How to sue a private person. Recommendations for filing a claim in court

Why file claims yourself? If today there are a large number of legal consultations that can provide their services at any time.

You independently file claims based on the following arguments:

1. If you do not have enough money to pay for a lawyer;
2. If the cost of a lawyer's services turns out to be more expensive than the amount for which the claim is filed;
3. If you are engaged in public activities and can prepare and file a claim in court yourself, then this will be useful to you. Public organizations often need to go to court and it is not always possible to hire a lawyer based on financial considerations;
4. If you learn to prepare and draw up statements of claim on your own, your colleagues at work will begin to respect you, and you will gain experience with which you will feel confident in any life situations.

What is needed to independently prepare statements of claim?

To draw up and file a claim in court, it is not necessary that you have a legal education. To prepare statements of claim you don’t need much:

1. Wish;
2. Ability to use the Internet;
3. Have key knowledge of civil procedure.

Next you will come across links to various articles and their numbers from the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation). But it is impossible to include the entire content of the articles when drawing up a claim due to their large volume, and there is no need for this. And if you want to study the entire article, then enter “Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation with the latest changes and additions” in some search engine, select one of the sites found and find the desired article.

If you think that your rights or legitimate interests have been violated, then you can always go to court (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 3).

Settlement of disputes before trial.

Before going to court, it would be better to try to resolve all issues with the defendant amicably. It is better to do this in writing, so that later in court you can present evidence of your good intentions.

1. What the appeal to the defendant will look like and be called does not matter. The main thing is that it is in writing;
2. The appeal must indicate to whom and what requirements you are making;
3. If your claim is of a material nature, write down the reasons for paying this amount and make the appropriate calculation;
4. When personally delivering your demands, the defendant must mark their receipt. If you send your claims by mail, you must do so with return receipt requested.

Which court should the claim be filed in?

First you need to decide in which court to file a claim. Civil cases are heard mainly in the magistrate or district courts at your place of residence.

The following cases are heard in the Magistrate's Court:

1. On divorce without disputes about children;
2. On issuing a court order;
3. On the division of marital property, if the amount of the claim is less than 50 thousand rubles, etc. (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 23).

In other situations, it is necessary to file a claim in the district court.

Basically, statements of claim are filed in court at the place of residence of the defendant or at the location of the organization against which the claim is brought.

In some situations, the court in which the claim will be heard can be chosen by the plaintiff. These are claims for divorce, collection of alimony, issues of consumer protection, etc. (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 29).

The plaintiff can also agree with the defendant in which court to file the claim. (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 32).

How to file a claim

1. In the upper right corner, indicate the court where you will file the claim;
2. Under the name of the court, write: “Plaintiff: Your Last Name First Name Patronymic and place of residence (it is also advisable to write your contact information)”;
3. Under your data, write: “Defendant: the same data as for the plaintiff.” And if several defendants are involved in the process, write: “Defendant No. 1: his data” and under it “Defendant No. 2: his data” (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 131);
4. Next, without emotion, in a free form, state the essence of the statement of claim.
5. At the bottom, put your signature, number and make a list of documents that are attached to the statement of claim.

Along with the statement of claim, give the court copies of the documents attached to it so that the court can send them to the defendant for review.

And the last step is to register the statement of claim in the court office. That's all the basic tips for doing it yourselffiling a claim. Good luck to you!

Most citizens of our country are faced with the need to file a claim in court. And here the question arises: which judicial body can I turn to? How to determine the jurisdiction and jurisdiction of courts? After all, if you write a statement of claim to the arbitration court, and this claim can only be filed in the district court, they will simply refuse to accept it. Even more important for where to file a claim depends on the defendant’s place of residence. What laws determine how cases are heard in various courts? How can you determine which legal case your situation falls under? You can find the answer to most of these questions by reading this article to its logical conclusion.

If there is something you don’t understand and you don’t find the information you need, you can always contact our lawyers, who provide their services online completely free of charge.

The jurisdiction of the courts is understood as the distribution of cases according to the legal assessment of the plaintiff and defendant (legal entities or individuals). Jurisdiction refers to the territorial location of the defendant (place of registration) and generic jurisdiction (district court or subject court). However, even knowing the basics of the law, it is not always easy to figure out where to file a claim. So welcome to seek advice from professionals in your field.

If you still fail to resolve the conflict out of court, you will have to file a statement of claim in court. Since the claim contains a request for the protection of rights to a specific court (the details of this judicial body are indicated), it is necessary to figure out where to write to you? To clarify the situation a little, let's figure out which claims can only be heard by justices of the peace. You can appeal to the court of first instance in the following situations:

• cases where the solution is the issuance of court orders (in this case the cost of the claim does not matter);
• divorce cases without claims from spouses to each other about joint children;
• divorce cases subject to the division of jointly acquired property worth no more than fifty thousand rubles;
• any cases regarding family conflicts (establishment of paternity, adoption, deprivation of parents of their legal rights are excluded);
• property disputes (except for violations of inheritance laws);
• determining the procedure for using property;
• other cases that are provided for by the law on the activities of justices of the peace.

