Judicial proceedings on the claim. Trial

Trial is one of the important stages civil process, since it is at this stage that the main task of civil proceedings is realized - the protection of violated or disputed rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of participants in civil proceedings. It is at this stage that, through a decision, the court restores rights and protects interests protected by law.

Initiation of civil proceedings in a case and preparation of the case for trial are the organizational stages of the civil process. It is at these stages that the parties present the necessary evidence to the court, submit motions, realize the possibility of securing the claim by the court, execute letters of orders so that at the stage of the trial the judge does not stop at organizational issues, but proceeded immediately to the direct resolution and consideration of the case on the merits, or rather, to the protection of the violated or disputed right and legitimate interest of the person.

Procedural legislation provides term for consideration and resolution of a civil case on the merits: for courts of general jurisdiction the period is 2 months, and for magistrates the period during which the case must be considered is determined at 1 month. This distinction is determined by the categories of complexity of cases that are assigned to a particular court in accordance with jurisdiction.

Federal law or the rules of civil procedural law may establish a shortened period of trial. For example, part 2 of Art. 154 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation indicates that cases of reinstatement at work and the collection of alimony are considered and resolved before the expiration of a month.

The hearing of a civil case takes place in a court session with mandatory notification of the persons participating in the case about the time and place of the hearing. The trial is conducted by a single judge. In cases provided for by procedural legislation, the court hearing is held in a collegial composition. It is worth noting that the court hearing is always conducted by the magistrate alone. In a collegial hearing of a case, the court consists of three professional judges, one of whom is the presiding judge. According to Art. 156 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the presiding judge presides over the court hearing, creates conditions for comprehensive and full research evidence and circumstances of the case, eliminates from the trial everything that is not related to the case under consideration.

If any of the participants in the process objects to the actions of the presiding officer, these objections are recorded in the minutes of the court session. The presiding officer gives explanations regarding his actions, and during a collegial consideration of the case, explanations are given by the entire composition of the court. The presiding officer accepts necessary measures to ensure proper order in court hearings. The orders of the presiding judge are binding on all participants in the process, as well as on citizens present in the courtroom.

Consideration of the case on the merits in civil proceedings occurs with strict adherence to principles of direct examination of evidence in court, for which it is necessary to hear the explanations of the parties and third parties, testimony of witnesses, expert opinions, consultations and explanations of specialists, read written evidence, examine physical evidence, listen to audio recordings and watch video recordings. The court hearing is conducted orally, and the entire course of the trial is recorded in the minutes of the court session, which is also written evidence.

The trial is conducted with the same composition of judges. Through this provision the constitutional principle of irremovability of judges is being implemented (Article 121 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). The powers of a judge may be terminated or suspended only in the manner and on the grounds provided for by the Federal Code of Law "On the status of judges in Russian Federation". If grounds arise for the removal or replacement of one of the judges during the consideration of the case, the proceedings must be carried out from the very beginning. An important principle directly related to judicial proceedings is the principle of continuity. Part 3 of Article 157 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation states that the court hearing in each case occurs continuously, with the exception of the time appointed for rest. Until the end of the consideration of the started case or until the adjournment of its proceedings, the court has no right to consider other civil, criminal and administrative cases. This rule is imperative for the court and should not be violated during the proceedings. civil cases.

The question arises whether a judge, during a break in the trial, can civil case(claim proceedings, proceedings in cases arising from public legal relations, special proceedings, etc.) issue a court order? Writ proceedings have a significant difference from other types of civil proceedings - there is no stage of consideration and resolution of the case on the merits. However, this does not give judges the right to make an exception from general rule. The law provides for a mandatory norm that cannot be violated, so even the issuance of an order during the judges' break should not take place. Signing court order or other document in violation of Art. 157 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, i.e. during the conduct of another case, can be considered as gross violation procedural rules, and a court decision made by a judge can be overturned by a higher court.

The trial can be divided into several components: preparatory part, investigation of the circumstances of the case, conclusion of the prosecutor, representative of the state body or representative of the body local government, judicial debates, resolution and announcement court decision.

In court there is a certain the procedure for conducting the trial established by Art. 158 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. When judges enter the courtroom, everyone present in the courtroom stands up. The announcement of the court decision, as well as the announcement of the court ruling, which ends the case without making a decision, is heard by all those present in the courtroom standing. Participants in the trial address the judges with the words “Dear Court!”, and they give their testimony and explanations while standing. Deviations from this rule may be permitted with the permission of the presiding officer. For example, due to physical condition, age, etc.

At the time appointed for the hearing of the case, the presiding judge opens the court session and announces which civil case is to be considered.

The preparatory part of the court session includes the following provisions. The secretary of the court session checks the attendance of all persons who have appeared, and also announces the reasons for the absence of persons duly notified.

In turn, the presiding officer establishes the identity of the persons participating in the case, checks the powers of officials, as well as the properly formalized powers of representatives.

After checking the persons who have appeared in court, the court explains to the persons participating in the case their procedural rights and procedural obligations. In practice, there is a situation where procedural rights and obligations are printed on back side judicial notice. It is assumed that, upon receiving a notice, a person must familiarize himself with his procedural rights and obligations in order not to waste time on this in court. However, such actions are not legal. At the beginning of the trial, the court must once again explain and determine the range of procedural rights and obligations of the persons participating in the case.

Need to determine range of consequences if persons participating in the case fail to appear at a court hearing (Article 167 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation):

1) if any of the persons participating in the case, in respect of whom there is no information about their notification, fails to appear at the court hearing, the hearing of the case is postponed;

2) if the persons participating in the case are notified of the time and place of the court hearing, the court postpones the hearing of the case if the reasons for their failure to appear are recognized as valid;

3) the court has the right to consider the case in the event of the failure of any of the persons participating in the case and notified of the time and place of the court hearing, if they do not provide information about the reasons for the failure to appear or the court recognizes the reasons for their failure to appear as disrespectful;

4) the court has the right to consider the case in the absence of the defendant, who has been notified of the time and place of the court hearing, if he has not informed the court about good reasons ah failure to appear and did not ask to consider the case in his absence;

5) the parties have the right to ask the court to consider the case in their absence and to send them copies of the court decision;

6) the court may postpone the hearing of the case at the request of a person participating in the case due to the failure of his representative to appear for a good reason.

