Anyone can find out the court's decisions on a specific case. According to Art. 11 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, verdicts at open sessions are published in the public domain. Everyone has the right to read the full information on the case. This is relevant if you need to track a trial, find out the decision in a case, or check a future counterparty or partner. Experienced users look for information on special government web resources, while beginners type in the search query: “How to find a case in an arbitration court.”
How to use the arbitration courts website
The website arbitr.ru is easy to use. Like any other website, you can find reference information and links to other official websites of departments and ministries.
Links to other sites are located on the right and include:
- Supreme Court;
- FSSP;
- State Duma of the Russian Federation;
- Federal Tax Service;
- procurement portal;
- and others.
The section “About Federal Arbitration Courts” provides general information about the judicial system in Russia: what it includes, how cases are considered and appeals against judicial acts, and you can also find out the amount of the state fee for filing documents in court.
The section “Legal Fundamentals” publishes the most significant laws and regulatory documents on courts, including the Constitution of the Russian Federation, codes, the law “On Personal Data,” and rules of arbitration courts.
The “Statistical Data” section provides summarized information on the consideration of cases by arbitration courts for the year. Currently, the most current information concerns 2018.
The “Archive” section presents data on the work of courts, website traffic, decisions and legal positions of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation until 2014. This information is no longer useful to anyone, since on average the period for the last 5 years is considered. But such data cannot be deleted, since the regulatory framework and judicial acts remain in the publication even after they have been changed or lost effect.
The Arbitr.ru website provides information about the mediation or negotiation procedure in the form of information materials. This information is useful for general study, since such procedures make it possible to resolve a dispute even after the start of judicial review.
Which court should I file my claim in?
There are fewer arbitration courts than courts of general jurisdiction, and they are located according to the principle of economic zoning: there are more of them in the most active regions. If we talk about those courts in which claims are filed (that is, the courts of first instance), then they are arranged by subject.
Article 35 of the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation states that a statement of claim is filed with the court of the subject at the location of the defendant-organization or at the place of residence of the defendant-individual entrepreneur. The location of a legal entity is the place of its registration.
But when it comes to economic disputes, contractual relations often take place. In the contract, the parties can enter into a special agreement, which states that all disputes that arise must be considered by a specific court. Such an agreement is called an arbitration agreement. The parties can choose any court on the territory of the Russian Federation, including arbitration (then this is an arbitration clause). The arbitration agreement or arbitration clause may be in a separate document.
File of arbitration cases
In the file of arbitration cases you can see the progress of the case. You can find the necessary information at:
- the name, INN or OGRN of one of the participants in the case;
- court or judge;
- case number;
- date of registration of the case.
For example, we need to find a case in which IP Ivanova is a participant. The lawsuit was considered by the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District. It is enough to enter the data in the “Case Participant” and “Court” fields. As can be seen, 88 cases meet these conditions.
We find the necessary business and move on to it. For example, let’s take the case dated March 28, 2018 with the plaintiff, individual entrepreneur Liliya Marselevna Ivanova. Click on the case number in the first column and go to the card.
This case was considered for 1 year and 10.5 months, and has now been completed. Additionally, we can view the progress of the dispute and court decisions.
Due to the fact that the cassation instance sent the case for a new trial, proceedings on this issue continue (despite the fact that the case itself has been completed). Detailed information about this can be seen in the “Calendar” tab.
The dates of consideration of the case by the cassation instance are highlighted in blue, and the dates of the first instance are highlighted in green. By selecting a specific date, you can find out what changes have occurred.
All decisions made in the case of IP Ivanova L.M. can be found in the “Electronic File” tab. To do this, you need to click on a specific court decision and the document will be saved on your computer.
Some courts are holding hearings online. To participate in such a meeting, there is an “Online meeting” tab on the Arbitr.ru website. The participant in the case needs to set up a computer or laptop using special instructions.
When searching for a case using the “Case Participant” field, all court proceedings with similar values are returned. That is, cases may be shown in which an individual entrepreneur or organization acted as a third or other party.
How to avoid mistakes when filing a claim?
When drawing up a statement of claim, it is important to clearly think through and formulate your requirements. If this is not done, even if the court decides in favor of the plaintiff, various incidents may arise. For example:
- Demand in the lawsuit: “I ask you to impose a penalty on the company’s property...”. If the court grants the application, the disputed assets will be difficult to sell. After all, the demand for sale is not stated in the claim.
- The claim is legally untenable due to the fact that it is incorrectly formulated. This includes expressions like: “I ask you to deprive the company of the right to use the trademark,” “Seize the defendant’s accounts,” “Prohibit the company from concluding contracts.”
- The claim in the arbitration dispute is formulated approximately as follows: “I ask that the defendant be found guilty of failure to fulfill the terms of the contract.” Even if the court rules in favor of the plaintiff, he will not receive compensation, because it is not mentioned in the lawsuit.
