Law firm Shmeleva and Partners
Arbitration cases
1 740
Economic disputes are an integral part of business activity. Each businessman has his own interests, which can intersect and create conflict situations. To resolve them, a mechanism for considering economic disputes in court was provided. Economic disputes are considered by an arbitration court in accordance with the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (Arbitration Procedure Code). The parties to economic disputes are legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (IP). An individual may act as a party to economic disputes only in exceptional cases.
What are economic disputes?
Economic disputes are disagreements between participants in business activities (legal entities and individual entrepreneurs), as well as government authorities, arising as a result of the clash of their interests in the financial market.
Economic disputes of a legal entity can be of several types, which include the following:
- Pre-contractual
They arise when concluding various civil contracts. In most cases, this type of dispute arises between monopolistic entrepreneurs. The subject of disagreement is the terms of the concluded agreements. At the same time, pre-contractual disputes are considered only if the document provides for the possibility of their resolution in arbitration court.
- Negotiated
Such disputes arise when one of the parties to the agreement does not fulfill its terms, or there is a need to change or terminate it.
- Disputes with government authorities
The subject of disagreement is the recognition of acts of authorized persons as invalid if they are related to the activities of entrepreneurs. For example, refusal to register a legal entity, requiring appeal in court.
Legal has practiced defending economic disputes for more than 12 years. You can contact us to protect your interests. Consultation and assessment of the probable outcome of the case is free of charge:
To get a consultation
The definition of economic disputes stipulates that such disagreements are possible only between legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and, in some situations, government bodies.
At least one party must belong to the specified entities. In some cases, an economic dispute between an entrepreneur and an individual is possible.
Jurisdiction of economic disputes
Cases on economic disputes in accordance with Art. 22 Arbitration Procedure Codes of the Russian Federation fall under the jurisdiction of arbitration courts. Such disagreements are resolved with the participation of any organizations, individual entrepreneurs, authorities and individuals, which is also enshrined in the code.
Arbitration courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation consider economic disputes of specifically defined types. According to Part 2 of Article 22 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, these include the following situations:
- arising as a result of the conclusion of an agreement, the signing of which is established by law, or a dispute, the resolution of which by arbitration is provided for by the agreement,
- on the issue of amendment or termination of the agreement;
- upon the fact of improper fulfillment by the parties of the agreement of its terms;
- related to property rights;
- upon the fact of reclaiming property from someone else’s illegal possession;
- in connection with compensation for losses caused;
- upon recognition of an act of an authority as invalid if it does not comply with the provisions of the law and violates the rights of entrepreneurs;
- on issues of protecting business reputation, honor and dignity if the interests of a business entity have been violated;
- recognition of a document as not subject to execution in case of undisputed collection;
- appealing decisions to refuse registration of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, or evasion of government agencies from such actions when they are expressly provided for by law;
- economic disputes;
- the need to collect fines and other obligatory payments from entrepreneurs if the claim comes from government authorities;
- on the issue of returning funds from the budget if they were written off in violation of the law in an indisputable manner.
In addition to legal disputes in economic cases, businessmen can become participants in the process if it is necessary to establish a fact that changes or terminates someone’s rights, as well as if they are declared bankrupt.
It is also possible to consider economic disputes by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. We are talking about the appeal procedure, newly discovered circumstances in the case, and even the resolution of disagreements in the first instance. This is dealt with directly by the Judicial Collegium for Economic Disputes of the RF Armed Forces. This body is not part of the arbitration system.
We recommend reading: Declaring a debtor bankrupt in an arbitration court: application, procedure, nuances
Review of the case due to newly discovered or new circumstances
According to Art. 309 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the arbitration court that made the decision may reconsider the case in connection with newly discovered or new circumstances. They mean, in particular:
- identification of facts that were not known to the applicant at the time of applying to the court;
- identification by the court of the fact of forgery of documents and other evidence related to the case;
- established criminal acts of participants in the proceedings that influenced the outcome of the case;
- violation of the Human Rights Convention identified by the ECHR.
Economic disputes - resolution procedure
The commercial arbitration court provides for a clearly defined procedure for resolving conflicts. The first stage is always the claim procedure. Before filing a claim in court, an economic dispute should be resolved amicably.
To do this, it is necessary to send a claim to the potential defendant with the essence of the problem, the specific requirement and the deadline for its fulfillment. If pre-trial settlement of disputes does not produce results, then it is necessary to begin legal proceedings.
Proceedings in an arbitration court when resolving economic disputes are carried out on the basis of the second section of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The procedure involves the following steps:
- Preparation of documents
Legal economic disputes will require a good evidence base. Every claim in a lawsuit must be proven. The material should be prepared before the application is sent to the court.
Copies of documents, payment orders, statements, checks, expert opinions, and so on can serve as attachments to the claim. An approximate list of documents is defined in the law (Article 126 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation).
