How long does it take to schedule a trial after filing an application?

How many days/months will the hearing take place after filing an application in court depends on the content of the claim and jurisdiction. In addition, the judge may leave the case without moving at all. This will also affect the timing of the appointment. We will tell you more about everything in the article.

Litigation is a complex legal procedure. If you filled out the application incorrectly or did not submit all the documents, the claim will be abandoned. If they stated the essence of the case incorrectly, they lost the trial.

Without qualified assistance, litigation is fraught with negative consequences. If your life takes you to court, we strongly advise you to go there not alone, but with a lawyer.

How long does it take for the court to review a claim?

After submitting the application, the court office registers it and enters the information into the database. It is then submitted to a designated judge for review. The court must decide whether the application and the documents attached to it comply with current legislation. In this case, the judge faces the following questions:

whether the plaintiff chose the right court;
whether the form and content of the claim comply with the law;
are all documents attached to the application for the court and other participants in the case;
is there a debt calculation;
and others.

The judge is given five working days to study these issues. The period begins to run the next day after the application is received by the court. After this time, one of the following options may be available.

The application was accepted by the court for proceedings. In this case, the judge makes a ruling on preparing the case for trial and sets the date for the preliminary hearing. It is appointed taking into account the time reserve for the defendant and a third party (if any) to receive the claim documentation, prepare and file objections to the case.

The court left the application without motion. In this case, a ruling is made stating the reasons for stopping the case. The plaintiff must correct all shortcomings within the time period appointed by the court. Usually the period is set to not exceed one month.

If the plaintiff meets the deadline, the claim will be considered filed on the day of its initial submission to the judicial authority. If the court's requirements are not met, the application is returned to the plaintiff without consideration. However, it can be resubmitted.

The court issued a ruling to return the application. Usually the judge sends the claim back to the plaintiff without consideration when it was filed without complying with the claim procedure or jurisdiction.

Another common reason for the court to return an application is the banal absence of a signature on the documents. Or they were signed by an unauthorized person. For example, when a lawyer prepared and submitted documents to the court, but did not attach a power of attorney to the application. Or the papers were signed by an incapacitated citizen.

In addition, the court has the right to issue a ruling refusing to accept the application. True, there must be good reasons for this. For example, when an application has already been filed in court on the same issues, with the same participants, and there is a decision on it. The judge has no right to reconsider such a case.

No matter how many reasons there are for refusing or returning an application, they must be indicated in the definition. In some cases, if errors are corrected, the claim can be filed in court again.

For example, the reason for returning documents is that they were signed by an improper person. In this case, it is necessary to attach a power of attorney for the signatory to the statement of claim (or the plaintiff signs independently) and re-apply to the court.

Legal requirements for compliance with deadlines for consideration of legal claims

According to the law, the procedural deadlines established for the consideration of legal claims cannot be changed (extended or shortened) either by agreement of the parties to the case or by a court order.

It is worth noting that the Russian Supreme Court constantly draws the attention of all lower courts to the imperative nature of the rules establishing deadlines for the consideration of claims, and the obligation of judges to comply with these general deadlines for resolving civil cases.

Violations of procedural deadlines by judges, according to members of the Supreme Court, impede the rapid restoration and protection of violated civil rights, and also detract from the honor and dignity of Russian judges and significantly reduce the authority of the judiciary.

In accordance with the above, the judge, when considering a case, must strictly comply with the requirements of the law regarding the procedural time limits for resolving the case, and assign a reasonable period for other participants in the process to perform relevant procedural actions. Judges are required to focus on the general duration of legal proceedings in a civil case when resolving any issues that arise during their consideration of the case.

Only in the most complex civil cases and claims that require a very long time for their preparation by a judge for trial, the courts, taking into account the opinions of the parties, according to Part 3 of Article 152 of the Russian Civil Procedure Code, can go beyond the legally established time limits for consideration and further resolution civil proceedings.

