The production in courts in the Russian Federation is divided by the legislator into several stages. Let us examine in more detail one of them - the adoption by the court of a ruling on the preparation of the case for trial. Why is it needed, in what cases is mandatory and who has the right to get acquainted with it?
What is a lawsuit?
Many face the Russian judicial system in practice, but not everyone knows all its subtleties and nuances. At the same time, the whole outcome of the case sometimes depends on this. Judicial practice in civil cases is currently very different, since there is no case law in our country as such.
Before proceeding directly to the stage of making a determination on preparation for a trial, one needs to understand what a lawsuit is.
Most disputes resolved by courts of general jurisdiction are dealt with in this order.
Article 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation classifies claims arising from family, civil, labor, land, housing, environmental and other relations between individuals.
Thus, filing a lawsuit is the most common form of resolving disputes between individuals.
A statement of claim is a written statement to the court of one party regarding the protection of their rights or interests protected by law. The document consists of two parts - this is the subject and the grounds on which the requirements are built.
The subject refers to the requirements of the plaintiff to the defendant, the range of such requirements can be very wide. The claim is based on those facts by which the plaintiff confirms his claim to the opposite side.
Innings
The prepared document, as a general rule, is filed with the court at the place of residence of the person to whom it is filed. A lawsuit may be filed in court both personally by the plaintiff and through a representative. At the same time, a representative may file a claim only if the authorization for filing it is duly formalized (by proxy).
If you do not know the place of residence of the defendant, the document must be submitted to the last address of the defendant or at the location of his property.
In addition, when it comes to protecting consumer rights, a lawsuit may be filed at the request of the applicant at the place of residence (location) of the defendant or at his address.
Also, if a dispute arises from a contractual relationship, the terms of the contract may establish the jurisdiction of the dispute to a specific court (the so-called contractual jurisdiction).
Depending on the composition of the participants and the nature of the dispute, claims may be filed with the UJ courts (world, district, oblast, regional) and arbitration courts.
Adoption
This issue is decided solely by the judge. The stage of preparing a case for trial is the stage at which the judge, depending on the specific content of the claim and the documents attached to it, has the right to make a determination:
- accept a lawsuit;
- leave the application without motion, indicating motives and setting a date to eliminate deficiencies;
- return the claim on the grounds established by the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation (Article 135);
- refuse to accept the claim in accordance with Art. 134 of the above code.
This is an exhaustive list of possible procedural decisions made at this stage.
This article will deal with such an act as a court ruling on preparing a case for trial. It is the starting point of the entire further civil process.
Definition
In the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, preparing a case for trial is a separate stage in the proceedings of the case, the purpose of which is to determine the circumstances of the case that are significant in the case, gather evidence, involve third parties for further proper consideration of the matter.
It is logical that the judge begins to disassemble the case only after the adoption of the claim to his own production or at the same time as its adoption.
The definition of preparing a case for trial in its structure should contain:
- date and place of its adoption;
- the name of the court issuing the judicial act, its composition, as well as the F.AND.O. of the secretary participating in the hearing;
- the name of the parties involved in the case, as well as the claimed claims;
- the issue on which the court decides;
- justification with reference to the law;
- the operative part, in which the court indicates what specifically it determines by the enacted judicial act;
- in the event that the determination is subject to appeal, the time frame for contestation and in what order it can be appealed.
Appointment
The tasks of preparing a case for trial are spelled out in the law itself. The goal of actions at this stage should fully correspond to certain areas. So, chapter 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation details them.
The legislator in Art. 148 of the specified code the number of tasks which this stage pursues is fixed.
These include:
- the establishment of circumstances that are directly relevant to the resolution of the case;
- qualification of the legal relations of the parties and determination of the norms of legislation that are applicable when considering a dispute;
- consolidation of persons involved in the case;
- submission by the parties of documents and other evidence related to the consideration of the dispute;
- reconciliation procedure.
The importance of preparing the case for trial is that the court itself directs all the necessary preliminary activities for the consideration of the case. The court shall explain to the parties involved their procedural capabilities and obligations.
At the same time, at this stage, the court needs to determine the procedure for preparing the case for trial, take all measures aimed at creating conditions under which the facts of the case related to the substance of the dispute will be investigated in full. Indeed, the whole further outcome of the process will depend on this.
