home » We knit » Didn't show up for court. What are good reasons for not appearing in court? If one of the spouses did not appear for divorce at the registry office

Didn't show up for court. What are good reasons for not appearing in court? If one of the spouses did not appear for divorce at the registry office

Litigation is a complex and serious process. When the case is ready for trial, the judge sets the date and time for the trial. Further, the parties to the trial and its other participants are notified when and at what address the case will be considered. To do this, they are sent subpoenas, called court notices. There are certain rules for serving subpoenas. In particular, this is done against signature, by registered mail with notification. The person who has received the summons is obliged to appear at the court session, unless there are valid reasons for not appearing in court.

Why is it important to ensure the presence of all participants in the trial?

In order for the trial of any case - criminal, civil or administrative - to be as complete as possible, the judge must interview all persons who can provide important information on the merits of the case. The plaintiff and the defendant, the suspect and the victim, as well as witnesses must appear before the court and answer the questions of the judge in detail. The more diverse data on the case, the more objective the decision will be. And since it must be fair, it is imperative that all persons to whom court notices have been sent are present in court.

Failure to appear in court without a good reason - what are the consequences?

The obligation of a person who has received a summons to appear on the appointed day and time at the court session is established by law. If a person duly subpoenaed ignores this duty without good reason, this is regarded as contempt of court and entails certain liability.

The degree of responsibility and sanctions depend on the capacity of a person to be summoned to court. So, if we are talking about failure to appear at a hearing in a civil or administrative case of a participant in the process, the amount of the fine is from 5 thousand rubles (for individual) up to 100 thousand rubles (such a significant fine can be imposed on state authorities). When a witness misses a criminal court session without good reason, the fine may be up to 2,500 rubles.

There is also the concept of forced bringing to the court session of a participant in the process who systematically does not appear at the sessions. This is usually applied in criminal cases.

Which of the reasons for being absent from a court session are recognized as valid?

Sometimes persons summoned to a court session cannot be present for good reasons. Their list is not in legislative acts, but in practice it has long been formed. What are the valid reasons for not appearing in court?

Quite a serious illness of a participant in the trial. A serious disease is one that makes it impossible to appear in person in court. This also includes the presence of the summoned person for treatment in the hospital of a medical institution.
Too late receipt of the court summons, for example, directly on the day of the meeting, due to which the summoned person could not appear in court.
Being on a business trip or leaving for any good reason is a common good reason for the defendant or another participant in the process not to appear in court.
Inability to attend the meeting due to difficult personal circumstances (illness or death of relatives).
Force Majeure. Force majeure circumstances - various kinds of catastrophes, accidents, accidents. For example, a temporary inability to get by transport from a settlement or a pipe break in a house.

As a rule, valid reasons for failure to appear in court are limited to the above. But in every specific case The court decides this issue on an individual basis.

Reasons for non-attendance that are not recognized as valid

Here everything depends on the court's assessment of the circumstances of the summoned person's failure to appear. Practice shows that, for example, leaving on a tourist voucher, even if purchased in advance, is not recognized by the court as a valid reason. A person who lives within walking distance of the court building will not be able to refer to the impossibility of getting to the court session due to transport problems.

In addition, documentary evidence of the reasons cited by the person is required. A certificate from the hospital with a doctor's signature and a seal, a travel list, a certificate from the housing department about the accident of utility systems in the house - such documents must be provided to confirm good reasons for not appearing in court.

Actions exempting from the consequences of failure to appear in court

There is a legal possibility to miss a court session and avoid liability for failure to appear. It is enough to apply to the court in advance with a request to postpone the scheduled meeting or consider the case in your absence. In this case, there is no need for special good reasons for not appearing in court, it is enough to refer to the impossibility of attending the meeting “for family reasons”. Usually the court is loyal to such statements and postpones the court session without negative consequences for the applicant.

The absence of an interested party directly at the court session - a witness, a defendant, a plaintiff - is a serious obstacle to the proceedings. And in a situation where a significant person did not appear, and the reasons for his absence were recognized as valid, the meeting, as a rule, is postponed.