When will the court hearing be scheduled?

How many days must pass from filing an application to the court until the judge schedules a hearing? Firstly, it depends on which judicial authority the documents are submitted to. As a general rule, the deadlines are as follows:

arbitration court - up to 90 days;
Magistrates' Court - 30 days;
district (city) court - 60 days.

Secondly, it depends on the proceedings in which the application is being considered. For the general procedure, the deadlines are indicated above. In a simplified procedure, a court hearing is not scheduled. The application is considered without summoning the parties to court.

The total time for proceedings under the simplified system is from one to two months from the date of filing the claim. The exact period depends on the time spent by the court on sending the correspondence, including the statement of claim, to the defendant. The procedure itself takes no more than 20 days.

Thirdly, for a certain category of cases, the law provides for writ proceedings, as a result of which the court issues a court order. In such cases, the parties are not summoned. Accordingly, no court hearing is scheduled. The judge makes a decision on the application within five days from the moment it is filed by the plaintiff.

However, a small category of processes falls under writ proceedings. You can submit an application for consideration of a case in this manner, for example, when collecting alimony or debt on utility bills. You can see the full list of cases that are considered in court in such proceedings at the end of the article.

Also in the writ process, it is important how much the collection amount is. It cannot exceed 500 thousand rubles. Above this amount, the application must be submitted in accordance with the general procedure. In addition, the requirements considered by the court in writ proceedings must be indisputable and have evidence whose reliability is beyond doubt.

For example, a bank filed an application for a court order against a debtor for an overdue loan. The amount of debt, together with all penalties and forfeits, does not exceed 500 thousand rubles. The credit institution provided all evidence of the debt, such as contracts and payment orders confirming how much money the borrower took.

Most often, the court has no doubt about such evidence, and the judge boldly makes a decision within five days. The defendant has the right to file objections to such a verdict within 10 days from the date of receipt of the court order.

Fourthly, how many days later the meeting will take place after filing the application also depends on whether the case was pending or not. If the court suspended the proceedings, then this period does not count towards the above period.

For example, an application to the magistrate's court was submitted on October 1, 2021. However, when filing the claim, the plaintiff did not attach papers for the defendant. According to the law, the application must be submitted along with documents for other persons involved in the case. Thus, on October 5, 2019, the court left the case without progress and demanded that the shortcomings be eliminated by November 4, 2021.

The plaintiff submitted the necessary documents within the specified period. In this connection, the court resumed the proceedings on November 2, 2019. Since the appointed period for consideration of such cases is 1 month, the meeting must be held no later than December 2, 2021.

If the application is submitted to a higher court (appeal or cassation instance), then there are also deadlines. When filing a complaint in a civil case, a court hearing will be scheduled no later than two months.

If it is filed in an administrative case, then the period for inviting the parties to a higher court should not exceed 3 months.

Sources:

Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation Article 122. Requirements for which a court order is issued

How do I know when a trial will be scheduled?

Participants in the process may be notified of the date of the hearing by telephone numbers indicated in the claim. In this case, the court secretary will draw up a telephone message about who, when and what he notified and attach the telephone message to the case materials.

A subpoena may also be sent by mail, telegram, or fax.

In addition, you can call directly the secretary of the judge to whom your claim was transferred (the name of the judge and the secretary’s telephone number can be found by calling the court office) or find out information on the court’s website in the “Court Proceedings” section.

If you are unable to reach the court staff, there is no information about the progress of your claim on the website, you have not received notifications by mail and a significant amount of time has passed since the filing of the claim in court, you can leave an appeal on the court’s website in the “Appeals from Citizens” section. In your appeal, you should indicate your contact information, the date of filing the claim in court, the details of the parties and a request for information about the progress of your claim.

