Litigation and Arbitration

Representing the interests of foreign clients in economic and arbitration courts in Belarus is one of the key specializations of lawyers of the Leshchynski Smolski Legal Office. Our lawyers accompany clients from all over the world and have extensive experience in handling cases at all stages of the litigation process, as well as at the stage of pre-trial negotiations.

Methods of dispute resolution in Belarus:

1. Drawing up (development) and filing a claim

According to the national law of Belarus, the settlement of conflict issues between legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (IE) has a number of peculiarities. Before suing the defendant, the plaintiff is obliged to take measures to send a written claim. Such a document is sent to the defendant by post or is handed over personally and against signature of an official. In order to ensure proper compliance with the claim procedure, it is important to send the claim to the legal address of the defendant, which often does not coincide with the one specified in the contract. We provide services for writing a claim that meets the requirements of the law, and deliver it to the defendant.

2. Application to order proceedings in economic courts of Belarus

Order proceedings shall commence upon the relevant application of the recoverer. The advantage of this type of proceedings is its cheapness and fast speed of consideration of the case. The absence of the need to be present in court personally is seen as a great plus. The maximum amount of state duty that you will pay the court for the consideration of the case is equivalent to 85 US dollars. The maximum duration of dispute resolution is 20 business days. In the order proceedings the court decides disputes on the repayment of money, on the requirement to return the property or on the foreclosure on the property of the debtor. These requirements must be indisputable. The indisputability is confirmed by documents or by the recognition (not contesting) of their debtor, but not implementation. Within the framework of this type of proceedings, disputes for any amount of money may be considered, regardless of its size. At any stage of the dispute, the lawyers of our office will prepare a statement on the initiation of order proceedings, calculation of the principal debt and penalties and will accompany the entire process until the receipt of the court decision.

3. Drawing up a statement of claim (action) in the economic court of Belarus

A classic way of resolving disputes in court, which involves the presence in the courtroom of the parties to the case and the payment of state duty in the amount that depends on the amount of debt or the type of non-property claim. After the decision is rendered, the party disagreeing with its content may draw up a complaint and appeal to the courts of the higher instances. We have extensive experience in writing statements of claim of any level of complexity on the performance of obligations by debtors under supply contracts, construction contracts, rendering services, transportation of goods, freight forwarding and other types of contracts.

4. Examination of the dispute in the International Court of Arbitration at the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICA at the BelCCI)

The ICA at the BelCCI handles cross-border disputes between foreign companies and residents of Belarus. Proceedings before the ICA are based on the relevant regulations. The ICA decisions are executed through the application to the Economic Court of Belarus with an application for the issuance of an executive document for enforcement of the award of the ICA at the BelCCI. Outside Belarus, the award of the ICA at the BelCCI is executed in accordance with the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958).

5. Performing an executive inscription by a notary public

The notary’s executive inscription is the process of returning overdue debts, when there is no need to go to court. The notary inscription is a document similar in its force to a court decision and is to be executed by analogy with it. Notaries make inscriptions on the basis of the application of the recoverer with attached documents certifying the existence of the unpaid obligation, a document on the debtors’ failure to contest the amount of the debt and a document on the payment for the notary’s services. Notaries shall make executive inscriptions on the repayment of debts under contracts of sale, supply, storage, subcontracting, transportation, rendering of services, penalties (fines, interest-bearing penalties) in connection with such debts. The advantages of this method are the speed of making the inscription (within a few days) and relatively small size of the notarial tariff. At any moment we are ready to accompany the procedure of debt repayment through the executive inscription.

6. Recognition and enforcement of a foreign court decision in the territory of Belarus

Did your national court satisfy the claim and issue a positive decision in respect of the Belarusian debtor? For the actual receipt of funds, this decision should be recognized and enforced in the territory of the Republic of Belarus. The procedure of recognition and enforcement of foreign court and foreign arbitration court decisions in Belarus has a number of nuances, the observance of which will allow you to get money to your current account as quickly as possible. Collection of receivables in Minsk, as well as from non-payers all over Belarus on the side of a non-resident is one of the key specializations of lawyers of our office. We represent the interests of foreign companies in repaying money from residents of the Republic of Belarus.

Do you need help from a court lawyer in Belarus? Please contact us, we will protect your interests in the courts of Belarus and pre-trial negotiations.