The essence and significance of the preliminary court hearing in the arbitration process

Preliminary hearing: what is it?

A preliminary hearing (PTH) is a procedure conducted by judges alone as part of the preparation of a case for the main proceedings.

It is assigned in individual cases on the basis of Art. 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, if the judge still has questions without which it is impossible to objectively consider the dispute.

Reasons for appointment

The basis for assigning a PSZ may be:

Consolidation of the administrative actions of the participants: modification or waiver of claims, conclusion of a settlement agreement, recognition of claims by the defendant.
Reinstatement of a missed statute of limitations. The plaintiff provides evidence of the reason why he failed to file the claim in a timely manner. If the court finds the evidence admissible, the case is scheduled for trial.
Identification of significant circumstances: requesting additional documents, interviewing the parties, obtaining additional information for objective decision-making.
Determining the sufficiency of evidence: requesting additional evidence, filing petitions to call witnesses, order an examination.

Note! When considering disputes about children between parents within the framework of the legal settlement, the court has the right to determine their place of residence with one of the spouses, with mandatory consideration of the opinions of minors. The judge is guided solely by their interests. The participation of representatives of the guardianship authorities is mandatory.

When is it appointed?

To understand at what stage the PSZ is carried out, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the step-by-step algorithm:

Time frame for preparing for the trial

The Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation does not limit the preparation time - they are set by judges depending on the complexity of the process and other circumstances.

However, they are required to adhere to the general deadlines for the consideration of disputes:

total period – 2 months;
within 1 month, issues of collecting alimony, challenging dismissal with subsequent reinstatement, demolition of unauthorized buildings, challenging acts of municipal authorities on demolition, etc. are considered (Article 154 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

For certain processes, shortened trial periods are established:

Subject of dispute	Term
Challenging inaction or illegal actions of government bodies and municipalities	10 days
Protection of the right to participate in referendums during preparations for them and during election campaigns	5 days
Violation of citizens' electoral rights based on applications received on or after voting days	Immediately
Resolving the issue of forced hospitalization of a mentally ill citizen	5 days

Important! The calculation of deadlines begins from the day the citizen submits an application to the court. If necessary, they can be extended for no more than 1 month. The periods for which proceedings are postponed for conciliation procedures are not included in the total period.

As for the PSZ, it is assigned within 5-10 days from the date of receipt of the statement of claim, depending on the situation. The issue is decided by the judge individually. In particularly complex cases, the court may assign a legal period beyond the general time limits for legal proceedings, taking into account the opinions of the parties.

Preliminary and main meeting: differences

The preliminary hearing is the second step used in preparing for the trial, while the main hearing is the third step, during which witnesses are heard, experts are invited, and debates are held. Essentially, these are different stages of legal proceedings.

According to the Code of Civil Procedure, a stage-by-stage review is required, so preparation is indispensable. At the same time, a court order is appointed only if there are grounds for a court ruling to accept the statement of claim for proceedings, prepare for proceedings, or schedule the main trial.

Failure to appear at a preliminary trial

The law clearly states that a plaintiff's failure to appear at a preliminary hearing is not a sufficient factor to prevent the hearing from taking place. However, practice shows that in practice, when the case is first considered, it is most often postponed. The position of the plaintiff is especially important for the judge.

If you agree that the issue will be considered without you, then you can draw up a corresponding petition. At the same time, it must indicate a valid reason for absence. It is very important that the specified reason does not seem to the judge to be a manifestation of contempt of court.

How does a preliminary hearing work in civil proceedings?

The step-by-step procedure looks like this:

The judge considers the claim and documents, makes a decision on the acceptance and appointment of the court.
The court clerk notifies citizens of the date and location of the hearing.
On the appointed day, a hearing is held with the participation of the parties, the secretary of the court session keeps the minutes. The plaintiff has the right to clarify or supplement the requirements, declare the need to request documents from the court if he cannot obtain them himself; submit petitions, conclude a settlement agreement. The court determines the sufficiency of evidence, records the administrative actions of the parties, and identifies circumstances affecting the outcome of the proceedings.
As a result, a ruling is made that decides the further fate of the case.

Legal advice: according to Art. 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the parties have the right to record the progress of proceedings using audio recording means. Video recording and broadcasting are permitted only with the permission of the court.

