Complaint against a judge: samples, instances of appeal, filing procedure

Judges handle absolutely any court case, from small housing disputes to major criminal cases. These are specialists who study the case materials, consider the available evidence, order various examinations and do everything to make a fair decision on the case. The list of powers of judges is extremely long, as is the responsibility they bear.

But a judge is also a person, and he, too, can take incorrect and sometimes even illegal actions during the consideration of a case. In this regard, the question arises: “How to influence an unscrupulous judge?” Our article will tell you about when, how and where to complain about a judge.

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When is it okay to complain?

In order to file a complaint, you will need some valid reason. Moreover, this reason must be directly related to his professional duties and the case he is leading - other complaints must be filed in the standard manner, and not as complaints specifically against the judge.

The main reason for filing a complaint is violations related to the rules and procedures of business. Litigation is a process very strictly limited by law, and deviation from the norms is not only not welcomed, but can even be regarded as an extremely serious violation. So, a complaint against a judge can be filed in the following situations:

You have noticed a violation of the norms established by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation;
The judge deliberately extends the time limit for conducting the case;
The judge's actions lead to unexpected delays in the consideration of the case;
You noticed significant deviations in the course of the proceedings from the established protocol;
The judge does not take into account any evidence, materials and testimony of witnesses directly related to the case;
The judge does not consider petitions, petitions, appeals and requests to the court related to the case;
The judge is not impartial, takes into account the opinion of only one of the parties, or is related to one of the participants in the case;
The judge has a personal advantage in deciding the case;
The judge behaves inappropriately during hearings, violates ethics and general rules of communication between participants in the case;
The judge commits violations in the process of making a judicial decision;
The judge violates the general order of conducting the case: its stages are swapped, examinations are incorrectly assigned, etc.;
The judge uses profanity and insults the participants in the case;
During the hearing, confidential protected information is disclosed by the judge.

These and many other reasons can provide very valid grounds for filing a complaint. At the same time, depending on the severity of the violation, various penalties are applied: from a simple reprimand to complete removal from the case.

How to write a complaint against a judge

The private complaint includes the following information:

Where we write, indicating the name of the chairman and address (upper right corner).
From whom - provide full name, registration address (actual residence), telephone number.
The title of the document is “Complaint” (middle).
The essence (to whom, for what reason, the protest is being filed).
Norms of violated legislative acts.
The operative part is the requirements.
List of attached documents, photos, videos, witness statements, etc.
Date, signature.

Attention! The choice of punishment is the prerogative of the judiciary. There is no need to say what verdict you want, just list the rights violated during the hearing.

While the application is being considered, it is permissible to apply for a postponement of the consideration of the case or for the recusal of this judge. The use of photos, videos, and audio recordings is not prohibited. There is no need to ask permission to record or explain why this is being done.

It is better to make an application on a computer. Illegible handwriting is grounds for refusal to accept it. If a document is submitted through a representative, his authority is confirmed by a notary.

Remember! When describing the essence of the complaint, they do not mention the illegality of the decision - they are appealed in a different manner. Specifically indicate what the judge did that was illegal, what point of the rules of conduct was violated.

Where to complain

The court is the highest authority, and few civil servants have the authority to consider complaints against judges. Real help can only be provided by:

The leadership of the court, namely its chairman;
Qualification Board of Judges;
Prosecutor's office.

In this case, you don’t have much choice - according to current regulations, complaints should be submitted strictly in order. That is, until the court itself considers your complaint, there is no point in contacting the prosecutor’s office. Moreover, in all three cases the sample of the complaint and the method of its consideration are different.

Terms of consideration

They usually refer to 59-FZ of the Russian Federation: according to it, a response to citizens’ appeals is given within 30 days. This is mistake. The time frame for consideration of private complaints is regulated by the Code of Civil Procedure.

For example, an application for unlawful delay of proceedings is considered within 5 days. Sometimes they delay registering a complaint, since the period is calculated from this date, which violates the rules of office work.

If you filed a complaint with the KKS, it will be considered within 30 days. In the FCC - 90 days.

