This paper examines legal proceedings in the court of first instance for civil cases in Ukraine. Using ethnographic methodology, it demonstrates that a large part of a court judgement is predetermined by the institutional infrastructure and by practices established more widely in Ukrainian society. By observing case hearings and interviewing litigants and judges, the paper reveals that an unbridgeable gap separates a legal case, as constructed through documentary files, from the reality of life. This affects the very meaning of ‘evidence’ and the way that judicial decisions are made. The paper also illustrates the benefits of viewing a lower-level civil courtroom as a microcosm of a society, demonstrating that it provides rich insights into different layers of that society.