After all preparatory actions have been completed, consideration of the case on its merits begins. The presiding judge then determines whether the plaintiff supports his claims, whether the defendant accepts the plaintiff’s demands, and whether the parties wish to conclude the case with a settlement agreement. If the parties express a desire to conclude settlement agreement the court issues a ruling on approval of the settlement agreement and termination of proceedings in the case. If the parties to these procedural actions have submitted a refusal, then the consideration of the case on the merits continues.

The next part of the court session is characterized by an examination of the circumstances of the case, i.e., explanations of the parties and third parties are heard, witnesses are questioned (and the witnesses who have appeared are removed from the courtroom, and the presiding officer takes measures to ensure that the questioned witnesses do not communicate with the unexamined witnesses), Written and material evidence is examined and inspected, audio or video recordings are played and examined.

After examining all the evidence, the presiding officer gives the floor to the prosecutor, representative of the state body or representative of the local government participating in the process for an opinion on the case. Finds out from other persons involved in the case and their representatives whether they would like to provide additional explanations. In the absence of such statements, the presiding judge declares the consideration of the case on the merits completed, and the court proceeds to judicial debate (Article 189 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

In judicial debates, persons participating in the case express their opinions on the examination of evidence, on the completeness of the evidence presented, on the correctness and legality of the trial in the case, etc. It must be remembered that the first to participate in the debate are the prosecutor and representatives government agencies, local government bodies, organizations and citizens who have applied to the court to protect the rights and legitimate interests of other persons. If the above persons did not participate in the case, then the plaintiff and his representative participate first in the debate. The right of the last remark always belongs to the defendant, his representative.

The trial of a civil case ends with the removal of the court to the deliberation room to make a judicial decision. According to Art. 193 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, after the decision is made and signed, the court returns to the courtroom, where the presiding judge or one of the judges announces the court decision. Then the presiding officer orally explains the content of the court decision, the procedure and deadline for appealing it. When announcing only the operative part of a court decision, the presiding judge is obliged to explain when the persons participating in the case and their representatives can familiarize themselves with the reasoned court decision.

During a court hearing, all persons present must observe proper order and not interfere with persons taking photographs and video recordings permitted by the court, or broadcasting the court hearing on radio and television. Please note that all actions in the courtroom are carried out only with the permission of the presiding judge.

These actions must be carried out at places in the courtroom indicated by the court and, taking into account the opinions of the persons participating in the case, may be limited by the court in time. A person who violates the rules of behavior in the courtroom is given a warning by the presiding judge on behalf of the court. In case of repeated violation of order, a person participating in the case or his representative may be removed from the courtroom on the basis of a court ruling for the entire duration of the court session or part of it.

In the latter case, the presiding officer introduces the person newly admitted to the courtroom with the procedural actions performed in his absence. Citizens present at the court hearing for repeated violation of order are removed by order of the presiding officer from the courtroom for the entire duration of the court session.

The court also has the right to impose a fine of up to 10 minimum wages on persons guilty of violating order at a court hearing. If the actions of a person violating order in a court session contain signs of a crime, the judge sends the relevant materials to the prosecutor to initiate criminal proceedings against the violator. In the event of a massive violation of order by citizens present at a court hearing, the court may remove citizens who are not participants in the process from the courtroom and consider the case in a closed court session or postpone the hearing of the case.

1. Concept and significance of the trial stage

Consideration and resolution of a civil case is the main, central stage of the civil process. At this stage of development of civil procedural activity, the court performs the tasks of civil proceedings that are assigned to it and consist of protecting the rights and legitimate interests of individuals, legal entities, the state, through comprehensive consideration and resolution of civil cases in full accordance with current legislation (Article 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The trial achieves its goal only if it occurs in strict accordance with the requirements of civil procedural legislation, in compliance with the procedural form, which serves as a guarantee of justice in civil cases and ensures the protection of the rights and legally protected interests of citizens and organizations. In accordance with Art. 169 of the Code of Civil Procedure, consideration of a civil case takes place in a court session with mandatory notification of the persons participating in the case. The court hearing is held on the premises of the court, and in the most pressing cases and cases of broad public interest - directly at enterprises, construction sites, institutions, cooperative enterprises and agricultural firms.

The literature covers the relationship between the concepts of “trial” and “trial” in different ways. Some authors consider a court hearing to be a form of judicial proceedings in which a dispute is considered and resolved on the merits. Others believe that the term “trial” means the consideration and resolution of a case on its merits by a court of first instance.

The first point of view seems more reasonable. Trial is a stage of civil proceedings that takes place in the form of a court hearing. The court hearing is the external form of the trial stage.

The trial stage, like other stages of the civil process, has a specific purpose. This goal is to clarify the factual circumstances of the case and the actual relationships of the parties and other persons involved in the case, their rights and obligations, as well as to make legal and informed decisions based on compliance with procedural law.

Civil cases in all courts are considered collectively or individually by judges (Article 7 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The presiding judge presides over the court hearing. If any of the persons participating in the case, witnesses, experts, or interpreters object to the actions of the presiding officer, these objections are recorded in the minutes of the court session and the issue is resolved by the entire composition of the court. The presiding officer takes the necessary measures to ensure proper order at the court hearing (Article 162 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The current civil procedural legislation provides for the duties of those present in the courtroom. Everyone present in the courtroom must stand up upon entering the court. The court's decision is heard by all those present in the hall standing. Persons participating in the case, experts, witnesses, interpreters address the court and give their testimony and explanations while standing. Deviation from this rule is permitted with the permission of the presiding officer. Persons participating in the case, witnesses, experts, translators, as well as all citizens present in the courtroom must adhere to the established order in the courtroom and unquestioningly obey the relevant orders of the presiding judge (Article 163 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

If anyone present in the courtroom violates the established order, the presiding officer may apply appropriate measures to this person, provided by law. Thus, the person who violated the order during the consideration of the case is given a warning by the presiding judge on behalf of the court. For disobedience to the order of the presiding judge or violation of order during a court hearing, the witness, plaintiff, defendant and other citizens are liable in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 185 Code of Administrative Offences. In case of disobedience to the orders of the presiding judge, prosecutor or lawyer, they are given a warning. If these persons continue to disobey the orders of the presiding judge, the hearing of the case may be postponed by a court decision, if it is impossible to replace it without prejudice to the case. this person to others. At the same time, the court notifies the corresponding higher prosecutor or the qualification and disciplinary commissions of the relevant bar associations.

