Article 223. Postponement of proceedings

The court may postpone the proceedings in the following cases:

1) Mass violation of order by citizens;

2) Failure to comply by prosecutor or the lawyer with the orders of the presiding judge after they have been cautioned;

3) Violation of order in a court session by parties (third parties);

4) Non-appearance in the court session of any of the persons participating in the case, in respect of which there is no information about the service of court summons or other notices;

5) Failure to appear at the court session of any of the duly notified persons participating in the case for the reasons considered by court to be valid;

6) Failure to appear at the court session of duly notified parties without a valid reason and if neither of them has submitted an application for proceedings in their absence;

7) Failure to appear at the court session of a witness, interpreter, expert, or specialist, if the consideration of the case in their absence seems not possible;

8) Plaintiffʼs disagreement with the consideration of the case without defendant's participation;

9) Counter-claiming;

10) Technical malfunctions when using technical means of court proceedings, including videoconferencing systems;

11) Need to present or discover additional evidence;

12) Involving other persons in the case and performing other procedural actions.

The court may also postpone the proceedings in other cases of impossibility to consider the case in the court session.

Court trial may be postponed for the period necessary to eliminate the circumstances that served as the basis for the postponement, within the period of court trial stipulated by this Code.

While postponing the trial of the case, the court shall set the time for the next court session, which shall be announced to the appearing persons against a receipt. Persons who failed to appear and are again invited to participate in the court proceedings shall be notified about the time of the next court session in line with the procedure stipulated by Chapter 16 of this Code.

Proceedings shall continue after the postponement of the case. However, if the case is postponed due to the involvement of new persons listed in Article 39 of this Code, the proceedings shall be initiated from the beginning.