ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS “The trial was going on in a quite speedy way as there were many other cases scheduled for that day, the presiding judge spoke in a very low voice and it was hard to hear him. … Only the presiding judge participated in the hearing, the other professional judges were "daydreaming" in their chairs”. In 95% of cases the participants of the trial observed ethical norms and due communication culture. On certain occasions the monitors noted violations of ethical norms and communication culture by the participants. The judges mostly failed to take any actions against the violators of order in the course of the hearing. From the questionnaires of monitors about administrative courts: “The plaintiff interrupted the defendant’s representative and the judge several times, but the judge did not react”. “The plaintiff kept saying how the court should act and which judgements it should make, and threatened to demand the recusal of the judge all the time. When the judge started asking questions, the plaintiff, without listening to the end of the question, raised his voice and started threatening recusal once again”. “While the judge was in the deliberations room, the plaintiff (representative of the North Operative Command) started making threats to me [the monitor]”. CULTURE OF CONDUCTING THE TRIAL IN ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS 4,3 -5 0 5 REASONABLE TIME According to the monitors' assessment, the judges of administrative courts did not take any efficient actions to encourage the parties to settle. This indicator was strikingly different from other courts. It is possible to assume that the reason for that is the lack of readiness of state institutions’ representatives to settle the disputes. In 20% of cases the court hearing started on time or with a delay of up to 5 minutes. The monitors often noted delays in the beginning of the trial of one hour and more. From the questionnaires of monitors about administrative courts: “… the judge … delayed the beginning of the trial and made elderly people and women with children wait (standing!) from 09:10 till 11:44”. “The hearing started 3.5 hours later than planned”. Report on the findings of the first trial monitoring programme in Ukraine 35