Client without a lawyer. Recommendations for communicating with a judge.

In court alone and without a lawyer

If a client finds himself in court alone without a lawyer, he often does not know what to do. The rules of behavior in court are described in detail by procedural legislation, but how to behave with judges, and why attention should be paid to this, is not described anywhere.

About judicial status and its influence on personality

If I do not explain how the status of a judge affects his personal qualities, then in this publication I will only write about procedural legal norms, which everyone can read independently by looking at any reference legal system.

We must understand that people with power undergo psychological transformation and are different from ordinary people. They are not smarter or dumber, have no better or worse education, they are not better or worse than others - they are different! And this circumstance must be taken into account when communicating with judges so that you do not have to complain about them in the future. Just like with investigators, prosecutors, police officers and employees of other services and government bodies, about whom I write in other publications.

I had to meet with many judges of various judicial instances, with ordinary and heads of courts, and I have personal relationships with some. In addition, I myself consider cases as an independent arbitrator and observe the behavior of the parties to disputes from the place of the very person on whom the outcome of the case depends.

There are approximately four typical groups of judicial personalities (let's call it that), which are based not only on their moral qualities, but also on the psychological characteristics of the individual. Under the influence of these qualities, the relationship between the judge and the participants in the process (plaintiff, defendant, third party, defendant, victim, witness, etc.) develops, with the exception of professional participants - lawyers, prosecutors. I will not examine each group of judges in detail, but I will indicate their main behavioral characteristics and how they affect the participants in the process and ordinary people who are forced to communicate with them outside the court hearing.

Types of judicial personality

educated and powerful at the same time. Such people give orders in a respectful manner in a court hearing. Take full advantage of their status to manage the legal process. Psychologically, they do not oppress the participants in the process and command respect. There is no personal sympathy;
ill-mannered and domineering. For example, like the ones in this video . These also rule, but they can insult and even humiliate the participants in the process. They easily use their power for this purpose and demonstratively emphasize their judicial status. Participants in the process cause psychological oppression, suppress the will, cause irritation, opposition, disrespect and even hatred;
tactful, respectful. Power and status are used quietly, naturally. They also control the participants in the process imperceptibly and naturally, without pressure from their status and power. Court hearings take place in a working, friendly atmosphere. The participants in the process evoke respect and personal sympathy. Sometimes the losing party (the convicted person) takes the decision (sentence) for granted and does not even appeal it;
cold, indifferent, soft and weak-willed. Such different types are combined into one group, since all of them, by their behavior, provoke the participants in the process to free non-procedural actions, disorder, negligence, familiarity in the process and familiarity outside it. Such judges do not evoke any personal sympathy or respect among the participants in the process.

Typical behavior of participants in court

Since the main figure in the process is the judge, he also imposes a form of relationship on the participating persons, depending on his personal type.

types of behavior of participants in the process, and in court

weak, passive people, being in a depressed state, finding themselves in court without a lawyer due to various circumstances, become wingmen, react sluggishly to other participants, to the judge, which can cause him irritation or, at best, indifference, which increases the degree of permissiveness of the judge and the arbitrariness of his decision (sentence);
active, dependent people try to please the judge, seek his favor, hoping to evoke positive emotions in the judge and, against this background, expect positive bonuses from him in the decision (sentence). Such a calculation is not justified, since it provokes the judge to be permissive and increases arbitrariness in making a decision (sentence), regardless of the existing emotional background. Therefore, the decision (sentence) may be exactly the opposite of what the participants expected;
active, persistent, convinced, daring participants in the process, actively behave in court proceedings, although not always correctly and reasonably. Such participants, as a rule, are brawlers and complainers to all authorities known to them. They evoke negative emotions in the judge, which mobilizes him to be cautious in the hearing and when making a decision (sentence), too. Moreover, his decision often has a negative motivation. There is a known case when a judge wrote out her negative attitude towards a participant in the process on three pages of the decision;
balanced, calm, knowledgeable participants, as a rule, active in the process, confident, have good control over the situation, and work. Judges treat such people carefully, cautiously and with an understanding of the possible consequences for them when making a decision (sentence).

From what I have outlined here, readers should understand that the result of a court case is collectively influenced not only by the factual circumstances of the case, but also by the personal qualities of the judge, his perception and assessment of the behavior of the participants in the process.

