The desire to write a lawsuit in court on their own arises among many people who have to deal with the judicial system. This is not surprising, especially if you know how much it costs to file a lawsuit. But most lawsuits written by people with no legal background are not accepted by the courts. This is due to the fact that to write such a document, people are trying to find a sample of it on the Internet or in court. But this is not enough to understand how to correctly write a statement of claim in court. A sample of such a document, in which you can simply enter your name and surname, does not exist, since each specific case has its own nuances that significantly affect the content of such a document.
In addition, the statement of claim is compiled according to strict rules established by law, which can not always be extracted from the example of a finished statement. Therefore, in order to draw up a well-reasoned reasoned claim, which will be accepted by the court on the first try, you need to understand the principle of compiling such documents, which will be discussed in this article.
Identification of violated rights
A lawsuit in court is the most effective way to protect your rights today. But before you make a claim application to the court you need to have a clear idea of what legal rights have been violated, as well as how, in your opinion, the court should protect them.
For the purposes of writing a claim, it is important to distinguish between two main types of rights: property and non-property. Property - these are the rights of participants in property legal relations, for example, arising at the conclusion of the contract of sale of a house. Non-property - human rights not related to property, for example, the right to fatherhood or motherhood.
The procedure for calculating court fees, as well as the rights of the plaintiff and defendant, depends on the nature of the claim.
For example, you entered into a supply contract, made an advance payment, but it was not delivered within the time period specified by the contract. In this case, your property rights have been violated. You can protect them in different ways, depending on what you want. You can oblige the defendant to fulfill your obligations, you can force him to return the advance payment, or you can still oblige him to pay compensation.
Types of civil claims and wording of claims
The civil court satisfies the claim in accordance with the requirements formulated in the statement of claim. Such requirements must be formulated even before the lawsuit is written, since its argumentation will depend on this. It should be understood that the court can satisfy only those requirements that are consistent with the procedural powers of the court. And the powers of the court, in turn, depend on how to protect the rights of the plaintiff.
There are several types of civil claims, depending on the nature of the claims. So, a civil lawsuit may be:
- “On recognition of the right” - the court may recognize the right of the plaintiff, which is disputed, for example, the right of ownership of a residential building.
- “On awarding the right” - the court may award money or other material assets, for example child support for the child, in favor of the plaintiff.
- “On the transformation of law” - in some cases established by a contract or law, the law may be changed. In the event that someone objects to a change in such a right, a lawsuit is filed for conversion. For example, the tenant in some cases acquires ownership of the leased property. If the landlord refuses to transfer the property into the property voluntarily, a lawsuit is filed.In such cases, the court may recognize the acquisition by the plaintiff of a wider scope of rights.
Claims need to be formulated in accordance with the type of claim, for example, if the claim is “for recognition”, the requirement should look like this: “Please recognize my right to ...”
Statement of Claim
Any statement of claim consists of an introductory, motivational, and pleading part.
The statement of claim should begin with a heading where the name of the court, full details of the parties (full name and addresses of the plaintiff, defendant and third parties) must be indicated, the price of the claim.
Behind the heading in the center of the page, you should write a “statement of claim”, and under it briefly describe the essence of the claim, for example, “on the award of alimony for a child”.
Introductory part of the statement of claim
The introductory part should describe the actual events, preferably in chronological order, during which the rights of the plaintiff were violated. State what measures of pre-trial settlement of the conflict have been taken: correspondence, negotiations, claims, etc. In this case, in the introductory part, it is necessary to state only the facts that can be confirmed by the evidence you have or the evidence that can be claimed from other persons.
The motivational part of the lawsuit
The motivation should state why you think your rights have been violated as a result of the actions or omissions of the defendant set out in the narrative. Here it is necessary to give a detailed and at the same time concise argumentation of one's legal position, based on evidence and norms of the current legislation. You should also state the position of the defendant, if you know it, and bring your counterarguments.
Application part
The petitioning part is the shortest, it begins with the word “I ask,” located in the center of the page, followed by a paragraph listing the claims based on the nature of the violated rights and the desired method of compensation.
In the petitioning part, one can indicate not only the requirements for the defendant, but also some petitions to the court, which should be considered at the time of the decision to initiate a civil case. For example, an application for payment of a state duty in installments or exemption from such payment.
