Chapter 48.1. Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation

A supervisory appeal in a criminal case to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is a way to appeal and review a court decision (sentence, ruling, resolution) that has entered into force. The highest court examines exclusively the legality of a judicial act. In fact, supervision is the last opportunity to change anything in the outcome of a criminal case. If it doesn’t help, only the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will remain.

In some cases, you can appeal to the Constitutional Court or consider the possibility of reviewing the case based on newly discovered (new) circumstances. However, in these situations, completely different grounds will appear, and we will be talking about new trials, and not about the revision of already issued judicial acts.

Grounds for canceling or changing the appealed decision in the supervisory order:

Serious violations of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and (or) the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, which influenced the outcome of the consideration of the criminal case.
The emergence of information that indicates a failure to fulfill the terms and obligations of a pre-trial agreement by the person with whom such a cooperation agreement was concluded.

In 2022 (no later than October), appeal and cassation courts will begin to operate in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. This circumstance will affect the procedure for appealing court decisions in criminal cases. The changes will affect supervision to a lesser extent. True, to get to this authority you will have to go a slightly different path than it was before and is still the case now.

Article 412.1. Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation Review of court decisions by way of supervision

Court decisions that have entered into legal force, specified in part two of this article, may be reviewed in the manner of supervision by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation based on complaints and submissions of persons specified in parts one and two of Article 401.2 of this Code.
The court of supervisory authority verifies, based on a supervisory complaint or presentation, the legality of the sentence, ruling or ruling of the court.
The following can be appealed to the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation that have entered into legal force: 1) judicial decisions of the supreme courts of republics, regional or regional courts, courts of federal cities, courts of an autonomous region, courts of autonomous districts made by these courts when considering a criminal case in the first instance, if these decisions were the subject of appeal consideration in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation; 2) court decisions of district (naval) military courts made by these courts when considering a criminal case in the first instance, if these decisions were the subject of appeal consideration in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation; 3) rulings of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and rulings of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, issued by them on appeal; 4) rulings of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and rulings of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, issued by them in cassation proceedings; 5) decisions of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Features of the procedure

The complete procedure includes several independent stages. The measures taken are not limited to the study and analysis of submitted documents. In practice, a more thorough check is carried out. Stages provided for by criminal procedure legislation:

Submission of papers.
Reception and registration of correspondence.
Examination for return without consideration.
Transfer of the legal statement to a specific judge, who is obliged to independently check whether there are grounds for a review. At this stage, the necessary materials are requested from lower courts, and the issue of transferring the application to the Presidium is also decided.
If the appointed judge nevertheless comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to further move the petition, the papers are sent to the Presidium.
Schedule a meeting, invite the prosecutor and the complainant.
Making the final decision. It is possible to satisfy the request or refuse to satisfy the demands made.

Question:

What is considered grounds for returning documents without consideration?

Answer:

The reason for this may be the non-compliance of the legal document with existing requirements regarding content and design, submission of an appeal by an unauthorized entity, receipt of feedback, or an attempt to appeal acts that are not subject to supervisory appeal.

Article 412.2. Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Procedure and deadline for filing supervisory complaints and presentations

A supervisory complaint or presentation is filed directly with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Court decisions specified in part three of Article 412.1 of this Code may be appealed through the supervisory procedure within one year from the date of their entry into legal force. If the deadline for appeal is missed for a good reason, persons who have the right to file a complaint or presentation may petition the court that passed the sentence or made another decision being appealed to restore the missed deadline in the manner prescribed by Article 389.5 of this Code.

Deadlines for appeal

There are no time restrictions for sending NV in the current legislation. Theoretically, a person has the right to apply at any convenient time. This procedure has been applied relatively recently - only since 2015. Before this, it was necessary to meet the deadline of 12 months from the date the document entered into force.

However, in practice, there are still several important points that indirectly affect the moment the challenge begins. For example, according to paragraph 2 of Art. 412 of the Code of Criminal Procedure during revision, a turn for the worse is not allowed. Only in exceptional cases is it possible for the situation of a convicted person, a subject against whom prosecution has been terminated, or an acquitted person to worsen. And such a change can be applied within a year after the sentence comes into effect.

Important! Usually, for verification it is necessary to request data from the criminal case. However, volumes are not stored indefinitely, so it is better not to delay the registration of the request.

Article 412.3. Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Contents of supervisory complaints, submissions

A supervisory complaint or presentation must contain: 1) the name of the court to which they are filed; 2) information about the person who filed the complaint, presentation, indicating his place of residence or location, procedural status; 3) an indication of the courts that considered the criminal case in the first, appellate or cassation instances, and the content of the decisions they made; 4) an indication of the court decisions that are being appealed; 5) an indication of the grounds provided for by law for reviewing a court decision in the order of supervision with the presentation of arguments indicating the existence of such grounds; 6) request of the person who filed the complaint, presentation.
The supervisory complaint of a person who did not take part in the case must indicate what rights, freedoms or legitimate interests of this person were violated by the court decision that entered into legal force.
The supervisory complaint must be signed by the person filing the complaint. The supervisory submission must be signed by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation or his deputy.
Attached to the supervisory complaint or presentation are copies of court decisions made in the case, certified by the courts that considered the criminal case in the first, appellate or cassation instances.