The trial stage is also characterized by the fact that at this stage not only the tasks, but also the principles of civil procedural law are most fully realized, namely: the independence of judges and their subordination only to the law, the administration of justice only by the court, publicity, orality, immediacy, national language legal proceedings, equality of citizens before the law and the court, discretion, adversarial nature, procedural equality of parties, etc.

2. Procedural order of the trial

Actions carried out by the court and other persons participating in the case when considering and resolving civil cases must be carried out in established by law procedural form regulated by civil procedural legislation.

A court hearing to consider and resolve civil cases consists of four parts: preparatory, consideration of the case on the merits, judicial debate, ruling and proclamation of court decisions.

In the preparatory part, the court clarifies and resolves issues that provide the opportunity to consider the case on the merits. In other words, the preparatory part of the court session consists of a set of procedural actions aimed at determining the existence of the conditions necessary for the consideration and resolution of the case in a given court session. These procedural actions are primarily aimed at clarifying the following basic issues:

1) whether the case can be considered by this composition of the court;

2) whether the case can be considered given the appearance of the participants in the process;

3) can the case be considered if there is

collected evidence.

At the time appointed for the consideration of the case, the presiding judge opens the court session and announces which case will be considered (Article 165 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

In accordance with Art. 166 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the secretary of the court session reports to the court which of the persons summoned in the case appeared at the court session, whether summons and messages were served on those who did not appear, and what information is available about the reasons for their failure to appear. The court establishes the identity of those who have appeared, and also verifies the powers of officials and representatives.

In particular, the court must check the correctness of the representatives’ powers and become familiar with the scope of these powers. If a representative of a party or a third party appears at the court hearing together with the participant whose interests he represents, the representative may not have a power of attorney. In this case, the person who represents himself authorizes the representative to conduct the case by means of an oral statement and recording it in the minutes of the court session. The presiding officer ascertains the content of the powers and must ensure that oral statement the person being represented was entered into the minutes of the court session.

If a translator takes part in the process, the presiding officer explains to him his rights and obligations and warns him of criminal liability in accordance with Articles 178 and 179 of the Criminal Code for knowingly incorrect translation and for refusing without good reason to fulfill the duties assigned to him (Article 167 Civil Procedure Code).

Civil procedural legislation provides that at a court hearing witnesses are questioned separately. Thus, during the preparatory part of the court session, witnesses are removed from the courtroom. The presiding officer takes measures to ensure that interrogated witnesses do not communicate with those not interrogated (Article 168 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

After the removal of witnesses from the courtroom, the presiding judge announces the composition of the court, as well as the names of the prosecutor, expert, translator, court secretary and explains to the persons participating in the case the right to challenge. The grounds for challenges, the procedure for resolving issues of challenges, and the consequences of satisfying applications for challenges are determined by Articles 18-23 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Judges cannot participate in the consideration of a case and are subject to recusal (self-recusal) if: during the previous consideration of this case they took part in the process as witnesses, experts, translators, representatives, prosecutor, secretary of the court session; they are personally, directly or indirectly interested in the outcome of the case; they are relatives of the parties or other persons involved in the case; they have a special relationship with the persons involved in the case; other circumstances will be established that raise doubts about their impartiality. The court cannot include persons who are relatives (Article 18 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

At a court hearing, a challenge may be made not only to the judge or the entire court, but also to the prosecutor, expert, translator, and secretary of the court session. These persons cannot participate in the consideration of the case and are subject to recusal if: they are personally, directly or indirectly interested in the outcome of the case; are relatives of the parties or other persons participating in the case; have a special relationship with the persons participating in the case; other circumstances have been established that raise doubts about their impartiality. An expert, in addition, cannot take part in the consideration of a case if he: is or was in official or other dependence on the parties or other persons participating in the case; conducted an audit, the materials of which became the basis for initiating this civil case; turned out to be incompetent. The participation of a prosecutor, expert, translator, court secretary in the previous consideration of a given case, respectively, as a prosecutor, expert, translator, court secretary is not a basis for their challenge (Article 19 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

If the listed grounds exist, the judge, prosecutor, court secretary, expert and translator are required to recuse themselves. On the above grounds, the persons participating in the case may challenge the indicated persons. The challenge must be reasoned and declared before the commencement of the consideration of the case on the merits. A challenge can be filed after this only in cases where the grounds for the challenge became known to the court or the person who filed the challenge after the start of the consideration of the case on the merits.

Civil procedural legislation provides for the procedure for resolving a declared challenge.

So, in accordance with Art. 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure, in the case of a challenge, the court must listen to the person to whom the challenge is filed, if he wishes to give explanations, as well as the opinion of the persons participating in the case. The issue of recusal of a judge is decided by the other judges in the absence of the person being recused. If there is an equal number of votes cast for and against the challenge, the judge is considered removed. The issue of challenge filed against several judges or the entire composition of the court is resolved by the same court in in full force by a simple majority of votes.

In case of a single consideration of a case, an application to disqualify a judge is submitted no less than three days before the start of the consideration of the case. A challenge submitted to the judge who is solely considering the case is resolved accordingly by the chairman of the district (city) court or the military court of the garrison. If one judge is elected to the district (city) court or a challenge is filed to the chairman of the district (city) court, who is solely considering the case, the question of their challenge is resolved by the chairman of the interdistrict (district) court. The issue of challenge submitted to the chairman of the military court, which is solely considering the case, is resolved by the chairman of the military court of the highest instance.

If an application for recusal of a judge is filed after the end of the established period, this application remains without consideration unless the court finds grounds for reinstating the deadline for filing an application for recusal.

The issue of disqualification of the prosecutor, court secretary, expert, or translator is resolved by the court that is considering the case. To resolve the issue of challenge, the court retires to the deliberation room and makes a ruling.

In case of recusal of a judge or the entire composition of a district (city) court, military court of a garrison, the case is considered by the same district (city) court, military court of a garrison, but with a different composition of judges, and if after the recusal of a judge it is impossible to replace him in this court, the case is sent to the appropriate court of a higher instance for transferring it to another district (city) court, a military court of the garrison. In case of challenge of a judge or the entire composition of the court during the consideration of the case in Supreme Court Ukraine, Supreme Court Autonomous Republic Crimea, regional, Kiev and Sevastopol city courts, interregional court, military court of the region, Naval Forces, the case is considered by the same court, but with a different composition of judges. The case is transferred to the Supreme Court of Ukraine if in the Supreme Court of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regional, Kiev and Sevastopol city, interregional, military court of the region, the Navy, after satisfying challenges or for the reasons specified in Art. 21 Code of Civil Procedure, impossible to form new line-up court to consider this case.