To avoid such mistakes, it is better to contact a lawyer to draw up a statement of claim. He will help you clearly formulate your requirements and answer additional questions.
Bank of court decisions
The bank of arbitration court decisions should be used if you need to find a court decision or make a selection on the topic of the dispute. The section is searched by:
- text of the document;
- type of dispute;
- the essence of the dispute;
- name, INN, GGR of one of the participants;
- to the court;
- date (time period) or case number.
This section is convenient for existing lawyers and attorneys who need to analyze specific court decisions in a case or make a selection of documents on a specific topic for a specific period.
For example, a lawyer is handling a case regarding the return of debt under an assignment agreement (debt assignment) from a liquidated company in the Smolensk region. This dispute relates to economic disputes in civil legal relations. He needs to make a selection of documents for the last 3 years.
We enter data in the fields “Document text”, “Type of dispute”, “Court” and “Search period”. The system produces only 4 documents that a lawyer can review.
When you click on a specific court decision, the system opens the document itself, where the requested words in the text of the document are highlighted in yellow.
Cases considered under special proceedings
The most common ones are:
- Appeals in order to establish facts of legal significance (ownership of property or title documents, fact of state registration as a business entity, etc.).
- Corporate disputes involving legal entities and their founders.
- Cases considered in special proceedings (this includes disputes the subject of which are insignificant amounts).
- Disputes aimed at protecting the interests of a group of persons.
- Cases related to the recognition and execution of arbitration decisions made in economic disputes.
In most of these cases, applications are also filed. Corporate disputes involve filing a lawsuit.
Calendar of court hearings
In the calendar of court hearings, you can see the number of court hearings that are scheduled for consideration on a certain date throughout Russia or in a specific court.
You can also search for consideration by:
- the name, INN or OGRN of one of the participants in the case;
- judge or court;
- case number.
For example, you need to look at the number of meetings per day in which Alfa-Bank participates in the Moscow Arbitration Court. Enter the data in the “Case Participant” and “Court” fields.
On Monday, July 27, 15 meetings are being held on these requests. Select the required date.
You can see the time, courtroom number and case number.
How to get an advantage in litigation?
Often in arbitration disputes, the parties delay the process in order to obtain certain benefits. For the defendant, postponing the hearing may, for example, be a good opportunity to move money offshore. The plaintiff may spend additional time collecting evidence. There are legal ways to prolong an arbitration dispute:
- a request to collect additional evidence;
- adding objections to the claim. The opponent will have to study them, which will take some time;
- request for an examination. It's expensive and time-consuming. Moreover, this method allows you to gain enough time;
- failure to appear at court hearings. Each case will need to be justified. To do this, documents are provided confirming a valid reason for failure to appear. This is discussed in more detail in Articles 144 and 158 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.
When court proceedings are delayed, do not abuse your rights. A lawyer usually helps to act competently in such situations and use the allotted time with maximum benefit.
Electronic submission of documents to arbitration courts of the Russian Federation
You can submit documents to the arbitration court electronically – through the “My Arbitr” system.
In the “My Data” section (after registering in the “My Arbitr” system through State Services), information about the registered person appears. It can be edited if necessary.
In the “Applications and Complaints” section you can make a claim, complaint or application for review of the case based on newly discovered circumstances. You can view documents related to your case in the corresponding section of the system. In addition, through “My Arbitrator” a person or organization can file for bankruptcy.
To work with the My Arbitr system, the user needs to have a strengthened electronic signature.
Search for arbitration cases by counterparty's TIN
Enter the name or TIN of the counterparty in the search bar in Focus. On the organization’s card page in the “Arbitration Cases” section, the role of the counterparty in the proceedings and the amount of penalties for 12 months and for the entire period of work will be displayed. On a special scale you will see the volume of collections over three years. The status of each case is marked in a specific color. You will be able to quickly assess the balance between won and lost cases, compare the volume of claims where the organization is the plaintiff and the defendant.
We check whether there are claims in the magistrates' courts
With magistrates' courts, everything is a little more complicated because there is no general search for all magistrates' courts.
Therefore, first you need to determine which particular precinct of the justice of the peace your registration address belongs to.
Determining the precinct of a justice of the peace based on registration
- We go to the website of the State Automated System “Justice” - https://msudrf.ru
- Select “World Courts”.
- Enter according to your registration: “Subject of the Russian Federation”, “Settlement”, “Street”.
- Click “Find”.
- In the list that appears, look for your house number and find the court site to which the house is assigned.
We are looking for a case on the World Court website
- We go to the website of a specific judicial district, which we found out in the previous step.
- We go to the “Judicial Proceedings” section.
- We are looking for information by name in the tabs “Civil and administrative cases”, “Cases of administrative offenses”, “Proceedings based on materials”. When searching, enter only your last name!
