Suspending Writ Proceedings

After a court ruling goes into force, the plaintiff/recoverer receives a writ of execution for compulsory enforcement of a ruling.

Russian law envisages various reasons for suspending such proceedings. It can be suspended by the court or the court bailiff whose proceedings the writ of execution is undergoing.

Furthermore, the law “On writ proceedings” envisages scenarios in which suspending proceedings is compulsory  as well as scenarios when such a suspension is at the discretion of the court or the bailiff.

Whom to address?

In most cases a motion for suspension is submitted to a court. Bailiffs themselves often send the debtors or other participants in the proceedings to court to obtain the ruling regarding the  writ proceedings suspension, since courts have a large amount of power in resolving this issue.

If a writ of execution is issued by an arbitration court, the motion to suspend proceedings can be submitted to that same arbitration court or to the arbitration court to which the court bailiff-executor’s location is subject.

If the writ of execution was issued by a general jurisdiction court, the motion is to be submitted only to the institution to which the court bailiff-executor's location is subject.

If the recoverer goes directly to the court bailiff department, the motion is to be submitted to the bailiff whose proceedings the case is undergoing.

Examination period for the motion

The time period for a court to consider such motions is the same: examination is done within a period of ten days.

In the case that the person goes to the bailiff, the motion must be examined within three days.

Examination procedure

The sides have the right to participate in the motion examination process and voice their own objections to them. Meanwhile, failure of either of the sides to appear shall not constitute any an impediment for said motion to be considered.

Why do writ proceedings sometimes need to be suspended?

The question of suspending proceedings arises when a debtor's property is sold through a bidding process. If the debtor doesn't want to part with his or her property and is able to put together the funds to repay his or her debt, then he or she must submit a motion to suspend the proceedings. The motion must also be submitted to the court specifically, since by law a bailiff doesn't have any authority in the examination of motions in such cases.