The abuse of procedural rights in the civil process is not only a problem of narrow discipline. It is common in general matters throughout the proceedings. And since ancient times, this is evidenced by the works of Roman lawyers. Legal sources do not give definitions of how to deal with this negative phenomenon. For controversial and poorly understood factors, only legal scholars dared to give clear recommendations. And only for each case from judicial practice, carefully examining them.
The legislation does not deduce in a separate line the signs of abuse of procedural rights in the civil process. Practice lawyers have an idea about this and described that intentional deliberate actions do not comply with the principle of honesty and competition. Rights are given to everyone, but, using one’s own rights, one cannot unceremoniously destroy the interests of others - by intentional, conscious or intentional actions.
Qualitative Characteristics Analysis
The Civil Code of the Russian Federation in Articles 1-10 gives a description of how to work and what to rely on. And in what areas everyone is free to use their rights if they do not violate other people's interests. Legal literature raises questions regarding the abuse of procedural rights in civil proceedings. They are relevant, but ambiguous. Legislators emphasize that if actions are aimed at harming others to harm them for unlawful purposes, they are already illegal.
For example, in order to limit competition, knowingly knowing their dominant position, they unscrupulously use their civil rights in the commercial sector, thereby suppressing other people's interests. The law does not separately highlight signs of abuse of procedural rights in the civil process, but judicial practice abounds in them. And lawyers analyze the phenomenon by facts. Common indicators include:
- the subject who violated the rights must possess them;
- intentions or malicious intent were present during the whole process - before the person committed the actions, and after the procedure;
- the existence of unfair intentions - such a concept does not exist in legislative acts; it is observed only in an evaluative nature;
- actions are carried out in violation of moral principles, affect the interests of other persons, their subjective rights;
- inconsistency of the behavior of the violator with the purpose of the created powers;
- own benefits to the detriment of justice and participants in the process;
- adverse effects after using their own prerogatives;
- causal relationship between actions and their results.
The abuse of procedural rights will occur in the presence of at least one of the listed features. No need to collect and combine them to prove evil intent.
In what forms is the phenomenon expressed?
The misuse of their rights seems to contradict legal concepts and many scholars do not allow such a saying. This simply cannot be, but it exists. In his work, he gives a clear definition of the phenomenon of A. V. Yudin “Abuse of procedural rights in civil proceedings”. A scientist from the field of jurisprudence gives examples, materials are taken from the monograph as a basis for the defense of his dissertations by his followers. In real cases, you can also highlight cases from an extensive list:
- participants in the process evade the transfer of evidence that requires a trial;
- persons do not give materials, specially violate the deadlines established by the court proceedings;
- defendants initiate parallel trials to suspend prosecutions;
- plaintiffs indicate several defendants, deliberately increasing their number by inappropriate participants, which makes the jurisdiction artificially changed;
- submit several applications on the same issue in order to prolong the proceedings;
- create counterclaims;
- transmit insignificant documents with improper procedural representation that do not confirm authority;
- submit claims with unfounded allegations of violated rights.
At the same time, in Yudin's essay on the abuse of procedural rights in civil proceedings, it was emphasized that this concept cannot be used widely.
You can classify him with any actions in a protracted or complex trial, you need to know the measure in everything. The writer proposed his own classifier of types of violations that will allow to identify a flaw in the lawsuit, if examined, indicated in the statement:
- time;
- occasion;
- vice of the goal;
- base;
- form;
- request;
- requirement in full.
Explicit abuse proves the exercise of one's own rights in order to:
- disrupt the hearing;
- drag out the lawsuit;
- obstruct justice in the consideration of the case and determination of a fair decision.
Such a system provides a legal mechanism for influencing unscrupulous participants. There is no single form in the abuse of procedural rights, there are many of them.
In each case, the courts and investigators will have to deal individually. The phenomenon can be expressed by active procedural actions or inaction. Moreover, the procedure meets the standards in civil procedure law, but in fact the interests of certain circles of persons are violated.
Full qualification in several positions
The abuse of civil procedural rights can be determined by knowing the purpose pursued by the subject. If actions take place with the sole intention of doing harm, this phenomenon is called chicane. The only sign of the named form is direct intent in causing damage. This is the most harmful action in the procedural dialect, where the chicane is characterized in a qualified composition by ordinary abuse.