The procedure for considering a claim in court

During the trial it is necessary:

take into account the position of the Defendant and third parties in the case, based on their reviews and explanations, respond by drawing up additions to the arguments of the statement of claim, clarifying the requirements, as well as drawing up written objections to the reviews of the parties;
analyze the evidence presented by the parties, the information received, requested as part of the preparation of the case or in response to a petition for the collection of evidence;
timely familiarize yourself with the minutes of the court hearing and make comments on it in order to eliminate inaccuracies and effectively carry out the defense of the case;
develop a defense position in the case regarding the substantiation of your claim, which will be consistent and built on the evidence available in the case;
request additional evidence confirming the correctness of your position (written, photo-video materials, audio recordings, electronic correspondence), if necessary, apply for the preparation of a lawyer’s request;
call witnesses to the court hearing whose explanations will confirm the arguments on which your demands are based;
submit requests for an examination of the case, on issues requiring the involvement of specialists (conducting an examination is also advisable to challenge the evidence presented by the parties in opposition to your demands).

PS Participation in the trial is a responsible and important stage of your case . The outcome and decision of the case largely depends on how you prepare. The court will evaluate the evidence presented and make a decision on your case, which should be positive for you.

Direction of claim

Submitting a claim is required in two cases:

If this is provided for in the contract. The condition for this is formulated as follows: “The parties agreed to resolve all disagreements related to the execution of the contract through negotiations in compliance with the mandatory claims procedure.”
If this is provided by law: disputes about changes and termination of the contract, about payments under the MTPL agreement, with the carrier of goods or passengers, and others.

The claim is drawn up in free form with a detailed description of the situation and requirements. It should be formatted as an official letter and sent to the counterparty: for an LLC - to the legal address, for individual entrepreneurs and individuals - to the registered address. If the contract specifies a special address for correspondence, then you can use it.

Important advice: send your claim by valuable letter with a list of attachments and acknowledgment of receipt. A simple letter may not convince the court that it contained a complaint and not a greeting card. A receipt confirmation will prove that your letter was received.

After sending the letter, all that remains is to wait for the counterparty to respond to it. The deadline for a response is usually indicated in the complaint itself - 15 days should be enough. But when a contract or law provides for a special period, it must be observed. If there is still no answer to your complaint, or you don’t like it, it’s time to start plan B.

How long does the court consider the claim?

The maximum period for consideration of a case by a magistrate is one month from the date the claim was accepted for proceedings, by a district court - two months from the date the claim was received by the court. For some categories of cases, the law may establish a shorter period for consideration. For example, the period for considering a claim for alimony or reinstatement at work is 1 month.

In some cases, more time may pass from the moment the claim is submitted to the court until the decision is made than indicated above:

If the proceedings were suspended

For example, the death of a party to the case, the need to conduct an examination, etc., in this case, the period for consideration of the case is also suspended. Let's say you filed a lawsuit in the district court on February 1, the consideration period is 2 months, that is, the decision must be made no later than April 1. However, during the consideration of the case, an examination was ordered on March 1 and the court suspended the proceedings (that is, the court considered the case for 1 month out of a maximum of 2 months from February 1 to March 1), the examination was carried out and the court resumed the proceedings on April 10. Thus, the court still has 1 month left to consider the case and the case must be considered no later than May 10

If the subject of the claim has changed, the size of the stated claims has increased or decreased, a counterclaim is accepted for proceedings

If at least one of the specified actions has been committed, then the consideration of the case begins anew and the period is counted from the moment such an action was committed. For example, you filed a claim on February 10, the consideration period expires on April 10, during the consideration of the case you filed an additional demand for compensation for moral damage (that is, you changed the subject of the claim and increased the amount of the demands). The court accepted the revised claim on April 5; accordingly, the beginning of the calculation of the period for consideration of the case changes and the decision must be made no later than June 5.

Based on the results of consideration of the claim, the court may rule:

Decree on termination of proceedings
Ruling to leave the claim without consideration
Decision to satisfy the claims, to partially satisfy the claims or to refuse the claim

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