Legal Representation of Foreign Companies
Representation in courts in disputes with foreign companies and cross-border disputes
On the Russian market, you can meet both Russian and foreign companies. In this regard, conflicts often arise in practice between economic entities, relations between which are complicated by a foreign element.
Court cases of various categories involving foreign legal entities are quite relevant in our time. This should include disputes over foreign economic contracts, disputes in connection with the activities of foreign investors, and other cases related to the participation of foreign companies.
Procedure for consideration of disputes involving foreign companies
Before choosing the means and method of legal protection, it should, first of all, be determined which court should be applied to, whether it will be the court of the Russian Federation or a foreign state.
When resolving the issue of bringing a claim to a particular court, first of all, one should pay attention to the provisions of the main agreement concluded between the companies - counterparties, on the merits of which a dispute arose: namely, the provisions on the jurisdiction to resolve conflicts related to the concluded agreement. In such clauses on jurisdiction, the parties often agree to resolve the dispute in a particular court of a particular state, in an arbitration court, and also to resolve the dispute at the location of the plaintiff or the location of the defendant.
Jurisdiction may also be determined directly by agreement of the parties involved in the case. International contracts often include the so-called “prorogation clause”, that is, an agreement on which court will hear the case in case of any disagreement (it is also worth remembering that the “prorogation clause” does not cancel the exclusive jurisdiction regarding disputes over rights for real estate).
Thus, it is undoubted that the participation of a foreign element implies the use of international legal norms. The list of these norms may be included in the text of the main contract concluded between counterparties. In this case, when considering a dispute in court, you should justify your position based on these rules. In particular, in paragraph 5 of Art. 13 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation establishes that the arbitration court, in accordance with an international treaty of the Russian Federation, federal law, and an agreement of the parties concluded in accordance with them, applies the norms of foreign law. The specified legal prescription does not affect the operation of the mandatory norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation, the application of which is regulated by Section VI of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
It should be noted that there is a special procedure for notifying foreign persons of legal proceedings if they do not have a branch or authorized representative office in Russia. Notices abroad are sent by the court through the Ministry of Justice of a foreign state or other competent authority.