Russian Legal Glossary: D–G

Thirty Russian legal terms from D to G, with short English explanations. Most of them appear when you sign a power of attorney, check a company or a flat, pay a court fee or deal with bailiffs. Attorney Elena Petrova wrote the entries for clients who handle Russian matters from abroad.

Powers and Representation

• Doverennost — power of attorney. For courts and property deals it is usually notarised; one signed abroad needs an apostille and translation.
• Doveritel — the principal who issues a power of attorney or engages an advokat.
• Deesposobnost — legal capacity to act, acquired in full at eighteen.
• Dolzhnostnoe litso — an official acting for a state body or company.

State Registers

• EGRN — the Unified State Register of Real Estate: owners, encumbrances and cadastral data.
• EGRUL — the Unified State Register of Legal Entities: directors, founders, address and status of a company.
• EGRIP — the same register for individual entrepreneurs.
• Gosudarstvennaya registratsiya — state registration of rights, companies or acts of civil status.
• Gosuslugi — the state services portal used to file applications and receive notices.

Agencies You Will Deal With

• FNS — the Federal Tax Service, which also keeps EGRUL.
• FSSP — the Federal Bailiff Service that enforces court judgments.
• FSIN — the prison service that runs remand centres and colonies.
• GUVM MVD — the migration directorate of the Interior Ministry.

Contracts and Transactions

• Dogovor — a contract. Russian courts read it by its literal wording first, so vague clauses cost money.
• Dogovor kupli-prodazhi — a contract of sale; for real estate the transfer takes effect only after registration in EGRN.
• Darenie — a gift, often of a flat between relatives.
• Dolya — a share in property or in a company's charter capital.
• Garantiya — a guarantee, including an independent bank guarantee.

Courts, Proof and Fees

• Delo — a case or case file. Parties may read it and make copies at the court.
• Dokazatelstva — evidence: documents, witness statements, expert opinions.
• Gosposhlina — the state fee paid before filing a claim or complaint.
• GPK RF — the Code of Civil Procedure for courts of general jurisdiction.
• GK RF — the Civil Code, the base law on contracts and property.

Debt and Enforcement

• Dolzhnik — a debtor, also in enforcement and bankruptcy. Bailiffs can freeze a debtor's accounts and bar travel abroad.
• Dosudebny poryadok — the mandatory pre-trial procedure, such as a claim letter before suing.
• Dopolnitelnoe reshenie — a supplementary decision on a claim the court forgot to rule on.

Criminal Procedure Terms

• Dopros — questioning of a suspect, accused or witness.
• Domashny arrest — house arrest as a preventive measure.
• Dosmotr — an inspection of a person or belongings, for example at customs.
• Grazhdansky isk — a civil claim for damages filed inside a criminal case.

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