For all other problems, you can file a claim in the district or city court. It is worth considering that you need to complain at the defendant’s place of residence. And if you are complaining not about an individual, but about a legal entity, then you need to contact the court located at the fact of registration (legal address).

In addition, when you enter the building where the trial judges work, you will find offices with precinct numbers. And all because your area is divided into several even sections of streets and houses. You can find out which judge you need to write a statement of claim to from the court clerks. You can also go to a resource that tells about the work of justices of the peace in your area and search the available sites for the address you need. Just remember that the required address does not mean your place of registration, but the defendant’s.

Alternative jurisdiction

In an alternative situation, the plaintiff can independently decide on the judicial authority. But this is possible only in cases strictly defined by law.

The applicant files a claim in one of several courts, provided:

• You can file a claim in a court whose jurisdiction extends to the location of the defendant’s property or to his last address, provided that at the moment no one knows where he is;
• if you want to sue an organization due to unlawful actions of its representative office, subsidiary or branch, then you can do this either at the legal address of the head office or at the legal address of the branches;
• a claim demanding funds for child support (alimony) is filed at the place of residence of the plaintiff or defendant;
• divorce proceedings are allowed to be carried out in court at the place of registration of the initiator of divorce, if he has a minor child, or if there are circumstances due to which the plaintiff cannot travel to another area (region, district, city, etc.);
• compensation for damage that was received through injury, or any other harm to health and life, as well as the loss of a breadwinner, allow the plaintiff to go to the judicial authorities at his place of residence or to the court at the place where the injuries were caused;
• the plaintiff can file a claim on his registration if he wants to restore housing, pension or labor rights, if he wants to receive compensation for conviction, arrest, travel ban, administrative and/or criminal liability imposed illegally;
• the plaintiff can choose either the court at his place of residence, or the court based on the registration of the defendant, or the court at the place where the purchase and sale agreement was concluded in case of violations of consumer rights;
• a statement of claim under contracts that stipulate the place of execution of the clauses of this document may be filed in court at the specified place;
• If a ship collides and you want to receive a reward for rescue operations at sea, you can file a claim at the location or registration of the ship.

In the above cases, the plaintiff goes to court at his own discretion and does what is convenient for him.

Exclusive jurisdiction

Exclusive jurisdiction refers to certain deviations from the general rules for proceedings on claims. Now we will consider situations in which resolution in court requires contacting a specific judicial authority. This list can be called exhaustive.

Exclusive jurisdiction implies compliance with the following rules:

• the proceedings on issues of rights to plots of land, subsoil, buildings of any type, all objects that have a strong connection with the land, the release of existing property from punishment in the form of arrest take place in the judicial authorities at the location of these entities;
• claims filed by creditors of a person who left an inheritance before the heirs assumed their rights are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts located in the place where the inheritance was opened;
• Litigation with carriers takes place at the place of their registration.

Sometimes, for greater procedural savings, judges connect cases. So, here too there are some peculiarities of filing a claim:

• a complaint about unlawful actions of several people is filed with the court upon registration of one of them;
• the counterclaim is filed in the same judicial body as the original application;
• a civil claim that arises from a criminal proceeding is considered in civil proceedings in accordance with civil law.

Another interesting point is that the parties can independently agree on which judicial body to contact. But this applies only to magistrates' and district courts. If you have any additional questions, please contact experienced lawyers on our website.

Many of us are faced with life problems in which we are required to draw up and file a claim against someone. This is a very popular question nowadays, given that there are quite a lot of law firms offering their services, especially recently. But often the cost of a lawyer’s services turns out to be higher than the cost of the subject of the claim.

And of course, not everyone can find the funds for such services. Therefore, before using the services of lawyers, consider preparing a claim yourself. Here are a few main arguments to confirm the advantages of self-preparation and filing the notorious statement of claim:

• There is not always money to pay for a lawyer.
• Sometimes the cost of a specialist’s services turns out to be higher than the cost of the claim itself.
• In some cases, you don’t want to involve third people in your affairs before trial, even your own lawyer.
• The experience of preparing and filing such a claim is very useful in life, and especially for those who want to engage in social activities, this will help in the future to be more confident in any situations

First you need to try the issue peacefully

In any case, before going directly to court, you should definitely try to resolve the issue amicably by contacting your opponent. It may make your life easier if the future defendant agrees to resolve everything without court intervention; if this does not happen, this will serve as a good indicator of your intentions in court.

It is better to do this not just verbally, but clearly in writing, so that later it will serve as proof of your exceptionally good intentions in court. You need to remember a few important points in this matter:

1. The name or form is absolutely unimportant, only the fact of written application is important.
2. It should be clear why, what claims or demands you are making.
3. If the claims are material in nature, make a calculation and provide the grounds for payment.
4. When sending by mail, a return receipt is required; if you personally deliver the claim, there must be a note indicating its receipt by the defendant

Where to file a claim?