After resolving the issue of challenges, the presiding officer, in accordance with Art. 170 of the Code of Civil Procedure explains to the parties and other persons participating in the case their rights and obligations, which is recorded in the minutes of the court session.

After explaining to the parties and other persons participating in the case their rights and obligations, the court resolves the petitions of the persons participating in the case.

So, in accordance with Art. 171 of the Code of Civil Procedure, petitions of persons participating in the case to request new evidence and on all other issues related to the proceedings of the case are resolved by the court immediately after the opinions of other persons participating in the case are heard, about which a ruling is made.

Petitions may be made regarding the impossibility of hearing the case with the given composition of participants in the process. The parties, third parties, their representatives, the prosecutor, representatives of government bodies may request the involvement of co-defendants, third parties on the side of the plaintiff or defendant, may indicate the need to replace the plaintiff or defendant as an improper party, etc.

If an expert takes part in the process, the presiding officer explains the rights and obligations of the expert in accordance with Art. 177 of the Code of Civil Procedure and warns of criminal liability in accordance with Articles 178, 179 of the Criminal Code for refusal to fulfill the duties assigned to him or for giving a knowingly false conclusion.

The preparatory part of the court hearing is completed by completing the above actions. Next, the court moves on to the second part - consideration of the case on its merits.

Consideration of the case on the merits is the central part of the court session, in which the court clarifies the factual circumstances of the case.

In this part of the court session, the parties, third parties, the prosecutor give their explanations if he has applied to the court to protect the interests of the state, the rights and legitimate interests of citizens who, for health reasons or other valid reasons, cannot defend their rights, witnesses are questioned , written evidence is checked, physical evidence is examined, and expert opinions are examined.

The consideration of the case on the merits begins with a report from one of the judges, after which the presiding judge finds out: whether the plaintiff supports his demands, whether the defendant recognizes the plaintiff’s demands and whether the parties wish to conclude a settlement agreement or apply to an arbitration or comrades’ court to resolve the dispute (Article 178 of the Code of Civil Procedure) . The reporter sets out the circumstances of the case, the facts of the basis of the claim and the evidence presented by the plaintiff, objections to the claim and evidence presented by the defendant. The report determines the scope and nature of the investigation into the case.

After the report of the case, the court hears explanations from the plaintiff and a third party who takes part on his side, the defendant and a third party who takes part on his side, as well as other persons participating in the case. The parties and other persons involved in the case may ask questions of each other. The presiding judge reads out written explanations of the parties and other persons participating in the case, as well as explanations received by the court in the manner prescribed by Articles 33, 36 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Article 180 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

If representatives of the plaintiff, defendant and third parties take part in the court hearing in the absence of the subjects they represent, then they give explanations instead of those represented. If representatives of the named persons, who act by way of voluntary representation and are admitted to the court hearing at the same time as the persons they represent, then explanations to the court can be given by both the plaintiff, the defendant, a third party, and their representatives.

After hearing the explanations of the persons participating in the case, the court also performs other actions to examine the evidence. Taking into account the opinions of the persons participating in the case, the court establishes the most appropriate procedure for their investigation. As a rule, after explanations from the persons participating in the case, the court interrogates witnesses.

The procedure for questioning witnesses is determined by civil procedural legislation. So, in accordance with Art. 182 of the Code of Civil Procedure, each witness is questioned separately. Witnesses who have not yet testified cannot be in the courtroom during the trial.

Before questioning a witness, the court establishes his identity, age, occupation, relationship to this case and relations with the parties and other persons involved in the case, and warns him of criminal liability in accordance with Articles 178 and 179 of the Criminal Code for giving knowingly false testimony to the court and for refusing to testify.

For witnesses under sixteen years of age, the presiding officer explains the obligation to truthfully tell what they know about the case, but they are not warned of liability for refusing to testify and for giving knowingly false testimony.

The interrogation of a witness begins with the presiding officer inviting him to tell everything that he personally knows about this case, after which the person at whose request the witness was called is the first to ask him questions, and then other persons participating in the case. The judge has the right to ask questions to the witness at any time during his interrogation. Each questioned witness remains in the courtroom until the end of the case. The court may allow interrogated witnesses to leave the courtroom until the end of the consideration of the case by agreement of the parties. A witness may be questioned again at the same or the next hearing at his own request, at the request of the parties and other persons participating in the case, or at the initiative of the court. The court may appoint witnesses confrontation to clarify the reasons for discrepancies in their testimony (Article 182 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

Article 184 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides for a special procedure for questioning minor witnesses. Thus, the interrogation of minor witnesses under 15 years of age, and, at the discretion of the court, minor witnesses from 15 to 18 years of age, must be carried out in the presence of a teacher or persons close to the witness (parents, adoptive parents, guardians, trustees), if they are not interested in the case . These persons may, with the permission of the court, ask questions of the witness. In exceptional cases, if it is necessary to establish the truth, during the interrogation of persons under the age of majority, one or another person participating in the case may be removed from the courtroom by a court decision. Upon the return of this person to the courtroom, he is informed about the testimony of a witness who has not reached the age of majority, and is given the opportunity to ask questions to the witness. A witness under 16 years of age is removed from the courtroom at the end of his interrogation, unless the court deems it necessary for the presence of this witness in the courtroom.

Witness testimony collected in the manner prescribed by Articles 33, 36, 45 and 176 of the Code of Civil Procedure is read out at the court hearing (Article 185 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

After questioning witnesses, the court proceeds to examine written evidence. Verification of written evidence consists of familiarizing the court with its content. The persons participating in the case, and, if necessary, also experts and witnesses, are familiarized with the written evidence presented. Persons participating in the case may give their explanations regarding this evidence (Article 186 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

In the process of examining written evidence, the court checks its reliability. If this reliability is disputed, the court can verify it by questioning witnesses, parties, comparison with other written evidence, and ordering an examination.

In order to protect the constitutional right of citizens to the privacy of personal correspondence, telephone conversations, telegraph and other correspondence, enshrined in Art. 31 of the Constitution of Ukraine, civil procedural legislation provides for a special procedure for the disclosure of personal correspondence and telegraph messages of citizens at a court hearing. So, according to Art. 187 of the Code of Civil Procedure, personal correspondence and personal telegraph messages of citizens can be announced in an open court session only with the consent of the persons between whom this correspondence and telegraph messages occurred. Otherwise, such correspondence and telegraph messages are read out and examined in a closed court session.

