Department of Civil Procedure

Head of Department: Yarkov Vladimir Vladimirovich
Doctor of Juridical Sciences
Address: 620137, Ekaterinburg, 21 Komsomolskaya St., office 404

Telephone: (343) 374-05-10
E-mail: kafedra.gp@gmail.com
            grpr@usla.ru

The Department of Civil Procedure of Ural State Law Academy has a long history of its existence. As a separate division, it was established in 1948 as a result of the division of the Department of Judicial law of Sverdlovsk Law Institute into two independent scientific and methodological units – the Department of Criminal Procedure and the Department of Civil Procedure. However, the teaching of civil procedure has been conducted since the formation of the SLI.

Since its foundation, the Department of Civil Procedure has effectively implemented educational, methodological, scientific and pedagogical activities. The heads of the department were Professor K. S. Yudelson (1948-1965), Professor Yu. K. Osipov (1965-1993), Associate Professor N.I. Maslennikova (1993-1996), Professor V. V. Yarkov (since 1996). At the moment, the department is one of the largest educational, methodological and scientific teams within Ural State Law University.

More about the history of the Department of Civil Procedure:

• Historical information about the Department of Civil Procedure of Ural State Law University.
• Ural School of Civil Procedure: the main milestones of the great way.

Department composition. There are 28 full-time teachers, 14 part-time teachers at the department, 14 full-time postgraduates study in the department's postgraduate course. Among the teachers of the department there are 4 doctors of juridical sciences, professors (V.V. Yarkov, I.V. Reshetnikova, S.K. Zagainova, S.L.Degtyarev), 29 candidates of juridical sciences, including one master's degree in private law (D. V. Burachevsky), one doctor of law in France (I. G. Medvedev) and three masters of law (LL.M) who received their academic degrees abroad (A.G. Kotelnikov, K. L. Branovitsky, M. P. Trunk-Fedorova). The teachers of the department regularly undergo advanced training and professional retraining under federal and international programs.

Many teachers are simultaneously engaged in legal practice, in particular, they are judges of arbitration courts (I.V. Reshetnikova - Chairman of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Ural District, M. L. Skuratovsky - Chairman of the judicial composition, retired judge of the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region) and courts of general jurisdiction (M.A.Kulikova and N. A. Pankratova - judges of the judicial collegium for civil cases of the Sverdlovsk regional court, Yu. A. Timofeev - retired judge of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court), are engaged in advocacy (N. A. Chudinovskaya and A.M. Bezrukov - lawyers) and notarial practice (V. V. Yarkov - President of the Notary Chamber of the Sverdlovsk Region, Vice President of the Federal Notary Chamber of Russia , E. V. Poghosyan - Assistant Notary of Ekaterinburg, I. G. Medvedev - Director of the Center for Notarial Studies of the Federal Notary Chamber of Russia), work in the executive authorities (S.A. Kurochkin - Head of the Department of the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Ural Federal District, T.V. Shiryaeva - Head of Department in the Office of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography in the Sverdlovsk Region).

Since 2009, V. V. Yarkov has been a member of the expert council on law of the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

Composition of the Department of Civil Procedure of Ural State Law University. 

Educational and methodical work.

The main objective of the Department is to ensure conditions for students to receive a full-fledged and modern level of education in the field of procedural law, the development of practical legal skills that allow graduates of the University to adapt to modern social and legal realities. To achieve this task, taking into account the narrow specialization of law students, independent training courses have been developed, taking into account the potential area of work of future practitioners in the field of jurisprudence.

Teaching disciplines. The department provides teaching of three large courses: "Civil procedural law", "Arbitration procedural law", "Enforcement proceedings", a number of special courses - "Features of court proceedings in certain categories of civil cases", "Judicial representation", "Notary law", "Recognition and execution of foreign courts and arbitrations’ decisions" and others.

In addition to general profiling courses, the teaching of a set of special small courses is developing, connecting a whole array of obtained legal information and developing legal skills in a certain narrow field of jurisprudence.

In connection with the transition to a new system of two-stage education, the Department of Civil Procedure has also developed programs of disciplines for future bachelors and masters of law. Thus, students studying under the bachelor's degree program are taught such disciplines as civil procedure, arbitration, enforcement proceedings, features of civil proceedings, notarial law, practice of notarial actions, legal regulation of mediation, participation of the Prosecutor in civil and arbitration proceedings, features of consideration of tax disputes by courts.

