Recovery of Damages Caused by the Customs
Legal services for the recovery of losses caused by the customs
The customs may take illegal decisions that lead to the fact that the declarants, through the fault of the customs authorities, incur losses. There are situations when losses incurred by a participant in foreign economic activity exceed the cost of imported goods. In this regard, the question arises of the possibility of compensation for losses incurred by the actions and inaction of the customs authorities.
The reasons for the occurrence of losses in the interaction with the customs may be:
- Violation of the deadline for the release of goods by the customs authority.
- Unlawful refusal of the customs authority to release the imported goods.
- Adoption by the customs authority of an illegal decision (for example, aimed at refusing to apply preferences).
- Confiscation and destruction of imported goods.
- Changing the code of the Commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity of the Eurasian Economic Union by the customs.
- Bringing a foreign trade participant to administrative responsibility.
Such actions of the customs lead to the fact that participants in foreign economic activity, in addition to, for example, legal expenses in case of being held administratively liable, may incur unplanned expenses, such as, in particular, such as:
- Expenses associated with the payment of additional storage time for goods.
- Damage to the goods, if it refers to food products that have a certain period of consumption and storage.
- Downtime of vehicles that were reserved for the further movement of goods across the country.
- Interest for the use of credit funds due to the inability to sell the imported goods on time, due to its untimely release by customs authorities, etc.
The evidence base when considering court cases with customs for the recovery of incurred losses depends on the type of case under consideration, the quality of the evidence provided, while the assistance of an experienced lawyer, as a rule, allows minimizing legal costs and reducing the time frame for the consideration of the case. An important stage in court cases related to the recovery of losses from the customs authorities is to prove a causal relationship between the actions of the customs authorities and the losses incurred by participants in foreign economic activity. Bodies of the Federal Customs Service are often in no hurry to compensate for the losses incurred due to their actions.
Despite the fact that foreign economic activity implies a certain risk, illegal actions of customs authorities can bring significant losses to participants in foreign economic activity.
Recovery of damages from the customs authorities is one of the most difficult categories of customs disputes. This is due to the fact that the reimbursement of losses by the customs authorities to the injured party is not carried out independently by the customs authority, in this case the payment is made at the expense of the state budget, the expenditure of which is subject to special control. In this regard, the complexity of proving such a case about an incorrect decision of the customs authority arises. State budget expenditures attract special close attention of regulatory authorities, however, violation of the legislation on spending budgetary funds entails not only administrative, but also criminal liability. In this regard, representing the interests of the organization in the recovery of damages from the customs authorities should be entrusted to qualified specialists who will be able to understand all the intricacies of interaction with the customs and judicial authorities, correctly draw up the necessary documents and competently conduct a court case.
There are situations when the customs representative incorrectly carried out the customs operation and there is no fault of the customs authority at all. For this, it is required to understand all the circumstances of the case and determine the guilty person who will compensate for the losses incurred.
The concept of losses is defined by paragraph 2 of Article 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which provides that “real damage” means expenses that a person whose right has been violated has made or will have to make to restore the violated right, loss or damage to his property, and lost profits – “lost income”, which this person would have received under normal conditions of civil circulation if his right had not been violated.
In most cases, the judiciary accepts the position of the customs authorities, in this regard, a qualified lawyer to represent the interests of a foreign trade participant will need to study all the case materials, as well as the documentation drawn up in the framework of interaction with the customs authorities. Given that the losses incurred can be reimbursed from the state budget, it is usually not possible to resolve such a dispute out of court. In order to compensate the participants of foreign economic activity for the losses caused, the state authorities need to substantiate the compensation for losses. This is due to the fact that the expenditures of state budgets are controlled by the relevant authorities.
A claim for the recovery of incurred losses against the customs authority that committed the violation is carried out either by the participant in foreign economic activity independently or with the involvement of an experienced qualified specialist. At the same time, it should be noted that the participation of a qualified lawyer with extensive practical experience from the very beginning of the trial allows increasing the possibility of a positive outcome of the case, recovering losses incurred, minimizing court costs and reducing the time for litigation.
Legal services
- Advising on the recovery of damages from the customs authorities
- Assistance in calculating losses
- Preparation, execution and submission of documents necessary for participation in a court case
- Representation in litigation with the customs authorities for the recovery of damages