You can audio record the meeting by notifying the court and the participants in the process orally in advance. This is not a violation, but will allow you to refresh your memory of important details later.

Elena Plokhuta

Lawyer, website author (Civil law, 7 years of experience)

Documents for the meeting

During the PPP, participants provide documents that were not submitted at the initial stage of preparation:

petitions;
objections;
certificates and other evidence.

The specific list of documents is determined individually, taking into account the subject of the dispute.

results

Based on the results of the hearing, a determination is made that decides the fate of the case:

leaving the claim without consideration;
appointment of the main meeting for consideration on the merits;
suspension of proceedings, indicating the time frame.

Petitions are also considered. If one of the citizens has announced the appointment of an examination and the calling of witnesses, the appropriate determinations are drawn up.

Minutes of the preliminary meeting

The protocol needs to be given special attention. It is carried out from beginning to end of the SZ in accordance with Art. 229-230 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation simultaneously with the audio recording.

There are several recommendations for production participants:

When explaining in court, speak clearly and slowly. This will allow the secretary to reflect maximum reliable information in the protocol.
The protocol is drawn up within 3 days from the date of the hearing, and the parties become familiar with it within 5 days against signature. If you discover errors and inaccuracies, you can file an objection in accordance with Art. 230, 231 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation) within the specified time frame.
Immediately after the meeting, find out when you can review the minutes. Information can be obtained from the secretary, the judge or his assistant.
After reading the protocol, ask for a certified copy or take a photo of it, and then read it carefully again at home.
If the protocol is not completed within the established time frame, submit an application addressed to the judge, indicating the reason for the appeal. This will help in the future to appeal the document if the secretary formally misses the deadline. The application is submitted to the office in two copies. One remains with the citizen with a registration mark.

Legal advice: make an audio recording on the PSZ, and then request a copy of the protocol and verify everything in a calm atmosphere. This will allow you to quickly identify inconsistencies and protect your interests. The protocol is an important procedural document that can negatively affect the outcome if there are gross inconsistencies in it.

Elena Plokhuta

Lawyer, website author (Civil law, 7 years of experience)

Sample protocol

The protocol is drawn up in accordance with Art. 229 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and contains the following data:

name and address of the court;
start and end times of the hearing;
composition of the court;
FULL NAME. parties to production;
information on the attendance of participating persons and legal representatives;
determinations made during the meeting;
content of explanations, petitions, statements of participants in proceedings;
information on clarification of the rules for familiarizing with the protocol and audio recording;
date of registration.

Sample protocol of a preliminary court hearing in a civil case:

Determination on assigning a case for trial

The ruling is made by a judge in accordance with Art. 224-227 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. Copies are issued to citizens immediately. If the plaintiff or defendant were absent from the meeting, the document is sent within 3 days from the date of registration.

What does the definition contain:

date, place of compilation;
name of the court, information about the plaintiff and the subject of the dispute;
conclusion about preparedness for trial in court;
date and time of the next hearing;
Full name, signature of the judge.

Sample definition according to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation:

How is a settlement agreement drawn up?

During the court hearing, the judge proposes to enter into a settlement agreement. They try to reach a consensus, and if this is successful, an agreement is drawn up and approved by the court.

The judge issues a ruling to terminate proceedings in connection with the conclusion of the agreement.

Note! When drawing up an agreement, the plaintiff loses the opportunity to go to court on the same dispute with the participation of the second party (Article 221 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

