Complaint against a judge in 2021

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Sometimes it seems to one of the parties to a civil proceeding that the judge deliberately postpones hearings, attaches to the case materials evidence that is unacceptable to use, exceeding his authority, and, on the contrary, refuses to request them when there is at least some hope of achieving justice. And if this is really the case, then a complaint against a judge in 2021 is the only opportunity to influence the course of a biased trial.

A judge of the Russian Federation does not submit to anyone in his actions and is independent. But if by his actions he violated substantive and procedural norms, rules of ethics, as a result of which your rights were violated, a well-founded, correctly drawn up complaint against the actions of the judge can help bring him to disciplinary liability.

Grounds for filing a complaint against the actions of a judge

A complaint against a judge is filed if there is documentary evidence of illegal actions on his part. Violations of legislative norms committed by judges in the course of their activities are not considered by such legislative acts as the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, since such actions are not considered a crime or an administrative offense.

When filing a complaint, you must be guided by the Law of the Russian Federation No. 3132-1 of June 26, 1992 “On the status of judges in the Russian Federation”, the Code of Judicial Ethics, Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, Art. 46, 52 and 53 of the Russian Constitution and Art. 14.15 of the international agreement “On civil human rights”.

The duties of judges, their rights, and liability for unlawful actions during judicial proceedings are discussed in Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of February 27, 2008 No. 3-P. Punishments for committing miscarriages of justice are determined by the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated October 18, 2011.

Challenge to a judge

You can demand the recusal of judges in the cases established by Art. 16 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation:

The judge took part in the previous hearing as a prosecutor, witness, expert, court secretary or specialist consultant.
He is related to one of the representatives of the opposite side.
The judge is a person interested in the outcome of the case, and there is documentary evidence of this.
Some actions he committed during the proceedings clearly indicate his bias and partiality. In order for such a statement to be unfounded, you also need to provide supporting documents.
Someone on the court hearing the case is a relative of the judge.

The challenge is submitted in writing at the moment when the question of confidence in the current composition of the court is asked. The judge himself will consider it and make a decision. And if the paper is drawn up illiterately, and it is almost impossible to prove the applicant’s rightness, then it is possible that he will want to punish the party who filed the challenge and will fundamentally make a decision that is undesirable for it.

Complaint against a judge – grounds

If a judge systematically directly or indirectly violates the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, but there are no grounds for recusal, you can simultaneously submit complaints against him to the local Qualification Board and the Chairman of the court. An application indicating the number of the court case and a brief description of the essence of the trial must contain documented information about violations of the law by the judge.

The following violations on his part may serve as a reason to complain about a judge in 2021:

Incorrect behavior during court proceedings, rudeness.
Offensive behavior towards anyone present and humiliation of human dignity.
Partiality towards one of the participants in the case, consultations during meetings, as a result of which the testimony of one of the parties changed.
Ignoring requests, preventing parties from expressing arguments.
Neglecting requests for evidence.
Delaying a case beyond the legally established period.
Violations in the preparation of the minutes of the court session.

In general, the basis for writing a complaint against a judge can be any violation by him of the Code of Judicial Ethics and the Law of June 6, 1992 No. 3132-1 “On the Status of Judges in the Russian Federation.”

Attention! A complaint against a judge cannot affect the decision already made by the court on the case under consideration, so it must be filed or challenged before the trial ends. The illegal decision will be appealed to higher authorities.

Where to complain about a judge - authorities

Where to complain about a judge depends on whether you want to demonstrate your displeasure to him or influence the outcome of the trial:

The challenge is filed during the court hearing. The likelihood of replacing judges is low. But, given that information about the challenge will be recorded in the court record, the judge will more carefully comply with the rules prescribed by law. In the future, the challenge can be attached to the cassation appeal as indirect evidence of the judge’s bias when making a decision on your issue.
A complaint to the Chairman of the court, to whom the judge who violated your rights reports, involves checking the latter’s work. It will also not harm him, but will force him to carry out the legal process legally.
A complaint against a judge is filed with the Prosecutor's Office if the judge violated the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The trial will begin after the prosecutor's office makes a request to the Higher Qualification Board. Otherwise, the court is not accountable to the Prosecutor's Office. and she refuses to consider the complaint.
You can submit an application to the Supreme College of Judges yourself, but it will be considered only if an application for a similar complaint was previously submitted to the Chairman of the court in which the case is being considered. If the complaint is documented and correctly filed, it is possible to achieve both disciplinary action and dismissal of the judge.
You can write to the High Council of Justice or the Presidential Administration. The request will definitely be considered if it is legal and the violation is significant.