Civil cases are often heard by district or magistrate judges

First, you need to decide which court you will file your application in. Typically, all civil law cases are heard by a district court or magistrate. The latter's competence includes:

• Issuance of a court order.
• The case, in the absence of a dispute about the children.
• A case regarding the division of joint property of spouses, with a claim price not exceeding 50 thousand rubles.

In all other cases, you should apply only to the district court, necessarily at the place of residence of the defendant, and if this is a claim in relation to an organization, at the direct location of this particular organization. That is, if a claim is sent to an organization, it is sent to the district court at the address of the organization, and not its owner.

This is important, the lawsuit is filed in the area in which the defendant lives, not yours. You will even have to file a claim in court in another district or, imagine, city, if you live far from the defendant. Such situations, however, are not common, but sometimes occur in practice, so never forget about this small, but undoubtedly important nuance.

But, despite this, in some cases, at the discretion of the plaintiff, the court allows the filing of a claim at the plaintiff’s place of residence, regardless of the defendant’s place of residence. Also, there is such a thing as “contractual jurisdiction,” that is, an independent choice of court, with the consent of both parties. You understood correctly, by mutual agreement of all parties, the location of the court is chosen regardless of other factors.

The cost of the claim and its components

After determining the court in which you are going to file the application, you should calculate the cost of the claim, which includes several parts. It consists, first of all, of the material damage caused to you by the defendant, then it may include the cost of penalties or fines, and, finally, the amount of compensation for the moral damage caused to you.

It happens that there are two or more defendants in a case, in which case the cost of the claim is the sum of all your claims against each of the defendants. And then, if you wish, you can indicate the amount of claims against individual defendants. And of course, it is advisable to provide documentary evidence of all amounts claimed by you. All documents must not only be mentioned in the text of the claim, but also be attached to it.

Form and content of the claim

Statement of claim: sample

In fact, it is not at all necessary to have a higher education as a lawyer to file a claim in court; you should not be afraid of the complexity of this process. To do this, you just need to have access to, know the basics of civil procedure and the ability to find the necessary articles of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, and of course, have the desire.

Let's take a closer look at everything that must be included in the claim. First, you need to remember that the claim must be filed exclusively in writing. And regardless of your desire, the claim must indicate:

• The name of the court to which you are applying should only be indicated in the upper right corner of the sheet.
• Under the name of the court, you must indicate the full name of the plaintiff and his, and, preferably, contacts.
• Under your data, the data of the defendant is similarly indicated - his full name, place of residence and contact information. If you file a claim against several defendants, records the details of everyone in turn.
• After this, without any emotions or unfounded accusations, you state the entire essence of your statement; this is allowed to be done in free form, that is, without a clear structure or sequence.

But that doesn't mean you should just throw all the facts together. Your claim must be clearly stated and understandable to the court. To do this, you just need to adhere to only dry facts, arranging them in a clear sequence chronologically. To begin with, it is worth indicating the reason that became the beginning of your relationship with the defendant, who you are related to each other, how you are connected.

The statement of claim must state the essence of the issue clearly and concisely.

Then indicate what caused the violation of your rights, what exactly their violation or deprivation consists of. What, when, and how exactly the defendant did, what he violated, under what circumstances all this happened.

Be sure to provide all the evidence of what the defendant did, provide a list of all witnesses who can somehow confirm your words, provide their written testimony if possible.

Attach copies of all available documents that confirm your words or violations committed by the defendant. Calculate the cost of the claim and justify it. Well, in the end, state all your demands in relation to the defendant as clearly and completely as possible, formulate your request to the court to satisfy all your demands.

It is absolutely not necessary to make any reference to articles of any code; this can never serve as a valid reason for refusing to consider the application you have submitted. Below, as in any application, we put our signature and date, you can also indicate a list of all the documents you provided in the application. If there are several defendants in your case, then exactly that many copies of the application, including all attached documents, must be filed with the court.

The court sends all these documents independently to each of the defendants to familiarize themselves with all the materials before the start of the case, so that they can all prepare all their objections. You must also pay to file a claim and attach a document confirming payment.

The amount of the state duty you pay depends only on the category of the claim being filed; all this can be clarified in the court office; they are required to answer questions of this type over the phone.

Filing a claim

The claim is filed with the court office

Now we have come to the last step - filing a claim directly to the court, or to be precise, to the court office. So, after you have completed the application, in accordance with all of the above, just in case, double-check that all important obligations are met and all the attached documents are met.

If you are convinced of the correctness of your application, send it directly to the court office, where it will be accepted and registered. If you have complied with all the features of this process and no flaws or problems are found in your application, then the court is obliged to consider your request to accept this case into its proceedings, and then, if it informs you of the date of the preliminary hearing.

Without getting up from your chair, you can find out the name, address and telephone number of any court in Russia, as well as details for paying state fees to the court - using video:

Only when you receive a summons.

Very often, not a single document is attached to the subpoena you receive, and all you can find out from it is the place and time of the upcoming court hearing, and sometimes the full name or name of the person who sued you.

Step 1. Familiarization with the case materials

In such a situation, the first thing you need to do is find out the essence and grounds of the claims brought against you. To do this, you need to come to court and get acquainted with the materials of your case.