§ 2. The procedure for preparing a case for trial. Preliminary hearing

As mentioned above, in accordance with Art. 147 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the judge is obliged to issue a ruling on the preparation of the case for trial, indicating specific actions that should be taken by the parties, other persons participating in the case, as well as the timing of these actions. Essentially, this definition is “an action plan for the preparation of a case, a source of guidance for clerks in carrying out preparatory actions, and a means of monitoring the quality of case preparation by higher courts.” Such a determination must also be made if there is a need for additional actions to prepare the case for trial after the cancellation of an earlier court decision and the referral of the case for a new trial or after the resumption of suspended (terminated) proceedings in the case. Preparatory actions are carried out in addition to those specified in the definition, if during the preparation of the case their necessity is revealed. The content of the stage of preparing a case for trial consists of procedural actions of the parties (Article 149 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation) and the judge (Article 150 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). Actions of the parties to prepare the case for trial. The adversarial model of civil procedure determines the content of the procedural actions performed, therefore, preparing a case for trial in an adversarial process is an activity not only of the court, but also of the persons participating in the case. The main role in this belongs to the parties - the plaintiff and the defendant. At the stage of preparing and filing a claim, the plaintiff must be prepared for the emergence of additional circumstances related to the defendant’s objections, the need (at the request of the court) to provide additional evidence, as well as the possibility of changes in the circumstances that served as the basis for going to court. The requirement of thorough preparation for the upcoming process equally applies to the defendant; due to the fact that his active activity begins only at this stage (at the stage of initiating a civil case, the defendant is not an active participant in the process), for him preparing the case for trial is the stage where he first exercises his procedural rights. For the defendant, preparation comes down to substantiating his objections with reference to the rules of substantive and procedural law, establishing the range of evidence refuting the plaintiff’s claims, as well as choosing mechanisms and methods for presenting objections and evidence. The parties, preparing for a court hearing, have the right to count on some assistance from the court in obtaining evidence that they cannot obtain on their own. However, they should not forget about the principle of adversarial proceedings (Article 12 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), the essence of which is that each party must independently prove the circumstances to which it refers in support of its claims and objections. The legislator thus encourages the main subjects of the conflict to actively participate in the judicial competition. Actions of the judge to prepare the case for trial. A fairly detailed list of these actions is listed in Art. 150 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. However, paragraph 14 of part 1 of this article indicates the right of a judge to perform other necessary procedural actions aimed at ensuring the correct and timely resolution of a legal conflict. This means that the judge is not limited in the choice of actions that can contribute to the preparation of the trial and its further successful conduct. In this regard, the judge first of all clarifies the essence of the stated requirements and possible objections, determines the nature of the controversial legal relationship and the law to be applied, the circumstances relevant to the case, and the range of evidence to be examined in the trial, and resolves the issue of the composition of the persons participating in the case. To implement these tasks, the judge summons and interrogates the plaintiff on the merits of the stated claims, and the defendant on the circumstances of the case. Such a survey is a mandatory procedural action. The interview can be conducted either alternately with both parties, or jointly to clarify mutual claims. The court invites the plaintiff to clarify the requirements, providing assistance in introducing clarity and certainty into them; During an interview with the defendant, the judge finds out the essence of his objections and offers to disclose evidence in support of his objections. The requirement to disclose evidence may be addressed not only to the defendant, but also to the plaintiff and other persons participating in the case. In addition, during the interview, the judge explains to the participants in the case their procedural rights and obligations, as well as the consequences of performing or not performing procedural actions (for example, indicating the consequences of failure to provide evidence). The RF Civil Procedure Code does not require registration of the interview process and its results with a procedural document. To establish the composition of the participants in the process, the judge resolves issues of procedural complicity, determining its type, and also considers the need for other participants to join the case, for example, third parties who do not make independent claims regarding the subject of the dispute; informs, if necessary, about the consideration of the dispute, persons with a potential interest in its subject matter (so that they can enter into the process as relevant third parties). Analyzes the composition of plaintiffs and defendants for their replacement in the manner established by the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation: plaintiff or defendant - in the order of procedural succession (Article 44), defendants - by replacing an improper defendant with the consent of the plaintiff in accordance with Art. 41. Resolves the issue of calling witnesses, attracting specialists and translators. In addition, the court must take into account the requirements of Art. 45 and 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, which provide for cases of mandatory participation in the process of the prosecutor and entities protecting the rights and legitimate interests of other persons. To implement the task of presenting the necessary evidence by the parties and other persons participating in the case, the judge appoints an examination and experts to conduct it in strict accordance with Art. 79-87 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. At the same time, research and assessment of the results of the examination must be carried out during