Peace agreements at certain stages of the civil process

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the main theoretical and practical problems of the classification of settlement agreements according to the criterion of the stages of the civil process. The author supports the concept common in the theory of the civil process, according to which the stages of the civil process are distinguished according to the criterion of the closest procedural goal. According to this approach, it is claimed that it is possible to single out settlement agreements that can be concluded at the stage of preparatory proceedings, the stage of dispute settlement with the participation of a judge, the stage of consideration of the case on the merits, the stage of appellate appeal of court decisions, the stage of cassation appeal of court decisions, the stage of review of court decisions under newly discovered and exceptional circumstances, stages of execution of court decisions. The possibility of concluding a settlement agreement at the stage of opening proceedings in the case is denied, since this stage does not involve the participation of the defendant, who learns about the civil case only after receiving a court order to open proceedings in the case. In addition, according to the formed position of the Supreme Court, the conclusion of a settlement agreement is possible only after the opening of proceedings.It is indicated that at any stage of the civil process, where it is allowed to conclude a settlement agreement, its approval by the court is possible, except for the stage of settlement of the dispute with the participation of a judge, where the concluded agreement is approved at the stage of preparatory proceedings. It is noted that when concluding a settlement agreement at the stages related to the appeal and execution of the court decision, it should be taken into account that the dispute about the right has already been resolved by the court of first instance. Therefore, the legislator allows the court of appeal and cassation instance to declare invalid the court decisions of the courts of the lower instance when concluding a settlement agreement at these stages of the civil process. At the stage of execution of the court decision, it is not recognized as invalid, but the approval of the settlement agreement is carried out by the court, and not by a state or private executor.Motives for concluding a settlement agreement are determined after the legal dispute in a civil case has already been resolved by the court of first instance.