Appealing a judgment

What is happening

The court dismissed the claim for lack of proof, even though the documents were in the file; they were simply not examined, or were wrongly assessed. You want to know whether that is a reason to appeal or whether it is too late to argue.

You found out about the judgment when the bailiffs arrived: the hearing went ahead without you, and notices were sent to an old address. On paper the appeal deadline has passed, and the judgment is already being enforced.

The appeal court upheld the judgment, repeating the reasoning below. What remains is cassation, and you need to know which arguments it can consider at all.

What the law says

• Under the Code of Civil Procedure, an appeal is lodged within one month of the judgment being issued in final form, through the court that gave it. Appeals from justices of the peace go to the district court; appeals from district courts go to the regional-level court, which in Moscow is the Moscow City Court.
• The appeal court admits new evidence only if a party could not produce it at first instance for good reason. An appeal therefore usually rests on errors in assessing the evidence, in applying the law, and on procedural breaches.
• Hearing a case without proper notice to a party is an unconditional ground for setting the judgment aside; in that event the appeal court rehears the case under first-instance rules.
• A deadline missed for a good reason may be restored by the court on application; the application is filed together with the appeal itself.
• A cassation complaint goes to the cassation court of general jurisdiction within three months of the judgment taking effect, provided it was first appealed. Cassation does not reassess the evidence; it checks whether the law was correctly applied.
• A judgment that has taken effect is enforced even while a cassation complaint is pending; enforcement may be suspended on a separate application, at the court's discretion.

What we do

• We obtain the reasoned judgment and the hearing minutes and inspect the case file.
• We check the dates: when the judgment was issued, when you received it, and whether there are grounds to restore the deadline.
• We identify arguments the higher court can accept: evidence that was not examined, law wrongly applied, procedural breaches.
• We draft the appeal and, where needed, applications to restore the deadline and to admit new evidence, with reasons.
• We represent you on appeal; if the judgment is in your favour, we prepare the response to the other side's appeal.
• We prepare the cassation complaint and an application to suspend enforcement if one is needed.

What we will need from you

• The judgment in final form and the date you received it.
• Hearing minutes or audio recordings, if available.
• Copies of the documents you filed and any evidence you were unable to put before the court.
• If it is the other party who has appealed, a copy of their appeal.
• Details of how you were notified of hearings, if you did not attend.