The place where the complaint will be sent also depends on the rank of the judge whose illegal actions you want to stop. A complaint against the actions of a magistrate is submitted to the Chairman of the court and to the Qualification Board. In addition to the two previous instances, you can complain about the district officer to the Council of Justice and the Prosecutor's Office.

Situations when it is necessary to write a complaint

All participants in the process have the right to appeal the actions of a judge: plaintiffs, defendants or their legal representatives, witnesses and other interested parties. The following situations may be the reason for writing an appeal:

The time allotted for consideration of the case has been exceeded, i.e. more than 2 months (Article 154 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).
Petitions submitted by participants in the process are ignored.
Information in the minutes of court hearings is distorted when recording the progress of the case.
The judge behaves incorrectly and is rude to the participants in the trial.
Requests to include evidence in the case are ignored.
There are grounds to believe that the representative of Themis violated the principle of equality of arms and impartiality of the court.
Obstacles are created to the parties expressing their arguments.

The trial process includes several stages. Each stage must take place within the framework of certain procedural and material requirements, which are not always observed, as a result of which violations occur. You can appeal them to the chairman of the court in which the proceedings are taking place (district, arbitration, appeal or supreme court). It is he who is authorized to assess the legality of the appeal at the initial stage of appealing the actions of the judge.

How to prepare a complaint against a judge - sample

You can write an application either on a form or by hand. In the upper right corner you must indicate the position, surname, first name and patronymic of the person in whose name the complaint is being written, and the court address. In the information about the applicant, you must write his last name, first name and patronymic, telephone number where he can be contacted, and place of residence.

Attention! A complaint submitted anonymously will not be considered, so information about the applicant must be included in it.

In the center of the document is written: “Complaint.” In the application, you must indicate the full name of the court, the claims against whose work will be described, information about the judge who is violating your rights, and write the number of the case during which problems arose. Next, you need to describe the identified violations, referring to regulatory documents.

The application ends with the applicant’s request for action and a list of attached supporting documents. Below is the date, a signature and its explanation. The complaint must be accompanied by documents confirming the unlawful actions described in the paper, and audio recordings from court hearings.

There are several ways to submit your application to the appropriate authority:

Personally deliver it into the hands of the person to whom it is addressed.
Send by mail or courier, which, if necessary, will make it possible to prove that a complaint was actually filed against the judges.
Take it to the court office. Here you should be given a receipt confirming receipt of the complaint.

Having read your application, the addressee will be obliged to check the facts specified in it and, if they correspond to reality, take action. No one will call the applicant for investigation. The commission of the institution to which he filed the complaint, after the decision is made, will send the applicant a copy for review.

Rules for drawing up an appeal

It should be remembered that the court of appeal will not accept an appeal that does not comply with the requirements of the Code of Civil Procedure or the Code of Arbitration Procedure. An appeal against a magistrate must contain:

name of the court where the applicant is applying;
applicant details, including contact details;
details of the decision that is subject to review;
clearly stated requirements of the applicant;
arguments to review the judge's decision;
applications;
applicant's signature.

New evidence can be presented only if it was impossible to present it earlier, during the initial consideration of the dispute.

How long will a complaint against a judge be considered in 2021?

How a judge can be held accountable is regulated by the following legislative acts:

Resolution No. 371 of the Presidium of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation dated October 29, 2013.
Judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.
Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 13 of April 14, 2016 “On the judicial practice of applying legislation regulating issues of disciplinary liability of judges.”

A complaint filed with the office of the Higher Qualification Board is registered within no more than 3 days and considered within 30. The chairman of the board may, if it is necessary to clarify and verify any data, extend the consideration by 30 days, notifying the applicant.

Article 6.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation provides for 5 days to respond to a complaint with a request to stop judicial red tape and speed up the consideration of the case. If the data described in the application does not require the collection of information to confirm or refute it, a decision on it can be received within 15 calendar days. In other cases, such a complaint in 2021 is usually considered within 30 days.

Appeal and cassation

Who should I complain to about the magistrate, besides senior management and the CCC? If a person does not agree with the decision made or other procedural document issued by the magistrate, then for such cases an appeal procedure is provided. However, it should be remembered that even if the judge’s decision is canceled or revised, this fact does not mean that disciplinary measures will be applied against him.

An appeal is actually a petition that is submitted to a higher authority with the aim of canceling or revising a decision. This may be an appeal from the defendant or plaintiff, a third party regarding disagreement with the awarded amount for compensation or another decision made.

An appeal against the decision of the magistrate is filed within 30 days from the date of announcement of the decision in final form. The complaint is sent to the district (city) court where the magistrate works.

The next authority where you can turn if the appeal does not satisfy the applicant is the cassation court. The period for appealing a decision in cassation is 6 months.