General rules for filing a complaint

Before talking about specific types of complaints, we need to consider the general basic rules for writing such a document. They can be either specified in the legislation itself or determined by general rules for filing official petitions. You can write your own appeal or complaint against the judge, but it is better to draw up a claim with the help of a lawyer or advocate. So, when filing a complaint, you should remember the following rules:

The appeal can be either typed or handwritten. If you write your complaint by hand, write legibly;
Errors, typos, corrections and blots are not allowed in the complaint;
The information in the complaint must be described briefly, clearly and as clearly as possible;
Extra “water”, speculation, irrelevant or unconfirmed information is not allowed;
Under no circumstances are threats or insults allowed, especially against judges - this is a very serious offence;
Slander is not allowed - it is criminally punishable;
Any information provided in the complaint must be proven in some way;
When drawing up a complaint, you must not only describe the violation in detail, but also indicate the number of the case in which the violation was committed;
When submitting an application, you cannot specify any requirements. The list of penalties applied to judges is very strictly defined by law, so the applicants’ demands are simply not considered. So in the “Please” column you only need to indicate a request for an inspection.

To prove a violation, you will need to provide relevant materials. If you do not have them, then authorized persons will be able to obtain them from the materials of the case itself. But at the same time, any additional evidence will be very useful. The main thing is to provide them correctly. Photos and copies of documents can be attached to the complaint just like that. But it is better to discuss the transmission of audio and video in advance - each service has its own procedure for receiving materials.

Samples

Preparatory stage of proceedings

How to complain about a judge? It is necessary to attend to the collection of evidence that will confirm the position of the accuser. A citizen should:

Regularly read the case, find inaccuracies and contradictions, copy relevant excerpts from the text.
Constantly familiarize yourself with the protocols, submit comments if they are not drawn up on time or do not reflect the real course of events.
Make audio recordings of the proceedings: according to the law, the judge does not have the right to prohibit those present at the trial from recording its progress.
Apply for video recording. Refusal is possible only for hearings in “personal” cases (rape, sexual harassment); in other cases, judges are forced to give permission so as not to raise unnecessary questions and suspicions.

Comments and complaints are not submitted directly during the process, but after its completion, through the office. You will be provided with a sample application form. Prepare it in two copies: the second one will remain with you with a receipt stamp.

If the provided guidance on where to complain about an unfair judge does not lead to his recusal and does not affect the verdict, it will create a solid basis for appealing the decision to a higher court.

Complaint to the chairman

If you notice a violation by a judge, then first of all you should contact the chairman of the court. The fact is that the courts have a certain hierarchy, and a complaint to a higher court can be very useful if you need to point out the mistakes of a junior court. That is, if you want to influence the magistrate’s court, you should complain to the chairman of the district court.

There is no sample complaint against a judge to the chairman - this is a free-form statement, and it can look like anything. The main thing is to adhere to the general rules and indicate the following important data:

Who files the complaint;
Who is the complaint against?
What case is being considered in court;
What violation was committed?

In this case, the only measure that the chairman can apply is to impose a penalty. At first glance, this is not a very serious measure, but it is not so - most judges value their reputation, and such penalties can have extremely negative consequences. So judges, as a rule, do everything to correct these penalties as soon as possible.

Why is there a need to write a complaint?

The Constitution of the Russian Federation states that the court must be impartial and objective. Practice often demonstrates otherwise:

cases have been pending for years, although the period for their consideration under Art. 154 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation should not exceed a two-month period;
the judge deliberately ignores evidence and testimony supporting the position of one of the parties;
the protocols do not correspond to the actual content of the process and the testimony of its participants;
court representatives deliberately do not give the floor to the plaintiff or defendant;
representatives of justice directly during the process advise one of the parties.

Inexperienced citizens naively believe that a complaint against a justice of the peace filed with the qualification commission will immediately take effect, and the representative of the law will be replaced by another, impartial and objective. It is enough to find the “correct” sample and find out which authorities to contact. In practice, everything is different. For action to be taken, a strong evidence base from the victim is required.

By law, judges are independent, and therefore no person in the state has the right to remove them from a particular case or influence the decision-making process. The maximum that can be achieved by a complaint is the application of disciplinary measures to the violator. According to statistics, this happens only in 30% of cases; the rest of citizens’ requests are not satisfied.

Complaint from the panel of judges

The most effective complaint against a judge is a complaint to the Qualification Board of Judges. This is an organization that monitors the activities of judges, the quality of their work and compliance with all standards of business conduct. This is, perhaps, the only service that can hold a judge accountable for a violation he has committed at the request of an ordinary citizen.

