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Arbitration courts will become more high-tech, more accessible and more expensive
Arbitration courts are preparing to become more accessible. In a little less than a month - from November 1 - amendments to the Arbitration Procedural Code (APC) of the Russian Federation, introduced into it by Law No. 228-FZ adopted in July, will come into force. They are expanding the use of telecommunication technologies in arbitration proceedings, in particular legalizing their partial transfer to the virtual space. In addition, arbitration courts have opened to private individuals, but experts doubt that citizens will be able to find a common language with arbitration judges without the help of an experienced lawyer.According to the new law, participants in the arbitration process will have the opportunity to submit documents, incl. statements of claim, responses to them, appeals, receipts for payment of state fees and many other documents in electronic form by filling out a special form available on the court’s website. Courts will consider documents signed digitally.
Thanks to the Internet, justice will become not only more accessible, but also closer. The newly introduced Article 153.1 for the first time makes it possible to use videoconferencing systems in an arbitration court hearing. True, in order to provide courts with appropriate equipment, serious funding from the state will be required. “Currently 53 arbitration courts in the country, that is, approximately half, have the opportunity to organize participation in trials via videoconferencing. By the end of the year, all courts will be equipped with the appropriate equipment,” the head of the apparatus, administrator of the Supreme Arbitration Court, Igor Drozdov, assured the Vremya Novostei correspondent.
This innovation can be very convenient for disputing parties. Including in material terms. “As a rule, courts of different instances are located far from each other. For example, the court of first instance may be located in one city, the appeal or cassation - in another. This necessitates spending money on travel expenses. Now a party can file a petition for the participation of its representatives in a court hearing through the use of video conferencing systems. In this case, it will be necessary to come to the nearest court, which can technically provide videoconferencing with the court hearing the case,” explains Anna Kulakova, head of the arbitration practice sector of the MKPTSN company.
In her opinion, the possibility of remote participation in the arbitration process “has a social and even moral aspect.” “With the help of high technologies, witnesses who are located at a considerable distance from the court can be questioned: disabled people and elderly people who do not have the opportunity to appear in court in person. Their testimony will be taken into account when considering the dispute, which will undoubtedly contribute to a more complete and comprehensive consideration of the case,” the lawyer is sure.
However, the director of the Moscow office of Tax Consulting UK, Eduard Savulyak, is skeptical about “electronic justice.” “The theme, of course, is in the spirit of modernization and innovation. But there is a huge suspicion that electronic justice simply will not work in the coming years. The “electronic government” model is being lobbied by the president himself. So, is there less paperwork for approvals? How many people have managed to submit an application for a foreign passport electronically? Since 2002, the Federal Tax Service and the Ministry of Finance have been required to respond to electronic requests from taxpayers within thirty days. Can you guess what kind of response such “advanced users” receive to a query on the Internet? None!” - says Mr. Savulyak.
He also points out that even ordinary “paper” cases are lost in the courts. Proving the loss of electronic documents will be even more difficult. Therefore, the lawyer is confident that “it is unlikely that in such an important matter as a trial, plaintiffs will en masse trust the Internet.”
New technologies are supposed to be used not only to provide communications. To exclude influence on the composition of the court by persons interested in the outcome of the trial, it is allowed to use an impartial computer that will select judges using a random sample. “It is known that the parties often used the procedure for selecting an arbitration assessor in order to delay the consideration of the case,” says Ms. Kulakova. “Now if, after several attempts, it is not possible to select an assessor, the court will not postpone the case, but will consider the dispute individually.” The particular complexity of the case now makes it possible to attract an arbitration assessor with special knowledge in the field of economics, finance, and management.
Legislators directly listed disputes that should be considered in arbitration courts. Their competence includes, for example, tax disputes; disputes in the field of state regulation of prices (tariffs), currency and customs regulation, disputes surrounding intellectual property, shared construction of apartment buildings and (or) other real estate, organization of activities for the sale of goods and services in retail markets. From now on, disputes within the competence of arbitration courts will be considered by them regardless of whether the applicants are organizations, individual entrepreneurs or individuals.
Experts also have an ambiguous attitude towards providing individuals with the opportunity to seek protection of their rights in arbitration courts. “On the one hand, citizens will have access to more competent proceedings, because The experience of arbitration court judges on a number of specific issues, for example, in resolving tax disputes, is incomparable with the practice of general jurisdiction judges in this area. On the other hand, citizens may not be ready for the arbitration process. It is no secret that in courts of general jurisdiction, citizens are forgiven a lot: ignorance of the law, inability to submit documents correctly, violation of deadlines, etc. Ordinary judges have adapted to working with the population. But arbitration courts are accustomed to completely different procedures. It follows from this that citizens, faced with the need to resolve a dispute in an arbitration court, will most likely be forced to seek help from a qualified lawyer,” believes Anna Kulakova.
The Supreme Arbitration Court is not worried about the influx of citizens to arbitration courts. “Citizens have the opportunity to appeal to arbitration courts in a very small number of cases: when appealing certain regulations or decisions of an administrative body by officials who, for example, are held accountable. The number of such cases is extremely small,” explains Igor Drozdov.
An additional financial burden on the participants in the arbitration process will inevitably be imposed by new items in the list of documents that must be attached to the statement of claim. In addition to the document confirming payment of the state duty, documents confirming the circumstances on which the plaintiff bases his claims, and a number of other mandatory papers, according to the new rules it will be necessary to attach to the claim an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) or the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs ( EGRIP). Such extracts must be submitted both in relation to the plaintiff and in relation to the defendant. The law allows a company (entrepreneur) to request an extract for itself free of charge, but when it comes to other persons, you will have to pay at least 200 rubles for each certificate. And if urgent production is required, then 400 rubles. In practice, companies, as a rule, do not apply for statements themselves. This is done by the authorized persons responsible for conducting the process for a fee, which on average is about 1000-1500 rubles. for the extract, explains Ms. Kulakova.
An increase in the costs of justice should also be expected in connection with the introduction of a mandatory procedure for appealing court decisions. Now the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation allows you to bypass the court of appeal and immediately go to cassation. There may be various reasons for this, including the desire to save on legal costs. According to the new rules, the parties will in any case have to go through the second instance of appeal, and only after that can they apply for resolution of the dispute to the cassation instance.
“This, on the one hand, will relieve the burden on the cassation court, and on the other hand, it will give weight to the appellate court,” explains Igor Drozdov. This will inevitably increase the costs of the disputing parties on fees to representatives and payment of state duties, Ms. Kulakova claims. At the same time, she draws attention to the fact that “appeals now rarely change the decisions of the courts of first instance, preferring to shift responsibility onto the shoulders of cassation judges.”
You should also not delay the presentation of evidence, warns the lawyer. If they go to court after the deadline, then legal costs, regardless of the outcome of the case, may be borne by the guilty party.