On the issue of standards of proof in the practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in bankruptcy cases

Abstract

The subject. Paragraph 3 of item 26 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation (SAC) dated June, 22, 2012 No. 35 "On some procedural issues related to consideration of bankruptcy cases" has been interpreted by doctrine and judicial practice as establishing a higher standard of proof for certain disputes considered in bankruptcy cases. However, the SAC does not mention any standards; the court's explanations are dedicated to assessing the reliability of evidence coming from a person interested in the favorable case outcome. Therefore, before concluding that the SAC introduced standards of proof, its approach should be analyzed from the perspective of concepts long known to Russian procedural law, namely: "credibility in evidence", "source of evidence".The purpose of the study. To determine whether paragraph 3 of item 26 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the SAC dated June, 22, 2012 No. 35 establishes any standard of proof. Methodology. Methods of analysis and comparison based on practice of the SAC, of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, of scientific research in the field of civil procedural law.The main results of research and the field of their application. The approach of the SAC represents a specification of the universal thesis that credibility in evidence is linked to its source, in relation to bankruptcy cases. The addressed explanation cannot be perceived as introducing higher standards of proof for bankruptcy cases. Evidence is assessed based on properties of its source when resolving any civil law dispute.Conclusion. The conclusion about existence of a fact cannot be made solely on the basis of evidence which source is a person interested in establishing this fact.