Russian courts introduced certain measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Parties should take these measures into consideration when developing their litigation strategies.

Russia’s Supreme Court and the Counsel of Judges on March 18 made a joint statement to address measures Russian courts must take to prevent the COVID-19 spread. The joint statement refers to the Federal Law on Sanitary and Epidemic Safety and the Federal Law on Protection of the Population and Territory against Extraordinary Events, as well as various COVID-19-related resolutions and decrees of the Russian healthcare authorities. Read the joint statement in Russian.

Steps the Courts Must Take

The statement lists six key steps to be immediately applied by every court in Russia, as follows:

1. In-person meetings in a court must be limited; all submissions must be made electronically or by post.
2. Courts may consider only (a) urgent cases, such as cases concerning arrests, protection of minors, and medical interventions in extreme cases, and (b) cases to be considered in a simplified (uproshennoe proizvodstvo) or default (prikaznoe proizvodstvo) format.
3. All courts must use video conference facilities to the maximum extent.
4. All judges and clerks are must proceed with self-isolation should any minor symptoms of illness appear.
5. Access of third parties which are not parties to the proceedings should be limited.
6. Such measures to remain in force between 19 March and 10 April (but this date may change).

The list of cases which are considered urgent is open. We cannot exclude that requests to impose urgent injunctive measures in a commercial dispute context would also be treated urgent. In any event, as a matter of law, these requests are considered in absentia (without presence of the parties involved).

Moscow & Saint Petersburg Measures

Some local courts have immediately adopted their implementing regulations and posted them on the websites, such the Arbitrazh Court of the City of Moscow (Moscow Court) and the Arbitrazh Court of Saint Petersburg and Leningradskaya Oblast (the Saint Petersburg Court). The Moscow Court, the busiest commercial court in Russia, has made further steps and applied, among other things, the following measures to be effective within the same time period:

• Prohibit the court to accept submission of documents in the court.
• Allow for docket filing either through My Arbitr electronic filing system or by post.
• Hearings will be maintained only on urgent cases (which are to be finally adjudicated within 10 days) and on simplified proceedings which do not require hearings as a matter of law.
• Access of the court files is only allowed in relation to appeal claims’ submission.
• Physical collection of enforcement writs will be possible only for injunctions.
• All scheduled court hearings will be cancelled, with new dates to be set later, after 10 April (this date may change).

The Saint Petersburg Court indicated that court hearings will be maintained in relation to imposing administrative liability as well as for cancelling the injunctions. The court encouraged its judges and staff as well as visitors to wear medical masks and comply with hygiene recommendations.

The joint statement also refers to video conference facilities. These facilities have limited capacity and will not be available for all hearings (including urgent). The Moscow Court and the Saint Petersburg Court do not directly mention video conferencing among the measures they have been taking.

Impact on Statute of Limitations

There is no law which extends a statute of limitation until the measures are lifted. For example, Russian Civil Code Art. 202 lists situations where the statute of limitations may be suspended; they include extraordinary and unforeseeable events which prevent a party from bringing a claim (force majeure). It is not clear whether these measures could be a valid excuse to claim extension of the statute of limitation in a particular case. Most likely, it will be resolved on a case-by-case basis. This is because (a) court filings can always be made electronically or by post (and that has already been a customary practice in Russia); and (b) courts can still consider urgent cases, and whether a case is urgent will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Additional Resources

For our clients, we have formed a multidisciplinary Coronavirus COVID-19 Task Force to help guide you through the broad scope of legal issues brought on by this public health challenge. We also have launched a resource page to help keep you on top of developments as they unfold.