What should a woman do if her husband threatens physical violence? Legal advice

05/14/2017 Crimes against life and health 0 comments

Threats after divorce are a regular occurrence in Russia. Women rarely know what to do if their ex-husband threatens and insults, so they do not take any measures at all. You have the right to protection under the law of the Russian Federation; contact law enforcement agencies and they will provide you with qualified assistance.

What to do if your ex-husband threatens you

A broken marriage is a serious help in conflict situations that lead to a person’s imbalance, threats, and violence. If your ex-husband threatens you with physical harm, contact the police immediately.

Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Threat of murder and infliction of grievous bodily harm” provides protection from attacks on a citizen’s health and will help protect against threats. If the police do not want to accept the statement, contact the prosecutor’s office; the problem will not be solved by itself.

Make sure it is legal to transfer your loan debt to collectors

The bank can transfer your loan for collection to third parties only in two options:

• According to Art. 382 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, when the debt is completely assigned to a third party. In this case, the lender changes. The debtor's consent is not required for this.
• An agreement is concluded between the bank and the collection agency, in which the latter assumes the functions of a debt collector. This possibility must be specified in the loan agreement.

In both cases, the borrower must be notified of the changes. If this does not happen, then in the first option the borrower has the right to repay the debt to the original creditor; in the second, he can simply ignore attempts at communication from collectors. This way you can stall for time. In turn, banks try to correct the mistake by sending a notification by registered mail. After this, it will be more difficult to evade interaction with collectors.

How to obtain and process evidence

To open a case and protect yourself, you need to obtain evidence of threats from your ex-husband. To do this, you can record your conversations, shoot videos, show correspondence, etc. Such materials will allow you to initiate a case against your husband under Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

If your former partner not only threatens you, but also physically harms you, you need to go to the hospital and get a certificate of battery. This certificate will start a serious case that will save you from your husband’s attention forever.

If there is beating, the judge will consider not only Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but also an injunction prohibiting the ex-husband from approaching his wife. Violation of such a prohibition is punishable by imprisonment, depending on the severity of the crime committed. You will no longer need to worry about your ex-husband’s threats over the phone; they are subject to a ban.

When preparing a claim in court, indicate all the circumstances of the case in as much detail as possible, attach to the claim a certificate of beatings, and all available materials that will confirm your words. If you do not know how to properly file a claim, contact a professional lawyer for advice.

Why do calls from collectors start?

If a collection agency has contacted a person, this means that the bank has taken extreme measures to recover the debt and has transferred the right of collection to another organization. The lender has the right to do this if such a measure of influence is enshrined in the agreement concluded when taking out a loan. An organization can transfer the situation into the hands of agencies in one of two ways:

• apply as a client, asking to take measures to collect the debt;
• completely sell the rights to return funds (the so-called assignment agreement), essentially transferring the loan completely to the agency.

In the first case, collectors call with a request to return funds to the bank; in the second, they themselves become a creditor to whom the borrower has obligations. This is not a reason to panic, especially if the agency is conscientious and operates within the framework of the law - in this case, its employees themselves are ready to meet the client halfway and offer favorable repayment terms.

Where to go and how to behave

Do not give in to emotions, try to be detached, in moments when your husband threatens physical violence, adhere to the following sequence of actions:

1. Do not threaten your ex-husband to go to the police, this will only make the situation worse. Try to record several conversations without him noticing. The records must have the date and time; this information will be needed in court.
2. Contact your relatives and neighbors. If you scream loudly, your neighbors can confirm this during the court hearing. It is advisable that your relatives and friends try to support you and be on your side. In the event of a trial, your relatives will be called as witnesses; it is important that they confirm your version of events.
3. Call the police, call the squad, the employees must draw up a report and open a case.
4. If law enforcement officers refuse to help you, contact the prosecutor's office. If the prosecutor's office is inactive, write a letter to the prosecutor general about the violation of your rights and failure to fulfill duties by the prosecutors of your city.
5. After opening a case, you must be present in court and give evidence.

What actions of debt collectors are legal?

It’s worth saying right away: any conscientious agency is interested in the person successfully getting rid of the loan, and acts in his interests. The activities of collectors are regulated by 230-FZ, a law introduced in 2021 that imposes serious restrictions on their rights. If an agency violates this law, we are talking, at a minimum, about an unscrupulous organization with which it is unprofitable and even dangerous to get involved. These could even be scammers planning to get more funds from the client than necessary.

Frequency of calls.

According to the rules set out in the law, collectors can contact the client:

• once a day;
• twice a week;
• up to 8 times a month.

