Judicial Conciliation in the Protection of Consumer Rights during the Reform of the Procedural Legislation of the Russian Federation

Abstract

Problem statement. The introduction of judicial conciliation procedures in the arbitration, civil and administrative process in order to protect the rights of consumers of services can serve as a positive impetus to the development of civilized out-of-court dispute resolution. However, the corresponding norms of APC RF, CPC RF, the CAJ RF and the Regulation of judicial reconciliation includes a number of provisions that are subject to critical analysis. Special attention should be paid to the rules that establish requirements for candidates for judicial conciliators, in terms of the need for retired judges to conduct research activities, which can hardly be considered justified. Purpose and objectives of the study. To identify the essential features of the application of judicial reconciliation in the protection of the rights of consumers of services during the reform of the procedural legislation of the Russian Federation. Objectives of the study: to perform judicial reconciliation in the protection of the rights of consumers of services to identify deficiencies of legal regulation in the field of judicial reconciliation under the protection of the rights of consumers, to formulate separate proposals for reform of the law. Method of research. We used empirical methods of comparison, description, and interpretation; theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic; and historical-legal and comparative-legal methods. Results, brief conclusions. It is determined that the current Russian legislation in relation to the judicial process now provides for three types of conciliation procedures used to protect the rights of consumers of services: negotiations, mediation and judicial reconciliation. Mediation and judicial reconciliation, although separated by law, are not fundamentally different in nature. Although there are different requirements for mediators in these types of reconciliation, the appropriateness of such a separation is not sufficiently convincing. It is established that the requirements imposed on conciliators in combination with the powers vested in them can negatively affect the results of reconciliation to protect the rights of consumers of services. In this regard, it is proposed to amend the relevant procedural codes and the Rules of judicial reconciliation, which would eliminate the identified contradictions and shortcomings.