Arthur Zurabian | A commentary for The Supreme Court Plenum to clarify the pre-trial settlement of civil and arbitration disputes
The Supreme Court Plenum will clarify the pre-trial settlement of civil and arbitration disputes.
Item 23 mentions that compliance with the pre-trial procedure when a counterclaim has been filed is not required, because the latter is filed after the initiation of proceedings, and compliance with such procedure would not contribute to the goals of pre-trial settlement. Artur Zurabian, an advocate and head of ART DE LEX Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration Practices, considers this explanation as logical: «If the parties are already in court, it is obvious that they will not settle their disputable relations in a pre-trial procedure».
Item 44 explains that civil law disputes on the recovery of funds on claims arising from contracts or other transactions as a result of unjust enrichment may be referred to the arbitration court after the parties have taken measures for pre-trial settlement upon expiry of 30 calendar days from the date of the claim (demand), unless other term and (or) procedure are established by law or contract. In this regard, Arthur Zurabian notes that the current arbitration practice is mainly based on the fact that sending a pre-trial claim for recovery of damages is optional.
Item 50 contains a new wording of paragraph 16 of the Resolution of the Supreme Court Plenum of September 29, 2015 № 43 “On some issues related to the application of the rules of the CPC on the limitation of actions”. Among other things it states: if the parties have resorted to the pre-trial procedure for dispute settlement provided for by law or contract, the period of limitation shall be suspended for the period established by law or contract for the relevant procedure, and in the absence of such period - for 6 months from the date of its commencement. Artur Zurabian notes that this clarification puts an end to the discussion on what happens to the limitation period when the mandatory pre-trial procedure is complied with and after this pre-trial procedure is completed.
