Amendments to the Civil Procedure Code on the allocation of court costs to persons who abuse procedural rights

On October 8, 2025, Federal Law No. 1035487-8 “On Amendments to the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation” was submitted to the State Duma for consideration.

As noted in the explanatory memorandum to the draft law, it was developed to protect citizens and organizations from abuse of procedural rights by other participants in court proceedings, aimed at establishing uniformity of powers of arbitration and civil courts in combating abuse of procedural rights, and designed to discipline participants in court proceedings, optimize the process of considering court cases, and reduce the burden on courts of general jurisdiction.

Civil proceedings lack a mechanism analogous to Article 111 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for the possibility of imposing court costs on a party that abuses its procedural rights. The absence of such an instrument in courts of general jurisdiction leads to inequality in the procedural opportunities of the parties, encourages unfair conduct by participants in the proceedings, and results in the prolongation of court proceedings.

The proposed regulation eliminates this gap and harmonizes the approaches of civil and arbitration proceedings, forming a single legal standard of good faith behavior of participants in legal proceedings.

It is proposed to supplement the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation with a new Article 98.1, “Imposition of Court Costs on a Person Abusing Their Procedural Rights,” which will provide for both general and specific grounds for imposing court costs on a party abusing their procedural rights, namely:

• if the defendant ignores the claim, fails to respond to it in a timely manner, or fails to conduct a mandatory expert examination, the court will impose all court costs on the defendant, regardless of the outcome of the case;
• in the event of any abuse of procedural rights that leads to the disruption of a court hearing, delays in the proceedings, or obstruction of the decision-making process, the court shall have the right to charge all court costs to the unscrupulous participant.

According to the authors of the draft law, the adoption of the bill will contribute to strengthening the principle of good faith in civil proceedings, ensure equal procedural opportunities for the parties, and create uniformity in law enforcement practice with arbitration proceedings.

Link: https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/1035487-8

Draft law № 1035487-8