Preparing a case for proceedings involves the commission of certain procedural actions. They can be carried out only after the adoption of the claim for production.
According to the 133rd article of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation , the list of preparatory actions for a specific case is determined by the judge out of court, individually. He also determines the timing of their commission, as well as the person who should carry them out.
Preparation period
It is regulated by the 134th article of the agro-industrial complex . In accordance with it, the preparation must be completed within 2 months. from the date of receipt of the claim in court. In disputes examined in the manner prescribed by Chapters 23-26, as well as 29-31 of the Code, the preparation time, the need to consider the case in a preliminary court hearing , and other procedural actions are determined by the court independently, taking into account the circumstances of a particular proceeding.
The period begins with the date of the decision on the appointment of the case to the proceedings, unless otherwise specified in the agro-industrial complex.
Parties Notice
A copy of the ruling on preparing the case for trial is sent to the participants according to the rules established by article 122 of the APC of the Russian Federation . The decision is sent by registered mail with a notice of delivery or delivered directly to the addressee in court or at the location of the person concerned. In urgent cases, notification is carried out by means of communication (telephone, e-mail, etc.).
Value training
According to Article 135 of the AIC, the duty to prepare a case for consideration rests with the judge. He should direct the persons involved in the dispute to commit procedural actions (and, in some cases, facilitate their implementation), which would ensure at the first hearing not only the trial, but also its resolution. To this end, the judge may summon the parties to a preliminary hearing .
Despite the fact that the judge takes the decision on the commission of certain actions that must be carried out before the immediate hearing, behind the scenes and alone, the information about them is communicated to the parties to the dispute. Moreover, the parties not only take it into account, but are also obliged to be active in implementing the definition.
Appointment of a preliminary hearing
The preparation of the case ends with a call of the parties to a kind of conversation. The preliminary hearing in the arbitration process is of particular practical importance. However, it is not appointed for all disputes.
The order of the preliminary court hearing is enshrined in articles 133-136 of the AIC. However, it should be borne in mind that this procedure is not carried out when considering bankruptcy cases, administrative offenses and some others.
The key objective of the preliminary hearing is to verify that the case is ready for trial.
Important point
The parties must be notified by the court of the preliminary hearing . Notification is required to be appropriate. This means that the participants in the hearing must really know about its date, place and time. At the same time, the case file should contain information that the parties received a corresponding notice. If this information is not available, and the participants did not appear at the appointed time, the hearing is adjourned.
If the parties were duly notified, but did not appear at the meeting, it shall be held in their absence.
Essence of the hearing
At the preliminary hearing in the arbitration process, in accordance with part 2 of the 136th article of the APC, the court:
- Permits petitions received from the parties.
- Determines the sufficiency of all evidence presented in the case.
- Considers issues to be resolved at the preparatory stage.
- Performs other procedural actions provided for by the agro-industrial complex.
Permission of applications
During the preliminary hearing in the arbitration process, the parties are vested with a fairly wide range of possibilities. They have the right to file motions on various issues related to the proceedings.
For example, often participants cannot, for objective reasons, obtain the necessary evidence. In such a situation, the interested person submits a petition in which he asks the court to request the necessary documents or information. In addition, at a preliminary hearing in the arbitration process, the plaintiff may change his claims (increase or decrease claims).
Sufficiency of evidence
At the preliminary hearing, the court informs the parties what evidence is present in the case. If necessary, he may request additional materials from any of the participants.
In distributing responsibilities for proving, the court should be guided by the principles of equality and competition.
Other proceedings
It should be noted that the behavior of the parties in the process is limited only by the provisions of the agro-industrial complex. The Code, as mentioned above, provides for various procedural rights for participants in proceedings.
For example, at a preliminary meeting, subjects can change the method of defense, clarify the subject of the claim, etc.
At the request of any of the persons participating in the case, the court may declare a break in the preliminary hearing for a period not exceeding 5 days. During this period, the parties usually collect additional evidence in the case.
Outsourcing
Not only the parties to the dispute directly, but also other entities are entitled to participate in the preliminary meeting. As a rule, they are involved in proceedings if the decision on the case may affect their rights or obligations.
Interested parties must also be notified of the time, place and date of the hearing.
End of Preliminary Hearing
After resolving all issues related to preparation for the case, the court, taking into account the opinion of the parties and third-party entities involved in the proceedings, determines the degree of readiness of the case for direct consideration. Moreover, in some cases, after the end of the preliminary hearing, the process moves to a new stage.
Based on the 4th part of the 137th article of the APC, the court may end the preliminary hearing and open the hearing in the first instance if:
- All persons involved in the production are present. It is also about third-party entities that are not speaking on any side.
- The parties were absent, but were duly notified and did not object to the proceedings in their absence.
One more important condition should be said. After the preliminary hearing, the court has the right to open a hearing in the first instance, if the participants present do not object to this.
However, this procedure does not apply if the case is considered collegially.
Determination of the commencement of proceedings
Having completed the preparation of production materials, the court announces to the parties which dispute (claim) and by what rules of the agro-industrial complex will be considered on the basis of the material legal relationship.
After the case is declared ready for trial, a ruling on the appointment of a hearing in the first instance is issued. It indicates information about:
- The completion of the preparatory phase.
- Involving third parties in the proceedings.
- Acceptance of a counterclaim (if it was filed).
- Change of requirements (disconnection / connection).
- Involvement of arbitration assessors.
The ruling may also contain information on other issues resolved during the preliminary hearing, if no ruling was previously made on them. The resolution often indicates the views of the parties, the court’s conclusion on the readiness of the materials for consideration. The definition necessarily contains information about the date, time, place of the upcoming meeting.
In the manner prescribed by article 122 of the agro-industrial complex, copies of the decision are sent to the participants in the proceedings.
Finally
Quite often, in practice, a preliminary meeting is held with some procedural violations. This is largely due to the high workload of the authorities.
Judicial authorities do not always cope with the flow of claims, so they often have to skip this stage of proceedings.
Meanwhile, the preliminary hearing is necessary not so much for the court as for the parties to the proceedings. It is during it that they can get acquainted with all the evidence presented in the case, discuss the issues of preparation for the hearing. This allows you to develop the most correct tactics. In addition, cases are often resolved not in favor of the applicants due to their mistakes in the preparation of the claim. The preliminary meeting is intended to adjust the requirements. Moreover, the law does not prohibit asking a judge questions, asking him to clarify certain points. Moreover, this is the procedural right of any participant in the proceedings. The court, in turn, is obliged to clarify issues related to this case.
In most cases, people who are far from jurisprudence apply to the courts. In drawing up a claim, they, of course, are guided by law. However, without practical experience, the first time it is not always possible to formulate the requirements correctly. Not in all cases it turns out to collect the necessary evidence. All these problems should be resolved at the preliminary meeting.
The court is obliged to provide assistance to the parties to the dispute within its competence, to ensure compliance with the principles of competitiveness and equality. If the preliminary hearing (when it is necessary) was missed by the court or was not conducted in a high-quality manner, the trial may be delayed for a long time, since already during the consideration of the dispute on the merits the parties will have to resolve all those issues that were not only possible, but also had to be resolved earlier.