Algorithm “Which court to file a claim in?” – save time and file your claim correctly

The times when people were afraid to stand up for their rights are gradually passing.
Increasingly, victims are going to court for justice. Many can be called already savvy in protecting their rights and freedoms. We formulated a demand, identified a defendant, collected documents and filed a claim. Now the main thing is not to make a mistake with where to send the package of documents to file a claim. For those who need help choosing a court to file a claim, we have created a simple algorithm, using which you can correctly determine the judicial body you need.

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Algori

The choice of judicial authority to file a claim depends on several factors. You cannot just come to the court closest to you, since its scope of activity may not coincide with the topic of your claim. Just as a person cannot be a specialist in all professions at once, so the courts in our country are divided by specialization. Some courts deal only with individuals, while others deal with disputes between legal organizations. Some are involved in cases of copyright protection, others - of deprivation of parental rights.

If you know who the defendant will be in your statement of claim, then our algorithm will help you correctly determine which court to file documents with.

In order to choose the right judicial body, you must already decide on the parties to the dispute and identify the defendant in your case. You can find out more about the procedure for filing a claim in court in the article “How to sue a person?”

What's next

Let's assume that the matter has come to an end. And now we have a court order - a conclusion confirming your divorce. So what's now? Of course, take the received paper and go to the registry office. There you will be given a divorce certificate. This requires the same documents as in the usual case if the spouse does not agree to the dissolution of the marriage. But they will also have to be accompanied by a court order.

Basically, that's all. As soon as you submit the appropriate request, a divorce certificate will be prepared and issued to you within a month. As you can see, if you approach the task correctly, you can avoid many problems. Even despite the presence of minor children. The main thing is to make sure in advance that you have all the documents that were listed.

How to find the court by the defendant's address?

In addition to choosing the jurisdiction of the court, you need to choose the right body territorially. If you know the exact address of the defendant, then you can immediately find the court you need on the portal of the State Automated System of the Russian Federation “Justice” (https://sudrf.ru/).

If you are filing a claim as an individual, you will need to select "Federal General Courts" or "Judges of the Peace."

Enter the address of the defendant known to you and the system will give you the address of the official website of the court and contacts for contacting him.

The legislative framework

When can you file a claim in court at your place of residence?

Despite the fact that filing a claim at the location of the defendant is prescribed by law, for certain types of disputes there is an exception to the rule.

You can file a lawsuit in your place of residence if you are preparing a claim:

• on the protection of consumer rights;
• on compensation for damage caused by injury;
• on divorce in the presence of a child under 18 years of age;
• on the collection of alimony;
• about establishing paternity;
• on the restoration of labor rights;
• on compensation for damage due to the loss of a breadwinner;
• on the protection of personal data;
• on the restoration of housing and pension rights, return of property in connection with illegal conviction, arrest (including administrative), detention, recognizance not to leave or criminal prosecution;
• to search engine operators to remove links from search results (“the right to be forgotten”).

If you are unable to go to court at the defendant’s place of residence due to health conditions, you can file a lawsuit at your place of residence by providing the necessary certificates.

When does divorce go through court?

Divorce in court is mandatory in the following situations:

• when spouses are parents of common children under 18 years of age;
• if one of the spouses refuses to divorce;
• if one of the spouses does not come to the registry office for state registration of the divorce;

The statement of claim is filed by the husband or wife - the initiator of the termination of the family union.

Expert opinion

Stanislav Evseev

Lawyer. Experience 12 years. Specialization: civil, family, inheritance law.

Claims for divorce fall within the jurisdiction of magistrates. The magistrate is also allowed to resolve property disputes between spouses if the value of the claim does not exceed 50,000 rubles. for each, as well as disagreements regarding the collection of financial support for the child.

However, there are exceptions to this rule, due to which the divorce case will be heard by district court judges:

• spouses argue about where their children will live;
• Together with the divorce, property worth more than 50,000 rubles is divided. everyone's share.

