Courts operation mode during the pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

     By the Ruling of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Presidium of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation dated April 8, 2020, the special operation mode of the courts was extended until April 30, 2020, and some of the quarantine rules for the courts were clarified.
As before, the courts were advised to abandon the personal reception of citizens and to hold the trial only in urgent cases.

     Despite the fact that personal reception has been suspended in the courts, the processing of documents submitted by mail and in electronic form is ongoing. The Supreme Court and the Council of Judges draw the attention of the courts to the fact that it is necessary to ensure the timely reception, processing and registration of documents submitted to the courts by post and in electronic form.

     If technically possible, the courts are advised to initiate the hearing of cases with the use of video conferencing systems.
Hearing the cases using videoconferencing systems, in addition to resolving the issue related to the COVID-19 pandemic, will help to solve a number of other problems that people involved in the case face. For example, by using video conferencing systems, you can reduce costs, as well as save the time needed to get to a particular court and personally participate in the hearing. However, the main difficulty within the use of videoconferencing is the unwillingness of the courts to switch to the online mode of operation, as well as the difficulty in perceiving the positions of the parties in video form. We also should not forget about technical difficulties. What if the quality of the video and audio connection will be insufficient to conduct online trial properly?

     It is worth noting that the regional courts are given the right to make independent decisions on the procedure of trial holding taking into account the epidemiological situation in a particular region. In this regard, we recommend that all trial participants clarify information regarding the possibility of participating in a hearing by using video conferencing systems.

     The Supreme Court and the Council of Judges also expanded the list of so-called “urgent” court cases. The previous ruling referred to cases of the restraint measures application and protection of the minors interests. The ruling added to the list such categories of cases as claim securing, administrative offenses, provided for by parts 3-5 of Art. 29.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (these are cases of violation of the electoral rights of citizens, as well as all cases of administrative offenses, providing the possibility of arrest and suspension or temporary prohibition of activities), cases of gross disciplinary misconduct of military personnel, which involve the application of disciplinary arrest to them. Without limitation, as before, courts can hold the trial on cases heard orderly or in simplified procedure, as well as the cases within the participants do not object to the hearing of the case in their absence. But the list of cases of “urgent nature” is not exhaustive, therefore judges themselves can recognize those or other cases as urgent.

     According to information posted on the official website of the Moscow City Court, information about changes in the schedule of court hearings will be brought to the attention of trial participants, and will also be published on the Unified Information Portal of Courts of General Jurisdiction.
At the same time, the Ruling introduced an additional category of cases heard during the so-called quarantine period: taking into account the circumstances of the case, the opinions of the participants of the case and the conditions of the high alert regime introduced in the relevant region of the Russian Federation, the court has the right to independently decide on the hearing of a case not specified in clause 3 of the Ruling as an urgent.
In practice, this can lead to the hearing of cases in the absence of parties, which do not expect their case to be heard. In order to protect clients from the negative consequences of hearing cases in their absence, the team of L1 Law Firm recommends clarifying the information on the trial holding with assistants of judges, as well as timely submitting a motion of trial adjourn.

     Thus, the Supreme Court and the Council of Judges expanded the category of cases that cannot be postponed, drew the attention of the courts to the inadmissibility of the suspension of processing and registration of documents submitted by post and electronically, and also provided the regional courts with the right to determine the procedure for cases hearing, and also provided the courts with the right to independently decide on the consideration of cases not related to the category of urgent.