Yevhen Romanchenko; Anatolii Petrenko; Ivan Kaylo; Andrii Svintsytskyi

doi:10.52496/mjhki.v4i1.69

Authors

Ihor Bychkov Kovpakivskyi District Court of Sumy Author
Yevhen Romanchenko Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University Author
Anatolii Petrenko Interregional Academy of Personnel Management Author
Ivan Kaylo Kyiv University of Law of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine Author
Andrii Svintsytskyi National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52496/mjhki.v4i1.69

Keywords:

Court, Judicial Reform, Law Enforcement, Legal Consciousness of Judges, Rule of Law

Abstract

This paper examines the stage-based approach to the organization of legal proceedings in the justice systems of Europe and Ukraine. Staging is understood as a procedural framework that structures judicial activity into successive phases, ensuring fairness, transparency, and efficiency of the trial process. The study analyses key stages of legal proceedings, including pre-trial investigation, preparatory procedures, trial, and appellate review, highlighting their role in protecting procedural rights and upholding the rule of law. Using a comparative legal approach, the research explores the practices of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain to identify common features and differences in stage-based models. Particular attention is given to the influence of European legal standards and international judicial practice on national systems, as well as to the challenges of adapting these approaches in Ukraine. The paper identifies major shortcomings in the Ukrainian judicial process, such as inefficiencies in pre-trial investigation and limited effectiveness of judicial control. The findings show that a well-structured stage-based system enhances legal certainty and the protection of human rights. The study concludes that Ukraine should develop a functionally effective procedural model based on European best practices while considering national legal realities.

Author Biographies

Ihor Bychkov, Kovpakivskyi District Court of Sumy

Kovpakivskyi District Court of Sumy, Sumy, Ukraine
Yevhen Romanchenko, Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University

Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, Zhytomyr, Ukraine
Anatolii Petrenko, Interregional Academy of Personnel Management

Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, Kyiv, Ukraine
Ivan Kaylo, Kyiv University of Law of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

Kyiv University of Law of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
Andrii Svintsytskyi, National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

References

Baranovska, Tetiana, Oleh Ihnatiuk, Stanislav Sokha, Lidiia Moskvych, and Olena Dragan. “Theoretical and Practical Dimensions of Legal Responsibility in Criminal Justice.” Multidisciplinary Science Journal 6 (2024). https://doi.org/10.31893/multiscience.2024ss0737.

Bobryk, Volodymyr. “Methodology for Determining the Stages of Civil Proceedings.” Annual Legal Collection of Scientific Papers 21, no. 21 (2022): 24–32.

Boiko, Viacheslav P. “Improvement of Administrative-Legal Principles of Justice in Ukraine: Relevance of Research.” Ukrainian Legal Novelties 20 (2023): 108–13. https://doi.org/10.32782/ln.2023.20.15.

Chernenko, Anatoliy, and Anatoliy Shiyan. “Stages of Criminal Proceedings: Grounds for Division and Characteristics.” Scientific Bulletin of the Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs 1, no. 128 (2024): 349–55.

European Commission. Ukraine 2025 Report. 2025. https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/document/download/17115494-8122-4d10-8a06-2cf275eecde7_en?filename=ukraine-report-2025.pdf.

Hodgson, Jacqueline. French Criminal Justice: A Comparative Account of the Investigation and Prosecution of Crime in France. London: Bloomsbury, 2006.

Huseinov, Ilhar Vuhar Ohly. “Conceptual Aspects of the Implementation of Financial and Legal Norms: Issues of Structure and Staging in the Conditions of State-Society Reforms.” Law and Public Administration 3 (2022): 5–80. https://doi.org/10.32840/pdu.2022.3.11.

Inchausti, Fernando Gascón, and Burkhard Hess. The Future of the European Law of Civil Procedure: Coordination or Harmonisation? Cambridge: Intersentia, 2020.

Interfax-Ukraine. “Officials, Political Parties, Parliament, Courts Remain the Least Trusted by Over 70% of Ukrainian Citizens – Survey.” 2024. https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/press-conference/996149.html.

Izarova, Iryna, and Nataliia. Horban. “About Equal Access to Justice in a Contemporary World.” Access to Justice in Eastern Europe 2, no. 10 (2021): 5–7.

Janig, Philipp. “General Principles of Procedural Law.” In Research Handbook on International Procedural Law, edited by J. Gomula, S. Wittich, and M. Stemeseder, 53–72. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024.

Kopytova, Olena S. Theoretical and Legal Foundations of Judicial Law Enforcement. Kyiv: National Academy of Internal Affairs, 2021.

Kostruba, Anatoliy, Mykola Haliantych, Svitlana Iskra, and Andrii Dryshliuk. “Legal Gaps: Concept, Content, Problems of the Role of Legal Doctrine in Overcoming Them.” Statute Law Review 44, no. 2 (2023): hmac016. https://doi.org/10.1093/slr/hmac016.

Kramer, Xandra, Carlota Ucín, and Adriani Dori. “Challenges to Access to Civil Justice in Europe.” In Comparative Civil Procedure: Research Handbooks in Comparative Law, edited by Margaret Y.K. Woo and Cornelis H. van Rhee, 107–32. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2025. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786434418.00011.

Kuchuk, Andrii, and Nataliia Zhylnikova. “Public Administration Principles: International Legal Aspect.” Journal of International Legal Communication 12, no. 1 (2024): 19–29.

