Submission of a Counterclaim to an International Intergovernmental Body in Civil Cases
Abstract
One of the important guarantees of the defendant's rights in civil proceedings is the institution of counterclaim. The right to submit a counterclaim is the subjective right of a person who is brought to trial by the court in accordance with the initial lawsuit. Despite the seemingly rather detailed regulation of the institution of counterclaim, in practice some issues remain unsolved. The article sets out the question whether the defendant can use this means of protection of its rights in the case of participation of the international intergovernmental organization as a plaintiff. This issue is very important, in particular from the point of view of choosing the tactics of defense in the judicial process. Based on the analysis of international agreements, including those with the participation of Russia, the author comes to the conclusion that an international organization must be recognized as renounced judicial immunity with respect to a counterclaim, directly related to the initial one, if this organization has sued to the Russian court. If there is a mutual connection, a counterclaim to an international organization must be considered together with the original claim, without any additional conditions, regardless of considerations of procedural economy. Consideration by a court of a counterclaim to an international plaintiff organization within the framework of process that has already begun to a greater extent provides for convenient and timely protection of the defendant's rights as an equal party, rather than consideration of his claim to the other participant in another independent case. In this case, a counterclaim is a kind of protection against the judicial immunity of an international organization. In the author's opinion, the international organization should also be considered as renounced judicial immunity in respect of the original claim, if the organization filed a counterclaim in the Russian court. In these cases, the renouncement of the right to judicial immunity is characterized by the conclusive procedural actions of the international organization and is expressed in the choice of a certain line of conduct, excluding other legal protection mechanisms in order to avoid the abuse of the right.
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