The courts of the Republic of Belarus consider a huge number of disputes, including those related to inheritance.
We can distinguish the following hereditary disputes that can be resolved in court:
related to the division of hereditary property;
recognition of the will invalid;
on the allocation of a mandatory share in the inheritance;
between heirs under the law and incapable dependents of the testator;
on removal from the inheritance of unworthy heirs;
on the preemptive right of the heir to certain objects from the composition of the inheritance during its division;
about collecting debts of the testator from his heirs.
According to the plaintiff, such disputes are considered by the courts of first instance, as a rule, at the place of residence of the defendant. The courts of first instance include the courts that examine the case on the merits. On matters of inheritance, these can be district (city) courts, district courts in the city of Minsk, in exceptional cases, regional courts and the Minsk city court.
Within 15 days from the announcement of the decision or the delivery of the reasoned part of the decision (made upon request), the parties are entitled to appeal the decision of the court of first instance, which resolved the dispute related to inheritance.
In the Republic of Belarus in 2018, in the civil process, the cassation proceedings were replaced by the appeal. And since disputes related to inheritance relate to civil law, at the present time we can only talk about reviewing court decisions of a court of first instance only on appeal, which is certainly a positive thing.
The court of appellate instance reviews the decision of the court of first instance and checks it for legality and validity at the request of one of the parties, as well as third parties, if their rights were affected by such a decision.
So, a party that does not agree with the court decision has the right to file a private complaint about this decision with the court of appeal. For this, the complaint is addressed to a higher court, but is filed with the court, which considered the case on the merits. The court of first instance checks the private complaint for compliance with the time limits for appealing the decision, the person to whom it is filed and, subject to all requirements, prepares and sends the case file to a higher court.
The appeal, in addition to general information about the submitter, the addressee, must contain information about the decision of the court that is being appealed, the position and the justification in connection with which the decision is appealed, evidence supporting this position and the request what and to what extent should be changed in the appealed decision. Also, if necessary, the complaint indicates new evidence that was not accepted by the court of first instance, or could not be provided at the time of the hearing on the merits for good reason.
Information on the payment of the state duty is mandatory attached to the appeal.
Objections to the appeal may be submitted by interested parties no later than five days before the consideration of such a complaint. The requirements for the content of the objection to the complaint are the same as for the complaint itself, with the exception of payment of state duty.
When accepting the case file with the complaint, the judge of the court of appeal finds out whether all the requirements for the appeal are complied with. If violations have been identified, then the case is sent back to the trial court to eliminate them.
Subject to all requirements, the appellate court sets the date for consideration of the complaint. Preparation of the case for consideration should not exceed 15 days. In preparation, the judge may request additional materials from the parties, decide on the appointment of an examination, call experts to a court session, allow the parties to petition for consideration of additional evidence, and also perform other procedural actions.
The court of appeal shall notify interested parties of the appointment of the case for hearing.
The decision of the trial court is reviewed within the scope of the arguments indicated in the complaint. However, if in the process of verifying a court decision on the applicant’s arguments that violations of the application of substantive or procedural law are revealed, the appellate court has the right to review the decision in full. It is worth noting that in such cases, the ruling of the court of appeal must contain the motives that served as such verification.
The term for consideration of a complaint against a decision of a court of first instance is from a month – for simple cases, to four months – when considered by the Supreme Court.
The court reviewing the decision may leave the decision unchanged, thereby refusing to satisfy the complaint. May amend the decision of the court of first instance, or may cancel the decision in whole or in part and make a new decision on the stated requirements.
If a court decision establishes significant violations of procedural law that cannot be eliminated by the ruling of the court of appeal, or which impede the consideration of new evidence and facts and which were not investigated in a substantive hearing, the appellate court is authorized to reverse such a decision in whole or in part and forward for new consideration.
Our Law Office has a good professional experience in dealing with cases of appeal and cassation in Belarus on issues of inheritance law. Our lawyers and advocates will prepare all the necessary documents to the court, including complaints, statements and represent your interests in the higher courts.