For undergraduates, in addition to the existing Department of Master's Training, the department's staff has developed seven Master's training programs at the relevant institutes of the University: at the Institute of Prosecutor's Office - "Prosecutor's activity"; at the Institute of Justice - "Notarial and mediation activities", "Judicial activities", "Advocate activities", "Customs, legal and foreign economic activities"; at the Institute of Law and Business - "Lawyer in the field of economic justice"; at the Institute of State and International Law - "International Lawyer".

More about the courses taught: Disciplines taught by the department.

Educational and methodological material developed by the specialists of the Department. During the existence of the department, its teachers have published more than two hundred books, textbooks, and applied manuals. A significant surge in creative activity has occurred in recent years. During the period 1996-2013, the Department published about two hundred books, including in the main Russian publishing houses in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Among them - nine editions of the textbook "Civil Procedure", six editions of the textbook "Arbitration Procedure", four editions of the comments to the Civil Procedure Code and Arbitration Procedure Code, three editions of the commentary to the Federal Law "On enforcement proceedings", two editions of the desk book of the bailiff, the notary's desk book, two editions of the commentary to the Federal Law "On an alternative procedure for resolving disputes with the participation of a mediator (mediation procedure)", as well as - three editions of workshops on civil, arbitration and enforcement proceedings. Authors regularly update literature in accordance with changes in national legislation, the practice of law enforcement agencies, scientific trends and the realities of international legal cooperation. The department actively cooperates with the library of the University, timely submitting applications for the purchase of up-to-date educational, methodological and scientific literature, providing the disciplines taught by the department.

Educational and methodical publications prepared by the department's team since 1996.

Work of methodological groups. To ensure the educational and methodological process, methodological groups work at the Department of Civil Process. Methodological groups were formed in accordance with the main disciplines taught at the Department: civil procedure, arbitration procedure, enforcement proceedings, features of civil proceedings. Also, general meetings of scientific and methodological groups are held to discuss changes in legislation, practice of law enforcement and the introduction of new forms of teaching.

Student Practice Management. Traditionally, the Department of Civil Procedure manages the introductory and industrial practice of students at the University. Teachers of the department also take credit for the results of students passing the educational practice of the Institute of Justice (law and notary specialization).

Supervision of final qualification works of students and master's theses of undergraduates. The Department pays special attention to the supervision of students' theses. The Department has developed a list of recommended topics for theses and recommended literature for basic courses: civil procedure, arbitration procedure, enforcement proceedings, notary, features of civil proceedings. Over the past five years, many students of all forms of education have chosen the disciplines of the Department for writing and defending their theses.

Supervision of master's theses is carried out only by teachers of the Department who have an academic degree, as well as those who conduct active research work, have extensive practical experience, and have proven themselves as highly qualified specialists.

Research activity

The scientific interests of the department are focused on key, theoretically complex and important in practical terms problems. Basically, the teachers of the department work on the study of various forms of exercising civil jurisdiction in Russia and abroad.

Theses prepared at the Department. The Department of Civil Procedure of Ural State Law University is one of the oldest centers for training process scientists in Russia. The department is preparing scientific and pedagogical personnel in the specialty - 12.00.15 - civil procedure; arbitration procedure. Within the framework of this scientific specialty, thesis research is also carried out on enforcement proceedings, notaries, international civil procedure and international commercial arbitration, peculiarities of legal proceedings in certain categories of cases.

During the existence of the Department of Civil Procedure her teachers were defended 10 doctoral theses (К K. S. Yudelson, V. M. Semenov, A. F. Kozlov, K. I. Komissarov, Yu. K. Osipov, V. P. Volozhanin, V. V. Yarkov, I. V. Reshetnikova, S. K. zagainova, S. L. Degtyarev) and more than a hundred candidate theses.

Theses defended at the Department of Civil Procedure.

Scientific publications. Scientific publication. Teachers and postgraduate students of the Department regularly publish the results of their dissertation research in the form of scientific articles in journals devoted to legal issues, including leading periodicals recommended by the higher attestation Commission, reports presented at scientific and practical conferences, monographs, and collections of scientific papers. The books of the Department's specialists published based on the results of the research are widely known to the scientific community and practicing lawyers. Within the framework of scientific and practical activities, the Department staff also publishes updated comments on the CPC, APC, and the Federal law "On enforcement proceedings". Since 2001, the Russian Yearbook of Civil and Arbitration Procedure has been published on an ongoing basis, which highlights the latest trends in science, practice and legislation not only in the Russian Federation, but also in the European Community and on our planet in general.