Recommendations for participants in litigation without a lawyer

behave calmly, with dignity, but not defiantly or arrogantly;
even if you don’t like the judge, don’t show it, don’t demonstrate your attitude towards him;
do not argue with the judge, since he is the master of the situation;
Be careful in appearance, dress in court simply and classically, but in clean clothes. Don't try to demonstrate your poverty or prosperity;
show respect in your behavior towards the judge, even if you do not respect him as a person;
ignore and forgive a female judge emotional attacks, mood swings, weaknesses, if they do not affect the essence of the case;
don’t trust the judge’s word, check if you can check;
do not ingratiate yourself, do not humiliate yourself, do not try in any way to please the judge;
do not try to bribe the judge or interest him in some benefits - you, a stranger, will be regarded as a provocateur with all the negative consequences for you;
do not react emotionally to rudeness, ridicule and humiliation from the judge, if they happen, be indifferent, behave with restraint and dignity;
outside the court session, continue to behave with dignity, do not allow yourself or the judge to approach you with familiarity;
behave calmly and kindly outside the court hearing, remember that you may have to meet more than once.

Rest assured that all court visitors experience excitement when interacting with a judge in or out of court. There are several reasons for this anxiety, but the main one is the awareness of your dependence on the judge who is making a decision (sentence) that is significant for you. However, people experience such excitement when communicating with all law enforcement officers.

Important! Be attentive, careful and respectful in court, do not allow yourself to express yourself emotionally!

These are the basic rules of conduct for a client in court without a lawyer.

Checklists for criminal cases can be found here, for civil cases - here, for arbitration cases - here.

How to correctly and effectively appeal an investigator - here, and a judge - read here.

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How to prepare for court to win your case?

There is no exact and specific answer to the question: how to win a trial, because the final result is influenced by dozens of different factors, including those that cannot be changed. However, there are a number of recommendations that will help significantly increase the chances of success. Here they are:

rely solely on laws and documentary evidence of your position - when considering arbitration cases, the court usually does not look at the history of companies on the market, their reputation, relationships, personal qualities of representatives, everything is decided only by the legal correctness of one or another party. Therefore, try to carefully argue each position of the claim (or response to the claim, or counterclaim), provide references to laws and regulations, provide documentary evidence, examination results, etc.
be sure to obtain competent legal support - when considering an arbitration dispute, you cannot do without the help of a lawyer, and we are talking not only about representation in the arbitration court, but also about other, no less important work: thinking through an action strategy, collecting evidence, preparing a claim and other documents. Only an experienced lawyer, who has dozens and hundreds of similar cases behind him, can cope with these tasks;
comply with all the requirements of the Procedural Code - this applies to established deadlines, paperwork, compliance with the complaint procedure for resolving a dispute, informing participants in the process, etc. These actions not only increase the chances of a successful outcome of the case, but also significantly save time, reducing the time it takes to consider the case.

And even after receiving a positive court decision, it is too early to relax: sometimes it can be even more difficult to achieve its execution. Therefore, be patient and learn how to act in such situations. Of course, the help of an arbitration lawyer will not be superfluous here either.

Conclusion

Arbitration disputes are a separate category of litigation, which have a number of features and require careful preparation to achieve a positive result. A competent strategy, the necessary documentary evidence of correctness and the participation of an experienced lawyer will help you achieve success.

Proceedings within reason

2K 1 3 min.

The State Duma adopted in the first reading amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), defining the terms of reasonable criminal proceedings. The current provisions of the law make it possible not to include in them the periods, sometimes measured in years, that pass from the filing of a statement of crime to the initiation of a criminal case. The bill itself was developed based on the decision of the Constitutional Court (CC), which considered the complaint of a man from Komi, who had been waiting for justice for almost nine years. Experts believe that the amendments will help victims defend their rights.

