Alimony, remote work and extremism: the results of the year, which were included in the plenums of the Supreme Court of Russia

The outgoing year was rich in explanations of judicial practice, which were contained, in particular, in the plenums of Supreme Court of Russia.  The documents are the result of the law enforcement - the conclusion made by the highest court on a particular issue.  And, despite the fact that Russian law is not precedent, both the participants in the process and the judges refer to the plenums to substantiate their position.  So, what was important in terms of the clarifications of the Supreme Court of Russia this year?

Pre-trial claim in messengers

The Supreme Court has clarified the situations in which it is permissible to present your claims to the counterparty directly in a messenger. This is possible if this type of correspondence is usual for the parties and they previously communicated in this way, or such an order is enshrined in an agreement concluded between them or in some normative act.

At the same time, the board noted that an appeal can be sent in several ways: through social networks, e-mail, as well as by means of instant messages. In order to confirm the fact of sending the pre-trial claim in this way, it is necessary to submit a screenshot certified by the party and indicating the address of the website to the court.

High alert and force majeure

In one of its resolutions, the Supreme Court of Russia essentially equated the high alert mode and force majeure, about which they write so much in contracts. The Judicial board stated so in the context of the restoration of the missed procedural time limit, which can be extended if there is a number of lawful reasons. Among them, there are the introduction of a high alert or emergency situation throughout the territory of Russia or part of it, as well as other reasons that will be recognized by the court as valid.

Protection of rights of remote employees

The pandemic has spurred an increase in the number of employees working from home, which in turn prompted a number of clarifications in this area. In its December resolution, the Supreme Court of Russia indicated what exactly is confirmation of the fact of employment with a specific employer.

In particular, this is the creation of e-mail on the company domain, as well as the provision of remote access to the desktop of the office computer.

This evidence can and should be considered by the courts when deciding whether there is an employment relationship between the parties.

Valid excuses for non-payment of alimony

The Supreme Court of Russia named a number of valid and inadequate excuses for the non-payment of alimony. The first category included reasons that do not depend on the will of the party (illness or non-payment of wages, for example). In this case, the court will have to figure out whether the person had a different (including financial) opportunity to pay off the debt.

The Supreme Court of Russia recognized the disagreement of the payer with the amount of alimony as an inadequate excuse.

In this case, it must be challenged in court, but the payments must not be ignored. It is not a valid excuse for non-payment of alimony that the payer and the recipient live together, as well as the fact that the payer is in prison.

Extremism

The Supreme Court of Russia urged not to make far-reaching conclusions when a person commits an administrative offense on the article on inciting hatred and enmity. The fact that a person's guilt was proven within the framework of the Code of Administrative Offenses does not mean that he committed a more serious criminal offense in this area.

According to its board, this is due to the fact that the guilt of a person in the commission of a crime must be separately proven within the framework of a criminal investigation and process.

In addition, the Supreme Court of Russia recalled that when considering a criminal case under the articles on extremism, the courts must first check whether the decision on the administrative case has come into legal force and whether it has been executed.