Distribution of court costs in the framework of the bankruptcy procedure

Distribution of court costs in the framework of the bankruptcy procedure. Arbitrage practice.

The institution of recovery of court costs is of great interest among practicing lawyers. There is no doubt that this institution is widely used by lawyers to recover from the losing party the legal costs incurred in connection with the consideration of the case.

However, what to do in a situation where there is no losing side? Who will bear the burden of reimbursement of court costs in case of refusal to satisfy the claim in connection with the voluntary fulfillment by the defendant of the requirements?

Case plot:

LLC «MD-CONSULT» filed a lawsuit against Oreshin Ya.A. with the requirement to provide the necessary documents and pay court costs in the amount of 26 thousand rubles. After the statement of the corresponding claim Oreshin Ya.A. voluntarily fulfilled his own obligations and then filed a lawsuit against MD-CONSULT LLC with a claim for reimbursement of court costs for paying for the services of a representative, since MD-CONSULT LLC was denied satisfaction of the claims. Requirements Oreshina Ya.A. were satisfied both by the court of first instance and by appeal.

In view of this, Citi Invest Bank JSC (as a creditor of MD-CONSULT LLC, which is in bankruptcy proceedings) filed a cassation appeal with the court. JSC believes that Oreshin Ya.A. does not have the procedural right to demand the recovery of court costs, since the refusal to satisfy the claims is not related to the fact that the plaintiff filed an unfounded claim, but is due to the voluntary fulfillment by the defendant of the requirements after the acceptance of the claim for proceedings.

recovered court costs in favor of Oreshin Ya.A. will be attributed to current payments, which implies the priority of meeting the requirements of Oreshin Ya.A. over registered creditors, which will entail a violation of the Bank's rights, since the debtor's property is not enough to cover all the claims included in the register.

The court granted the bank's claims.

Judicial act: Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District dated November 12, 2021 in case No. A40-239285/2019

Court's findings:

1. Since the obligation to provide documents from Oreshin Ya.A. arose on 07/18/2019, the very requirement to transfer the documents of the LLC to Oreshin was sent on 08/06/2019, therefore, the very fact of providing documents after filing a lawsuit in court does not allow us to consider Oreshin's actions in good faith.

2. In view of the fact that at the time of filing the statement of claim, there was objectively a violation of the rights of LLC MD-CONSULT by the defendant (since Oreshin did not submit documents for several months at the request of LLC), Oreshin Ya.A. is not entitled to claim the recovery of legal costs.

3. Oreshin Ya.A. prior to the presentation of a statement of claim against him, he evaded the voluntary transfer of documents of the company, while all actions for the transfer of documents Oreshin Ya.A. committed after the claim had been filed against him.

Comment:

1. The principle of distribution of court costs involves the reimbursement of court costs to the person who incurred them at the expense of the person against whom the final judicial act in the case was adopted. The costs are charged within reasonable limits.

2. If the proceedings on the case are terminated due to the plaintiff's refusal of the claim in connection with the voluntary satisfaction of his claims by the defendant after the plaintiff applies to the court, the court costs shall be recovered from the defendant.

3. Refusal of a claim is a right, not an obligation, of the plaintiff, therefore, the reimbursement of legal costs to the plaintiff under the indicated circumstances cannot be made dependent on the statement by him of the withdrawal of the claim.

4. If the defendant voluntarily satisfies the claims after the plaintiff applies to the court and the court decision on such a case is made, the court costs are also subject to recovery from the defendant.

5. The law makes the resolution of the issue of the distribution of court costs dependent on the voluntary satisfaction of claims by the defendant, without obliging the plaintiff to perform other procedural actions, taking into account that the latter was forced to initiate a lawsuit to protect his violated rights.

The court, when considering this issue, needs to consider:

1) The reasons for the refusal of the plaintiff to satisfy the claim.

2) Are these reasons connected with the voluntary fulfillment by the defendant of the requirements presented to him after the acceptance of the statement of claim for proceedings?

3) Give an assessment of the required behavior of the defendant, taking into account the subject and nature of the dispute.

Please note that in 2020 the law firm Vetrov & Partners was marked by the industry rating of law firms Pravo.ru-300 in the nominations Arbitration Proceedings, Dispute Resolution in Courts of General Jurisdiction and is one of the regional companies throughout Russia in these nominations.

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