On 30 July 2018, the Federal Constitutional Law № 1 FKZ “On amending the Federal Constitutional law „On the Judicial System of the Russian Federation“ and certain Federal Constitutional Laws in regard to creating general jurisdiction courts of cassation and general jurisdiction appellate courts” dated 29 July 2018 was published. In respect thereof, the system of judicial review is changing. According to the new law, the judicial system will be as follows:
| First instance | Appeal | Cassation appeal (tier 1) | Cassation appeal (tier 2) | Supervisory appeal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District court | Court of the constituent entity | Court of cassation | Judicial chamber of the Supreme Court of the RF | Presidium of the Supreme Court of the RF |
| Court of the constituent entity | Appellate court | Court of cassation | Judicial chamber of the Supreme Court of the RF | Presidium of the Supreme Court of the RF |
| The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation | Judicial chamber on appeal of the Supreme Court of the RF | No review | No review | Presidium of the Supreme Court of the RF |
| Garrison court | Circuit/naval court | Military court of cassation | Judicial chamber of the Supreme Court of the RF | Presidium of the Supreme Court of the RF |
| Circuit/naval court | Military court of appeal | Military court of cassation | Judicial chamber of the Supreme Court of the RF | Presidium of the Supreme Court of the RF |
| Justice of the peace | District court | Court of cassation | Judicial chamber of the Supreme Court of the RF | Presidium of the Supreme Court of the RF |
Within the scope of the ongoing reformation, special judicial circuits will be created. These judicial circuits do not match the judicial circuits of commercial (Arbitrazh) courts and the federal circuits of the Russian Federation.
Appellate courts
General jurisdiction appellate courts hear appeal petitions and re-examine decisions on the basis of new and newly discovered facts. General jurisdiction appellate courts only hear appeals on judicial acts that have not come into legal force passed by courts of the constituent entities at first instance.
Nevertheless, since newly organized courts will be named “appeal”, there are concerns that parties will file appeals on district court decisions in appeal courts.
Appeallate courts will consist of a presidium and three judicial chambers: on civil, administrative and criminal cases. A president of the court and his assistants will be appointed for six years from among the judges of this court.
Presidium will consist of a president of the court, his assistants and other judges of the court.
The system of appeal courts will be as follows:
| Courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation | Appeal circuit |
|---|---|
| Regional (oblast`) courts: Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kostroma, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow Region, Novgorod, Orel, Pskov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, Yaroslavl Citycourts: Moscow | First—Moscow |
| Supreme courts of republics: Komi, Karelia Courts of autonomous areas: Nenets, Khanty-Mansi — Yugra, Yamal-Nenets Regional (oblast`) courts: Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kurgan, Leningrad, Murmansk, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk Citycourts: St. Petersburg | Second— St. Petersburg |
| Supreme courts of republics: Adygea, Kalmykia, Crimea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachayevo-Cherkesiya, North Ossetia-Alania, Chechnya Territory (krai) courts: Krasnodar, Stavropol Regional (oblast`) courts: Astrakhan, Volgograd, Rostov City courts: Sevastopol | Third — Sochi (Krasnodar Territory(Krai)) |
| Supreme Сourts of republics: Bashkortostan, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Chuvash Territory (krai) courts: Perm Regional (oblast`) courts: Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk | Fourth — Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod Region (Oblast`)) |
| Supreme Сourts of republics: Altai, Buryatia, Tuva, Sakha (Yakutia), Khakassia Territory (krai) courts: Altai, ZabaikalskiyKrai, Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk, Primorsky, Khabarovsk Regional (oblast`) courts: Amur, Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Magadan, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Sakhalin, Tomsk Courts of autonomous areas: Chukotka Courts of autonomous regions: Jewish | Fifth— Novosibirsk (Novosibirsk Region (Oblast`)) |
Cassation court
The new law grants cassation courts the same powers to hear cases as presidiums of the regional (oblast`) courts have now. Consequently, the presidiums will lose the functions of cassation review.
Previously chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation V.M. Lebedev proposed1 to make cassation review not «selective», but «continuous», so, the powers of cassation courts may be changed in the future. Out of 530,000 cassation appeals in civil, administrative and criminal cases only about 18,000 have been submitted for consideration for 2017, representing approximately 3 per cent of the all cases1 .
Cassation courts will hear cassation appeals against judicial decisions which acts that have not come into legal force , regardless whether appeal was considered in courts of the constituent entities or in appellate courts as and re-examine decisions on the basis of new and newly discovered facts.
The structure and formation procedure of cassation courts are similar to the appellate courts: a president of the court, his assistants and three judicial chambers.
The law stipulates the following cassation districts:
| Regions | Cassation districts |
|---|---|
| Republics: Mordovia Regions (oblast`): Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Orel, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Saratov, Tula | First —Saratov (Saratov Region(Oblast`)) |
| Regions (oblast`): Vladimir, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Yaroslavl Cities: Moscow | Second — Moscow |
| Republics: Karelia, Komi Regions (oblast`): Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, Pskov Cities: St. Petersburg Autonomous Areas: Nenets | Third — St. Petersburg |
| Republics: Adygea, Kalmykia, Crimea Territories (krai): Krasnodar Regions (oblast`): Astrakhan, Volgograd, Rostov Cities: Sevastopol | Fourth—Krasnodar (Krasnodar Territory (Krai)) |
| Republics: Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkarian, Karachay-Cherkess, North Ossetia-Alania, Chechnya Territories (krai): Stavropol | Fifth — Pyatigorsk (Stavropol Territory(Krai)) |
| Republics: Bashkortostan, Mari El, Tatarstan, Udmurt, Chuvashia Regions (oblast`): Kirov, Orenburg, Samara, Ulyanovsk | Sixth — Samara (Samara Region(Oblast`)) |
| Regions (oblast`): Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk Territories (krai): Perm Autonomous areas: Khanty-Mansi — Yugra, Yamal-Nenets | Seventh — Chelyabinsk (Chelyabinsk Region(Oblast`)) |
| Republics: Altai, Buryatia, Tyva, Khakassia Territories (krai): Altai, Trans-Baikal, Krasnoyarsk Regions (oblast`): Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk Region, Tomsk | Eighth — Kemerovo (Kemerovo Region(Oblast`)) |
| Republics: Sakha (Yakutia) Territories (krai): Kamchatka, Primorye, Khabarovsk Regions (oblast`): Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin Autonomous region (oblast`): Jewish Autonomous areas: Chukotka | Ninth — Vladivostok (Primorye Territory(Krai)) |
To increase accessibility to justice the law allowed creation of permanent presence of judgment seat of appellate courts and cassation courts, which will be located outside the permanent seat of the courts.
In general, the reform will indeed separate appellate courts and courts of cassation, that will have favorable impact on their independence.
1http://www.vsrf.ru/press_center/mass_media/26645/
2According to statistics of the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court for 2017, section 8 and 9:http://www.cdep.ru/index.php?id=79&item=4476