Lawyer XXI

Dear editors!

I want to ask judges of Suvorod district of Kherson a question through your newspaper.
Why does the court make a decision when a defendant does not appear in the court?
On March 16th I found a letter in my mailbox. It was the Resolution about beginning of execution and Summons to the court - Suvorov district branch of the State executive service summons you as a debtor from March 16, 2004. In case of default the fine is 170UAH"
I found out that the Resolution came to effect on March 19, 2004.
According to this Resolution we had to pay 51UAH by March 10, 2004. How could we have paid before March 10th when we only read the letter on March 16th? In the end of this document words "read" and "signature". As I understand, they had to give me this letter in person and I had to sign. But instead, they just dropped the letter in my mailbox. What could have happened if I hadn't looked in the mailbox or if the mailbox was opened the letter thrown away by hooligans? So I had to go to the court, read the court decision, find who filed a lawsuit. Excerpt from the court decision "The defendant was informed about the court hearing, but did not appear twice without serious grounds and did not inform the court about reasons". No one handed in the court notice to me. So who signed these court notices for me?
From the materials of my case: 'from personal accounts we see that the defendant did not pay for communal-general services for a long period … call 560,7UAH to account from Mrs. Afanasyeva to cover debt for communal-general services from July 2000 till July 2003 to LLC Petrovets.'
And now a question to LLC Petrovets: in what personal accounts and receipts did you count amount of debt 560,7UAH? In 1999 I had a debt 170UAH. As I understand, this debt is beyond the limitation of action (over three years). And since July 2000 till July 2003 I paid all bills and I have all receipts.
The head of LLC Petrovets explained that the employees made a mistake and the court decision will be annulled. But why do I have to pay 51UAH, go to the State department of executive service that warns me: "not appearing in the court without reasonable grounds can result in administrative responsibility and criminal responsibility"?
What I have to be responsible for - a mistake of employees of LLC Petrovets? And one more interesting nuance. They gave me the court decision that says "This court decision can be appealed in Kherson city Appeal court through Suvorov district during 1 month period". The hearing took place on August 13, 2003, I did not receive any notifications and I only learnt about the court in March 20004. So it means I can not appeal this decision any more? May be they do it this way on purpose so that people can not send appeals even if the decision is unfair?

Valentina Afanasyeva
Reader of newspaper Vhoru

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Dear editors! I want to ask judges of Suvorod district of Kherson a question through your newspaper. Why does the court make a decision when a defendant does not appear in the court? On March 16th I found a letter in my mailbox. It was the Resolution about beginning of execution and Summons to the court - Suvorov district branch of the State executive service summons you as a debtor from March 16, 2004. In case of default the fine is 170UAH" I found out that the Resolution came to effect on March 19, 2004. According to this Resolution we had to pay 51UAH by March 10, 2004. How could we have paid before March 10th when we only read the letter on March 16th? In the end of this document words "read" and "signature". As I understand, they had to give me this letter in person and I had to sign. But instead, they just dropped the letter in my mailbox. What could have happened if I hadn't looked in the mailbox or if the mailbox was opened the letter thrown away by hooligans? So I had to go to the court, read the court decision, find who filed a lawsuit. Excerpt from the court decision "The defendant was informed about the court hearing, but did not appear twice without serious grounds and did not inform the court about reasons". No one handed in the court notice to me. So who signed these court notices for me? From the materials of my case: 'from personal accounts we see that the defendant did not pay for communal-general services for a long period … call 560,7UAH to account from Mrs. Afanasyeva to cover debt for communal-general services from July 2000 till July 2003 to LLC Petrovets.' And now a question to LLC Petrovets: in what personal accounts and receipts did you count amount of debt 560,7UAH? In 1999 I had a debt 170UAH. As I understand, this debt is beyond the limitation of action (over three years). And since July 2000 till July 2003 I paid all bills and I have all receipts. The head of LLC Petrovets explained that the employees made a mistake and the court decision will be annulled. But why do I have to pay 51UAH, go to the State department of executive service that warns me: "not appearing in the court without reasonable grounds can result in administrative responsibility and criminal responsibility"? What I have to be responsible for - a mistake of employees of LLC Petrovets? And one more interesting nuance. They gave me the court decision that says "This court decision can be appealed in Kherson city Appeal court through Suvorov district during 1 month period". The hearing took place on August 13, 2003, I did not receive any notifications and I only learnt about the court in March 20004. So it means I can not appeal this decision any more? May be they do it this way on purpose so that people can not send appeals even if the decision is unfair? Valentina Afanasyeva Reader of newspaper Vhoru


DELIRIUM