How to Read a Russian Court Decision

A Russian court decision follows a fixed format set by procedural law. To understand what the court actually ordered, go straight to the operative part at the end. Then read the reasoning to see why, and find the appeal deadline, which usually runs one month from the date the decision was made in final form.

Attorney Elena Petrova walks foreign clients through judgments in Russian and prepares English summaries that flag what matters for the next step.

The Four Parts of a Judgment

Both the Civil Procedure Code and the Arbitrazh Procedure Code require a decision to have four parts. Each part has its own role.

Part	What it contains	What to check
Introductory	Court, judge, date, parties	Correct names and case number
Descriptive	Claims and objections	Whether your arguments are recorded
Reasoning	Facts found, evidence, law applied	Gaps and ignored evidence
Operative	The order itself, costs, appeal route	Exact amounts and obligations

In general courts, the judge often announces only the operative part at the hearing. The full reasoned decision follows later, and the appeal period counts from that later date.

Following the Court's Reasoning

The reasoning part explains which facts the court found proven, which evidence it accepted, and why it rejected the rest. It then names the legal rules applied and any Supreme Court guidance relied on.

Read this part against your own evidence list. If the court did not assess a key document or witness, that omission is a ground for appeal. Mistakes in applying the law count as well.

Reading the Operative Part

The operative part says whether the claim is granted in full, in part or rejected. It sets amounts to be paid, actions to be taken and the allocation of court costs. Only this part is enforced.

Check every figure. Arithmetic errors and misspelled names can be corrected by the court on application, without an appeal. A vague order may be clarified by the same court.

Where the Appeal Information Sits

The final lines state where and within what period the decision may be appealed. In most cases, the first appeal is filed through the court that made the decision.

A decision enters into force when the appeal term expires without an appeal. After that, it can only be reviewed in cassation, which does not re-examine facts.

Red Flags in a Decision

Some features suggest a problem with the ruling itself:

the reasoning copies a party's submission word for word;
evidence mentioned in the hearing is absent from the decision;
the court decided a claim nobody made, or ignored one that was made;
a party was not properly notified of the hearing.

Improper notice is a strong ground. The appeal court may then hear the case again under first-instance rules.

Finding and Verifying Decisions Online

Arbitrazh decisions are published on kad.arbitr.ru, with the full case history. General court decisions appear on the court's page within the sudrf.ru system, often with personal data removed.

A certified copy with the court's seal is needed for enforcement and for use abroad. For use in the US, it will also need an apostille or legalisation and a translation.

Getting a Clear Explanation

Send the decision as a scan or a link to the case card. We identify the order, the deadlines and the realistic options, and set them out in plain English.

The main channel of communication with the attorney is email: attorneypetrova1@gmail.com.