The State Duma has introduced draft amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, according to the current version of which, the realization of the right to judicial protection is actually possible only in cases where the plaintiff knows information about the defendant – a natural person (individual entrepreneur, self-employed), which must be specified in the statement of claim in accordance with paragraph 3 of Part 2 of Article 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

The explanatory note notes that such information is classified by law as personal data, and there is no legal mechanism allowing the plaintiff to obtain it to exercise his right to judicial protection.

The draft law proposes to supplement Article 28 of the Code of Civil Procedure and establish that a claim against a defendant whose place of residence is unknown may be brought at the place of residence of the plaintiff. In this case, the rules of territorial jurisdiction are not changed, since after the defendant’s place of residence is established, the case should be considered under the general rules established by the Code.

It should be noted that the draft law does not provide for amendments to paragraph 1 of Article 29 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, which provides that a claim against a defendant whose place of residence is unknown or who has no place of residence in the Russian Federation may be filed with the court at the location of his property or at his last known place of residence in the Russian Federation, and in this regard there may be a conflict of norms.

In addition, it is planned to provide the plaintiff with a procedural tool for establishing information about the defendant, which is necessary for filing a lawsuit in court, but is not available to the plaintiff. Such an instrument is a request for assistance in establishing information about the defendant provided for in paragraph 3, part 2, Article 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

It is also envisaged that the court will have the right to refuse to satisfy the application if the claim does not meet the requirements set out in Articles 131 and 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure, except for the lack of information about the defendant, which the plaintiff has requested to be identified, and (or) documents confirming that copies of the statement of claim and attached documents have been sent to the defendant. This will allow to exclude cases of providing the plaintiff with information about the defendant without sufficient grounds. In order for the court to grant the motion to establish information about the defendant, the plaintiff must attach to the claim all the documents required by law, including payment of the state duty, attach documents confirming the circumstances on which he bases his claims. If the court denies the request, the statement of claim will be returned to the plaintiff in accordance with the general rules of the Code.

It is planned to supplement Article 133 of the Code of Civil Procedure with a new paragraph 1.1, according to which the court shall be empowered to independently determine the composition of information about the defendant necessary to consider the issue of accepting the statement of claim for proceedings. This approach will allow to exclude the transfer to the plaintiff of information about the defendant, which is not required for the decision on the acceptance of the claim and will ensure the legally established regime of personal data security.

In addition, it is proposed to establish a procedure for the court to consider the acceptance of a lawsuit filed at the plaintiff’s place of residence because the plaintiff does not know the place of residence of the defendant, as well as a lawsuit that lacks some information about the defendant, which is unknown to the plaintiff. In such a case, the court shall consider the issue of accepting the claim for proceedings within the general term, but the term itself begins to run from the moment when the necessary information about the defendant is obtained.

Document: Bill No. 631982-8 “On Amending the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation”.