During the process of examining evidence, the court also examines physical evidence. Their research occurs through inspection. Physical evidence is examined by the court and also presented for review to persons participating in the case, and, if necessary, to experts and witnesses. Persons who are presented with material evidence for review may draw the attention of the court to certain circumstances related to the inspection. These statements are entered into the minutes of the court session. If it is impossible to deliver material or written evidence to the court, civil procedural legislation provides for the possibility of inspection and research at the location of this evidence (Article 189 of the Code of Civil Procedure). The court issues a ruling on conducting an on-site inspection. An on-site inspection is carried out by the entire court with notification of this to the persons participating in the case, and, if necessary, with the calling of experts and witnesses. All plans, drawings, photographs, etc. drawn up or compared during the inspection are attached to the protocol along with a description. Persons participating in the on-site inspection have the right to submit their comments to the inspection protocol.

After establishing the factual circumstances of the case, the court proceeds to examine the expert’s conclusion, if an expert examination was appointed in the case. The expert submits his reasoned conclusion in writing, which is attached to the case file. The court has the right to invite the expert to give an oral explanation of his conclusion, which is entered into the minutes of the court session (Article 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

In accordance with Art. 190 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the expert’s opinion is announced at the court hearing. In order to clarify and supplement the expert’s conclusion, questions may be asked to him. The first person to ask the expert a question is the person at whose request the examination was appointed, and then the other persons participating in the case. If the examination is appointed on the initiative of the court, the plaintiff is the first to ask questions to the expert. The presiding officer may ask questions to the expert at any time during his interrogation.

If state and local government bodies are involved in the case, then their conclusions are examined after examining the expert’s conclusion and announced at the court hearing by their representatives or the court, after which the court and persons participating in the case can ask questions to representatives of these bodies in order to clarify and additions to the conclusion.

The court, after examining the circumstances of the case and checking the evidence, hears a representative public organization or the work collective about the opinion of the organization or team regarding the matter under consideration. After this, the court and persons participating in the case can ask him questions in order to ascertain the opinion of the public (Article 192 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

After all the circumstances of the case have been clarified and verified by evidence, the presiding officer provides the parties and other persons involved in the case with the opportunity to give additional explanations. After hearing them, the court makes a ruling to complete the clarification of the circumstances of the case and verify them with evidence and proceeds to the judicial debate. If the parties or other persons submit petitions to supplement the case materials and these petitions are satisfied by the court, then the investigation of the circumstances of the case continues and the court proceeds to judicial debate only after checking the new materials.

The pleadings are the next part of the court hearing. In this part of the court session, the persons participating in the case and their representatives sum up the results of the study of the circumstances of the case and evidence. Judicial debates consist of speeches by persons participating in the case, in which they express their opinion on how the case under consideration should be resolved, evaluate the evidence examined in the court session, express their opinion on the establishment or non-establishment of facts that are important for the correct consideration affairs.

The order of speech of participants in judicial debates is determined by Art. 194 Code of Civil Procedure.

The court has no right to limit the duration of judicial debates certain time. The presiding officer can stop the speaker only if the latter goes beyond the scope of the matter under consideration. With the permission of the court, participants in the debate may exchange remarks, which may, in particular, set forth additional considerations not given in the main speech. The right of last reply always belongs to the defendant and his representative. If during the judicial debate the court considers it necessary to clarify new circumstances relevant to the case or to examine new evidence, it issues a ruling to resume consideration of the case on the merits. After the consideration of the case on the merits, judicial debates are held in accordance with the general procedure (Article 196 of the Code of Civil Procedure),

At the end of the judicial debate, the court retires to the deliberation room to make a judicial decision.

The ruling and proclamation of the court decision is the final part of the court hearing.

When a court decision is made in a case, no one has the right to be present in the deliberation room, except for the composition of the court in this case (Article 210 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

In the deliberation room, a collegial court or a judge alone resolves the following questions: whether the circumstances indicated by the parties and other persons participating in the case exist, and what evidence confirms these circumstances; whether the evidence is reliable; what are the legal relations of the parties arising from the established facts; what legal norm is to be applied and how, on the basis of this norm and in accordance with the established facts, the case should be resolved; whether legal costs are recoverable and how their recovery should be distributed between the parties; whether the decision is subject to immediate execution.

If the case is considered by a collegial panel of the court, all issues are decided by the judges by a majority vote. When deciding each issue, none of the judges has the right to abstain from voting. The presiding officer votes last. A judge who does not agree with the decision of the majority may express his dissenting opinion in writing. The dissenting opinion of this judge is attached to the case, but it is not announced at the court hearing (Article 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The rendered decision is stated in writing by the presiding judge or one of the judges during a collegial hearing of the case and signed by the entire composition of the court.

If, when making a court decision, it becomes necessary to clarify any circumstance by re-examining witnesses or through another judicial action, the court resumes the trial of the case, as determined by the ruling. In this case, the trial is carried out solely to clarify circumstances that require additional verification. After the end of the resumed trial, depending on its results, the court opens judicial arguments regarding additionally investigated circumstances and retires to the deliberation room to make a decision or, if clarification of these circumstances in the court session turned out to be impossible, makes a ruling to postpone the consideration of the case (Article 197 Code of Civil Procedure).

The court decision made in the deliberation room is announced publicly at the court session. The court decision is made in the name of Ukraine.

3. Postponement of the hearing of the case. Suspension of proceedings in the case

As a general rule, a trial ends with a court decision.

However, in the practice of considering and resolving civil cases, many cases arise when, when considering a case on its merits, circumstances are discovered that do not allow the court to make a decision on the case, but entail various “complications” of the process. One of these “complications” is the postponement of the trial of the case.

Adjournment of a case is a break in the trial for certain period in order to ensure conditions for proper consideration and resolution of the case on the merits. Reasons for postponing the trial of a case may include circumstances that prevent the consideration of the case at a given court hearing, but they can be eliminated by the court or persons participating in the case by the next court hearing. These grounds are provided for in Articles 172-176 of the Code of Civil Procedure, but they are not exhaustive. The court may postpone the hearing of a case for other reasons, depending on the specifics of specific civil cases. Reasons for postponing the trial of a case may be: inadequate preparation of the case for trial, untimely notification of persons involved in the case or other participants in the process to appear in court, the need to carry out other procedural actions, etc.