Good reasons for not appearing in court

What reasons can be accepted as valid:

lack of notification/summons; untimely receipt of it (on the day of the meeting or later);
illness of a participant in the process or a close relative (for example, a child) confirmed by an appropriate document from a medical institution;
extraordinary circumstances (for example, a natural disaster);
absence of a person in the region or on the territory of the Russian Federation;
long business trip; impossibility of presence due to unsatisfactory transport links.

In practice, it is increasingly recognized as a good reason - financial (lack of money for travel). Tourist vacation is not considered as a satisfactory reason.

Speaking of failure to appear, one must understand the significant difference in the consequences, based on judicial proceedings - civil, administrative or criminal.

For example, if the defendant did not appear in court in a civil case, then the consequences of his absence are somewhat different than in administrative or criminal cases.

Witness in a criminal case did not appear in court

Interrogation at a meeting of persons contributing to the most comprehensive investigation of the case - victims, witnesses, experts - is a necessary component of a full-fledged process.
However, such “surprises” as the failure of the victim to appear in court in a criminal case or an important witness are taken away from the participants in the process great amount time.

The legislation determines the possibility of judicial proceedings, for example, without the victim, if he submits an application in advance about the impossibility of his participation in this process, indicating the reason, and at the same time - a statement that he has no claims against the specified defendant.

In the case of the absence of a witness, everything depends directly on the degree of importance of the witness for the case. If it is not too important, his testimony will simply be read out by the judge, but if it is significant, the witness cannot avoid participating directly in the case. The court will not consider the case without his testimony, and if he evades being present at the hearing, the witness, as a last resort, may be brought in and fined for opposition.

If the plaintiff does not appear at the hearing

Failure to appear in court in a civil case without a valid reason is not a reason to postpone the meeting. If the plaintiff has been notified of the time of consideration of the stated claim properly, the court may consider his application in his absence. If the plaintiff has a legal representative, the presence of the plaintiff in the courtroom is not obligatory.

Failure to appear in court for an administrative offense

An administrative case may well be postponed if its participants do not appear and there is no necessary information about their notification. If the participants were notified, but either party did not appear for no reason, then the decision is made in absentia, based on the testimony of the other party and the evidence available in the case.

Failure to appear in court in a civil case - consequences

If the participants in the civil process are notified in a timely manner of the upcoming consideration of the claim, but any party did not appear, the judge, in agreement with the party who appeared, has the right to consider this case and issue a reasoned absentee decision. When considering a case in absentia, judges are guided by the accepted procedure for examining evidence: if necessary, expert opinions are considered, witnesses are interviewed, and available documentary and material evidence is examined.

In civil proceedings, the non-appearing party punishes, first of all, himself, since he deprives himself of a real opportunity to influence the course of the case, present evidence, defend the chosen position. If the failure to appear was unintentional, for example, due to untimely notification, then the absent party has the right to file a claim for the cancellation of the decision in absentia.

Absence of one of the parties is especially typical for divorce proceedings. If one of the spouses did not appear in court for a divorce, then a divorce decision in absentia is also possible, taking into account the interests of the minor children of the spouses.

Liability of a witness for failure to appear in court

A witness summoned to a court session has no right to evade. If his testimony is important for a particular case, then the judge will find it impossible to process without his participation, and the meeting will be postponed until the witness comes himself, or is subjected to forced bringing by bailiffs.

Penalty for failing to appear in court

In practice, judges are tolerant of non-attendance, they meet the participants in the proceedings if they cannot attend the meeting for good reasons. But in case of malicious evasions, the judges have the right, in addition to a decision in absentia and a forced drive as extreme measures, to impose a fine on the non-appearing party. The amount of the fine in civil and administrative cases is 1000 rubles, in criminal cases - 2500 rubles.

Read about the explanation of the decision of the civil court

The fact that a participant in a trial did not appear in court may offend the arbitrators and even prevent some servants of Themis from resolving the dispute as impartially as possible. Therefore, now we will figure out what the failure to appear in court threatens and whether it is always the fault of the participants in the process themselves. So, in order for the participants in the court hearings to know where and when the resolution of the litigation that has arisen is planned, they need to be informed about it in a timely manner.