In accordance with Art. 35 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, persons participating in the case have the right to familiarize themselves with the case materials, make extracts from them, make copies...

In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 199 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period is applied by the court only upon the application of a party to the dispute made before the court makes a decision.

The expiration of the limitation period, the application of which is declared by a party to the dispute, is the basis for the court to make a decision to reject the claim.

Thus, in order to apply the consequences of the expiration of the statute of limitations in a dispute, you must definitely declare this.

Third, check whether you are the proper defendant in the case. Should you be held responsible by virtue of law, contract, or other circumstances?

For example: in the event of an accident with your participation, which is the occurrence of an insured event, provided that the insurance premium fully covers the damage resulting from the accident.

In this case, you can indicate to the court that you are not a proper defendant.

Step 3. Speaking in court.

If you have received a summons to a preliminary court hearing, then most likely you will only need to submit an objection to the statement of claim and receive a summons to the main court hearing.

At the main court hearing, you are required to be active. Object to the plaintiff’s arguments, question his assumptions, challenge the evidence he provides.

Remember that in accordance with Art. 56 of the Code of Civil Procedure, each party must prove the circumstances to which it refers as the basis for its claims and objections, unless otherwise provided by federal law.

Therefore, the person who filed the claim against you must first of all prove the circumstances on which the claims are based.

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Step-by-step instruction

When people cannot agree, they go to court.

Alexey Kabluchkov

But you can’t just go to court: you need to file a special document - a statement of claim, or in simple terms - a claim.

A claim is a statement in which one person asks the court to compel another to comply with some requirement. The one who files the claim is called the plaintiff. The one they want to oblige is the defendant.

Everything seems to be simple: “I, such and such, want such and such to do this on such and such grounds.” But the success of a claim is influenced by nuances: wording, structure, justification. Even experienced lawyers sometimes make mistakes at the stage of filing a claim, waste time and lose cases. Therefore, we have prepared step-by-step instructions that will allow you to file a claim without errors.

Step by step

1. Formulate what we want: outline the result, find the law, study judicial practice and think about whether the requirement is feasible.
2. Set a statute of limitations so you don’t miss it.
3. Identify the parties to the dispute and choose the right court to file a claim.
4. Follow the pre-trial procedure for resolving a dispute - submit a claim before the trial.
5. Prepare documents that need to be attached to the claim: evidence, extracts and receipts.
6. Pay the state fee.
7. Draw up a claim yourself or using ready-made samples.
8. Send the claim to the parties and bring it to court.
9. Check whether the court has accepted the claim.

In our opinion, it is in this sequence that it is easiest to draw up and file a claim, but no one is stopping you from drawing up a claim first and then paying the fee - do it the way that is most convenient for you. Or

Formulate a requirement

In previous articles, we have already written that people go to court not for justice, but for the fulfillment of specific requirements. Therefore, the first thing to start with is to understand what to ask the court for. If the claim is not defined at least in general terms, it is impossible to understand in which court and to whom to file a claim.

Outline the result. Think about what result you want to achieve.

For example, the plaintiff is the buyer of a car, a defect was discovered in it, his car was taken away for a long official repair and was “frozen” with this repair for too long. They also wrote on social networks that the plaintiff damaged it on purpose in order to profit from the repairs. What does he want now?

There are many options:

1. to delete the publication from social networks;
2. to remove the post from social networks and have the car repaired;
3. to delete the publication, repair the car and pay for moral damages;
4. so that they give the car as is, God bless him with repairs and publication;
5. to be replaced with a new car without defects;
6. to get the money back for the car;
7. to get the money back for the car plus a penalty for long repairs;
8. so that they give out a new car, and pay a penalty, and delete the publication, and pay moral damages, and publish a refutation, and dance another fourteen bars in squats.

The plaintiff will not be able to get all of this, but first he needs to understand what he wants.

It is impossible to change both the subject of the requirement and its justification at the same time

The requirement can be changed during the trial. The circumstances on which the claim is based, too. But it is impossible to simultaneously change the subject of the requirement and its factual justification.

For example, a claim was filed in court to foreclose on a car under a sales contract. During the process, you can change the subject of the claim - instead of asking for a car, you can ask to recover the money paid for it. You can also change the basis of the claim - instead of a purchase and sale agreement, refer to a leasing agreement. But it is impossible to declare that now you are asking to recover money under the leasing agreement, because this is a different claim.

To begin with, it is enough to outline the subject of the claim and continue preparing the claim. You can refine the wording later.

Find the law. Your requirement must be based on the law, and sometimes repeat it exactly.

For example, a car purchase and sale agreement was declared invalid as part of the seller’s bankruptcy. The contract stated that in this case the seller must buy the buyer equivalent transport. But the buyer will not be able to make such a demand in court, because the law clearly states the consequences of the invalidity of the transaction - to return everything received under it: the seller - the car, and the buyer - the money. You can't think of others.

Usually the law gives the parties the opportunity to set the rules themselves - then the claim can be based on the law.