Anything beyond these limits is a violation. Calls can be made from 8 am to 10 pm on weekdays, from 9 am to 8 pm on weekends, and the time is calculated according to the time zone of the region where the borrower is located.

Communication and tone.

When calling, an employee of a collection agency must introduce himself, provide his first and last name, and the name of the organization where he works. After this, you can start talking about obligations, but only within the framework of the information that the bank provided to the agents. If an employee reports something that the agency cannot and should not know, it makes sense to be wary. Agents cannot know your work phone numbers if you have not indicated them, and are obliged to conduct a conversation only within the framework of real information about your debt. A harsh tone, psychological violence, threats and lies about the amount of obligations - the collector has no right to any of this, and if he behaves this way, the agency is being dishonest.

Calls to third parties.

Yes, collectors have the right to call not only the borrower himself. But the third parties with whom they can contact are exclusively those people whose numbers you indicated when signing the agreement, provided that they themselves sent consent to the collection agency to interact. The collection agency does not have the right to call others. Moreover, calls can only be made to the numbers specified in the contract. No one can call your relatives at work or at home if you have not informed their bank: this is a violation of the law. One more nuance: if third parties are not your guarantors, the agency does not have the right to disclose to them information protected by bank secrecy. Employees cannot inform friends and relatives of the borrower about the amount of debt, circumstances and terms of payment. If this happens, they are breaking the law.

Protect yourself and your children

Before going to court, it is advisable to arrange a move to a new place. To relatives or just to another city. This can help completely get rid of your ex-husband's attention.

When going to court, indicate that due to constant death threats from your ex, you and your children had to change your place of residence out of fear for the lives of the children. Such facts, supported by evidence, will help you win your case in court and punish the person threatening you as much as possible.

How to understand that debt collectors are violating the law

If you encounter an agency operating illegally, this is usually immediately noticeable: representatives act rudely and harshly, call every day, use pressure and psychological violence, contact relatives, provide false information or disclose confidential information. But sometimes such measures begin only later, so it is recommended that, as soon as you encounter calls from an agency, you find out information about it on the Internet. This can be done using the FSSP register, access to which is open to everyone: the database contains information about all registered agencies. If what contacted you is not there, this is a reason to be wary. Conscientious agents usually do not hide information about themselves. For example, on the EOS website you can find out everything about how we work with clients. If an organization tries to ensure that as little as possible is known about it, this is not a very good sign.

Specify the loan agreement number and the amount of debt

If a debt collector calls you, please clarify what kind of loan agreement we are talking about. There are times when there is confusion and you may be presented with claims for someone else’s debt. If there is no error, find out the amount of debt. It should not differ significantly from the amount that the bank told you at the time. The difference can only be in the amount of fines and penalties.

At the beginning of communication with the claimant, be sure to ask him to introduce himself and name his position. You must know who exactly you are dealing with. This question forces many collection agency employees to be more correct in further conversations, because there is no “anonymity” effect.

How to hold people accountable?

Prosecution for threats emanating from an ex-husband can be carried out on the basis of several articles of the Criminal Code. The specific article is determined by the investigator after considering the application to initiate a criminal case. Such a case is opened on the basis of a complaint filed by the victim to the police or investigative committee at the victim’s place of residence.

In order for the application to be fully pursued, it must be accompanied by primary evidence.

Everything is done in the following order of actions:

• If the threats were not just expressed, but carried out through beatings, the latter must be recorded. Fixation is carried out in the emergency room or by calling an ambulance crew. In both cases, after completing the procedure for recording the beatings, the doctor who examined the victim must report the fact of the detected beatings to a police officer (precinct at the victim’s place of residence) or to the territorial department of internal affairs.
• The conclusion about the assault is given to the victim so that she can attach it to the corresponding statement to the police. Such a statement is drawn up either during a visit by a local police officer, who is obliged to respond to a message from a medical organization, or during a direct visit of the victim to the territorial police department.
• If the threats were made over the phone and there was no actual violence against the victim, then the statement is also drawn up in the name of the district police officer or written to the duty station. The evidence in this case will be telephone conversations (if a corresponding recording was made), printouts of messages sent from the ex-spouse’s phone to the victim (when printing, this must be done in such a way that it is clear when and at what time such a message was sent sent, and also from what number).
• If the threats were made over the phone or in person, and there were witnesses present, then it is necessary to indicate their contact information, as they may later give relevant testimony. Witness testimony in this case acts as one of the main types of evidence, as it allows one to determine with what frequency and for how long the threats were made and how often they were implemented.

After the evidence base for the application has been fully formed, it is accepted for proceedings by the investigator or the magistrate.