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Select Rulings of the Plenary Session Adopted During the Years 2005-2012

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Select Rulings of the Plenary Session Adopted During the Years 2005-2012 RULINGS OF THE PLENARY SESSIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT of the Russian Federation Translation of 10 July 2015 Contents Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 24 February 2005 No. 3 “On Judicial Practice on Cases of Defence against Defamation of Character of Individuals and of the Business Reputation of Individuals and Legal Entities” ..............................................................3 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 2 July 2009 No. 14“On Certain Issues Arising in the Judicial Practice of the Application of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation” ..............................................................................................................................16 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 15 June 2010 No. 16 “On the Practice of Application by courts of the Law of the Russian Federation ‘On the Media’” ....55 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation of 23 December 2010 No. 30/64 “On Certain Questions Arising During Consideration of Cases on Awarding Compensation for Violation of the Right to a Trial Within a Reasonable Time or the Right to Enforcement of a Judgment Within a Reasonable Time” ..................................................................................................................85 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 31 March 2011 No. 5 “On Consideration by Courts of Cases on Protection of Electoral Rights and Rights to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation” ...........................................................................108 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 7 April 2011 No. 6 “On Application by Courts Compulsory Measures of a Medical Nature” .........................................136 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 28 June 2011 No. 11 “On Court Practice on Criminal Cases on Crimes of an Extremist Nature” ......................................150 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 14 June 2012 No. 11 “On Consideration by Courts of Matters Connected with Extradition for Criminal Prosecution or Execution of a Sentence, as well as Handing Over to Serve a Sentence” ..........................................163 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 19 June 2012 No. 13 “On Application by Courts of the Rules of the Civil Procedural Legislation Regulating Proceedings in an Appeal Court” ................................................................................................................................179 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 11 December 2012 No. 29 “On Application by Courts of the Rules of the Civil Procedural Legislation Regulating Cassation Court Proceedings”.............................................................................................................211 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 11 December 2012 No. 31 “On Application of the Rules of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation When 1 Courts Consider Applications and Recommendations for Re-Examination of Judgements That Have Come into Legal Force on the Basis of Newly Discovered or New Circumstances”.........................225 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 13 December 2012 No. 35 “On Open and Public Judicial Proceedings and on Access to Information on Court Matters”235 2 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 24 February 2005 No. 3 Moscow “On Judicial Practice on Cases of Defence against Defamation of Character of Individuals and of the Business Reputation of Individuals and Legal Entities” In accordance with Article 23 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, every person has the right to defend its honour and good name. Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees every person freedom of thought and speech, as well as freedom of the media. According to Part 4 of Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the generally recognised principles and rules of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation constitute an integral part of its legal system. Freedom of the media on the territory of the Russian Federation is covered by Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in accordance with Part 1 of which every person has the right to express his opinion freely. This right includes the freedom to support one’s opinion, receive and distribute information and ideas without any interference on the part of the public authorities and irrespective of state borders. At the same time, Part 2 of Article 10 of the given Convention states that exercise of these freedoms, which impose obligations and responsibility, may be fraught with certain formalities, conditions, restrictions or sanctions envisaged by law and necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public law and order, for the purposes of preventing disorders or crimes, for protecting health and morality, defending the reputation or rights of other persons, preventing disclosure of information received in confidence, or ensuring the authority and impartiality of justice. Whereat the provisions of the given rule should be interpreted in accordance with the legal position of the European Court of Human Rights, as expressed in its judgments. Every person’s right, envisaged by Articles 23 and 46 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, to defend their honour and good name, as well as every person’s right established by Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation to judicial protection of their honour, dignity and business reputation against distributed information that does not comply with reality and that is defamatory, constitutes a necessary restriction on freedom of speech and the media for cases of abuse of these rights. 3 Having discussed the materials of the analysis conducted of judicial practice in relation to cases of defence of honour, dignity and business reputation, the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation notes that courts of Russia in general consider cases of the given category correctly, in observance of the requirements envisaged by Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, in connection with ratification by the Russian Federation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Protocols thereto, questions requiring answers have arisen in judicial practice. Considering this, for the purposes of ensuring a correct and unified enforcement of the legislation regulating the given legal relations, the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation resolves to issue courts the following clarifications: 1. To draw the attention of the courts to the fact that the right of individuals to protection of their honour, dignity and business reputation is their constitutional right and the business reputation of legal entities – one of the conditions for their successful business. By virtue of Article 17 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the human and civil rights and freedoms are recognised and guaranteed in the Russian Federation in accordance with the generally recognised principles and rules of international law and the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Whereat, exercise of human and civil rights and freedoms should not violate the rights and freedoms of other persons. Bearing in mind these constitutional provisions, when resolving disputes relating to protection of honour, dignity and business reputation, courts should ensure a balance of the individual’s right to protection of honour and dignity, as well as business reputation, on the one hand, and other rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation: freedom of thought, speech, the media, the right freely to seek, receive, transfer, produce and disseminate information by any lawful means, the right to privacy, personal and family secrecy, the right to address state and municipal bodies (Articles 23, 29 and 33 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation), on the other. On cases of the given category, account should be taken of the clarifications provided by the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in its rulings of 31 October 1995 No. 8 “On Certain Issues of Application by the Courts of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 4 Administering Justice” and of 10 October 2003 No. 5 “On Application by Courts of General Jurisdiction of the Generally Accepted Principles and Rules of International Law and of International Treaties of the Russian Federation”. When resolving disputes relating to protection of honour, dignity and business reputation, courts should be governed not only by the rules of the Russian legislation (Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), but also by virtue of Article 1 of Federal Law dated 30 March 1998 No. 54- FZ “On Ratification of the Convention for the Protection
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