As a general rule, if the seller has not handed over the documents for the car, then the buyer has the right to refuse it and demand a refund. But Article 464 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that the parties can agree otherwise. For example, if the transfer of documents for a car is delayed, the seller must pay a penalty. The court will consider such a request.

In general, the court is primarily guided by the rules of the law, and only then by the concepts of justice and morality. Therefore, the claim must be justified not only by facts and common sense, but also by the rules of the law.

The court is primarily guided by the law and only then by morality

There are many resources on the Internet where you can find sample claims with ready-made links to laws. There you can select a statement that suits your situation and see which law you need to refer to. But legislation is constantly changing, so the relevance of the articles must be double-checked.

Texts of legal acts can be found in legal reference systems, for example in the Guarantor, Consultant or on the official Internet portal legal information.

Study judicial practice. By studying court decisions on identical disputes, you can understand which claim is best to file, how to prove that you are right, and what your chances of winning are. If many courts in different regions have equally satisfied similar claims, it makes sense not to reinvent the wheel, but to ask the court for the same thing.

Judicial acts are published in the public domain: SudAkt publishes decisions of courts of general jurisdiction, and the Bank of Decisions publishes decisions of arbitration courts.

Check the feasibility of the requirement. The court may order your request to be fulfilled, but the defendant will have to fulfill it. And if he is physically unable to comply with the court’s decision or it is impossible to force him, then it will turn out stupid.

Decisions that:

1. put pressure on a person, for example, force the defendant to admit guilt or sign an agreement;
2. oblige the defendant to do something that is impossible to do, for example, return a house that has already been demolished;
3. formulated vaguely: just to repay some debt.

Often it is enough to reformulate the requirement to make it feasible.

For example, the requirement to “repay the debt” is better formulated as follows: “to recover from Ivan Anatolyevich Ivanov in favor of Alexander Semenovich Petrov the amount of the principal debt in the amount of 237,849.14 rubles, as well as a penalty amount in the amount of 0.01% of the debt amount for each day of delay starting from May 1, 2018 until the day of actual fulfillment of the obligation.” This requirement is more specific and provides for the consequences of failure to comply.

Set a limitation period. The claim must be filed within the period specified by law - the statute of limitations.

The general limitation period is 3 years. In most cases, the limitation period begins from the day the plaintiff learned about the violation of his right and who his defendant was.

For example, the plaintiff’s apartment was flooded by upstairs neighbors on January 1, 2018. The plaintiff lived in Bali all winter and returned only on April 4 - that’s when he saw a huge stain on the ceiling. He can go to court until April 4, 2021.

For a number of cases, special deadlines have been established. For example, a claim to challenge the dismissal must be filed within 1 month after receiving the order, to invalidate the decision of the general meeting of the company - within 6 months, to recover compensation for improper performance of work under a contract - 1 year.

The court will refuse the claim if the defendant claims that the statute of limitations has passed

Before filing a claim, be sure to find out the statute of limitations for your claim. The entire process must be planned taking into account this deadline, because the court will simply refuse the claim if the defendant claims that the statute of limitations has passed.

Identify the parties to the dispute and the court

In addition to the plaintiff, the process always involves a defendant, and sometimes even several defendants. In some cases there is also a third party and a prosecutor. The court must be informed about the parties to the dispute, so they must be identified before filing a claim.

Understand who to sue. The claim is brought against a specific person - the defendant. The plaintiff must determine the defendant himself before filing a claim in court. The claim must be filed against the one who must do something according to the law, and not against the offender, a bad person, or someone whom one wants to punish.

For example, the plaintiff was injured by a trolleybus driver. But the claim should be filed not against the trolleybus driver, but against the trolleybus depot. It was the company that provided transportation services and is responsible for the actions of the driver.

To correctly determine the defendant, it is necessary to translate the situation from human language into the language of law. To do this you need to answer the questions:

1. On whose behalf are the agreements, checks or other documents drawn up?
2. Who does the money ultimately go to and who benefits from the situation?
3. Who is directly responsible to you under the law?

Defendants can be not only people, but also organizations, public associations, authorities, cities, federal subjects and even the state itself.

Even the state can be the defendant

During the trial, the inappropriate defendant can be replaced. But this is difficult even for experienced lawyers. It’s easier to immediately indicate the correct one.

Think about who else you can sue. A claim can be brought against several defendants at once. Typically, the more defendants there are, the easier it is to get at least some of them to comply with the requirement.

Understand what to demand and from whom. When filing a claim against several defendants, you must indicate in what part each of them must fulfill the stated requirement.

For example, a car was damaged as a result of an accident, and the insurance company refused to pay insurance compensation. The plaintiff can file a claim against the insurance company and the person at fault for the accident.

You can recover insurance compensation from the insurance company within the limit of liability, a penalty for refusal to voluntarily comply with the requirement, and a fine if the insurance company does not comply with the requirement in pre-trial order. And from the driver at fault in the accident, you can recover the amount of damage not covered by insurance compensation and compensation for the loss of the marketable value of the car.