So, in accordance with Art. 172 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court is obliged to postpone the consideration of the case in the event of: failure to appear at the court hearing of one of the parties or any of the other persons participating in the case, about whom there is no information about the delivery of summons to them.

IN in this case adjournment of the case is mandatory. However, Art. 172 of the Code of Civil Procedure also provides grounds for an optional postponement of the trial of the case. The court may postpone the hearing of the case if one of the parties or other persons participating in the case, duly notified of the time and place of the court hearing, fails to appear at the court hearing, for reasons recognized by the court respectful. In case of repeated failure to appear at a court hearing, regardless of the reasons, the plaintiff or defendant, who are duly notified of the time and place of the court hearing, the court considers the case if there are sufficient materials in the case about the rights and relationships of the parties. However, Part 3 of Art. 172 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that if the court finds it necessary for a party who has not appeared to give personal explanations, it postpones the hearing of the case.

The hearing of the case may also be postponed if witnesses or experts fail to appear at the court hearing, if it is impossible to consider the case without their participation (Article 174 of the Code of Civil Procedure), if it is impossible to hear the case due to the need to request new evidence or if it is necessary to replace the dismissed judge (Article 176 Code of Civil Procedure).

The court issues a ruling on postponing the trial, which indicates the reasons for postponing the trial and the actions that need to be taken to ensure the consideration of the case at the next court hearing. By postponing the hearing of the case, the court sets a day for a new court hearing, which is announced against signature by the participants in the process who have appeared. Participants in the process who fail to appear or those whom the court again involves in the process are summoned to a new court hearing by summons. When adjourning the trial of a case, the court must question the witnesses who have appeared, if all persons participating in the case are present at the court hearing. A new consideration of the case after its adjournment begins anew (Article 176 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

Suspension of proceedings is a break in judicial proceedings for an indefinite period in cases specified in the law. The suspension of the proceedings may be caused by circumstances that prevent the consideration of the case on the merits, but cannot be eliminated either by the court or the parties, that is, they do not depend on their will.

Suspension of proceedings is different from adjournment of proceedings. The hearing of the case is postponed for the court or the parties to perform certain procedural actions. With the suspension of the proceedings, any procedural actions in this case cease, with minor exceptions (for example, actions to secure evidence). If, when postponing the trial of a case, the court must indicate the day and time for a new consideration of the case, then when suspending the proceedings, such a period is not indicated. Resumption of production is possible only upon the occurrence of conditions stipulated by law. These institutions also differ in their consequences. If the postponement of the trial of the case does not affect the running of the limitation period, then from the moment the proceedings are suspended, the running of the limitation period is also suspended.

Procedural legislation provides for two types of suspension of proceedings: mandatory - in the presence of grounds provided for by law, and optional - at the discretion of the court, but also in the presence of grounds specified in the law.

According to Art. 221 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court is obliged to suspend the proceedings in the following cases: 1) the death of a citizen, if the disputed legal relationship allows for succession, or the termination of the existence of a legal entity that is a party to the case; 2) loss of legal capacity by a party; 3) the presence of the defendant in an active unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or, at the request of the plaintiff, located in an active unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; 4) the impossibility of considering this case before the resolution of another case being considered in civil, criminal or administrative proceedings.

Article 222 of the Civil Procedure Code provides for optional grounds for suspending proceedings when the court resolves this issue based on the specific circumstances of the case. The court may, at the request of the parties and other persons participating in the case, as well as at own initiative suspend the proceedings in the following cases: 1) the presence of the plaintiff or defendant in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in actual military service or when these persons are involved in performing any state duty; 2) a serious illness of the party, confirmed by documents from a medical institution; 3) search for the defendant; 4) the party is on a long business trip; 5) appointment of an expert examination by the court.

The court's ruling to suspend the proceedings may be appealed and a prosecutor's submission may be made against it.

4. End of the case without a court decision

When considering civil cases, circumstances may arise that make it impossible or inappropriate to further consider the case on the merits and make a judicial decision on the case. In such cases, the case ends in court without a judicial decision by dismissing it or leaving the application without consideration.

Termination of proceedings is a form of ending a civil case without a court decision, the consequence of which is the impossibility of re-applying to the court with an identical claim. This form of termination of civil cases is used in cases where the court illegally accepted the case for its proceedings or if continuation of the process becomes impossible or impractical.

The proceedings in the case are considered to have arisen illegally if, in accordance with Art. 136 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the judge, when accepting the statement of claim, did not mistakenly refuse to accept it. These grounds for termination of proceedings are, as a rule, pre-procedural in nature. They are associated with the lack of the interested person’s right to go to court and with the mistake of the judge who incorrectly accepted the statement of claim.

The illegality of the occurrence of a process can be expressed in the fact that a case has been accepted for trial by the court, which is not subject to consideration in court (clause 1 of Article 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure). This basis includes, first of all, the lack of jurisdiction of the case by the court, as well as cases of filing a claim in court that is not subject to legal protection. In addition, the case is not subject to consideration in court if the plaintiff or defendant lacks procedural standing.

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court terminates proceedings in the case if the interested person who applied to the court does not comply with the procedure for preliminary pre-trial resolution of the dispute established for this category of cases and the possibility of applying this procedure is lost. An approximate list of cases when a judge must refuse to accept a statement of claim due to the plaintiff’s failure to comply with the specified procedure contains Art. 136 Code of Civil Procedure. These include, in particular: majority decision labor disputes, if the interested person is obliged to contact the CTS and the trade union committee; disputes that arise when harm is caused to health; disputes that arise from transportation contracts, with communications authorities, where a claim procedure for their resolution has been established, etc. As already noted, the establishment of a mandatory pre-trial dispute resolution procedure does not comply with Art. 124 of the Constitution of Ukraine. Therefore, paragraph 2 of Art. 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure should not be applied.

A civil process arises illegally and is subject to termination if there is a decision that has entered into legal force on a dispute between the same parties, on the same subject and on the same grounds, a court ruling on accepting the plaintiff’s refusal of the claim or approving a settlement agreement between the parties (clause 3 Art. 227 Code of Civil Procedure). Termination of proceedings on this basis is possible only if all three elements are present, namely, if the parties, the subject and the grounds of claim coincide. Changing at least one of them does not entail the identity of the claims and does not prevent interested parties from filing a claim in court.