When making a determination on the preparation of the case for trial, the court also determines the list of persons who will participate in it. Their status is enshrined in Art. 34 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.
In addition to the question of the participation of third parties, the court also decides on other people who need to be involved in the consideration of the dispute - these are specialists, experts, translators, etc.
Further, at the stage of preparing the case for trial, the minister of Themis must determine what exactly needs to be proved in this process, and explain to the parties who have the burden of submitting to the court the justification and confirmation of the facts relevant to the case and what will follow if they are not submitted. If a party (parties) cannot provide any evidence for objective reasons, the court shall take measures aimed at assisting the parties in obtaining such evidence.
Also, during the preparation period, counterparties may decide to end the case in peace. However, the mere signing of a settlement by the plaintiff and the defendant does not mean that this agreement will be unambiguously approved by the court. The latter, in this case, must check whether the concluded agreement contradicts the current legislation, whether there are any violations of anyoneβs rights in this case, and only after that can he approve the settlement agreement.
At the same time, the resolution of the case by the world is one of the tasks of the court when considering a dispute, in connection with which the court takes all measures depending on it to resolve the dispute by reconciling the contractors.
Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation in Art. 149 regulates what the parties must do when preparing the case for trial.
The plaintiff (or his representative) is entrusted with the obligation to transmit to the defendant the copies of all documents (other evidence) confirming the position on the claims stated in the lawsuit.
At the same time, the plaintiff is granted the right to submit petitions to the court for evidence that he cannot receive without the help of this body.
As regards the defendant of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, it is established that he is entitled to receive clarifications from the plaintiff in relation to claims and the justification of these requirements.
In this case, the defendant is obliged to provide the plaintiff and the court with his written position on the subject of the disputed relationship with arguments in its favor, as well as to transmit to the plaintiff and the court evidence supporting the defendant's objections.
The defendant, as well as the plaintiff, is granted the right to file a request for evidence, which he cannot receive without the assistance of a judge.
Initial Actions
In addition to making the determination itself, the judge, when preparing the case for trial, is required to carry out a number of procedural actions. They are obligatory for him.
In particular, the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation establishes the following procedural forms of preparation for trial:
- Designate and explain to the parties the terms of reference and responsibilities established by Articles 35 and 39 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. These actions of the judge in preparing the case for trial are important, since the lack of confirmation of the explanation of the rights and obligations to the parties in the future may affect the cancellation of the decision in the case as a whole.
- Interview the plaintiff or his representative in relation to the subject matter and the basis of the claim, as well as, if necessary, propose to submit something additional, for which a specific deadline should be established.
- Interview the defendant in the circumstances related to the subject of the dispute, to establish the existence of arguments against the claim and how they are confirmed.
- Make a decision on the entry into the pending case of several plaintiffs (several defendants); three persons without independent claims; as well as replace the defendant, if a lawsuit is filed against the wrong person; to join and divide affairs if necessary. The court also decides on the inclusion of the prosecutor or the relevant administrative authority in the circle of participating persons. In some cases, the rules of law have established situations where the involvement of the prosecutor's office in a case is mandatory.
- To take measures, to send the parties to sign an agreement on ending the case with the world; explain to the parties the right to appeal to the arbitration court and other possible actions.
- Provide notice to the parties and other parties involved about the date of the hearing to consider the claim for a specific time, indicating the place of arrival. The actions of the court to notify the parties are of great procedural importance, since one of the reasons for canceling the decision of the court of first instance in the appeal is the consideration of the case in the absence of interested persons, for whom there is no information about communicating to them information about the place and time of the trial.
- Determine the need to call witnesses in the case who can testify in certain circumstances. In practice, as a rule, the court establishes the need to call such persons on the basis of petitions of the parties. In this case, the court asks the parties to provide detailed contact details of the relevant witnesses, as well as to assist in ensuring their appearance.
- Make a decision on the appointment of expertise in the case under consideration (such a need does not always exist). At the same time, the parties have the right to file petitions to the court for the appointment of an examination, indicating the questions that must be posed to the expert and with the selected institution for its conduct. You also need to decide on the possibility of involving specialists and translators in the business.