Sometimes defendants are joint and several debtors. Such debtors are obliged to jointly fulfill the same requirement. For example, borrowers of one loan are jointly liable for its failure to fulfill it, and the heirs who accepted the inheritance are jointly liable for the debts of the testator within the limits of the accepted inheritance.

The plaintiff can obtain performance from any of the debtors or from all of them in parts. This is convenient - it is easier to collect a debt from five defendants than from one.

For example, renovating an apartment that was flooded by upstairs neighbors in winter cost sixty thousand rubles. Three people live in the apartment on the top floor: a father - the owner of the premises - and two student sons. According to the law, family members of the owner of a residential premises bear joint and several liability with him for the obligations associated with the use of this premises. That is, the debt for repairs can be collected jointly from all three neighbors, rather than dividing it into each by twenty thousand and waiting until the students are able to collect that amount.

Check whether a third party should be involved. A third party is a person whose interests may suffer due to the decision made. If the absence of a third party in the process is clearly unfair, he must be indicated in the claim and the court must be asked to involve him in the case. Otherwise, the decision may be challenged by a third party.

For example, the plaintiff demanded to collect the defendant’s country house as a debt. The court granted the claim. Later it turned out that the house was mortgaged, and the mortgagee appealed the decision because he was not a third party involved in the process, and the claim was aimed at removing the house from the mortgage. The decision was reversed.

Find the addresses of the parties. The court must be informed of the addresses of the persons involved in the case. They can be seen in contract details, on receipts, websites and signs.

The legal address of the organization can be found on the Federal Tax Service website. An individual entrepreneur’s legal address coincides with his residential address, so it is not published in the public domain, just like the address of an ordinary individual. The IP address can be obtained by requesting an extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs about the individual entrepreneur’s place of residence.

It is most likely impossible to find out the address of an ordinary citizen on your own. Therefore, you can indicate the person’s last known place of residence, or at least the year and place of his birth. This data will be required for the court to request information about the address of an individual.

Choose a court to file a claim and a procedural law. Russia has two judicial systems and several procedural laws. Each of them has its own rules for filing a claim. We have already described in detail how to find the right court.

Check if there is any writ proceedings

In some cases, instead of a lawsuit, it is necessary to file an application for a court order. This happens, for example, when the dispute is related to a transaction in simple written form - a receipt, or concerns the collection of alimony or unpaid wages.

In writ proceedings there is no plaintiff and defendant - there is an applicant and a debtor. This is a simplified form of resolving civil cases. A court order is issued by a judge alone, without a hearing in court and without notifying the parties.

A court order has the force of a court decision and at the same time also acts as an executive document. That is, it can be immediately carried to the bailiffs.

According to the law, the magistrate court must issue an order within 5 days from the date of receipt of the application, and the arbitration court - within 10 days. The courts then send a copy of the order to the debtor, and he has 10 days to file an objection. If there are objections, the court order is canceled and you have to go to court with a claim.

Sometimes writing an application for an order is unnecessary fuss. Therefore, if you know that the defendant will fight and resist, try to get a written refusal from him to fulfill his obligations and prepare a lawsuit.

Follow the pre-trial dispute resolution procedure

To file some claims, it is necessary to follow the pre-trial settlement procedure: submit a claim, propose to enter into an agreement, or file a complaint with an administrative authority. If you skip this procedure, the court may not consider the claim or return it.

Clarify whether pre-trial procedure is mandatory. The law or contract may stipulate that before the court it is necessary to try to resolve the dispute peacefully. Then, before preparing a claim, you need to write a claim or other document.

For example, if you were hit in a parking lot and you file a claim for payment under the MTPL agreement, you first need to submit a claim - 10 days before filing the claim. The same requirement if the defendant in the claim is a tour operator and you need to return the money for the trip. And if you are going to sue over lost luggage, the claim must be submitted 30 days before the claim.

If you think that someone is responsible for someone else, check the law to see if there is vicarious liability. To file a claim against an additional debtor, you first need to send a demand to the main one, and if he does not fulfill it, contact the additional one. A claim filed in violation of this rule will most likely not be successful.

Prepare and submit a claim or other pre-trial document. A claim is a way to resolve a dispute peacefully. Its text should consist of the requirement and the deadline for its fulfillment. The claim must also indicate that if the requirement is not met, you will have to go to court.

You can send a pre-trial document:

1. by registered mail with acknowledgment of delivery. In this case, it makes sense to duplicate the claim by email to speed up the process;
2. by courier to the organization. This method is not used when sending a claim to the home address of an individual, because he may not be at home when the courier arrives;
3. against signature with the date of receipt and signature on a copy of the document or inventory, if you are transferring a large volume of documents.

In any of the options, you should keep a copy of the sent document in your hands. Proof of direction must also be preserved. This may be a postal receipt, a courier service coupon or a receipt stamp.

Count down the deadline. Check the defendant's deadline for responding to the claim. If the law specifies a reasonable period, it does not provide for a specific one. You need to estimate how long it would take to respond if you were in the defendant’s place.

If there is no response, now and only now file a claim. A statement of claim can be filed even if the debtor responds that he agrees to fulfill the requirement, but later.

