Leonid Filanovsky shared with LIA his opinion on the impact of the prosecutor’s involvement in civil proceedings on the court’s decision
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the prosecutor’s position in an employment or other civil law dispute does not prejudge the court’s findings and does not violate the equality of the parties. The judgment was made in an appeal by Anastasia Kramareva, who tried to litigate against her termination of employment. The public prosecutor who participated in the proceedings pointed out the lawfulness of the employer’s actions. As a result, the courts of first and appellate instances rejected the plaintiff’s claim for reinstatement. Not accepting this decision, Kramareva filed a complaint with the ECHR, arguing that the presence of a prosecutor in the civil proceedings violated the principle of a fair trial as guaranteed by the European Convention.
Leonid Filanovskiy, Partner, Head of Criminal Law practice at Maxima Legal, explained to the Legal Information Agency that the involvement of a prosecutor is mandatory in a number of categories of civil law disputes. First of all, these are cases involving the least protected categories of citizens – fired employees, minors, people with disabilities and so on. The expert stressed that in reality the prosecutor’s office in most cases takes the side of such persons and, in particular, in disputes about dismissal takes the side of the employee.
“Of course, the opinion of the prosecutor’s office is relevant to the court, but it makes its own decision based on a combination of evidence and inner conviction. Often the position of the prosecutor’s office and the conclusions of the court do not coincide and prosecutors file an appeal. Again, these are considered along with complaints from other parties to the proceedings. Thus, it can be stated that the prosecutor’s opinion is not predominant for the court, but is certainly taken into account when rendering a decision,” said Leonid.
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