Debt collection in Russia

Judicial debt recovery in Russia.

Overview of the legal system in Russia.

Russia is a country with civil-law legal tradition. This means that legislation is the primary source of law (compared to the judgments of higher courts, which are the source of law in common-law countries.) Russia is a secular state and therefore no religious law applies.

Today, Russia is a democratic, federal state with republican government consisting of 85 independent subjects (in Russian called “Subjects of the Russian Federation”). At the time of writing, the 85 subjects of the Russian Federation consist of 22 republics, 9 territories, 46 regions, 3 cities of federal importance, 1 autonomous region, and 4 autonomous areas.

The subjects of the Russian Federation have a certain autonomy with their own legislation and authorities. However, in some legal matters, jurisdiction may overlap between the Russian Federation as well as with the jurisdiction of a “subject”. In these cases, the “subject” may adopt regional laws, as long as these are consistent with the federal laws of the Russian Federation. If there is any conflict between the federal laws and the laws of the “subject”, the federal rules apply.

The civil courts in Russia.

The Russian civil law system has two branches:

Commercial courts (arbitrazh): they hear disputes of a commercial nature between legal entities or individual traders. These courts also have exclusive jurisdiction in company and bankruptcy cases.

They have a three-tier hierarchical system:

– The first level is the Federal Arbitration Courts which are located in each subject of the Russian Federation;

– The second level consists of 21 courts of appeal for arbitration.

– The third level is 10 federal district arbitration courts.

The general courts: they hear other types of legal issues, which usually concern natural individuals. In summary, they adjudicate:

– Civil cases between natural persons,

– Criminal cases and

– Disputes between individuals and state authorities.

In addition, there are a few special courts for specific areas of law. (e.g. military courts, intellectual property courts, etc.)

The highest court for civil matters in Russia is the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

About proceeding with your debt collection case judically in Russia.

Before legal proceedings can be initiated, the parties must follow a compulsory pre-litigation procedure. For example, debt claims can only be filed with the court 30 days after the debtor has received a demand to pay the creditor. In other cases, such as corporate disputes between shareholders of a company, it is necessary to notify the company of the forthcoming claim and explain the substance of the dispute before filing the claim.

Civil proceedings are then initiated by the plaintiff filing a writ of summons with the court. When the court accepts the claim and initiates proceedings, the parties are notified of the date of the hearing and their obligations prior to the hearing. Courts in major cities (e.g. Moscow) are very busy. Therefore, if a claim is filed in a court in such a city, it is likely that the proceedings will be delayed and less time than usual will be allocated for oral hearings.

This is how our debt collection service works.