Proceedings must be terminated if a decision has been made by a comrades' court, adopted within its competence, on a dispute between the same parties, on the same subject and on the same grounds (clause 6 of Article 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

Proceedings arise illegally and are subject to termination if an agreement is concluded between the parties to submit the dispute to arbitration (Clause 7, Article 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure). The conclusion of an agreement between the parties means the choice of the form of protection of their rights. Moreover, in its properties, an arbitration court decision is equivalent to a decision of a court of general jurisdiction and can be enforced on the basis of a writ of execution issued by the court.

The grounds for termination of proceedings include the death of a citizen who was one of the parties to the case, provided that the disputed legal relationship does not allow succession (clause 8 of Article 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure). In this case, the process in the case arose correctly, the judge had no reason to refuse to accept the statement of claim, however, due to the death of one of the parties, further continuation of the process becomes impossible.

A separate group of grounds consists of circumstances that entail termination of proceedings due to the fact that further continuation of the process becomes inappropriate. These circumstances are related to the administrative actions of the parties: the plaintiff’s refusal of the claim and the parties’ conclusion of a settlement agreement (clauses 4, 5 of Article 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure). The court terminates the proceedings only after it accepts the plaintiff’s refusal of the claim or approves a settlement agreement between the parties.

Termination of proceedings in a case is formalized by a reasoned ruling, which is decided by the court in the deliberation room. The court's ruling may be appealed and a prosecutor's proposal may be made against it. If the proceedings on the case are terminated, repeated recourse to the court regarding a dispute between the same parties, about the same subject and on the same grounds is not allowed.

Leaving an application without consideration is a form of ending civil cases without a court decision, the consequence of which is the possibility of re-applying to the court with an identical claim.

All grounds for leaving an application without consideration, established by Art. 229 of the Code of Civil Procedure can be divided into two groups: grounds that entail mandatory leaving the application without consideration, and optional ones. It should be noted that clause 1.Art. 229 of the Code of Civil Procedure should not be applied for the reasons stated earlier.

Mandatory leaving of an application without consideration occurs in cases where the court is obliged to do this regardless of the will of the interested parties. These grounds are of a pre-procedural nature, since the judge should have refused to accept the application for judicial proceedings and explained to the interested party the procedure for removing obstacles to the possible consideration of the case in court.

Mandatory leaving of an application without consideration occurs if the application is submitted by an incapacitated person (Clause 2 of Article 229 of the Code of Civil Procedure). According to the general rule of civil proceedings, only persons endowed with civil procedural capacity, that is, the ability to personally exercise their procedural rights and bear responsibilities, can apply to the court for the protection of their rights or interests protected by law. A personal appeal to the court by a procedurally incompetent person is invalid from a legal point of view and does not give rise to any procedural consequences for such a person. However, such an appeal does not affect the right to bring a claim, which is reserved for the plaintiff, and can be exercised by his legal representative.

Leaving an application without consideration due to the fact that the plaintiff is an incompetent person must be distinguished from the mandatory suspension of the proceedings. Leaving the application without consideration on this basis can only occur in cases where the plaintiff’s legal capacity was lost even before the initiation of the process and the case was initiated in court by mistake, since the judge in this case should have refused to accept the statement of claim. In cases where a party has lost legal capacity already during the proceedings in court, and the case was initiated lawfully, the court is obliged to suspend the proceedings until the legal representative of the incapacitated person enters into the case (clause 2 of Article 221 of the Code of Civil Procedure)

The court is obliged to leave the application without consideration if the application on behalf of an interested person is filed by a person who does not have the authority to conduct the case (clause 3 of Article 229 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Therefore, if at the court hearing it turns out that the representative of the plaintiff does not have the authority from the interested party to initiate and conduct a case on his behalf in court, such an application should be left without consideration.

The application should also be left without consideration if the dispute between the same parties, about the same subject and on the same grounds is pending in another court (clause 5 of Article 229 of the Code of Civil Procedure). In practice, such cases can occur when the law provides for an alternative territorial jurisdiction, giving the plaintiff the right to choose the place of consideration of the case. Therefore, it may be possible for the plaintiff to simultaneously file an application with different courts.

Procedural legislation also provides for cases when the court, based on the specific circumstances of the case, may (but is not obliged) to leave the application without consideration. We are talking about the case when the process arose on legally, the judge had no grounds for refusing to accept the application, however, during the consideration of the case at the court hearing, circumstances arose that prevented the consideration of the case on the merits and the adoption of a judicial decision. The law includes such circumstances as the failure of the plaintiff to appear at a court hearing when summoned by the court without good reason or the repeated failure of the plaintiff to appear when summoned by the court, regardless of the reasons (clause 4 of Article 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure). The classification of this case as an optional basis for leaving the application without consideration is explained by the fact that, under certain conditions, the failure of the plaintiff to appear at the court hearing is not always an obstacle to considering the case on the merits. The conditions that give the court the right to leave the application without consideration on this basis are provided for in Art. 172 Code of Civil Procedure. Leaving an application without consideration is procedurally formalized by a reasoned court ruling, which is issued in the deliberation room in the form of a separate procedural document. A ruling to leave an application without consideration may be appealed and a prosecutor's submission may be made against it.

After eliminating the conditions that served as the basis for leaving the application without consideration, the interested person has the right to again apply to the court with an application in the general manner (Article 230 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

5. Protocol of the court session

The protocol of the court hearing is one of the most important procedural documents, which should reflect the entire course of the trial of the case. A protocol is drawn up about each court hearing and about each individual judicial action held outside the court session. A poor-quality record of a court hearing makes it difficult for a higher court to verify the legality and validity of a court decision in a case.

The content of the minutes of the court hearing is determined by Art. 198 Code of Civil Procedure. In particular, the minutes of the court session indicate: year, month, date and place, as well as the start time of the court session; name and composition of the court; names of the secretary, prosecutor, parties and other persons participating in the case, representative of a public organization or labor collective witnesses, expert and translator; pending case; information about the delivery of subpoenas and the reasons for the failure to appear in court of the parties and other persons participating in the case, witnesses, experts, translators; all orders of the presiding officer; the court explaining to the parties and other persons participating in the case their procedural rights and obligations, in particular the right to challenge, as well as explaining to the representative of a public organization or labor collective his procedural rights; statements and petitions of the parties and other persons participating in the case, as well as a representative of a public organization or labor collective; the main content of the explanations of the parties and other persons participating in the case, the opinion of a public organization or work collective expressed by their representative, as well as witness testimony, oral explanations by the expert of his conclusion and the answer to additional questions posed to him, written and material evidence presented at the court hearing, information about their examination, and if this evidence was not included in the case - the number, date, content of written evidence, as well as the signs and properties of material evidence; court rulings made during the consideration of the case without entering the deliberation room; content of court pleadings; about the announcement of the decision and the end time of the court hearing in this case. The recorders of the court session are conducted by the secretary of the court session. In complex cases, the minutes of the court hearing must be finalized and signed within three days after the end of the court session. The minutes are signed by the presiding judge and the secretary. The secretary of the court session is responsible, together with the presiding officer, for the quality and timely preparation protocol. The secretary may be challenged on the same grounds as the court.

