The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation proposed amendments to the Arbitration Procedure Code designed to bring arbitration procedures into compliance with civil proceedings
On 21 October 2014, the first meeting of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation took place after the consolidation of the Supreme Court.
The plenum’s first legislative initiative was to author the draft bill titled Amendments to the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation and the Second Part of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The speaker was the judge and the plenum secretary, Viktor Momotov. The amendment makes the arbitration process comply with Civil Proceedings in many respects and will ease the transition to the unified Procedural Code. The authors of the bill contend that the amendments will make the arbitration process more productive and reduce pressure on the courts.
The plenum met only once to discuss the amendments, which did not engender any controversies. On 29 October, the court sent the amendments to the State Duma.
The Supreme Court hopes to establish an obligatory complaint procedure for dispute resolution. According to the authors, the only exceptions will be instances when there is a need to establish the facts in a case, for example, cases dealing with compensation for violations of the right to a trial, bankruptcy tied with corporative disputes, and protection of the rights and interests of groups. The bill provides for the Arbitration Court to hear disputes arising from administrative and other official matters after they have gone through the proper mediation procedures.
The Supreme Court proposes to introduce writ proceedings, which heretofore only have been available through the courts of general jurisdiction. Writ proceedings are to impose mandatory payments and penalties of RUB 100,000. It also will be possible to require the fulfillment of uncontested contractual obligations if the claim does not exceed RUB 300,000, for legal entities, and RUB 100,000, for individual entrepreneurs. Currently, the courts consider such cases in a simplified process, using written briefs, without summoning the parties to court. According to those drafting the proposals, this simplified procedure will remain for disputes of RUB 300,000-400,000, for legal entities, and RUB 100,000-200,000, for individual entrepreneurs.
In the simplified cases, the judges will be able to rule only on the introduction and resolution of a case. Existing legislation permits judges to issue an opinion, but the new regulations would require the parties to submit a request within five days from the date the decision appears on the Internet in order to receive an opinion.
The arbitration process also will include private definitions (decisions) that exist in civil proceedings. According to the authors of the measure, the introduction of this mechanism in the arbitration process should bring discipline to the procedure and discourage unfair behavior and abuse of those participating in the process.
The draft of the bill is available at: http://asozd2c.duma.gov.ru/addwork/scans.nsf/ID/D476AB77293F05F743257D8000445301/$FILE/638178-6.PDF?OpenElement.