Photo: Evgeny Pavlenko, Kommersant

The bill on amendments to Art. considered by deputies on Tuesday. 6.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure “Reasonable Time for Criminal Proceedings” was prepared on the basis of a decision of the Constitutional Court issued last summer, in which legislators were asked to adjust the norms contained therein. The reason was an appeal to the Constitutional Court by a resident of the Komi Republic. In the summer of 2009, he wrote a statement about the crime, but a criminal case was opened only six years later. It all ended with a guilty verdict. The man considered that his right to criminal proceedings within a reasonable time had been violated, filing appropriate claims in the courts demanding compensation. True, in doing so, he encountered a refusal - the courts considered that the period of legal proceedings itself is calculated not from the moment the application was filed, but from the day the investigation was launched and his recognition as a victim. The difference was very significant - almost nine years passed from the time the appeal to law enforcement agencies took place until the verdict entered into legal force, and the legal proceedings lasted, as the authorities considered, a little more than two years, of which nine months were spent directly on the preliminary investigation. The Constitutional Court came to the conclusion that the norms enshrined in the Code of Criminal Procedure for calculating the time limits for reasonable legal proceedings primarily protect the rights of suspects and accused, while protecting the rights of victims of criminal manifestations when legal proceedings are delayed is extremely difficult. The court specifically indicated that the victim becomes such precisely when he was harmed, and not at the moment when it was procedurally formalized by the investigator or interrogating officer. Therefore, the Constitutional Court recognized the norm of the Code of Criminal Procedure as inconsistent with the basic law of the country, which allows the time interval between the filing of an application and the initiation of a case not to be taken into account in the period of reasonable legal proceedings if everything ends in a guilty verdict.

Adviser to the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of Russia Evgeniy Rubinshtein explained to Kommersant that over the past year the Constitutional Court has checked the constitutionality of Part 3 of Art. 6.1 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. “At first, it was recognized as unconstitutional that this norm did not take into account, when determining a reasonable period, the period from the day the victim filed a statement of crime until the moment of initiation of a criminal case in cases where the proceedings in this case ended with a guilty verdict, and then that this norm did not took into account the period from the filing of the application to the initiation of the case in cases where the proceedings were terminated due to death,” said Mr. Rubinstein. He noted that each time the court ordered changes to be made to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. “As a result, the calculation of a reasonable period of criminal proceedings should begin with a specific legal fact - the filing of an application for a crime,” said Evgeniy Rubinshtein, noting that this wording should replace the vague concept “from the moment of the beginning of criminal prosecution.” “Meanwhile, one can hardly hope that the proposed changes will affect the reduction of the time frame for so-called pre-investigation checks,” the expert believes. He is convinced that the reasons for the unjustifiably prolonged deadlines lie in the “archaic structure” of the very initiation of a criminal case and the negative attitude towards its termination.

Meanwhile, lawyer Marina Yarosh told Kommersant that changes in legislation can have a positive impact on both the investigation of criminal cases and the conduct of inspections. “According to the law, we are given up to 30 days to check and make a procedural decision, but in reality it lasts for months,” she explained, especially noting that the results of these checks can either be used to initiate a case or shelved. “If the amendments are adopted, it will be difficult to do the latter, since it will be possible to appeal in court against the actions of the investigation as a violation of the deadlines for reasonable legal proceedings,” Ms. Yarosh believes. She noted that previously the courts had constantly rejected such complaints, but hopes that soon “they will pay attention to them.” In turn, the public representative of the business ombudsman, lawyer Dmitry Grigoriadi, told Kommersant that the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the amendments of the State Duma deputies are “extremely positive.” “In my practice, there were many cases with endless pre-investigation checks, which made it possible to create a nightmare for business,” said Boris Titov’s representative, Fr. “Now we will have the basis for further action,” Mr. Grigoriadi is confident.

Sergey Sergeev

Procedural actions with a classified person

The participation of a classified person in the process has its own characteristics. Let's briefly denote them:

Secret individuals are assigned pseudonyms. The judge has the right to identify the anonymous person.
Secret persons come up with a new signature, which is then affixed to all procedural documents.
Procedural actions such as confrontation, interrogation, identification are carried out confidentially. For example, devices that change the subject's voice are often used in practice.
An anonymous person is prohibited from asking questions during procedural activities that could directly or indirectly reveal his identity.
If a classified person cannot indicate the source of origin of his information or claims that it is based on rumors, guesses, assumptions, then his testimony is recognized as unacceptable evidence.
Information about a person is subject to disclosure only after a decision by a judicial authority and only after filing a reasoned petition.

The period of classification depends on the duration of the circumstances that led to the introduction of this protective measure. If such circumstances no longer exist, then there is no longer any point in classifying them in the future.