What happens if you don't go to court?

It is generally accepted that the judges fulfilled their duty if they have evidence that the plaintiff or the defendant, or their representatives, received a summons to the court session, or they refused to receive it. Also, if the postal service employees warned the court that the participants in the litigation did not appear for the documents, although they received a notice regarding their delivery, or if the postal service employees informed the arbitrators that the addressees were not available at known addresses.

In the event that any of these conditions are met, when the participants in the court session did not appear in the courtroom, the issue of non-appearance enshrined in the law can be raised (however, a small excuse for not going to court). In the event that it repeats, you can get tangible penalties for contempt of court.

If the reasons for non-appearance in court boil down to the fact that the arbitrators did something wrong in the process of notifying the commencement of work on a lawsuit, then the absence of representatives of both parties at the trial falls on the arbitrators themselves. This option is possible, but rather unlikely.

There may be errors in the work of "third parties", for example, it may be a post office employee. A participant who does not come to court at the appointed time, who is involved in a court case, will not be guilty of not receiving a notice or a court summons and, therefore, cannot be punished.

Rubric

Reasons for not appearing in court and not incurring any legal consequences for the desired behavior are called valid. It is rather difficult for a citizen who does not have knowledge in the field of jurisprudence to determine their list, since he, in fact, has only a subjective view of the situation and does not understand anything about legislative regulation. In this article, we will tell our readers what a good reason for not appearing in court can be, and what consequences you can incur for not showing up to your case for no reason.

As we have already said, a good cause is a kind of excuse that relieves you of the legal consequences that arise when you miss a court session in which you are a participant. If you do this for no reason, you can run into a lot of trouble, feeling the full severity of them, which is inappropriate, given that you are already forced to participate in a court session.

In fact, a lot will depend on several very important parameters.

So, first of all, what plays a role category of offenses considered at the meeting. This is about:
1. administrative;
2. criminal;
3. civil.
The second important parameter is What role do you play in the meeting? In other words, if you are a direct defendant, or, for example, a plaintiff, you must be at the meeting, otherwise the consequences will be tangible. If, on the contrary, you are a simple listener, then in general it is not only not necessary for you to be at the meeting, but it is not always allowed, therefore, the consequences can be avoided.

The most unpleasant consequences of failure to appear in court without a good reason are presented in the list below.

First of all, without visiting the court, you lose the opportunity to independently defend your position, express your opinion, and explain it to the court. This is a serious omission, since sometimes the sincere words of the accused are much more effective than the dry speech of a lawyer.
In civil litigation, not appearing at trial means not being able to present any evidence of your case, which again reduces your chances of winning.
One of the most important legal consequences is the following: if you do not visit the court organized to consider a case in which you are a direct participant, you lose the opportunity to further appeal to a higher instance of its results. Whatever they are, you'll have to deal with it.

As you understand, without visiting the court, you actually waive the right to influence its outcome in any way. The impression made on the persons considering the case is very, very important, and it is very foolish to neglect the opportunity to influence it.

Video - Responsibility of a witness for failure to appear in court

What are good reasons for failing to appear in court?

Now that we have decided on the possible consequences, let's move on to a direct consideration of the reasons why missing a meeting in court can be accepted as valid.

In fact, in legislation Russian Federation no clearly defined list of valid reasons is given that avoids consequences for the person party to the proceedings.

In fact, they say that the degree of "validity" of the reason will be determined directly by the judge dealing with the case. In order to bring to his attention the impossibility of appearing, it is necessary:

notify the desired state structure that you, against your will, do not have the opportunity to appear in court;
list the reasons that prevent you from fulfilling the obligation in question;
provide facts proving the circumstances presented, supported by documents or in any other way.

By notifying the court of the impossibility of appearing and by providing evidence of your “innocence” on this issue, you will achieve a positive attitude towards you, as well as postponing the trial to another date.

Consider in the table below a list of good reasons, which in modern judicial practice are always taken into account by the state judicial system and its representatives.

