Review of court practice on bankruptcy in 2022
The approved review by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation reflects 37 positions on various issues based on the decisions of the Economic Disputes Collegium for the year 2022.
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Issuance of an enforcement order for the implementation of an arbitration court decision may be refused if its execution violates anti-crisis measures
As follows from the court's conclusions stated in the Resolution of the Central District Arbitration Court dated February 27, 2023 in case No. A14-13590/2022, anti-crisis measures related to obligations to foreign persons are part of the public order of the Russian Federation.
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Dealing with accounts receivable
Many companies increasingly face the prospect that their partners cannot fulfill their obligations because of the difficult economic situation and issues related to accounts receivable became relevant to many of our clients.Read more
Collection of accounts receivable in court proceedings
Any commercial organization or individual entrepreneur carrying out business activities under contracts that do not provide for 100% prepayment, face a situation sooner or later where the counterparty has receivables, payment of which is not always possible to achieve on a voluntary basis.Read more
Lawsuits from LLCs against shareholders to contest major transactions have to be submitted to arbitration courts
The claimant company applied to the arbitration court with a demand to invalidate the loan agreement (major transaction) between it and its individual member and to apply the consequences of the transaction invalidity. The court of first instance referred the case to the court of general jurisdiction. The court of appeal agreed with this position and upheld the decision of the court of first instance.Read more
Unenforceability of arbitration or prorogation agreement in connection with the sanctions of foreign states
The parties to a foreign economic contract, when structuring contractual relations, quite often include a condition in the contract to refer disputes to a foreign court (prorogation agreement) or international commercial arbitration (arbitration agreement) located outside the territory of the Russian Federation, or enter into a separate agreement regarding this issue.
However, the economic sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States and a number of other countries against the Russian Federation, Russian legal entities and individuals have a significant impact on their ability to comply with an agreement on referring disputes to the jurisdiction of a foreign court or international commercial arbitration.
Recent changes in labor law and important rulings in court practice
- The dismissal of an employee for failure to achieve labour indicators is illegal, unless the employer proves the employee’s fault and the fact that, within the framework of labour relations, the employee is obliged to achieve specific indicators, as well as the fact that the employer has created all the necessary working conditions to achieve the necessary indicators. Ruling of the 1st Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction dated November 01, 2022 No. 88-28704/2022.
- Dismissal for absenteeism is illegal, unless the employee was requested an explanation for each day of absenteeism. As follows from Ruling of the 5th Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction dated November 15, 2022 No. 88-8733/2022, if in the dismissal order for absenteeism the employer refers to several episodes of absenteeism (absence from the workplace for more than 4 hours in a row), explanations are to be requested from the employee with regard to each of them.
- As follows from Ruling of the 7th Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction dated November 15, 2022 No. 88-17397/2022, the employer may recover only the actual costs of training from the employee, the collection of interest, indexation and penalties in such cases is illegal, as it worsens the position of the employee as compared with the rules of the labour law.
- In 2023, the minimum wage will be RUB 16,242, which is RUB 963 higher than in 2022.
- According to Draft Federal Law No. 270457-8, it is planned to allow confirming the passage of labour protection briefings by an employee through electronic document management, if the employer has implemented such a system. Confirmation can be arranged through the enhanced qualified electronic signature. Conducting targeted briefing on labour protection is planned to be confirmed as previously.
- As follows from Ruling of the 4th Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction dated October 18, 2022 No. 88-23846/2022, the dismissal of a pregnant employee based on testing results is illegal. The court recalled that it is impossible to establish a probation period for pregnant employees, and if it was established in the contract, these provisions shall not apply. The employer will have to return the employee dismissed for this reason to her position, even if it was unaware of the pregnancy at the time of dismissal.
Review of the judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 2 (2022)
On October 12, 2022, the "Review of Judicial Practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 2 (2022)" was published, approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on October 12, 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the "Review").
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Expansion of the prosecutor's powers in the arbitration process
From October 18, 2022, amendments to the Commercial Procedural Code of the Russian Federation will come into force, according to which the powers of the prosecutor in the arbitration process will be expanded. [1] Read more
Provisions on agreements for out-of-court dispute settlement
Complying with a mandatory pre-trial dispute settlement procedure is a condition for anyone to exercise their right to go to court (Article 135(1(1)) Russian Code of Civil Procedure, Article 129(1(5)) Russian Code of Commercial Procedure). In cases provided by law or agreements, it is mandatory for the parties to an agreement to provide for a pre-trial dispute settlement procedure (Article 4(5) Russian Code of Commercial Procedure and other regulations) или договором.Read more