Completion of the statement of claim
In conclusion, you need to list all the evidence attached to the claim as an addition, and sign the document, putting the date and signature. The date, as a rule, is put in the lower left, and the signature in the lower right. Applications should be listed in the order of their placement in the package of documents. If the attached document consists of several sheets, indicate their number. Mandatory annexes to the statement of claim must be a receipt on payment of state duty or a document confirming exemption from its payment, and copies of the statement of claim with additions, in the amount of one for each respondent and third parties, if any.
Features of claims for insurance companies
To sue insurance companies, you need to consider some features of such cases. First you need to understand how to make a lawsuit in court against an insurance company. A sample of such a statement can be taken as a basis - one that, in its content, is most suitable for your legal relationship. But such a model, no matter how competently designed, requires careful refinement.
In litigation with insurance companies, you need not make a mistake with the choice of the defendant. The fact is that insurance companies themselves, especially small ones, rarely conclude insurance contracts in person, but act through insurance agents and brokers. At the same time, both the broker and the insurance agent act exclusively on behalf of the insurer, and the fulfillment of the terms of the contract is also entrusted to him.
Thus, the client can get the insurance policy without personally visiting the office of the insurer and theoretically not even knowing his legal address. So, an insurer from Moscow can conclude insurance contracts in Ust-Urengoy through a broker. In such cases, the claim should be filed only with the insurer at his location.
In order to correctly file a statement of claim to the court, one must take into account that the relations of the insurer and the insured person are regulated within the framework of the insurance contract, and therefore the claimant’s claims must be reasoned by the defendant’s non-observance of any clause of the contract or its non-compliance with the law. It should also be noted that sometimes in the insurance contract some rights and obligations of the insurer are not prescribed by law for any insurance contract.
Features of claims on the division of property
When a couple divorces, there is a problem of the division of property acquired during the marriage.
Often spouses fail to resolve this issue peacefully, and they have a question about how to make a statement of claim to the court on the division of property.
Such a claim is proprietary, and therefore requires a determination of price. In this case, the price of the claim will be the value of the property that the plaintiff wants to keep.
It is important to consider that if the cost of a TV or a refrigerator can be determined by a receipt from the store, then to determine the cost of an apartment or a car, you will need to evaluate it. In such a suit, you can only require the division of property at the time of appeal to the court. It follows that the plaintiff must prove that the thing he wants to sue is indeed present in the defendant. The division of property should be equal, so if the plaintiff wants to get most of the property, he will have to compensate for the difference to the defendant, for which, when filing a claim, he should deposit the appropriate amount of money into the special deposit account of the court.
How to make a statement of claim to the court for a refund?
Features of the preparation of such a claim depend on the grounds for a refund. If it is a question of repaying a debt, you will need a document confirming the debt obligation, for example, a receipt or a loan agreement. The presence of the original receipt from the plaintiff indicates a default on debt. In the case of a loan agreement, the defendant will have to prove payment of the debt with receipts. The statement of claim is important to indicate when the defendant received the money, as well as on what basis and when he should have returned it. It is also possible to calculate a penalty and a penalty before drawing up a lawsuit. A refund of money transferred for unfulfilled obligations can be awarded only on the basis of an agreement that provided for the defendant to provide the plaintiff with the result of his work of a certain quality and at a certain time.
Features of consumer protection lawsuits
To protect your consumer rights, you need to be able to draw up a lawsuit in court. Protecting consumers' rights through the courts will be effective only with the support of Rospotrebnadzor, which must first be addressed with a statement of the situation and with a request to bring the perpetrator to justice. The fact is that it is quite difficult to collect the evidence base for such a case on your own.
After all, only an expert can confirm the inadequate quality of the goods, and it is possible to establish the improper treatment of employees by stores or verbal deception only after conducting an internal investigation, which a simple consumer will not be able to do. At the same time, Rospotrebnadzor has all the powers and mechanisms for conducting expert examinations and internal investigations. And at the same time everything is at state expense. This is important, because the examination submitted in court will cost as much as it costs to file a lawsuit in the court to recover hundreds of thousands of rubles.In this case, a forensic examination may give an ambiguous conclusion.
Having in your hands the results of the inspection of the regulatory body in the field of consumer rights protection, it will be much easier to draw up a lawsuit. In addition, it will be very difficult for the defendant to refute the facts established by such a check. To do this, he will need to order a forensic examination, which in any case will have to operate on the same facts as established by Rospotrebnadzor.
Thus, it is not so difficult to draw up a statement of claim in court if you adhere to the required structure of the document and take into account the peculiarities of the formation of claims and the evidence base in each category of cases. But no matter how well you delve into the essence of the matter, it is better to get legal support when applying to the court.
