Harmonization of national standards of transparency in civil procedure with the directives of the European Union

Abstract

Ensuring transparency in civil proceedings is essential to enhancing the effectiveness of judicial protection of human rights and to building public trust in the judiciary. Current trends in the development of open justice and the digitalization of procedures necessitate the alignment of national civil procedural standards with the legal norms and directives of the European Union. The interaction between national legislation and European transparency standards remains insufficiently studied, which highlights the need for a scientific analysis of existing gaps and the formulation of recommendations to improve legal regulation.

The aim of the study is to provide a scientific rationale for harmonizing national standards of transparency in civil proceedings in Ukraine with EU requirements and practices, while considering the integrative nature of judicial openness and digital innovations in court administration.

To achieve the aim, a combination of general scientific and specialized legal methods was applied: the comparative-legal method for contrasting national legislation with EU directives, the system-structural method for identifying principles, structural elements, and functions of transparency, the formal-legal method for analyzing procedural norms, as well as analytical and generalizing methods for evaluating law enforcement practices and identifying normative, institutional, and technological gaps.

The study identified the theoretical and legal foundations of transparency in civil proceedings, its components, and its role within the system of civil procedural principles. The conformity of national procedural regulation with EU standards regarding openness, access to information, public hearings, and judicial accountability was analyzed. It was established that transparency functions as an integrative category combining normative, institutional, and information-technological components. Scientifically grounded approaches to harmonizing legislation were proposed to develop electronic justice, ensure a balance between procedural openness and the protection of participants’ personal data, enhance the transparency of the judicial system, and improve the effectiveness of judicial protection.

It has been established that transparency in civil proceedings is a key condition for ensuring a fair trial and increasing public confidence in the judiciary. The systematic implementation of EU standards will contribute to the development of a modern civil procedure model grounded in openness, procedural predictability, and real access to justice, consistent with the principles of a democratic rule-of-law state.