UKRAINE Law and Practice Contributed by: Olena Perepelynska, Krystyna Khripkova, Nadiya Mykiyevych and Anna Kozyrieva, IMPACTA LAW
Under Article 16 (1) of the ICA Law, an arbitral tri - bunal may rule on its own jurisdiction, including any objections concerning the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement. The arbitral tribunal may rule on this matter either as a preliminary question or in an award on the merits. 5.2 Circumstances for Court Intervention Ukrainian courts may address jurisdictional issues in very limited circumstances. Under Article 16 (3) of the ICA Law, if the arbitral tribunal rules as a preliminary question that it has jurisdiction, any party may request, within thirty days after having received notice of that ruling, the competent court at the seat of arbitration to decide the matter, which decision shall be subject to no appeal; while such a request is pending, the arbitral tribunal may continue the arbitral proceedings and make an award. Article 461 of the CPCU provides for the judicial review of preliminary rulings by an inter - national commercial arbitral tribunal that affirms its jurisdiction, but does not address the decline of juris - diction. What follows is that, in cases of such negative rulings, Ukrainian courts would not open proceedings and would not review such rulings on jurisdiction in principle. This approach is affirmed by the recent Rul - ing of the Kyiv Court of Appeal in case No. 824/41/26 dated 19 May 2026. If the arbitral tribunal rules on its jurisdiction in an award on the merits, the competent court at the seat of arbitration can address the tribunal’s jurisdiction within setting aside proceedings under Article 34 of the ICA Law and Article 459 of the CPCU. Likewise, Ukrainian courts can address the tribunal’s jurisdiction within award enforcement proceedings under Article 36 of the ICA Law and Article 461 of the CPCU. Ukrainian courts generally take a non-intervening approach, recognising the principle of competence- competence. 5.3 Timing of Challenge In Ukraine, the arbitral tribunal has the primary author - ity to rule on its jurisdiction and courts will not inter - vene until the tribunal has taken a position. Strictly speaking, judicial review of the tribunal’s jurisdiction becomes possible only once the tribunal has decided on jurisdiction, in the form of either an award or a
preliminary ruling. The application for the setting aside of such a decision shall be submitted within three months from the day on which the applying party received the award/ruling. 5.4 Standard of Judicial Review for Jurisdiction/Admissibility Ukrainian law does not expressly prescribe a standard of judicial review for questions of jurisdiction or admis - sibility. However, where a court is entitled to review such issues, it generally undertakes an independent ( de novo ) assessment and is not limited to reviewing the tribunal’s determination for errors. 5.5 Breach of Arbitration Agreement Ukrainian courts are not willing to allow court pro - ceedings to continue in breach of a valid arbitration agreement in line with Article 8 of the ICA Law (see 3.3 National Courts’ Approach ). This approach is reinforced by the presumption in favour of the validity and enforceability of arbitration agreements and the principle that any ambiguities should be interpreted in favour of arbitration. 5.6 Jurisdiction Over Third Parties As a general rule, an arbitration agreement binds only its signatories. Third parties may, however, become bound by an arbitration agreement in case of univer - sal succession (eg, merger), or singular succession (eg, assignment). Article 55 of the CPCU concerns procedural successors of a party or a third party and will apply to arbitration matters as well. Only parties to the arbitration may apply to have an arbitral award issued in international arbitration set aside. The ICAC allows third parties to join or to be involved in the arbitral proceedings provided that: • either all parties and a third party are bound by the arbitration agreement; or • all parties and a third party have agreed to conduct the arbitral proceedings with the participation of such third party within the time limits that should not exceed 15 days from the date of receipt of the request, unless the Secretary General of the ICAC or the arbitral tribunal has established a longer period having regard to some definite circumstanc - es.
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