Suppose you are the owner or manager of a foreign company and you have a contract that is not executed or violated by your counterparty.

After a long correspondence you decide to sue.

What do you need to do to file a lawsuit in Russia?

Here are 5 steps to file a lawsuit in Russia:

1. First of all, you need to write an official letter of claim, in which you indicate all your requirements. Such a letter is called a pre-trial claim.

2. Next, you need to study your contract section “disputes and disagreements”. This section indicates which court the parties will apply to in the event of a dispute. This is called an arbitration clause. Also, the parties often enter into a prorogation agreement, in which they indicate which court they will apply to in the event of a dispute.

3. Then you need to prepare a statement of claim with a description of all the circumstances of the dispute and the actions that you have taken, as well as refer to the correct articles of laws. All available evidence must be attached to this statement of claim: the contract and all annexes to it, correspondence between the parties, all payment documents – in general, everything that can be useful to you to prove your case. The law also requires a number of additional documents to be attached to the statement of claim, such as an extract from the registry or an order to appoint a manager – all this in order to determine your eligibility and the eligibility of the counterparty. In addition, a copy of the statement of claim must be submitted in advance to your opponent, and this must be done by mail. The postal receipt is included in the list of required documents for the statement of claim.

4. Next you need to pay the state fee for the consideration of your case by the court. The amount of the state duty depends on the amount you want to receive from the counterparty. If your demand is non-monetary, then the amount of the state duty is fixed. The details of the state duty can almost always be seen on the website of the court where you apply.

5. In Russia, a statement of claim and all documents can be submitted electronically through a special Internet service, which is very convenient. You can not print anything, but send everything as scanned copies. This greatly simplifies and speeds up the process. For conservatives, documents can also be submitted by mail or in person in court. After receiving the statement of claim, the judge checks the correctness of its execution, attachments and issues a judicial act on the commencement of the proceedings.

Congratulations! We discussed how a foreign company can file a lawsuit to a Russian court

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further assistance.