Complaint against a judge
Practice shows that not only the parties, the defendants, but also their representatives and defense attorneys complain about judges. Professional lawyers do not like this exclusive way of influencing judges. It can not so much help in the case as it can harm the professional career of a judge. However, careless judges have no place in the judicial community, you must agree!
The Internet is filled with samples and screenshots of such complaints. Almost all of them contain the same errors that do not allow you to achieve the desired result. And that is why the wrong opinion is being created in society about the impenetrable protection of the judicial community. Of course, it is better not to go to court at all and resolve problems without trial.
Attention! You cannot use a complaint against a judge as a way to restore justice in a case or decision. In no case and in no way should a complaint against a judge be an instrument of interference with justice. Therefore, it is important to correctly understand the cases, form, and content of such a complaint.
Why do you need a complaint?
For example, a complaint against a judge should be sent in response to or to suppress his administrative misconduct during official or extra-official activities. The boorish behavior of the Kuban arbitration judge at the court hearing, which became widely known on the Internet, is a striking example of such an offense.
Violation of the Code of Judicial Ethics when considering a case can also be assessed as an administrative offense.
It is sometimes quite difficult to distinguish a disciplinary offense from a procedural violation; they are often interrelated, and qualification boards of judges take advantage of this by refusing to consider complaints against judges. And, of course, it is better if such a complaint is prepared by a professional!
To distinguish the signs of a disciplinary offense, you need to know exactly the content of Article 12.1. Law of the Russian Federation of June 26, 1992 N 3132−1 (as amended on November 12, 2018) “On the status of judges in the Russian Federation”:
- For committing a disciplinary offense, that is, a guilty action (inaction) in the performance of official duties or in extra-official activities, as a result of which the provisions of this Law and (or) the code of judicial ethics approved by the All-Russian Congress of Judges were violated, which resulted in a derogation of the authority of the judiciary and causing harm damage to the reputation of a judge, a disciplinary sanction may be imposed on a judge, with the exception of a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, in the form of:
1) comments; 2) warning; 3) early termination of powers of a judge
- When imposing a disciplinary sanction, the nature of the disciplinary offense, the circumstances and consequences of its commission, the form of guilt, the personality of the judge who committed the disciplinary offense, and the degree of violation by the actions (inaction) of the judge of the rights and freedoms of citizens, the rights and legitimate interests of organizations are taken into account.
- A disciplinary sanction in the form of a remark may be imposed on a judge if the disciplinary offense committed by him is insignificant, if the qualification board of judges comes to the conclusion that it is possible to limit himself to verbal censure of the actions (inaction) of the judge.
- A disciplinary sanction in the form of a warning may be imposed on a judge for committing a disciplinary offense if the qualification board of judges comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to apply a disciplinary sanction in the form of a remark to the judge or if the judge has previously been subject to disciplinary action.
- A disciplinary sanction in the form of early termination of the powers of a judge may be imposed on a judge in exceptional cases for a significant, culpable violation of the provisions of this Law and (or) the code of judicial ethics, incompatible with the high rank of a judge, including for violation of these provisions in the administration of justice, if such the violation entailed a distortion of the principles of legal proceedings, a gross violation of the rights of the participants in the process, indicates the impossibility of the judge continuing to exercise his powers and was established by a judicial act of a higher court that entered into legal force or a judicial act adopted upon an application to expedite the consideration of the case or to award compensation for violation of the right to legal proceedings within a reasonable time.
A decision to impose a disciplinary sanction on a judge cannot be made after six months from the date of discovery of the disciplinary offense, with the exception of the period of temporary incapacity for work of the judge, while he is on vacation and during an official inspection, and after two years from the date of the commission of the disciplinary offense.
- The decision to impose a disciplinary sanction on a judge, with the exception of a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, is made by the qualification board of judges, whose competence includes consideration of the issue of termination of the powers of this judge at the time the decision is made, and can be appealed to the court in the manner established by federal law. The decision of the qualification board of judges on the early termination of the powers of a judge may be appealed to the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
- If within a year after the imposition of a disciplinary sanction the judge has not committed a new disciplinary offense, then he is considered not to have been subject to disciplinary liability.
- The procedure for bringing judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to disciplinary liability is determined by the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.”
As follows from the provisions of the above Art. 12.1. all complaints against judges are resolved in the qualification boards of judges operating in accordance with the Federal Law “On Bodies of the Judicial Community in the Russian Federation” dated March 14, 2002 N 30-FZ.
Attention! Even if a justified complaint against a judge is submitted to the chairman of the court, it is referred to the Qualification Board of Judges for resolution.
How to prepare an effective complaint
Although complaints against judges are filed quite often, cases of prosecution for them are still exceptional. And this is not only because the judicial community protects its colleagues, but also because the complaints are incorrectly formulated, insufficiently substantiated, and filed erroneously.
Important! Before preparing a complaint, you should carefully study the provisions of the above Article 12.1. Law of the Russian Federation of June 26, 1992 N 3132−1 (as amended on November 12, 2018) “On the status of judges in the Russian Federation” and the Code of Judicial Ethics, check with them your arguments, arguments for compliance with violations for which a judge can be brought to justice responsibility. If the arguments of the complaint cannot be substantiated by the terms and conditions of the law and code, then such complaint has no prospect of success.
The working tool for forming a complaint should be the “Code of Judicial Ethics”, violation of the provisions of which by a judge is grounds for appealing the judge’s actions.