Prepare documents attached to the claim

Documents that are publicly available and available to the parties can be prepared in one copy - for the court. Those documents that other participants in the process do not have - one for each participant. Additionally, you should make copies of all documents for yourself. This will make it easier to find the document you need and explain everything if the judge asks you.

As a rule, copies of documents, not originals, are attached to the claim.

A copy of the power of attorney for signing the claim. If the claim is signed by the plaintiff personally - an individual or the head of the plaintiff company - a power of attorney is not required. If the claim is signed by a representative, then a copy of the power of attorney must be attached to the claim.

When filing an administrative claim by a representative under a power of attorney, a copy of a document confirming that the representative has a higher legal education must also be attached to the claim.

Proof. Everything that is written in the claim must be supported by documents. Usually these are contracts, receipts, orders, receipts or payment orders. You can also use correspondence between the parties, photographs, screenshots and witness statements as evidence.

After accepting the claim, you will be able to provide additional evidence or request it through the court if you cannot obtain it yourself. This is how they request records of telephone conversations or internal corporate documents.

Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities or Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs. According to the law, a claim filed with an arbitration court must be accompanied by a recent extract from the tax register about the defendant - Unified State Register of Legal Entities or Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs. But in practice, it is enough to attach a printout from the Federal Tax Service website.

A copy of the registration certificate. The law requires that a copy of the certificate of state registration as a legal entity or individual entrepreneur be attached to the claim in the arbitration court. Now many courts no longer pay attention to this document. But it’s better to play it safe and follow all the formalities, otherwise the claim may be left without progress, and you will waste time.

The claim must also be accompanied by a calculation of the amount to be recovered, if the dispute is monetary, a receipt for payment of the state duty and documents that confirm compliance with the pre-trial procedure for resolving the dispute - a copy of the claim and proof of its submission.

The claim and its annexes must be filed in a court of general jurisdiction according to the number of defendants and third parties - the court will independently send documents to the parties to the dispute. The claim is submitted to the arbitration court in one copy, but together with evidence of sending the claim to the parties and its attachments.

Calculate the cost of the claim and pay the state fee

The court will not calculate for the plaintiff the amount of his claims if they are expressed in money. The plaintiff must calculate everything himself and prove that the calculations are correct.

Determine the nature of the claim and the cost of the claim. If the claim concerns the recovery of money or property, this is a property claim, and the value of the claim must be determined.

Typically, the cost of a claim is the sum of all monetary claims: debt, penalties and fines.

If the claim is not related to property, the value of the claim is not determined. These are, for example, demands for eviction, to challenge paternity, to protect copyright or honor, dignity and business reputation.

And the claim for compensation for moral damage is considered non-property, despite the fact that compensation for moral damage is expressed in money.

Prepare a claim calculation. A claim with a property claim must be accompanied by its calculation. It is necessary to make a calculation, even if it consists of simply adding several numbers - this is what the law requires:

50 110

The cost of repairs is RUB 50,110.
Compensation for loss of commodity value - 8200 RUR.
Payment for appraiser services - 7000 RUR.

50 110 R + 8200 R + 7000 R = 65,310 R.

Complex calculations can be done in the form of a table.

Calculation of property recovered in court

Property	Quantity	For 1 piece	Total
Camera	3 pcs	10,000 R	RUB 30,000
Suede jacket	3 pcs	7990 R	RUB 23,970
Record player	3 pcs	4100 R	RUB 12,300
Cigarette case	3 pcs	367 R	1101 R

Camera

Quantity

10,000 R

RUB 30,000

Suede jacket

Quantity

7990 R

RUB 23,970

Record player

Quantity

4100 R

RUB 12,300

Cigarette case

Quantity

367 R

1101 R

When calculating the penalty, you must indicate the period of delay, the amount of the principal debt and the interest rate. If the rate or principal amount has changed, the calculation will have to be divided into periods.

For evading the return of funds, interest can be charged at the key rate of the Bank of Russia. The easiest way to calculate such percentages is to use a special calculator. Another interest rate may be established by law or contract.

An example of calculating interest under Art. 395. The amount of the principal debt is 100,000 RUR, but on July 21 the debtor returned 10,000 RUR. On May 2, June 19, September 18 and October 30, the Bank of Russia reduced the key rate

Check whether the claim is exempt from state duty. You must pay a fee to file a claim. But there are exceptions. For example, you do not need to pay a state fee for a claim to protect consumer rights or to challenge the actions of a bailiff.

Calculate the state duty. The state duty for non-property claims is fixed, and for property claims it depends on the value of the claim. The filing fee in arbitration courts is more expensive than in courts of general jurisdiction - it is more expensive for organizations to sue than for individuals.

For example, a claim was filed with the arbitration court to recognize the ownership of three separate real estate objects. These are non-property claims, and each of them must be paid in the amount of 6,000 rubles. The total state duty will be 18,000 rubles.

Pay the state fee. To pay the fee, you must first find out the details. This can be done on the court's website. There you can download a receipt or payment receipt.