Main scientific bibliography of the Department specialists since 1996.

Participation in legislative activity. One of the most important stages of introducing a normative act into the legal field of the state is its discussion among scientific and practical workers profiled in the relevant field. Employees of the Department of Civil Procedure traditionally prepare opinions and reviews on draft laws in the field of civil procedural and arbitration procedural law, enforcement proceedings, judicial activities, notaries, notaries, lawyers at the request of various state and local government bodies, which allows them to realize their great scientific potential. Thus, the specialists of the department participated in the preparation of the Fundamentals of Civil Procedure of the USSR and the Union Republics, the Code of Civil Procedure of the RSFSR, the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law "On the Protection of the Rights and Legal Interests of Investors in the Securities Market", Laws of the Sverdlovsk Region "On the Statutory Court of the Sverdlovsk Region", "On Justices of the Peace" and others, the draft Executive Code of Russia, the Model Code of Civil Procedure of the CIS countries.

Since 2009, Professor V.V. Yarkov and Associate Professor I.G. Medvedev have been working as part of a working group under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation to prepare a draft Federal Law "On Notarial and Notarial Activities". In the field of recent legislative trends, opinions were also prepared on the possibilities of expanding the claim form of protection in civil proceedings (Institution of group claims), as well as on the prospects for implementing the Institute of conciliation procedures in Russian legal reality. For example, in 2011-2012, a project to introduce mediation procedures into the Russian judicial system was successfully implemented as part of a legal experiment under the guidance of Doctor of Law, Professor S.K. Zagainova, financed by the Russian-American Foundation.

Specialists of the Department have repeatedly participated not only in the legislative activities of the Russian Federation, but also were involved in the development of regulations of other states. For example, in 2007-2008 international working group under the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the leadership of Doctor of Law, Professor V.V. Yarkov, a draft law "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Implementation of the Institute of Private Bailiffs" was developed. The law was adopted by the Parliament of Kazakhstan and entered into force in 2011. In addition, in 2009-2011, V. V. Yarkov worked as a member of the international team under the program of the German Society for Legal Cooperation (GTZ) on the examination of civil procedure legislation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. In 2011, Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Professor V. V. Yarkov together with Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor Yu. A. Timofeev prepared an expert opinion within the framework of the program of the German Society for Legal Cooperation and Reforming the Civil Procedure Legislation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.

Participation in conferences. Teachers and postgraduates of the Department of Civil Procedure take an active part in organizing and conducting scientific and practical conferences, seminars, round tables, forums devoted to the practice of application and prospects for the development of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of civil proceedings, arbitration, notaries, judicial activity and many others. Over the past six years, the Department's staff has made presentations, participated in scientific discussions of almost two hundred scientific and practical events both at the regional, national, and international levels in different cities of Russia and abroad. In addition, the specialists of the Department are a regular participant in the European-Asian Congress, held annually in Ekaterinburg.

Grants. The specialists of the Department of civil procedure is a regular winner of programs for funding research projects allocated both at the state and international level. For example, in 2001-2002, at the competition of the Russian Foundation for Legal Reforms (RFPR) within the framework of the World Bank's program to support legal reform in Russia, the department performed best in the country in the competition for grants for the creation of manuals for masters in economic law. In 2008, research teams led by V. V. Yarkov won 2 competitions held by the Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia – to conduct research and develop draft laws on the introduction of a system of consistent appeal and prohibition, as a general rule, on filing a cassation appeal, bypassing the appeal instance, and on the introduction of mandatory audio recording of all court sessions. Both projects have been successfully completed.

In 2006-2007, projects commissioned by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on enforcement issues were successfully implemented. So, Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Professor V. V. Yarkov together with Professor of Moscow State University V.M. Sherstyuk were the heads of the group for the preparation of the draft Executive Code of the Russian Federation. In addition, under the leadership of V. V. Yarkov, research work was carried out on the topic "Analysis of the activities of the Federal Bailiff Service through a review of media materials, conducting surveys and series of interviews with representatives of the external and internal environment in the framework of the Federal target program "Development of the judicial system of the Russian Federation for 2007-2011 (a comprehensive study of the corporate reputation of the Federal Bailiff Service)". The study was conducted to assess the feasibility and possibility of introducing the Institute of private bailiffs in Russia.

