When applying to the court, any citizen or legal entity relies on highly qualified dispute resolution, loyalty and a fair solution. From any judge, regardless of the type of jurisdiction, everyone wants to see informed and balanced decisions that will truly protect the rights of each member of the society. However, this does not always happen, and you have to turn to other instances that can protect against arbitrariness of judges.
Judicial Qualification Collegium
To protect their rights from the arbitrariness of officials, you can go to many instances: the prosecutor's office, law enforcement agencies, the presidential administration and others. But you can write a complaint to the qualification board of judges. This instance is most often contacted by persons who have become victims of unethical behavior in the course of the proceedings and so on. It is this commission that examines cases of unlawful behavior that does not comply with ethical standards, and is also involved in the certification of judges.
How and where to apply?
A common question among people who are faced with the judicial system and find themselves dissatisfied with the behavior of judges: where to go, who to complain to? Moreover, it is very important that the complaint does not adversely affect the adjudication.
One way to protect your legal rights is to file a complaint with the Qualification Collegium of Judges. In our country, there is a whole system of qualification colleges. Such colleges are formed at the expense of judges of various instances and orientation, representatives of the public, representatives of the administration under the President of the Russian Federation.
By the way, members of the public quite recently began to appear as members of the boards. This is due to the fact that they are still able to prevent the corporate principle of the community of judges. But there are very strict requirements for such persons, the main requirement is the presence of a legal education and the absence of acts that would discredit their honor. In addition, the representative of the public should already be 35 years old and be a citizen of the Russian Federation. At the time of admission to the college, a person should not be a lawyer and not be a representative of a municipal or public service.
The main provisions of the KKS are defined by Law No. 30-FZ. The CCC considers disputes related to the involvement of judges in the performance of their immediate duties, carries out their certification, selects candidates and has the right to suspend and even impose a disciplinary sanction. The commission may even terminate the powers of a judge and impose a disciplinary sanction.
Each region has its own qualification college of judges. Collegium addresses can be found on the official website. The Higher Collegium itself is located in the capital of the country at the following address: Moscow, Barrikadnaya street, 8, p. 4. You can contact the VKKS personally by submitting a complaint through the office or submit documents through a postal operator.
In what cases can I contact the board
A complaint against a judge in the CCC can be filed if the official regularly violates the rules of procedural law, other requirements of the current legislation. If a judge delays the consideration of a case, he behaves unethically and rudely towards citizens or participants in the proceedings. Inappropriate behavior in everyday life is also the basis for applying to the college.
You can contact the board if the judge violated the norms of the Federal Law No. 3132-1, the Constitution of the country. The Code of Honor of Judges also spells out a number of grounds that may become the reason for making a complaint to the CCC.
If the applicant does not agree with the decision made by the judge, then it is necessary to appeal to the court of appeal, and not to the board. If even the highest court cancels the decision, then this fact is not the basis for bringing the judge to disciplinary liability.
It is not allowed to hold a judge accountable if the expressed opinion in the court decision does not satisfy one of the parties, unless it is proved that it is knowingly unjust or taken with malicious intent.
Complaint text requirements
The unified form of such a document is not provided for by applicable law. Therefore, it is compiled in regular writing, in compliance with the requirements that are provided for such types of documents.
How to write a complaint to the qualification collegium of judges? Mandatory details of the document:
- Applicant details. Anonymous appeals are not considered by this state body.
- Description of the violation. Be sure to indicate the date of the event, during the consideration of which case the incident occurred.
- Description of the actions of the judge who caused the dissatisfaction of the compiler of the complaint, what rights were violated.
- List of attached documents (if any).
A sample complaint to the judges qualification board is provided below. The main thing is that the text of the document contains information about the unlawfulness of the actions or omissions of the judge.
What can not be written
Despite the absence of any special requirements for the text of the complaint, it should not contain:
- insults;
- the text of the document should not be written on several sheets, it is not necessary to describe the incident in too much detail.
It is not allowed in the document to appeal against the actions of the judge, which relate to the direct consideration of the trial. It is possible to appeal the decisions taken only on appeal.
A complaint to the Higher Qualification Collegium of Judges will be returned if it contains threats or obscene language. Without fail, they will return the document if a similar complaint has already been considered, with the same participants and an answer has been given. It is not allowed to complain about the actions of a judge if they are connected with state secrets or it is not clear from the text of the document which norms of law the judge violated. Unreadable texts of complaints are returned to the applicant without consideration, as well as those that are not signed by the applicant.