In the purpose of payment, it is necessary to indicate that this is a state duty to a specific court for a specific claim, for example: “state duty to the Leninsky District Court of Kursk for a claim for the collection of debt under a rental agreement.” If the fee is paid by proxy, it must be indicated that the payer is acting on behalf of the plaintiff. The original receipt must always be attached to the claim, not a copy.

File a claim

The claim must begin with the heading: in which court, from whom and to whom. Its content can then be divided into subsections.

First of all, the claim must describe the circumstances of the case in their chronological order. Then cover procedural issues - choice of court and compliance with the claim procedure. After this, describe your position on the merits of the dispute with references to the law that the court must apply to satisfy your requirements. At the end there is a pleading part, where you need to clearly formulate all the requirements.

Use ready-made samples. The structure, argumentation and references to the law can be borrowed from sample claims available on the Internet. Or you can find a court decision on an identical dispute and rewrite the argument in your claim.

Remove everything unnecessary. Often you have to write long claims with a huge number of references to laws and judicial acts. But if possible, the claim should be filed briefly.

The courts are full of cases and, most likely, your claim will not be read into. This is especially true for courts of general jurisdiction. Therefore, re-read the claim and remove all unnecessary things:

1. Moral assessments of the defendant.
2. Quotes from law textbooks.
3. Aphorisms and proverbs.
4. International conventions and the Constitution of the Russian Federation, if there is a law detailing their provisions.

Add emotions. Judges are not robots and they have emotions too. Therefore, a laconic claim should not be dry. Make it interesting for the judge to read the claim:

1. Divide the claim into subsections.
2. Highlight or underline important sentences.
3. Make an economic justification for the stated requirements.
4. Organize complex calculations into a table.
5. Add illustrations of points that are difficult to understand.
6. Refer to court decisions in similar cases.

Double check. Before filing a claim, you need to re-read it and double-check all applications. Documents must be arranged in order. If a claim is filed in an arbitration court, before filing, you must remember to attach to it proof of the direction of the claim with attachments to other participants in the process.

Certify the copies. Copies of documents that you submit to the court must be certified. If there are not enough documents, you just need to sign on each of them, put the date and write “Copy is correct.” If there are a lot of documents, you can sew them together, stick a piece of paper and sign on it under the phrase “Copy is correct.”

Send out and sue

The defendant and third parties must familiarize themselves with the claim before the court hearing. Therefore, the plaintiff has the obligation to prepare copies of it with attachments for other participants in the process. Copies of documents that other parties already have do not need to be made.

Copies for other parties. In courts of general jurisdiction, the court independently distributes copies of procedural documents to the participants in the process. Therefore, when filing a claim, you must attach a copy of it and copies of attachments according to the number of parties.

When filing a claim with the arbitration court, you must forward the claim and copies of documents to the other participants in the process.

File a claim. You can file a claim in court in person through the office, send it by mail or electronically on the websites “Electronic Justice” and “My Arbitrator”, having previously registered on the government services portal.

The court office has its own operating hours. You can find out the exact time for accepting statements of claim on the court’s website or by phone. Most courts will accept claims from anyone without a power of attorney. But sometimes court employees ask to see a passport, power of attorney, or even a diploma indicating that the representative has a higher legal education. It is also better to clarify such features by phone.

A claim sent by mail is considered filed on the day it is sent to the post office. Therefore, if deadlines are pressing, you have time to send your claim by mail until 00:00 the next day. Usually the local main post office is open the latest. Additionally, you can duplicate the claim through the “Electronic Justice” or “My Arbitrator” websites.

It is necessary to file a claim electronically through the account of the person who signed the claim. That is, if the claim is signed by V.A. Ivanov, then the claim must be filed through his personal account.

Check whether the court accepted the claim. Within 5 days from the date of receipt of the claim, the court must decide whether to accept it for proceedings. For administrative claims the period is shorter - 3 days. You can find out whether the claim has been accepted in the file of arbitration cases, on the court’s website or by calling the office.

What happens if you make a mistake when filing a claim?

If the claim does not contain the necessary information or does not attach all the documents, the court will leave the claim without progress and set a deadline for eliminating these violations in a special ruling.

If the court's ruling is executed, the claim will be considered filed on the day it was initially submitted to the court. If not, the claim will be returned to the plaintiff. This is important when there is a risk that the statute of limitations will expire.

For example, the plaintiff calculated that the statute of limitations expires on April 19. He filed a claim on April 17, but forgot to attach to it a calculation of the amount to be recovered. The court left the claim without motion and ordered the settlement to be submitted by April 30. The plaintiff calculated everything and submitted the document to the court on the 27th. During the court hearing, the defendant stated that the statute of limitations had passed. The court did not satisfy this application, because the claim is considered filed on April 17.

There are more serious violations in which the claim is immediately returned:

1. The mandatory pre-trial dispute resolution procedure was not followed.
2. The lawsuit was filed in the wrong court.
3. Stated demands must be considered in an orderly manner.
4. The violations that caused the claim to be abandoned have not been eliminated.

That's all. Then the court will set a date for the hearing, and justice will prevail. Or not.