- When preparing a case for trial on the application of the participating defendants and their representatives, the judge requests evidence from the relevant legal entities and individuals that cannot be obtained by the parties without the participation of the court. In cases where this is caused by objective necessity, the judge shall, with due notice to the parties, examine the relevant evidence.
The court may also send an order to the appropriate colleague from another region to carry out certain procedural actions. Along with this, a determination is made that describes the content of the claims, indicates information about the persons participating in the case, their location, facts to be established, etc.
At the request of the parties, the court takes measures aimed at securing the statement of claim, if failure to take such measures will lead to impossibility or complicate the execution of the decision made in the case under consideration.
In cases established by law, the court determines the date of the preliminary meeting with the parties notified of its time and place.
In addition, given that in practice there are a wide variety of issues when preparing a case for trial, the above list of measures is not exhaustive, and the court has the right to perform other procedural actions at this stage.
Joining and sharing requirements
At the time of filing a lawsuit, a person may state in one document several claims that are closely related to the defendant or several defendants.
Consideration of such claims in a single proceeding is not always advisable, therefore, when preparing a case, the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of civil procedure provides the court with the right to separate these claims and consider them in separate judicial proceedings.
At the same time, there is a reverse situation when several plaintiffs submit several homogeneous claims to one defendant (s). In such a situation, the court, having established that consideration of these claims in one proceeding will lead to the most timely and correct resolution of the case, is entitled to combine several claims in one proceeding.
Preliminary meeting
This is not a mandatory step in resolving a civil case. In preparation, the court may schedule a preliminary hearing, which is one of the procedural forms of preparing the case for trial. At the same time, the task is not the main consideration of the issue, i.e., it should not conduct a study of evidence, establish the actual circumstances of the case related to the substance of the subject of the claim, etc.
Preliminary consideration is carried out in the manner regulated by the general rules for holding all court hearings, however, it differs in its direction by resolution in most of the procedural aspects.
The judge holds such a meeting in a single composition. In this case, only the parties involved in the case are called.
The parties in the preliminary meeting are granted the right to submit petitions, present evidence, state their positions.
It is worth noting once again that a preliminary meeting is not mandatory in all cases under consideration. The court decides to conduct it on the basis of the complexity of the case, the certainty of the positions of the plaintiff and defendant on the subject of the dispute, the need to resolve issues related to the preparation of the case for trial.
Goals of the preliminary meeting
Among these, the following can be distinguished:
- elucidation of factors affecting the correct and timely resolution of the case;
- the establishment of the fact that the evidence available in the case file is sufficient to resolve it on the merits;
- consideration of issues related to the deadlines for applying to court, limitation periods, as well as the resolution of applications for the restoration of missed deadlines, the examination of the defendant's objections to the above-mentioned problem, the establishment of valid reasons that served as the basis for the violation of the appeal to the court within the relevant deadlines;
- procedural execution of a waiver of a claim, recognition of claims, changes in the grounds and subject matter, increase / decrease in the size of claims, signing a settlement agreement and the like of the parties.
The actions of the parties in preparing the case for trial should fully comply with the goals and objectives of this stage in order to achieve a significant result in the shortest possible time.
If during the preliminary hearing the court reveals the circumstances listed in Articles 215, 216, 220 and 222, depending on what the court specifically determines, the proceedings may be suspended / terminated, the application may be left without consideration.
Also, in a preliminary hearing, in the event of a dispute involving a child, the court determines which of the parents the child will live with, as well as the procedure for exercising parental rights until the court decision comes into force. A judicial act in such cases is adopted with the involvement of guardianship and trusteeship authorities.
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- familiarization of the court and persons-participants with the positions on the essence of the issue under consideration;
- solving organizational issues aimed at speedy and proper consideration of the dispute;
- the adoption of all measures aimed at the parties to receive appropriate notices of the court trial;
- conducting a trial hearing;
- the direction of the parties towards a peaceful settlement of the differences.
Thus, the preparatory phase is the beginning of the trial, which largely determines the way in which the case will be considered in the future, how the parties, the court and other persons will behave in the process. All this will ultimately affect the result - the adoption by the court of a decision in favor of one or another party.