Maxim Ali has commented on an initiative from the Ministry of Justice to resolve disputes online

Maxim Ali - Partner

The Ministry of Justice has begun the development of a draft law creating a mechanism for dealing with consumer disputes on the Internet. According to the ministry, it will strengthen consumer confidence in the field of online commerce, make it easier and more accessible to protect their rights and reduce the burden on the judicial system.

Maxim Ali, Head of the Practice of Intellectual Property and Information Law at Maxima Legal, told Advokatskaya Gazeta that a consumer can go to court at his place of residence regardless of the terms of the contract. “This provides ample opportunities for so-called “consumer terrorism”, because not every company can afford lengthy legal proceedings in different (sometimes remote) regions of Russia. This is also reflected in the realities of the system of courts of general jurisdiction, which do not always agree to the use of video conferencing. We should not forget about the problem of court lowering the amount of compensation for court costs”, stated Maxim.

The online dispute resolution system, according to Maxim, could correct this situation and reduce the administrative burden on the business. “We need to understand that Internet business is not only giants like Yandex or Mail.ru, but also ordinary online stores selling, among other things, Russian goods. These market participants may be seriously affected due to the judicial “privileges” that consumers have today”, Maxim concluded.

To read the article in full (in Russian), please see the Advokatskaya Gazeta website >>>