Table 1. Valid reasons for not appearing in court

Diseases	Environmental influences	Reasons for mail delivery	Need to leave
The first and most common reason why citizens miss a meeting is an illness that can occur in: the person who must appear in court; his relative, for whom there is no one else to look after, in addition to the desired citizen. In other words, the illness must be of moderate severity, at a minimum, and supported by medical evidence, since if you refuse to appear in the courtroom due to a common cold, not even aggravated by a temperature, most likely your reason will not be considered valid in any way.	The second reason is represented by circumstances that a person cannot control. In other words, we are talking about an external influence: natural disasters; technogenic accidents; other disasters. Provided that the circumstances listed above have caused you to be unable to reach your destination, the reason for your failure to appear will be taken into account by the judiciary.	As you know, postal items in our country may or may not be delivered to the addressee due to the dubious functioning of the country's main postal service. In view of this, some notices of the need to appear at the court session never reach the addressee. Non-receipt is confirmed as follows: the sending party does not receive a corresponding notification; you yourself declare that the paper was not received. In this case, failure to appear is considered not as an offense, but as a circumstance that occurred for a good reason.	It happens that the date of the meeting coincides with the need to go somewhere that cannot be postponed. We want to say right away that no matter how unfair it may be, leaving for an expensive vacation (and losing tickets when missing a flight) cannot be valid reasons. The following factors may be of interest to us: the need to go on a business trip; the need to leave for treatment; funeral of a relative in another city; illness of a relative living in another city, etc.

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the last category of reasons, related to the need to leave directly on the day of the meeting, will not be assessed as valid in every case, since due to the mentality that has formed in the post-Soviet space, all trips are assessed as exceptionally personal circumstances, and transferable, if desired, to more late deadline. Therefore, you will need to try very hard to be considered respectful and accepted.

So, as a rule, the judges are lenient precisely those absenteeism at the hearing that were agreed upon by you in advance, by filing a petition for:

postponement of the date of the court session;
proceedings without your presence.

In this case, “family circumstances” will suffice as an indication of the reason.

Summing up

Of course, each of us receives various professions during our life, so we all cannot be equally knowledgeable about the legislative provisions in force in the country. That is why many do not even suspect that failure to appear at a court session is an act subject to condemnation by state structures. It is very important to understand under what circumstances it is necessary to deny yourself the intention to miss the meeting and fulfill the obligation entrusted to you.

The trial is full of surprises and surprises. It happens that one of the parties does not appear at the hearing when considering the case. It can be both the plaintiff and the defendant. In such cases, the court has the right to consider the dispute without their participation, that is, in absentia. The result of such consideration will be the corresponding decision of the court.

Notice of place and date of trial

The obligation to notify the parties of the date and place of consideration of the filed claim lies with the court. This is done by serving subpoenas to each of the defendants (if there are several). The employees of the post offices are obliged to hand over the summons against receipt.

If the procedure for notifying the defendants is violated, i.e., failure to notify them of the date and place of the trial with their participation, notifying them untimely or in violation of the procedure for such notification, the consequences provided for by the provisions of the current civil procedural legislation may arise. In particular, the defendant has the right to appeal a court decision in absentia issued in a case in which he is a party.

Rights of plaintiff and defendant

After the defendant has received a summons to appear in court in the case, he has the right to notify the court of the impossibility to appear in court for a good reason. These reasons should be understood as:

inability to appear due to illness;
the action of force majeure or natural circumstances that prevent the appearance;
stay on a business trip or abroad, which makes it impossible to timely appear in court and others.

In such cases, the defendant has every right to apply for the postponement of the date of the case.

The plaintiff, in the event of the defendant's failure to appear at the hearing, has the right to file an application for adjournment of the trial until the defendant's appearance or to agree to conduct a trial in absentia in the absence of the other party.

Also, the trial will be postponed if the plaintiff expands or changes the subject of his statement of claim or the other party has exercised his right to file a counterclaim. In the latter case, both parties must be involved in the proceedings. The defendant, however, as well as the plaintiff, may participate in the case through their representatives. In this case, the representatives must have the appropriate authorizing documents - a power of attorney, an agreement or an attorney's order.