Also, in the period 2009-2012, four grants were received from the Ministry of Economic Development, within the framework of which annual projects were carried out to monitor the implementation of the Federal Target Program "Development of the Judicial System of Russia" for 2007-2011 and assessment of the activities of the judiciary by individuals and legal entities. Based on the results of the research, recommendations were made for further improving the judicial system.

In 2011-2012, the USLU Mediation Center received a grant for the implementation of a legal experiment "Development and testing of mechanisms for integrating mediation into civil proceedings" from the The US Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law USR. The head of the research team is Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department S.K. Zagainova.

International relations.

The Department of Civil Process traditionally pays attention to international relations with representatives of the international legal community. Cooperation with foreign colleagues is carried out in various areas.

Participation in scientific life abroad. Over the last 5 years, 13 teachers and postgraduates of the Department have made trips to universities and research centers in Europe and America to study, collect scientific material, teach, participate and perform at conferences. Teachers of the Department published more than 60 articles abroad (Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Finland, Switzerland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan), participated and perform at conferences in Austria, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, Colombia, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Mexico, Peru, Poland, USA, France, Germany, Finland, Croatia, Switzerland, Estonia, South Africa, etc.

Department staff give lectures abroad. Since 1998, V. V. Yarkov has been a visiting Professor at the University of Paris-X Nanterre, giving annual lectures on Russian civil and arbitration proceedings, enforcement proceedings and international commercial arbitration. E. N. Kuznetsov, Candidate of Juridical Sciences worked as an Associate Professor at the University of Paris-X Nanterre (2003-2008).

A number of teachers are members of various international scientific and non-governmental organizations. For example, I.V. Reshetnikova, S.K. Zagainova and V.V. Yarkov are members of the International Association of Procedural Law. V.V. Yarkov is a member of the General Council of the International Union (Latin) Notary and Scientific Council of the International Union of Bailiffs, as well as a member of the European Association of International Civil Procedure. I. G. Medvedev - Permanent Secretary of the Commission of the International Union (Latin) Notary for European Affairs from the Federal Notary Chamber of Russia, as well as Vice President of the International Institute of the History of Notaries (located in Paris).

International postgraduate training. One of the directions of the department's international cooperation is the conclusion of treaties on the international training of postgraduate students with the subsequent co-defense and awarding of the degree of candidate of juridical sciences and doctor of law of the corresponding foreign state. Thus, for three theses defended in 2003, 2005 and 2010, applicants completed their postgraduate studies at Ural State Law University and doctoral studies at the Law Faculty of the University of Paris-X Nanterre under co-defense agreements with the invitation of a jury of professors from France and received the degree of Candidate of Juridical Sciences in Russia and doctor of law (docteur en droit) in France. Six postgraduate students defended their master's theses (LLM) at universities in the UK, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Inviting foreign lawyers to conduct classes. The scientists of the Department maintain constant scientific relations with foreign colleague. In order to exchange regulatory experience, specialists from Eastern Europe are invited to conduct classes with students and undergraduates. In March 2010, Professor C.H. (Remco) van Rhee of the University of Maastricht (Netherlands) gave a lecture course. In October 2012, lectures were given by the Director of the Institute of Eastern European Law, Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel (Kiel, Germany) Professor A. Trunk on European Civil Process and Researcher of this institute M.P. Trunk-Fedorova on WTO Law. In October 2013, an open lecture was given by Professor of the University of Pavia (Italy), Director of the Center for Conflict Resolution of the University of Pavia E. Silvestri on the topic "Mediation in the European Union".