Other types of violations in this area can be thought of as exceeding the legal limits aimed at gaining benefits and advantages by causing losses to your opponent. The abuse of civil procedural rights is considered the fulfillment of biased intentions with double intent, organizing a loss to one person, whereby the violator becomes the owner of any values.
Process stages
You need to start considering violations with the judiciary. Where abuses occur at different stages:
- in the courts of first instance;
- during appeals;
- cassations;
- during supervisory activities;
- under new circumstances;
- during consideration of cases, when judicial acts are executed.
The abuse of procedural rights in civil proceedings are divided into stages:
- initiation of cases;
- preparation of materials for consideration in court;
- trial at the hearing.
Facts come up from judicial practice when they review cases, illegal acts occur that are not typical for courts of this level. An example is the filing of cassation and appeals.
Subject features
Types of abuse of procedural rights can be general and institutional. General violations manifest themselves in general civil proceedings. They indicate the illegality of the process. Usually expressed in unreasonably filed lawsuit. Institutional parameters include relations between partners that regulate the procedural rules of individual institutions in civil law. An example is the payment of state fees with legal costs, they determine the wrong jurisdiction and jurisdiction.
There are still objective signs where in the Code of Civil Procedure the abuse of procedural rights is highlighted as an encroachment on justice in the form of the main object and additional participants in the case.
They share the malicious use of their rights by the degree of their influence in the final result. Not every use of their capabilities with the intent that the law provides can lead to an illegal and unreasonable court order. However, there is no excuse for such acts. On the issue of liability, lawyers have a unanimous opinion: punishment should be mandatory.
Qualitative indicators
From the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation - abuse of procedural rights is divided into simple and complex. Classifying simple evil intentions does not present any particular difficulties; they are easily recognized.
For complex cases and veiled actions you have to:
- study the case file;
- identify motivation;
- determine the degree of latency.
After determining one of the signs present in the filed lawsuit or claims, the culprit will have to answer for the intention to disrupt the case under consideration.
Single and multiple cases
The abuse of procedural rights by persons participating in a case can be single and multiple. In a single case, only one reason is used. When various procedural actions are carried out during the investigation, and all of them are penetrated by the evil intentions of unscrupulous persons, such measures contain several-stage procedures. Moreover, they are committed by one participant or group. Multistage schemes are being developed when one of the participants considers that an unfair lawsuit has been filed against him, responds in the same way - he makes his unreasonable claims, loading the proceedings.
Participants borrow from each other a procedural strategy with a mirror character. The participant in the process invites citizens to testify. In response, the partner brings his witnesses, they are actually useless for the case, their information is not confirmed by facts. The outcome of the case depends on the competence of the judge - if he timely notices the problem of abuse of procedural rights and the desire of the parties for inaccuracy, and for the primacy in the provision of inappropriate data.
Behavior pattern
Malicious use of civil rights can be active and passive. Suppose a participant does not respond to a court call, blocks the flow of information. Actions can unfold in a completely different picture - the applicant takes active offensives and literally floods the court with motions.
Disclaimers are sent to decisions made by the court with filing counterclaims. The judge cannot fail to notice all attempts to thwart a fair consideration of controversial issues by one of the parties, but everyone has been given the same rights against which there are no legislative measures.
How many persons are participating?
But let's get back to the abuse of procedural rights. An unreasonable lawsuit may be filed by one person or an entire group. An ordinary civil process takes place when a dispute over material and procedural interests has occurred, but they are of the opposite nature. In this case, it is possible to send malicious intentions to one side. Practice shows that participants achieve opposing legal interests, while striving for one goal.
For example, the defendant was abused in procedural rights when he filed a lawsuit. At the same time, he agreed with the plaintiff on the filing of property claims, made them the basis for non-existent obligations. As a result, these parties win, but the third party loses, in relation to whom real obligations are not fulfilled. In this case, there is a multi-subject situation:
- several accomplices;
- coincidence of interests of some persons against whom they are directed;
- the absence of claims expressed in court from the third person involved.
From this we can conclude on the grounds of abuse of procedural rights that fulfillment of dishonorable intentions can be carried out by one citizen or several persons cooperated in the same interests.
Does harm begin with a lawsuit?
Civil law is closely linked to arbitration proceedings. One of the rights of every citizen is to file a statement of claim with a description of their requirements. On this basis:
- cases are opened or initiated;
- at the request of the court proceedings;
- controversial issue;
- a verdict is issued.
