On November 17, 2015, the Russian State Duma adopted a set of draft laws in the first reading, which propose to vest powers in the Russian Supreme Court to examine administrative cases on contesting clarifications of the law.

Pursuant to the text of draft law No.892376-6 “On amendments to Part 4 Article 2 of the Federal Constitutional Law ‘On Supreme Court of the Russian Federation’” (hereinafter the “Draft Law”), the Russian Supreme Court is being appointed as the court of first instance for administrative cases on contesting acts of federal executing authorities which contain clarifications of the law and are of a regulatory nature.

At present, legal regulation does not allow an opportunity to contest such acts. For instance, the courts refuse to examine claims on contesting acts of the Federal Tax Service, which are formally not a regulatory instrument, but are in fact treated as mandatory. This issue was resolved by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation by means of Ruling No.6-P dated March 31, 2015, which acknowledged that the lack of a possibility to contest such acts does not comply with the Russian Constitution. The draft law was developed in fulfillment of the said Ruling of the Constitutional Court.

If the Draft Law is adopted, the amendments will also be introduced to the Russian Code of Administrative Court Process, where in Chapter 21 it is proposed to regulate the procedural peculiarities of the examination of such category of cases (draft law No.892355-6), and to Article 333.19 of the Russian Tax Code (draft law No.892365-66) as regards the amount of state duty when filing the respective claims: the state duty will constitute 300 rubles for individuals and 4,500 rubles for legal entities.

Adoption of the set of draft laws should promote a balance of rights and legal interests of the state, individuals and legal entities, as well as uniform application of legislative norms.

Draft Law No.892376-6 “On amendments to Part 4 Article 2 of the Federal Constitutional Law ‘On Supreme Court of the Russian Federation’ (as regards granting power to examine administrative cases, being the court of first instance, on contesting acts of federal executive authorities which contain clarifications of the law and are of a regulatory nature).”

(http://asozd2c.duma.gov.ru/addwork/scans.nsf/ID/BAADA68F2DA9FB4F43257ED2002B7944/$FILE/892376-6.PDF?OpenElement) 

Draft Law No.892355-6 “On amendments to the Code of Administrative Court Process of the Russian Federation (as regards establishing the procedure for court examination of cases on contesting certain acts).”

(http://asozd2c.duma.gov.ru/addwork/scans.nsf/ID/6F6A5572713C14B043257ED2002A778E/$FILE/892355-6.PDF?OpenElement) 

Draft Law No.892365-66 “On amendments to Article 333.19 Part 2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation due to adoption of Federal Law ‘On amendments to the Code Administrative Court Process of the Russian Federation (as regards establishing the procedure for court examination of cases on contesting certain acts).’”

(http://asozd2c.duma.gov.ru/addwork/scans.nsf/ID/E7AD9811F59CA11843257ED2002B791A/$FILE/892365-6.PDF?OpenElement)

Valentina Alikova   Associate  Moscow      Tel.: +7 (495) 970 10 90

Irina Afanasieva    Associate    Moscow      Tel.: +7 (495) 970 10 90

Additional notes

Should any questions arise in connection with the above or if you need any additional materials, please contact Irina Afanasieva or Valentina Alikova, Moscow Office of Capital Legal Services.

This Information letter keeps the clients of Capital Legal Services and other interested parties abreast of information that may, to any extent, affect their activity or cater to their particular interests. The opinions and commentaries expressed in this information letter shall not be deemed as legal opinions and do not cancel the need to obtain legal advice or legal opinion on separate issues.