The application to the Qualification Board of Judges has a strict form, which has three parts:

Title. It includes:
Information about who is filing the complaint: full name, address, contacts, indication of who he is (plaintiff, defendant, third party);
Information part. Contains:
Data on the case during the consideration of which the violation arose;
A detailed description of the violation committed by the judge;
Requests to hold the judge accountable;
Conclusion. Contains:
Applicant's signature;
Date of filing the complaint.

In order to file a complaint with the Qualification Board of Judges about violations by a judge, you will need to contact the court that is considering the case. The complaint is transmitted to the board through the same employee who receives appeals to the chairman.

How to submit

This can be done in three ways:

take it personally to the court office;
transfer via courier service;
send by mail.

You can contact the prosecutor or the president online on the official website. Sending emails is pointless.

Important! Filing a complaint by mail is carried out by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt!

When delivering documents in person, prepare a second copy in advance. On it is placed:

date of acceptance;
registration number;
position, name of the person in charge.

Or the secretary will issue a receipt with the above information.

Complaint to the prosecutor's office

The last authority that is guaranteed to consider your complaint against the judge and take appropriate measures is the prosecutor's office. As the main organization responsible for the civil rights of all residents of the Russian Federation, the prosecutor's office has the widest range of powers and can hold anyone accountable, even judges.

However, complaining to the prosecutor's office about a violation committed by a judge is not so simple. Firstly, you will need to go through all previous instances of appeal (chairman of the court, qualification board of judges). Secondly, you will need to prove that the measures taken are insufficient and the judge continues to commit violations. Thirdly, you will need to collect a lot of case materials. Fourthly, when considering a case by the prosecutor's office, you will have to constantly participate in the investigation.

The sample application to the prosecutor's office with a complaint against a judge is very similar to the standard application to the prosecutor's office and, at the same time, is not much different from the statements described above. It has three parts:

Title. Contains data on the prosecutor's office (full name and title of the head, address of the department, its full name) and data on the applicant (full name, address, contacts);
Information part. Contains a description of the case under consideration, as well as detailed information about when and what specific actions of the judge led to a violation of your rights. It then describes in detail your attempt to resolve the problem with the help of the panel or the court itself. In conclusion, a request is made to conduct an inspection and hold the judge accountable;
Conclusion. Contains a list of your evidence of the violation (including the response from the board and the court) attached to the complaint, as well as your signature and date of filing the application.

Let us note right away that the prosecutor’s office rarely considers a complaint against a judge. As a rule, complaints against judges received by the prosecutor's office do not even lead to the opening of a case. This is due to the fact that the prosecutor’s office has very little power, and its employees cannot influence judges. So you should write to the prosecutor's office only in case of a gross violation of civil rights - only in the most serious cases will the prosecutor's office be able to help you with anything.

And that will be?

You should not hope that you will be able to fire a judge just by knowing where to complain to the court and using this information. Of course, this is theoretically possible, but in practice it happens extremely rarely and only indicates the presence of influential enemies of the judge who took advantage of the prevailing circumstances.

In the classic version, after 30 days, the citizen receives from the authority an official response to the complaint, most often containing information that judicial conduct is beyond the competence of the responding authority. Another common option is to “shift” all the blame onto the assistant referee and indicate that the person responsible was punished.

Important recipients: if the judge is wrong

The most relevant in this matter is the Federal Law, introduced under number 30. Articles 17-19 consider the sequence of departments that can help a citizen whose rights have been violated in a legal instance. If a problem arose with the chairman of the federation. court (deputy), then the VKKS comes to the rescue. This is where you need to go if you have encountered injustice in the Supreme Court. But the chairmen of district courts and their deputies are already the area of action of the CCC of a particular region. The VKKS will help if unfair situations arise in a military court. All other situations should be dealt with by the regional branches of the judicial commission.

If a citizen does not agree with the decision of the KKS, it is necessary to seek help from the VKKS. It follows from Law 30 that while a citizen’s appeal is being considered, judicial powers in a conflict case can be temporarily suspended. The QCC has a month to study the appeal; the HQCC, by law, has a three-month period to make a decision on the issue presented.