Citizens have the right to demand justice in specific cases. Here, the RF standards in the Civil Code and the agro-industrial complex are united, they do not have prohibitions on filing statements of claim. Perhaps, based on the conclusions of legal scholars, abuse of procedural rights in the form of intent cannot be by definition.
Yes, and judicial practice negatively refers to them. The law does not contain a definition of violations with unreasonable claims or filing them in a pretrial order to resolve conflicts. The law states in Art. 4 APC RF, that all citizens have the right to protect their interests, and the method can be chosen by anyone that does not contradict the law, which is most convenient for the applicant.
Judicial evidence
As a result of the abuse of procedural rights, we can conclude that the court appeals showed:
- in claims indicate incorrect addresses of the defendants;
- plaintiffs do not provide data on persons whose interests are affected;
- submit applications so that the non-normative legal act is invalidated due to the omission of the appeal without reason;
- provide unreasonable claims.
As a result, citizens act, infringing not only the interests of their opponents, but also state ones. Due to their abuse, justice cannot be properly administered. In order to interfere with the judicial review, the recusal of judges is applied, petitions are submitted, where they are asked to postpone the hearing, and appeal the acts.
Features of Expected Consequences
Malicious acts in relation to procedural law usually achieve their goal. Negative facts overtake justice and participants in the process in the field of:
- economic;
- organizational;
- ideological.
A bona fide person involved in a case receives direct or indirect consequences. Persons who relate to the law, repealing the laws adopted by society, interpret each specific case in its own way.
When people exclude general rules of behavior, are guided in actions by selfish intentions - the use of individual details does not make compliance with the law valid, but only visible. Subjects of offenses:
- misuse of rights granted by law;
- bypass legal prohibitions on causing damage;
- exclude the fulfillment of the principles of equality laid down by law, obligations in conscientious acts, reasonableness and discretion.
Discovered facts of abuse will lead to a waiver of protection where there are no liability measures. Only moral difficult processes are possible in which there is no choice to replace the most sparing consequences.
Everyone can go to court. But it is possible to recognize their abuse not in material legislation, but only in civil procedural laws. The consequences may include:
- payment of the amount assigned by the court;
- dissatisfaction of the claim filed by the violator;
- the application of measures by the judge, if he considers them to be in accordance with the law.
The question of what it means when a judge refuses to protect the applicant’s rights should be considered separately. The court indicates the reason for its decision with confirmation of the qualification grounds for the actions of the plaintiff. In the refusal, the judge decides:
- completely deprive of subjective rights;
- exclude from the case the result achieved by unauthorized actions;
- make a waiver for a particular moment.
The decision of the judge is directed against the violator who is abusing his opportunities provided by law. Compensation for damage or measures that the court determines will be taken to ensure the interests of the injured person.
The specified norm is the main compensation function in civil law. Judicial practice provides for the application of measures of responsibility to any party. And it does not depend on who the offender is - the defendant or the plaintiff. According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in Art. 168 it is indicated that if an abuse of procedural rules is discovered, the transaction is declared invalid. And the position of the person against whom the actions were taken are restored.
The legislation does not have clear, fixed criteria for determining abuses; therefore, it is difficult to prove the evidence in the courts. Lawyers recommend focusing on proving the achievement of the goal with the actions taken, paying attention to the intent and behavior of the offender.
In competitive relations, they find out the presence of property in the market. If there are proposals with unfavorable conditions, where the counterparty has reduced liability in the contract, which is forced to conclude, these are signs of malicious intent. There are examples in economic relations when partners enter into a valid transaction with equal favorable conditions.
. , , . , :
Only in substantive law is there a concept of good faith. Civilistic science and judicial practice defines the actions of individuals violating the rights of other citizens. If there is a benefit and a desire to delay the trial, then this is a clear violation. Such events indicate a disrespectful attitude to legal proceedings and legal instances; they interfere with justice.
The lack of legislative norms in this matter has led judges to the extent of their competence to issue verdicts at their own discretion and interpretation of the circumstances for each specific case. This situation does not exclude judicial errors. Turning again to judicial practice, we can say that in any process there is always a goal and a motive.
The definition of these signs makes it possible to conclude whether or not there was an abuse of rights. It is possible that a person seeks justice, but cannot convincingly prove his innocence. The court will accept reliable evidence of good faith, if they do not contradict the proceedings and do no harm to anyone.