Methods of circulation

There are several ways to transfer papers. Firstly, this can be done in person. Secondly, sending by mail is allowed. However, you should not choose simple correspondence. It is better to opt for a registered letter with acknowledgment of delivery. This way the sender will receive confirmation of delivery of the sent documentation.

Another option is electronic format. This option is available from January 1, 2022. You can fill out an application on the official website of the RF Armed Forces. However, for this you will definitely need a registered account on the State Services portal.

Article 412.4. Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Return of supervisory complaints or submissions without consideration on the merits

A supervisory complaint or presentation is returned without consideration on the merits if: 1) a supervisory complaint or presentation does not meet the requirements provided for in Article 412.3 of this Code; 2) a supervisory complaint or presentation was filed by a person who does not have the right to appeal to a supervisory court; 3) the deadline for appealing a court decision in the supervisory order has been missed; 4) a request has been received to withdraw the supervisory complaint or presentation; 5) a supervisory complaint or presentation was filed in violation of the rules established by part three of Article 412.1 of this Code.
A supervisory complaint or presentation must be returned within 10 days from the date of its receipt by the supervisory court.

The procedure for preparing a package of documents

The complaint is prepared in writing and signed by the applicant. The difficulty of compiling here lies primarily in the volume of text. The author must actually retell the entire story of the proceedings, which usually last more than one year.

During the writing process, it is necessary to ensure that all the facts listed in Art. 412.3 Code of Criminal Procedure. The description of events is presented sequentially, in chronological order. References to current legislation - codes, laws, and other regulatory sources - must be used.

The supervisory procedure is an exceptional form of production. One should hope for success only if there are truly significant, compelling reasons. Any errors or non-compliance with the law can be regarded as grounds for returning the residence permit without consideration.

Important! When preparing documentation, special attention should be paid to describing all previous court decisions, as well as disclosing the arguments that the complainant brings to support his position.

Article 412.5. Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Consideration of supervisory complaints, submissions

Supervisory complaints or submissions filed in accordance with the rules established by Articles 412.1 - 412.3 of this Code are examined by a judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. A judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation examines the supervisory complaint, presentation based on the materials attached to the complaint, presentation, or on the materials of the requested criminal case.
Based on the results of studying the supervisory complaint or presentation, the judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation makes a decision: 1) on the refusal to transfer the supervisory complaint or presentation for consideration at a court hearing of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, if there are no grounds for reviewing court decisions in the manner of supervision. At the same time, the supervisory complaint, presentation, as well as copies of the appealed court decisions remain in the supervisory court; 2) on the transfer of supervisory complaints, presentations with a criminal case for consideration at a court hearing of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation or his deputy has the right to disagree with the decision of a judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the refusal to transfer a supervisory complaint or presentation for consideration at a court hearing of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and make a decision to cancel the said decision and to transfer a supervisory complaint or presentation with a criminal case for consideration in a court hearing of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Rejection of the complaint

If the general procedure for filing a complaint is not followed, and if you have not provided any of the data that I listed above, your complaint may be returned. But, having corrected all the inaccuracies that were pointed out to you, you can re-file this complaint with the College. There are still several points in which the complaint is returned, and we will talk about them further:

drawn up by a legal representative, but you did not attach a notarized power of attorney or a lawyer’s order to the case materials;
written by a person who is not a direct participant in the process, as a result of which it is not clear whose rights and interests were affected;
there is a review. Please note that the application can be withdrawn at any time before it is reviewed;
You filed a complaint in the wrong court, which has the right to consider your issue.

Therefore, if there is at least one of the described violations, I can say with complete confidence that the complaint will be returned to you, and 10 days are given for this.

Article 412.12. Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Limits of the rights of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

When considering a criminal case by way of supervision, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation verifies the correct application of the norms of criminal and criminal procedural laws by the lower courts that considered the case, within the limits of the arguments of the supervisory complaint or presentation. In the interests of legality, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has the right to go beyond the arguments of the supervisory complaint, presentation and consider the criminal case in full, including in relation to persons who have not appealed court decisions in the supervisory order.
The instructions of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation are mandatory for the court re-hearing a criminal case.
The Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in the event of a reversal of a court decision, has no right to establish or consider as proven circumstances that were not established or were rejected by the court of first instance or appeal, prejudge questions about the reliability or unreliability of this or that evidence, the superiority of some evidence over others, and determine what court decision should be made in a new trial of the case.

Payment of state duty

In order for the complaint to be considered, you must pay a state fee. If this instruction is ignored, the papers will simply not be processed. An individual is obliged to transfer 300 rubles to the budget, a legal entity – 6,000 rubles (clause 4, clause 1, article 333.19 of the Tax Code). Government agencies do not pay this fee, and, therefore, prosecutors are exempt from this obligation.

There are other categories that do not have to pay for revision. These include Heroes of the USSR, disabled people, WWII veterans, Heroes of the Russian Federation and other beneficiaries. Current information and an online calculator for calculations are available here.