A procedural guarantee of the correct reflection in the minutes of the court session of the course of the trial, explanations and testimony of the participants in the process is the right of the parties and other persons participating in the case to familiarize themselves with the minutes of the court session and, within three days after signing the minutes, submit their comments regarding the inaccuracies made in the minutes or incompleteness of the protocol (Article 200 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The presiding officer reviews the comments on the protocol and, if he agrees with the comments, certifies their correctness. If the presiding officer disagrees with the submitted comments, they are submitted for consideration at the court hearing in the same composition of the court that considered the case, and if this is not possible, the comments are considered by the court, which must include two of the judges who took part in the consideration of the case. If necessary, the person who submitted comments on the protocol is called.

Having considered the comments, the court makes a ruling by which it certifies the correctness of the comments or rejects them. If the deadline for submitting comments is missed, the presiding officer leaves them without consideration unless he finds grounds for reinstating the deadline. If the case was considered by a judge alone, he considers comments on the protocol alone. In all cases, comments on the protocol are attached to the case file. Comments on the minutes of the court session must be considered within five days from the date of their filing (Article 201 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

Trial on statement of claim

Judicial proceedings on a statement of claim in courts of general jurisdiction are a consideration by a court of a civil case according to the rules established by the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

The trial takes place in a court session, the time and place of which must be notified to the persons participating in the case.

To begin the proceedings, the presiding judge must open the court session and announce which civil case will be heard.

The importance of these procedural actions of a judge cannot be overestimated, since it follows from the law that there can be no trial of the case outside the court session.

Often, the plaintiff and defendant, waiting for the start of the court hearing, begin to “sort out” the dispute that has arisen between them before entering the courtroom. These are meaningless actions. They will not have legal consequences for the adoption of a court decision. Any arguments and arguments of the parties, their petitions and objections are only considered and assessed by the court when they are stated during the court hearing or addressed to the court in writing as a statement of claim.

After the opening of the court session, the secretary of the session notifies the court of the appearance of persons summoned in the case. If one of them does not appear, which, unfortunately, happens quite often, the secretary reports whether these persons have been notified of the time and place of the court hearing, and what information is available about the reasons for their absence from court.

Failure to appear in court of persons participating in the case, as well as their representatives, entails the consequences provided for in Article 167 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

As we have already found out, the court preparing the case for trial is obliged to notify the persons involved in the case about the time and place of the trial.

By the time of the trial, the court must have information that these persons were not only sent written notices, but also that they received these notices. If the court does not have information about notifying the persons involved in the case, the hearing of the case is postponed.

If the persons have been duly notified, the trial of the case is postponed only if the court recognizes the reasons for their absence as valid. The obligation to provide information about the validity of the reason for failure to appear lies with the person who did not appear in court (clause 1 of Article 167).

If the notified person did not appear in court, did not provide information about the reasons for failure to appear, or provided this information, but the court found it disrespectful, the court, as a general rule, has the right to consider the case.

The court has the right to postpone the hearing of a case at the request of a person participating in it, if a representative of this person does not appear in court for a good reason.

The parties (plaintiff and defendant) have the right to ask the court to consider the case in their absence.

In a number of cases, the court may recognize the participation of the plaintiff or defendant as mandatory, despite their application to consider the case in their absence.

In some cases, the mandatory participation of a party in a case is expressly prescribed by law. For example, the presence of the adoptive parent in court is mandatory (Article 273 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Therefore, the court cannot consider the adoption case in his absence.

The consequences of a defendant’s failure to appear in court are stipulated separately by law in Part 4 of Article 167 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The court has the right to consider the case in his absence under the combination of two conditions: 1) if the defendant did not inform the court about good reasons for his failure to appear; 2) the defendant did not ask to consider the case in his absence.

If the defendant fails to appear, the court may make a judgment in absentia if the case is in order. absentee proceedings The plaintiff agrees (Chapter 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The failure of the plaintiff to appear in court under the same circumstances gives rise to other consequences: the court must postpone the hearing of the case. If the plaintiff does not appear on a new summons under the same circumstances, the court leaves the claim without consideration. Failure of both parties to appear in court twice leads to the same consequences.

Let us remind you that persons involved in the case, the law recognizes the parties (plaintiff and defendant), third parties, the prosecutor, persons applying to the court for the protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of other persons, applicants and other interested parties for cases of special proceedings and by cases arising from public legal relations. It's about these people we're talking about higher.

Witnesses, experts, translators and specialists are not persons participating in the case. They, like the persons participating, are included in the circle participants in the process, but are not interested in the case, and the scope of their procedural powers is much narrower than that of the persons participating in the case.

Therefore, in the event of the failure of any of the witnesses, experts, translators and specialists to appear in court, the issue of continuing the trial or its postponement is within the competence of the court, which makes an appropriate determination taking into account the opinions of the persons participating in the case.

The court has the right to postpone the proceedings of the case on the grounds provided for by the Civil Procedure Code, as well as on its own initiative, if it finds it impossible to consider the case due to the failure of any of the participants in the process.

For example, the court may find it impossible to consider a case without questioning a witness. In this case, the trial of the case is postponed by the court. If a witness fails to appear on a second summons without good reason, the court has the right to forcefully bring such a witness.

Having postponed the hearing of the case, the court appoints new date court session. The trial of the case after its adjournment begins again.

Sometimes the hearing of a case is postponed at a time when the persons participating in the process have already given explanations and familiarized themselves with the materials of the case.

In order to save time during a new trial, if the parties do not insist on repeating the explanations of all participants in the process, the court has the right to give the participants in the process the opportunity to confirm previously given explanations without repeating them, supplement these explanations and ask additional questions(clause 4 of article 169 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

Having recognized that the case can be considered, the court moves on to the next stage of the trial -