How to handle complaints
After the complaint is received by the qualification collegium of judges, the chairman or member of the collegium makes a decision on the basis of which the judge is checked.
Unlike the trial, the applicant is not involved in the consideration of the complaint. Only in extreme cases, if there is not enough information for a comprehensive review of the case, can the applicant and other persons be involved in the process. In this case, the complaint will be reviewed on the basis of a trial. Prior to the meeting, in advance, the persons involved shall be notified of the date and place of the meeting.
If there is reason to believe that the judge against whom the complaint has been filed systematically violates the rule of law, then his powers may be suspended.
Complaints can be considered by the chairman of the CCC or referred to the chairman of the court where the judge works.
The timing
According to the norms of the Federal Law No. 30, consideration of complaints in the qualification collegiums of judges should not be delayed for more than 1 month. VKKS has the right to consider communications and complaints up to 3 months. These terms can be extended only in extreme cases, and then no more than 30 days.
The deadline for considering a complaint is calculated not from the moment the decision is made, but from the moment the answer is transmitted to the applicant or sent to the post office for dispatch.
If the complaint does not require additional proceedings, then it must be considered within 15 days from the date of transfer to the CCC. In cases where the document has been submitted to the board, but the issues addressed in it do not relate to this body, then such a complaint should be submitted to the body authorized to consider such appeals within 5 days. In this case, the applicant is additionally notified of the decision.
When a complaint is submitted to the judges' qualification collegium on behalf of a military serviceman or members of his family, then it is considered within 15 days from the moment of registration in the office.
Inquiries, complaints and appeals from deputies of the State Duma, from members of the Federation Council, from the apparatus of the Supreme Court and other bodies with the right of legislative initiative, are considered in reduced time.
Result after treatment
The result of consideration of a complaint to the qualification collegium of judges may be a decision to impose a disciplinary sanction on a judge. This may be a warning, comment or early termination of office. In extreme cases, if the violations by the judge are serious, the materials for consideration of the complaint may be transferred further to bring the official to criminal liability.
The first two types of responsibility, perhaps, least of all frighten the judges, they simply endure a reprimand and soon everyone will forget about the incident. A more serious responsibility is the termination of authority. Although in practice, if the misconduct is really serious, the judge is given the right to voluntarily renounce authority.
If the applicant relies on compensation for non-pecuniary damage or material losses, then it is necessary to apply to the court, and not to the board.
Higher Qualification Collegium of Judges of the Russian Federation
This body examines complaints received by the chairmen and their deputies of the Federal Courts, judges of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Arbitration Court or officials of the Federal Arbitration Judges.
The board has three months to consider complaints.
Appeal
It is possible to appeal a decision of the VKKS or KKS only in court, and then only in the part of the procedure for making this decision. You can file a complaint within 10 days of receiving a decision on it.
Appeal of decisions of the KKS is made by filing an appropriate application with the Armed Forces of the republic or territory, city of federal significance or autonomous region, district.
A decision taken by the Higher Qualification Collegium of Judges of the Russian Federation is subject to appeal to the Armed Forces of the country.
The main problems that people face in real life
Most often, applicants expect any real and significant changes in the courts from a complaint to the CCC. Many applicants even require the prosecution of judges. However, it should be remembered that the complaint is only a confirmation of the fact of violations by the judge, and the possibility of bringing to justice is decided only by the CCU.
It should be remembered that even the fact of bringing a judge to disciplinary liability is not a basis for canceling a decision made by him. Therefore, if you decide to reverse the decision of the judge, you should not waste time on a complaint to the CCC, but simply contact the appellate court.
It should be remembered that, when considering complaints and making decisions on bringing to justice, KKS judges rely more on their own practice than on legislation, as everything is described in it rather vaguely. Therefore, one should not be surprised that even a seemingly obvious violation would not be regarded as a violation, and the complaint would be returned to the applicant.
Conclusion
Despite all the problems that ordinary citizens and legal entities face when going to court, if the rights are violated, the judge is rude and immoral, never refuse to defend your rights and defend them. If in doubt that KKS will help, at the same time write complaints to other authorities: the Investigative Committee, the judicial department, the prosecutor’s office, and the presidential administration. In any case, at least one instance will respond adequately and stop the judge’s misconduct.