Procedural conflicts in alimony modification cases

The article examines the current issues of judicial protection of the child’s right to maintenance in the context of procedural and legal regulation of disputes on changing the amount of alimony in Ukraine. Substantive law provisions on child support by parents are implemented in an inseparable connection with procedural law provisions, and together with them form a comprehensive legal system for guaranteeing the subjective right of a child to support and ensure the implementation of judicial protection of this right. The authors emphasize the inconsistency of legislative regulation of the procedure for consideration of such cases in general and simplified action proceedings. The authors analyze the evolution of the relevant regulatory framework, in particular, the changes introduced by Law No. 460-IX of 15.01.2020, which recognized cases on increasing the amount of alimony as small claims, with the possibility of their consideration in simplified proceedings. In contrast, cases on reducing the amount of alimony remained among the cases considered only in general action proceedings. The authors also analyze Law No. 3831-IX of June 19, 2024, which defined cases of alimony reduction as small claims, but did not cancel the ban on their consideration in simplified proceedings, which created a legal conflict. The authors substantiate that both types of cases - on increasing and decreasing alimony - are a single category of cases on changing their amount, and therefore, the procedure for their consideration should be the same. Disputes in cases of increasing and decreasing the amount of alimony arise from the same legal relations of the parties, concern the protection of the same subjective right of the child to maintenance, and the change in the amount of alimony in the direction of increase or decrease is based on the same legal facts provided for by law. The article emphasizes the negative consequences of fragmentation and insufficient legal expertise of the amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure of Ukraine, which impede the formation of a unified law enforcement practice, create procedural obstacles to the protection of the child’s right to maintenance, and introduce some uncertainty regarding cassation appeals against decisions in cases of reduction of alimony. The authors conclude that there is a need for a comprehensive approach to regulating issues related to the modification of child support amounts in the civil procedural legislation of Ukraine, taking into account the principle of effective judicial protection of the child’s rights.