the trial, if there are no grounds for ordering an additional examination (Part 1 of Article 87 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation) or a repeat examination (Part 2 of Article 87 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). The court can also assist the parties and other persons involved in the case in obtaining evidence that they cannot obtain on their own. If for this it is necessary to carry out a certain procedural action in another district or city, the court sends a writ petition. In addition, the judge has the right, in order to prepare the case for trial - in urgent cases - to conduct an on-site inspection of written or material evidence, subject to mandatory and proper notification of the persons participating in the case about the commission of this procedural action. In addition to the listed actions, which the judge performs in compliance with strict procedural form, he has the right to a number of actions that are not strictly preparatory in nature, but are aimed at achieving the main goal of legal proceedings - the protection of rights and interests protected by law. These include conducting conciliation procedures, taking into account the circumstances and nature of the case. In most cases, the court is obliged to facilitate the reconciliation of the parties by explaining to them the possibility of concluding a settlement agreement and the consequences of its conclusion. In this case, the judge schedules a preliminary court hearing, reflects the parties’ intentions to conclude a settlement agreement in the protocol, and attaches the settlement agreement itself to the case materials. This range of actions also includes resolving the issue of joining (severing) claims if it is advisable to pursue them jointly (separately). In addition, the judge takes measures to secure the claim when there is reason to believe that the execution of a court decision may be difficult or become impossible in principle. Preliminary hearing. A novelty of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation is the legislative establishment of the institution of a preliminary court hearing (Part 1 of Article 150), in science also called preliminary court proceedings. The Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation does not contain either the very definition of a preliminary court session or its distinctive features, which makes it possible to determine its essence through the concept of an ordinary court session. So, Y.H. Bekov defines a preliminary court session “as a type of court session that has common features with a court session: a single conduct of the session by a judge (Part 2 of Article 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), notification of the time and place of the hearing of the parties and other persons participating in the case ( Part 2 of Article 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), a written form of recording the actions of participants in the meeting (Part 7 of Article 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), ..., and specific features inherent only to it: a preliminary court hearing is held at the stage of preparing the case for trial ( clause 13, part 1, article 150 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), the preliminary court hearing has specific goals (part 2, article 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), its holding is not always mandatory (clause 13, part 1, article 150 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation) " The preliminary trial is not related to the consideration and resolution of the case on the merits, does not replace it, but only contributes to the correct consideration of the case at the trial stage or to resolving the issue of the impossibility of a preliminary judicial review. It should not examine evidence, establish facts of material and legal significance, etc. That is, in essence, such a meeting is intended to complete the preparation of the case by resolving organizational and procedural issues, which will allow the trial to be carried out quickly and with maximum effect. In the absence of a legal definition of the concept of “preliminary court hearing,” its goals are legally established, the achievement of which, on the one hand, contributes to the efficiency of the process, and on the other, guarantees the legality of the implementation of the procedural rights of the parties. A preliminary court hearing is held for the purposes of: 1) carrying out preparatory actions (at this stage the judge must accurately determine the subject of proof, bring to the discussion of the parties legally significant circumstances to which the parties referred, and explain by whom they are being proven, as well as determine the sufficiency of evidence according to matter in principle); 2) carrying out actions not covered by preparing the case for trial (procedural consolidation of administrative actions of the parties aimed at ending the case is carried out; circumstances that are important for the further progress of the case are investigated, i.e. the fact of missing the statute of limitations and deadlines for going to court is established , reasons for missing deadlines). The issue of the need for a preliminary court hearing, the time and place of its holding is decided by the judge alone, which is reflected in the determination on the preparation of the case for trial. The procedure for a preliminary court hearing is less formalized than a trial and is regulated by Art. 158, 159 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, according to which the judge opens the court hearing at the time specified by his ruling and announces a list of issues to be considered. During the preliminary court hearing, a protocol is kept, which is drawn up according to the rules of Art. 229, 230 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and is signed no later than 3 days after the end of such a meeting; in this case, the court is obliged to explain to the persons participating in the case their right to familiarize themselves with the protocol and submit comments on it (Article 231 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). It should be noted once again that the preliminary court hearing is designed to resolve procedural issues in preparing the case for trial, therefore, during the hearing, the parties have the right to present evidence, make motions, present their arguments, etc. However, the court examines and evaluates only those that relate to missed deadlines for filing a lawsuit and the statute of limitations (the rest of the evidence in the case is examined directly during the trial). Having resolved all the issues raised at the preliminary hearing and having come to the conclusion that the case is ready, the judge appoints it for trial (Article 153 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).