Translations of foreign books. An equally important element of familiarization with international trends in the development of civil jurisdiction is the study of relevant foreign literature. In order to facilitate the access of students and practicing lawyers to material published in foreign languages, teachers and postgraduates of the Department organize translations of scientific and practical publications. For example, in 2003 and 2005, the books "Mediation in notary practice (alternative ways of resolving conflicts)" and "Handbook on economic law of the European Union" (edited by Manfred A. Dauzes, 2nd edition) (translation of both books from German by S. S. Trushnikov) were published in Russian. In 2007, the books "Civilistic Legal Traditions in Question. About the World Bank's Doing Business reports. " Volume 1. М. WoltersKluwer. (translation from French by A.V. Gryadov) and “Assessment of the resolution’s quality of cases in courts. Principles and proposed quality criteria. Project of the Rovaniemi court of Appeal district courts " Finland. 2007 (translated from English by A. G. Kotelnikov) were translated. In 2009, R. Leger's book "The Great Legal Systems of Our Time: A Comparative Legal Approach", M., Volters Kluver (translation from French by A.V. Gryadov) was translated. The presentation of the publication took place in June 2009 as part of the Euro-Asian Congress in Ekaterinburg with the arrival of the author himself - Professor of the University of Poitiers Raymond Leger. Also, teachers and postgraduate students of the Department translated articles of European processualists published in the collections "Enforcement and Enforceability-Tradition and Reform: trans. from English/ed. by R. Van Reye [et al.]" and "Commercial Mediation: Theory and Practice: Collection of Articles" (both books in the publishing house "InfotropicMedia").

Department divisions and other structural units. The department houses the editorial board of the "Russian Yearbook of Civil and Arbitration Procedure" (editor-in-chief professor V.V. Yarkov, executive secretary - K.A. Malyushin) and the journal "Arbitration and Civil Procedure" (V.V. Yarkov - editor-in-chief, K. A. Malyushin - Deputy Editor-in-Chief).

The legal clinic "Center for Legal Protection" operates at the Department of Civil Procedure. The heads of the clinic are Doctor of Law, Professor Yarkov V. V. and Senior Lecturer Yu. N. Zipunnikova. The department also has a branch in the Federal Arbitration Court of the Ural District. The branch is headed by Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor A.G. Kuznetsov.

In 2009, by decision of the Academic Council of Ural State Law University, on January 19, 2009, the Center for Legal Technologies and Conciliation Procedures (Mediation) was established on the basis of Ural State Law University. Since its foundation, the Center has been headed by Professor of the Department of Civil Procedure S.K. Zagainova, who is a certified mediator. The center successfully works in the field of conciliation procedures (theory, practice, training, practical mediation). In this regard, training courses for mediators are regularly held, practical interaction with the courts and the Federal Notary Chamber is established, scientific and practical conferences, seminars and round tables are held. Teachers of the Department of Civil Procedure of the Ural State Law University, who have completed training courses for mediators, are employees of the Center.

Main activity:

• Training of mediators:
• education in the mediation training program;
• mediation courses for notaries, judges, lawyers, private and corporate lawyers, bailiffs, entrepreneurs, state and municipal employees;
• mediation courses in the following areas: mediation in civil disputes, mediation in family disputes, mediation in labour disputes, mediation in corporate disputes, mediation in economic disputes;
• seminars and trainings on mediation training.

• Conducting mediation:
• Conducting mediation procedures to resolve civil, family, labour, corporate, and economic disputes.
• Settlement of legal disputes pending in courts (mediation in civil proceedings, mediation in arbitration proceedings).

Mediation procedure is a way of resolving disputes with the assistance of a mediator on the basis of the voluntary consent of the parties in order to achieve a mutually acceptable solution (Article 2 of the Federal Law dated July 27, 2010 № 197-FZ "On an alternative procedure for resolving disputes with the participation of a mediator (mediation procedure)").

Research and elaboration of problems of mediation development in Russia.

The Center has an Expert Council consisting of leading experts from Russia, Germany, Finland, Lithuania, and the CIS countries.

The USLU mediation center is one of the main participants in the legal experiment on the introduction of conciliation procedures in the Ural Federal district, the concept of which (www.ekaterinburg.arbitr.ru/consep/) supported by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Arbitration court of the Russian Federation, representatives of the notary and lawyer communities, chambers of commerce and industry, business associations, higher educational institutions.

Working languages:

1.   Russian.

2.   English.

3.   German.

4.   French.

As part of scientific and practical activities devoted to the problems of implementing the norms on alternative dispute resolution, the Mediation Center signed an agreement with the publishing house Infotropic Media to release a series of books "Mediator's Library", which covers the theory and practice of mediation, the development of legislation in this area.

More about the Mediation Center: www.mediation-ural.com; медиация-урал.рф;