Administrative justice.

What kind of practice is this?

Administrative justice is the relationship between a citizen or business and the state in the legal sphere. The logic is different than in civil or commercial disputes: here the other side is not a private party, but a public authority with its own powers, procedures, and presumptions.

This includes all judicial and pre-trial disputes where the other party is the state or local authorities. These are administrative fines under the Code of Administrative Offenses; decisions and inaction of state bodies under the Code of Administrative Offenses - refusals of licenses, permits, registrations, exclusions from registers; disputes with tax, customs, registration services, with the pension fund, with military registration, with local self-government bodies. Separately - contesting the arrests of property in criminal proceedings, including assets transferred to the management of ARMA. The list is not exhaustive - the scope of practice is expanding as the state creates new procedures and regulators.

Common to administrative cases is a different procedural school than in civil or commercial proceedings. Different terms (often short - 5-10 days). Different evidentiary logic - the presumption of the legality of the decision of a state body, which must be actively refuted. Different sanctions for mistakes.

Who needs administrative justice?

Entrepreneurs and businesses that have faced a refusal from a state body - they have not issued a license, have been denied registration, do not follow their own procedure, are fined by the State Labor Service or specialized inspections. Here, the administrative court is the only real way to force the body to behave legally. A complaint to a higher body is often formal; a real decision is only made in court.

Business owners whose assets have been seized in criminal proceedings. Often, the seizure is imposed disproportionately, without distinguishing between the property of the suspect and third parties; sometimes the property is transferred to the ARMA and sold at a reduced price. Without active protection, the losses sometimes exceed the amount that started the case.

Citizens - drivers, officials, individuals - who received an administrative fine with procedural violations. Most resolutions on administrative fines contain procedural errors, which are grounds for cancellation. The complexity is low, but the deadlines are short: 10 days from the date of delivery of the resolution, and the appeal path is closed.

How we conduct administrative affairs

The first step is to analyze the disputed act for compliance with the procedure and the material basis. In most cases, the weak point is the procedure itself: the protocol was drawn up incorrectly, the person was not notified, mitigating circumstances were not taken into account, the deadlines for considering the application were not met. Procedural grounds, as a rule, are more promising than material ones.

If the situation allows, we file an administrative complaint to a higher authority in parallel with a lawsuit to the court. The complaint is faster and free of charge, but rarely cancels the position of the lower authority. The court is a full-fledged competition of the parties with real chances. The dual channel saves time: if one worked, we don't wait for another.

For administrative disputes, a critical tool is securing the claim - stopping the disputed decision for the duration of the consideration. This is especially relevant for decisions on sanctions, license cancellation, and asset sales. Without security until the court decision, the business may suffer irreparable losses.

In cases involving arrests in criminal proceedings, we coordinate with the client's defense attorney in the main criminal trial. Strategies cannot be pursued in a vacuum - what helps in a criminal case may harm in asset protection, and vice versa.

How do we assess the future?

During the consultation, we review the documents: the disputed decision, the protocol, the ruling of the investigating judge, correspondence with the body, the circumstances. We look for procedural grounds, assess the material position, and check the client's compliance with the deadlines (important: the deadlines for appeals are often missed at the stage of waiting for the "it will dissolve by itself").

If the deadline has already been missed without good reason, or the procedure is clean, but the financial position is weak - we say this directly. We do not take on cases where we obviously have to lose; this does not benefit either the client or our reputation.

If we take on the case, we choose a channel (administrative complaint, court of first instance, appeal) and give an honest forecast: realistic terms, risk of appeal by the body, potential cost of execution. We do not promise a specific result - the administrative court assesses its position on the facts and has discretion. But we promise high-quality management at every step.