OUTLINING THE CIRCLE OF POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS IN A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT: A CIVIL PROCEDURE ASPECT

Abstract

Abstract. Despite the prospects of amicable resolution of legal disputes and the prominent place of the settlement agreement institute in civil proceedings, it is not without its weaknesses, in particular, there are a number of problems relating to the circle of participants to civil proceedings who may apply for entering into a settlement agreement which are not unambiguously resolved in the literature, and sometimes have no clear legislative position. Therefore, in this article, based on the analysis of current legislation and the views of legal scholars, the author outlines the circle of participants to civil proceedings which are entitled to enter into a settlement agreement, critically analyzes foreign experience regarding its possibility and expediency of implementation in the national legal system, and formulates the author’s own conclusions and proposals for improving the regulatory framework for the subject matter of a settlement agreement. The publication analyzes the ability of third parties to enter into an amicable agreement and substantiates that third parties who make independent claims on the subject matter of the dispute may enter into an amicable agreement within the framework of the claim led by them due to the fact that they were direct participants in the disputed legal relations considered by the court, and expresses the position that third parties who do not assert independent claims regarding the subject matter of the dispute should not be deprived of such an opportunity either, since the settlement agreement may a‑ect their rights and obligations, and direct participation in it will provide them with the ability to foresee options in which their rights will not be violated and their interests will be protected to the maximum extent possible. In order to secure this possibility, the current civil procedure legislation needs to be amended. The legal aspects of concluding a settlement agreement through representatives are examined. The paper substantiates the validity of the presumption in the domestic civil procedure legislation that a representative enjoys all the rights of the person he represents, with subsequent restrictions of the relevant right by making reservations in the power of attorney. The circle of parties to the settlement agreement has been expanded to include the recoverer and the debtor – the parties to the enforcement proceedings, which is justied by the recognition of enforcement proceedings as thenal stage of civil proceedings, which is conrmed by both legislative provisions and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and by proving the e‑ectiveness of the settlement agreement structure at the stage of execution of a court decision.