“The Code of Judicial Ethics, being an act of the judicial community, establishes mandatory rules of conduct for each judge when carrying out professional activities in the administration of justice and in extrajudicial activities, based on high moral and ethical requirements, the provisions of the legislation of the Russian Federation, international standards in the field of justice and judicial conduct "
When filing a complaint, please consider the following important factors:
It is useless to complain about a judge to the Qualification Board of Judges during the case under consideration and before a decision is made
Such complaints are assessed as a means of putting pressure on the judge and an attempt to interfere with justice. It would be more reasonable to file a complaint addressed to the chairman of the court, pointing out certain actions of the judge that violate procedural norms and the ethics of conducting a court hearing. Rude attitude towards participants in the process, violation of procedural deadlines, procedures for working with documents and other similar violations.
But at the same time, it is important not to refer to materials, circumstances of the case, or to express your position and opinion on the merits of the case. Court chairmen respond to such complaints with formal replies. And even if the chairman of the court does not respond to the complaint, he will still have an appropriate conversation with the judge to rectify the situation.
When complaining to the Judicial Qualification Board, always compare your arguments with the provisions of the above-mentioned Code of Judicial Ethics and Art. 12.1. Federal Law “On the Status of the Court in the Russian Federation”. And never mention the illegality of the judge’s decision!
There is a separate procedural procedure and other authorities for appealing court decisions. Therefore, the collegium will not consider procedural violations in the case as a reason for bringing the judge to disciplinary liability.
A big mistake that has no prospect of satisfaction is a negative opinion about the judge in a complaint against a court decision made by him
Such negativity in the complaint will not help due to the existing corporate solidarity among judges, and may even be detrimental to the case. The specifics of behavior and relationships with judges can be read here.
A complaint against a judge is most effective after his decision has been overturned by a higher authority
The reversal of the court decision itself indicates the illegality of this decision. And this may be an additional argument for the correct and complete substantiation of the complaint against the judge. However, resolving a dispute in court is always bad.
Important! When complaining about a judge, one should not be afraid of judicial or other persecution or negative consequences if the complaint is sufficiently substantiated and reasoned. The perpetrators themselves are afraid of excessive attention to themselves.
The author of the complaint must remember that it is impossible to challenge the response of the qualification board of judges; such a procedure is not provided for by law.
Complaint against a judge and criminal liability
When filing a complaint against a judge, you must remember that it may become a reason to initiate criminal proceedings against the judge. Currently, a special procedure for initiating criminal cases applies to judges. The decision to initiate a criminal case is made by the chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, but for this he needs to obtain the consent of the High Qualification Board of Judges (HQCC) - or the regional qualification board of judges in cases where we are talking about a judge of a district, city, inter-district court or a magistrate.
But before such consent of the qualification board comes into force, its decision can be appealed to the Higher Qualification Committee. And after using the out-of-court appeal procedure, the judge has the right to challenge the decision in the courts. And this is a long procedure, stretching for months and sometimes years. Which does not benefit either the applicant or the judicial system.
Practice on the topic
On November 27, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation decided to change the procedure for consent to initiate criminal proceedings against judges.
Thus, in order to optimize these procedures, ensure their efficiency, as well as increase guarantees of the independence of judges, it is proposed to transfer to the competence of the Higher Qualification Court the consideration of issues of giving consent to initiate a criminal case against a judge of a district, city, interdistrict court, justice of the peace, or to engage them as accused in another criminal case.
In addition, the Plenum decided to expand the powers of the Higher Qualification Commission in the procedure for considering complaints against decisions of regional qualification boards on bringing judges to disciplinary liability.
The Plenum of the Supreme Court proposed to give the Higher Qualification Court the opportunity to change the type of disciplinary liability to which judges are subject. Currently, the Higher Qualification Committee does not have such powers.
The Plenum will formalize its decision as a bill and submit it to the State Duma for consideration. The result of the consideration of the bill will be posted here on the website.
According to the Pravo.Ru portal, for example, in November 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice confirmed its consent to initiate a criminal case against former judge of the Korkinsky City Court Sergei Yugov, accused of seducing minors.
Consent was also given to initiate a case against judge Vitaly Dyblin for making unjust decisions and forgery (Articles 305 and 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The Higher Qualification Court agreed to initiate a criminal case against retired judge of the Sverdlovsk Region Autonomous Court Oleg Gavryushin, whose son was detained with a multimillion-dollar bribe.
conclusions
To achieve the desired result, it is necessary to properly appeal the actions of judges, about whose corporate solidarity myths are formed. The judicial community has no regrets in getting rid of its careless colleagues; one just needs to give them a justified reason for this.
Thus, the positive effect of complaints is obvious. Each complaint qualitatively forms the personal file of the judge, especially if it was sufficiently substantiated. Therefore, we can assume that by complaining about a judge, you are thereby using the complaint as an element of social influence. And thus you shape the quality of the entire judicial community.
Attention! Presentation of the project “Moral Justice”
A public project called “Moral Justice” is aimed at improving the quality of the judicial community, when the morality of law enforcement should be the basis of judicial activity, in fact, and not declaratively.
The objective of the project is to identify negligent judges who violate the Code of Judicial Ethics and to influence the judicial community that covers for such violators.
To implement this project, descriptions of violations committed by specific judges are accepted through contacts on the site, and assistance is provided in preparing complaints against them.
conclusions
However, there is not a single case, and in general I do not know of such cases during the entire period of the CCC’s existence, in which someone was prosecuted for a biased, unfounded and illegal decision in a case, no matter civil, criminal or administrative. I personally filed such complaints after court decisions were overturned. That is, cases are constantly being considered, and some decisions are constantly - albeit reluctantly - overturned, but for some reason our qualification board does not consider this a reason to initiate disciplinary proceedings, thereby making judges irresponsible on the most key issue - the legality of the decisions they make .
Groups against judicial arbitrariness: https://vk.com/club150691386, More details ➤