Leheza, Yevhen, Karina Pisotska, Oleksandr Dubenko, Oleksandr Dakhno, and Artur Sotskyi. “The Essence of the Principles of Ukrainian Law in Modern Jurisprudence.” Revista Jurídica Portucalense 32 (2023): 342–63. https://doi.org/10.34625/issn.2183-2705(32)2022.ic-15.

Lytvyn, Nataliia, Halyna Andrushchenko, Yevhen V. Zozulya, Olena V. Nikanorova, and Lyudmila M. Rusal. “Enforcement of Court Decisions as a Social Guarantee of Protection of Citizens’ Rights and Freedoms.” Prawo i Więź 39, no. 1 (2022): 80–102. https://doi.org/10.36128/priw.vi39.351.

Matvieieva, Liliia, Liliia Dorofeieva, Mykhailo Burdin, Yevhen Durnov, and Maryna Dei. “Legal Process in the National Legal Doctrine of Ukraine through the Scope of the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights.” International Journal for Court Administration 13, no. 2 (2022): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.36745/ijca.411.

Melnyk, Dmytro S., Oleg A. Parfylo, Oleksii V. Butenko, Olena V. Tykhonova, and Volodymyr O. Zarosylo. “Practice of the Member States of the European Union in the Field of Anti-Corruption Regulation.” Journal of Financial Crime 29, no. 3 (2022): 853–63. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-03-2021-0050.

Nakonechna, Iryna V. Administrative and Legal Mechanism for Ensuring National Security in the Conditions of European Integration: Issues of Theory and Practice. Kyiv: Research Institute of Public Law, 2023.

Nazim, Muneeba Faizan, Sohail Amjad, and Anum Shahid. “Juvenile Justice Reform: A Comparative Study of International Practices.” Pakistan Islamicus: An International Journal of Islamic & Social Sciences 4, no. 1 (2024): 42–53.

Nylund, Anna. “Civil Procedure and the Rule of Law in Scandinavia.” International Journal of Procedural Law 14, no. 2 (2024): 343–69. https://doi.org/10.1163/30504856-14020006.

Oliynychuk, Oleksandra, Roman Oliynychuk, and Andrii Kolesnikov. “E-Justice as an Element of the Modern Judicial System.” Actual Problems of Law 3, no. 27 (2021): 141–47.

Pohrebniak, Volodymyr. “‘Judicial Lawmaking’ and ‘Judicial Norm-Making’: Lexical and Semantic Analysis.” Law of Ukraine 5 (2024): 33–57. https://doi.org/10.33498/louu-2024-05-033.

Popko, Yevgen. “Development of the State Jurisdictional Immunity Institution in Private International Law.” Legal Horizons 17, no. 2 (2023): 51–63.

Proskuryakova, Ivanna M. Procedural Features of Alternative Resolution of Public-Law Disputes in Administrative Proceedings. Kyiv: National Academy of Internal Affairs, 2021.

Pylypenko, Dmytro O. “Stages and Models of Development of Principles of Criminal-Executive Law.” European Law Knowledge 4 (2021): 57–61. https://doi.org/10.32837/chern.v0i4.262.

Requejo Isidro, Marta, and Burkhard Hess. “The Interplay between Private and Public International Law Regarding Procedure.” In Research Handbook on International Procedural Law, edited by Joanna Gomula, Stephan Wittich, and Markus Stemeseder, 630–50. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024.

Resnik, Judith. “Constituting a Civil Legal System Called ‘Just’: Law, Money, Power, and Publicity.” In New Pathways to Civil Justice in Europe, edited by Xandra Kramer, Alexandre Biard, Jos Hoevenaars, and Erlis Themeli, 299–313. Cham: Springer, 2021.

Semenets-Orlova, Inna, Valentyna Kushnir, Larisa Rodchenko, Inna Chernenko, Oleh Druz, and Mykola Rudenko. “Organizational Development and Educational Changes Management in Public Sector (Case of Public Administration during War Time).” International Journal of Professional Business Review 8, no. 4 (2023): e01699. https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2023.v8i4.1699.

Sopianenko, Oksana Yu. “Theoretical Problems of Opening Proceedings in a Civil Case from the Standpoint of the Rule of Law.” Private and Public Law 1 (2022): 20–25. https://doi.org/10.32845/2663-5666.2022.1.4.

Spytska, Liana V. “Analysis of the Most Unusual Court Decisions in World Practice in Terms of the Right to Justice.” Social & Legal Studios 5, no. 4 (2022): 39–45.

Stanko, Iryna Ya. “Theoretical and Legal Analysis of the Principles of Law as an Integrating Element of the Legal System.” Legal Horizons 20, no. 33 (2020): 15–22.

Transparency International. Corruption Perceptions Index—2024. 2025. https://ti-ukraine.org/en/research/corruption-perceptions-index-2024/.

Vitushynska, Oleksandra O. “Correlation of the Concept of ‘Judicial Control’ with the Concepts of ‘Justice’ and ‘Judicial Protection’ in the Criminal Process of Ukraine.” Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod National University 83, no. 3 (2024): 203–7.

Yeshchenko, Oleksandr V. “Theoretical and Comparative Aspect of the Concept of Access to Justice.” Scientific Notes of Vernadsky National University of Kyiv 34, no. 1 (2023): 100–105.

Yevdokymov, Dmytro A. Administrative and Legal Framework for the Investigation of Administrative Offenses by the National Police. Kyiv: National Academy of Internal Affairs, 2021.