A complaint to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is a real tool for legal entities and individuals, allowing you to defend your rights. Most often, this court is appealed if, at other instances, the adopted procedural decisions did not satisfy the plaintiff or defendant, or if the case being examined was misinterpreted. In our state, this is the last court, the decision of which can be appealed only outside the country.
In fact, the Constitutional Court are lawyers who are involved in the correction of court errors. Despite this, even in the practice of this court there are errors. However, the number of errors made in the Constitutional Court is incomparably lower in comparison with other courts, even with the Supreme and Higher Arbitration Court.
Who can contact
Individuals have the right to initiate proceedings in the Constitutional Court in person or by drawing up a collective complaint. A representative of a legal entity, the judicial authorities themselves or representatives of the executive branch may appeal to a court.
However, in order to file a constitutional complaint, really good circumstances are needed.
Grounds for appeal
The most common reason for going to court is the incorrect interpretation of the law by judges, as a result of which the legal rights of one of the parties to the dispute have been violated. Also the reasons are the following facts:
- if a specific rule was not applied correctly in a certain process;
- if in judicial practice there is already an established opinion on a specific issue, and it is unconstitutional;
- if the contested decision has not been quashed or the text has not undergone significant changes;
- if absolutely all judicial instances have already been passed, even the Supreme Court of the country.
Simply put, if a specific decision violates the constitutional rights and freedoms of the applicant, and there is a big risk that such unconstitutional practice will be applied in the future and will lead to an imbalance in law enforcement practice.
In what situations can they refuse?
Even if a complaint to the Constitutional Court is made in accordance with all the rules, there is still a risk that its acceptance and consideration will be denied. This is often due to the fact that even at the stage of the assessment of the contested decision there is no expediency for appeal to the Constitutional Court. Most often this happens in the following cases:
- the text of the complaint places too much emphasis on the specific circumstances of the dispute, that is, the judge of the Constitutional Court may not see constitutional legal significance in such a document;
- if the document focuses on the imperfection of the current legislation, and the only question is whether certain changes should be made to the regulatory act;
- if the complaint contains a request to verify a court decision, and not to apply the norms of a specific normative act;
- in cases where the verification of a certain normative act is not within the competence of the Constitutional Court, for example, a government decree of a certain region or territory;
- if the contested norm at the time of filing a complaint has lost force or its wording has already been amended.
A constitutional complaint cannot contain a request for clarification of specific provisions of the law or information that the norms of an international act do not comply with the Constitution of our country. The Constitutional Court does not deal with the recognition of organizations and governing bodies as invalid. The elimination of legal conflicts is not within his competence.
The Constitutional Court does not deal with the prosecution of perpetrators, both physical and legal. But if the decision is made in favor of the applicant, then on the basis of the decision of the Constitutional Court it is already possible to apply to another court or law enforcement agencies with a demand to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Compilation rules
The constitutional complaint must be made in several copies. These copies are distributed to all parties to the proceedings.
The text of the document should not contain errors, inaccuracies or corrections. You can write only in a business style - no popular expressions or vivid emotional expressions, obscene expressions. Such complaints are not considered and returned to the applicant.
You can apply to the Constitutional Court within 1 year from the date of the appeal decision.
Document structure
A constitutional complaint of a citizen, collective or legal entity, should have the following structure:
- name of the judicial authority;
- Applicant details, including place of registration and contact details;
- information regarding the parties to the proceedings;
- in the text of the document, information is first recorded regarding previously adopted decisions;
- justification, with reference to regulations, giving the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court;
- the applicant’s legal position with references to articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation that were violated during the consideration of the judicial dispute;
- requirements put forward to court;
- list of attached documents;
- signature, full name of the author and date of compilation of the document.
According to the requirements of Law No. 1-FZ, article 37, a constitutional complaint must be drawn up in writing. The appeal can be compiled and sent via the Internet.
When compiling a complaint, you should always remember that the Constitutional Court does not analyze evidence and facts on a specific trial, but only gives an opinion on a specific normative act - does it comply with the Constitution of the country or not.
Comprehensive requirements for the structure and text of the complaint are given in articles 36-43, 96, 97 of Law No. 1-FZ.
Applications
The constitutional complaint should be sent to the court with the appendices. Firstly, this is a receipt of payment of state duty. Secondly, it is necessary to attach the text of the act being checked for compliance with constitutional norms. Thirdly, if an authorized person acts as an applicant, then a power of attorney is attached to the complaint.
The complaint itself is filed in court in duplicate. If the evidence is documents in a foreign language, then they must be translated into Russian. If a judicial act is subject to consideration, then a copy of it must be attached. Simply put, all documents that are mentioned in the main part of the appeal should be attached to the complaint.
Where to file?
A constitutional complaint may be filed through a postal service provider. It is necessary to send a complaint by mail to the address: Senatskaya Square, 1, St. Petersburg, 190000. If the documents will be transmitted through an authorized person, then you must go to Galernaya Street 1. There is also a representative office of the Constitutional Court in our capital, and it is located at the address: 21 Illinka Street, entrance 3. However, the representative office does not consider and accept complaints, they only give advice on the preparation of documents for appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Today, you can go to court using the Internet: through the official site of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. However, for access you will have to go through the registration procedure and confirm your identity. In this case, the documents are submitted in scanned form. Most often, when applying via the Internet, the court transmits the answers in the same way - in electronic form.
Review Procedure
The consideration of constitutional complaints begins with the submission of documents to the Secretariat, where representatives of the department read the text. If defects are identified, then the complaint is returned to amend.
At the second stage, a study of the complaint by several judges is conducted. The facts and circumstances are analyzed. This stage can stretch for 3 months.
At the third stage, a court session is held. The proceedings in the courtroom are no different from those in the trial court. Then a decision is made, which is published on the court’s website. Paper versions of the decision are sent to the parties by mail.
It is possible that there will be another stage of clarification, but, as a rule, the decision of the Constitutional Court on the complaints of citizens and legal entities is always extremely clear and understandable to all parties to the dispute.
It should be remembered that complaints can be denied at any stage of the process.
The Constitutional Court consists of 12 judges. An appeal may be made up of 8 judges, but no less. If additional information is not required to make a decision, it is issued behind closed doors and no hearings are held.
Duration of consideration
In the case of filing an appeal to the COP should be patient. The consideration of the case consists of several stages and takes a period of 8 to 12 months from the date of filing the complaint.