- Drawing up and filing a claim
The form and content of the document are regulated by Art. 125 Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. In most cases, a claim has a general template, with the exception of certain circumstances of a particular dispute.
- Acceptance of a claim and consideration of the case in court
If the application is accepted, the economic dispute court initially schedules a preliminary hearing. It defines the parties to the process, their position and a list of additional materials that will be required to resolve the conflict.
Next, a court hearing is scheduled. There may be several of them, depending on the complexity of the disagreement. In the process, the parties take part on equal terms, defending their positions, presenting evidence, and attracting witnesses. As a result, the court makes an appropriate decision, which comes into force after a month.
The duration of the proceedings in accordance with Art. 152 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation is 6 months from the date of receipt of the statement of claim. This takes into account the preparation period.
If the conflict is particularly complex, the period can be extended to 9 months.
A key aspect when filing an application is also the statute of limitations, which is calculated from the moment the violation of the entrepreneur’s interests was discovered or the day he should have learned about them. According to Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, this period is 3 years.
Statement of claim to the arbitration court
In accordance with Art. 125 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the claim is drawn up in writing and signed directly by the applicant or by a representative by proxy. It is allowed to personally submit the application and the documents attached to it, send them by mail, or through the official website of the court.
The claim must necessarily contain certain information, which, according to the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, includes the following:
- name of the judicial authority;
- details of the parties involved in the case (name, address, full name, contact phone number, email);
- the plaintiff's claims supported by the provisions of the law;
- circumstances that give rise to economic disputes;
- proof;
- cost of claim;
- detailed calculation of the amount of recovery;
- a list of measures taken to ensure property interests before the application was submitted to the court (the date the claim was sent, the response to it from the defendant);
- application (list of documents).
The applicant is obliged to send copies of documents, including the claim, to other participants in the trial.
There is no legally established form of claim.
It is important to correctly determine jurisdiction, state your requirements as clearly as possible and provide objective reasons.
We recommend reading: Pre-trial settlement of disputes in arbitration proceedings
At the same time, each case is individual, as are the plaintiff’s requirements. Therefore, to write a claim, it is better to contact a lawyer or law firm that has experience in economic disputes.
If the statement of claim is written incorrectly, a decision on this case was previously made, or the appeal was sent outside the jurisdiction, then the application will be refused (Article 127.1 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation).
If the claim does not comply with the requirements of the law, it remains without progress, indicating the deadline for eliminating errors (Article 128 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation). The statement of claim is returned in the event of incorrect jurisdiction, absence of a signature in the document, failure to eliminate violations in the application left without progress, if there is a petition from the applicant himself (Article 129 of the Arbitration Procedure Code F).
Limitation periods
The general statute of limitations for corporate disputes is 3 years from the moment the person became aware (should have become aware) of a violation of his rights. However, in some cases reduced time limits may apply.
· to invalidate the decision of the general meeting of a JSC and LLC, a period of 3 and 2 months is established, respectively;
· to challenge a transaction, a period of 1 year is established (if the transaction is void, then it can be declared invalid within 3 years);
· for the transfer of the rights and obligations of the buyer in case of violation of the right of first refusal, a period of 3 months is established (we are talking about participants in non-public companies);
· for compensation of losses caused by improper determination of the value of repurchased securities, a period of 6 months is established.
Author's podcast “The Investigator Will Call”
A project by our partners Andrey Shevchenko and Mikhail Kuchin, where they analyze the most resonant events in the country and their consequences for all of us.
Everything about new laws and high-profile cases in Russia and in the world is as accessible as possible and without tediousness.
Find out more
Economic disputes - appealing an arbitration court decision
The right to file an appeal against decisions of courts considering economic disputes is enshrined in Art. 257 Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. You can send the document within a month from the date of the decision.
The Arbitration Court of Appeal considers complaints. Subsequent stages of the appeal will be considered by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The form and content of an appeal is similar to a claim. You will also need to provide additional documents to substantiate your position. If the complaint is accepted, the court will issue a ruling to schedule a hearing. According to the principle of claims, appeals can be returned or left without progress.
The period for consideration of a complaint is 2 months. If there are special circumstances, the period is extended to 6 months (Article 267 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation).
Documents can be sent by a person who participated in the process of first instance, or by another entity whose interests were affected by the decision.
Based on the outcome of consideration of the appeal, the court may note the decision of the first instance, or change it, or send the case for review.
An appeal at this stage involves reviewing the materials again. Evidence is examined, the parties are heard, and additional information is added.
Subsequent authorities (cassation and supervision) evaluate only the legality of the decisions made, which does not provide the opportunity to present new arguments in their defense.
Thus, economic disputes can arise exclusively in the field of entrepreneurship. To defend yourself in court, you need to have a good evidence base and an experienced lawyer who can protect your interests. This is important both for the plaintiff, who wants to satisfy his claims, and for the defendant, who protects his interests.