The listed grounds of jurisdiction are intended for district courts and when filing a claim with them in the magistrate’s court, the application and documents will be sent back to the plaintiff.

In addition to the demand for divorce, a number of other issues that arise during the termination of the relationship can be resolved simultaneously with such a claim.

In the magistrate's court:

1. Collect alimony at the same time as the divorce.
2. Divide property worth no more than 50 thousand rubles.

In the district court:

1. To divide property during a divorce at a cost of more than 50 thousand rubles (for example, an apartment).
2. Resolve a dispute about children: determine the place of residence, the order of communication, education.

Rules and exceptions to the rules when choosing a court to file a claim

The law stipulates that the claim is filed at the place of residence of the defendant. But, naturally, when choosing a court there are reservations and exceptions:

1. The claim is filed at the place of registration of the defendant.

However, if you do not have his exact residence address, you can indicate the last address of his residence that you know, or the location of his property. In this case, you file a claim in the court whose district this address belongs to. Along with the claim, you must submit a petition to request data on the defendant’s address from the passport office. If the requested address does not belong territorially to this court, then the claim will be returned indicating the correct judicial authority for filing the application. If there are several defendants and they live in different places, the claim can be brought at the place of residence of any of them.

1. When the defendant is a legal entity, the claim is filed in the court territorially related to the legal address of the organization.

The registration address of a legal entity can be found on the website of the Federal Tax Service (https://egrul.nalog.ru/), for this it is better to know the exact name of the organization, its INN or OGRN. The search data can be found in the text of the agreement with the legal entity. You can also file a claim at the address of a branch or representative office of the defendant’s organization.

if your defendant is an organization, you can file a claim at the address of its branch or representative office.

1. A court for resolving disputes may be specified in an agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant.

If an agreement was concluded with the defendant (for example, for the provision of services), there may be contractual jurisdiction. That is, the plaintiff has no choice in which court to file, since the contract specifies the judicial body to which it is required to contact if disputes arise between the parties. However, based on paragraph 26 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, number 17, adopted on June 28, 2012, this can be challenged.

1. Certain types of disputes can only be heard in a strictly designated court.

Sometimes the choice of court does not depend either on the place of residence of the defendant or on the wishes of the plaintiff.

State duty amount

The fee must be paid before the documents are submitted to the competent government authority. If this is not done, they will be returned to the person who submitted them for consideration.

The fees the Civil Registry Office charges for divorces are as follows:

1. Each spouse pays 650 rubles. in case of mutual termination of marriage.
2. The applicant pays 350 rubles. in case of a unilateral declaration of termination of marriage.

The fees payable for the proceedings of a divorce case are as follows:

1. The plaintiff pays 600 rubles. for the judge's permission to terminate the marital relationship with the defendant.
2. The defendant pays 150 rubles if he is forced to pay alimony in favor of a minor child.

We are looking for information on federal courts of general jurisdiction (district, city, regional courts)

1. We go to the website of the State Automated System “Justice” in the section “Search for cases and judicial acts” using the link - https://sudrf.ru/index.php?id=300#sp
2. Enter the full name of the participant in the process. It is possible without a name and patronymic.
3. It is advisable, but not necessary, to enter “Subject of the Russian Federation” and “Name of the court”. If you do not enter, the search may take a long time. So it’s better to enter at least the region.
4. Click the “Find” button.

As a result of searching the database of courts of general jurisdiction, we get the following result:

If you click on the case number, you will be redirected to the website of a specific court and a case card with 3 tabs will open (“Material”, “Case Progress”, “Parties”):

Another way to search for information on courts is to search on the website of a specific court:

1. We go to the website (for example) of the Kalininsky District Court of Chelyabinsk.
2. Go to “Court proceedings / Search for information on cases”.
3. Enter your last name in the “Participant” column.
4. Click “Search”.
5. We get search results.