KOMMERSANT. THE DEFENDANT AND THE PLAINTIFF ARE GOING TO PAY OFF THE TRIAL. THE SUPREME COURT HAS REVIEWED THE ISSUE OF COST ALLOCATION

The RF Supreme Court has ruled in a case concerning the recovery of court expenses from the plaintiff in favor of the defendant in partial satisfaction of the claim. The Chamber for Commercial Disputes recognized that the amount of costs should not exceed the amount claimed.

Elena Gladysheva, Managing Partner of RI-Consulting, explains whether the court costs recovered from the plaintiff may exceed the amount claimed from the defendant.

Assessment of the decision of the Supreme Court Chamber and explanations of the key conclusions and implications of this position for practice:

"The issue of reimbursement of costs incurred by participants of the process in the consideration of a case in court, always remains relevant for the Russian legislation and law enforcement practice. At present this legal institute continues to actively develop and improve.
As a general rule (Article 98 of the Civil Procedural Code, Article 110 of the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation) the court shall obligate the party in whose favor the court judgment was rendered, to compensate from the other party all court costs incurred in the case consisting of state and court costs (postage costs, notary fees, expenses on the services of representatives, etc.). If the claim is satisfied partially, the court expenses shall be imposed on the plaintiff in proportion to the amount of the satisfied claims, and on the defendant in proportion to the part of the claim in which the plaintiff was denied.
At the same time, it should be noted that the institution of court costs has a compensatory function, i.e., it is aimed at reimbursing the costs incurred by the participant in the course of court proceedings, and cannot be a means of enrichment of one party at the expense of another.

The obligation of the court to impose court costs within reasonable limits is one of the legal means provided by the law, aimed against unreasonable exaggeration of the amount of payment for the services of a representative. Thus, in resolving the issue of the amount of court costs, the court is obliged to strike a balance between the rights of the persons involved in the case (Determination of the RF Constitutional Court dd. 21.12.2004 No. 454-O).
At the same time, it is not uncommon for courts to arbitrarily determine their size without taking into account the actual circumstances of the case when allocating court costs. For example, in the case under consideration the lower courts formed a legal situation in which the person in whose favor the judgment was rendered (on partial satisfaction of claims) must pay to the person who violated his rights, money in an amount exceeding the amount recovered in his favor," - noted the advocate.

"In our opinion, such a distribution of court costs does not take into account the essence of the material legal relations arising between the parties, limits the possibility of protecting violated rights, does not provide restoration of the material area of the plaintiff, in whose favor the judgment is rendered, but, on the contrary, entails the emergence of losses for him.
Similar conclusions were reached by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in the commented Ruling (Ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 309-ES21-7888 dd. December 9, 2022), rightly and reasonably indicating that the approach used by lower courts does not ensure the implementation of such tasks as strengthening legality and prevention of offenses in the sphere of business and other economic activity, the formation of respect for the law and the court.
This position of the RF Supreme Court is not new for law enforcement practice (see Ruling of the RF Supreme Court No. 305-ES19-26346 dd. February 26, 2020), but it is still relevant and important in the evolving institution of court costs," - reported the advocate.


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