On 24 March 2026, the State Duma adopted Bill No. 1136722-81 at its third reading, proposing to transfer the powers to review decisions of magistrates’ courts on cassation appeal from the cassation courts of general jurisdiction to the courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The initiative was put forward by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
Context of the changes
The 2019 reform, which established extraterritorial cassation courts, was conceived as a mean of ensuring the complete independence of judges, as the district courts were not directly linked to most of the constituent entities of the federation. However, the mass transfer of cases to courts of general jurisdiction has led to a significant overload of the courts. This has been significantly influenced by the categories of cases originally heard by magistrates, including family disputes and disputes concerning administrative offences.
Key changes
According to the text of the draft law, the key changes provide for the transfer of powers to review, by way of cassation, final decisions of magistrates and appeal rulings of district courts to courts of cities of federal significance, regional courts and courts of equivalent status. The changes will affect all procedural codes — the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the Administrative Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, district courts will continue to hear cassation appeals against decisions of district and garrison military courts, as well as against acts of the courts of the constituent entities themselves, adopted by them as courts of first instance.
Lidings’ comments
Although there are some concerns that the reform implies a return to the previously existing judicial system model, in fact, the innovations contribute to ensuring better quality justice. First and foremost, moving hearings (particularly under Russian Code of Administrative Procedure and the Code of Civil Procedure) to the regional level makes participation in court proceedings more accessible for the parties. At the same time, the reduction in the number of cases heard by district courts should lead to a certain easing of the workload on judges, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the quality of judicial decisions.