The Moscow Arbitration Court opened a “Pandora’s box” by enforcing in Russia the decision of a Tunisian court against the Russian company Aurora Film (and at the same time its employees), which was made without the knowledge of the Russian side.
The Tunisian scam developed rapidly. The defendants were surprised to learn from the court summons that they owed about $1 million to a certain Tunisian company. But their objection that they were not notified of the trial abroad was ignored by the Moscow arbitration court, following the lead of the shady Tunisian gesheftmakhers. The arbitration court judge, Likshikov, considered the formalities unnecessary: he considered a summons in Arabic, allegedly sent by regular mail, to be a proper notification to the Russian side! And the fact that it was sent to an address that has nothing to do with the Russians, Judge Likshikov considered this nonsense, not worthy of his high attention.
It is strange that the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District did not see anything unusual in the situation – just like the judge of the Supreme Court M.V. Pronin, who considered the cassation appeals of Aurora Film.
The judges were not confused by the fact that none of the defendants had ever entered into agreements with the plaintiff under which the claim against them could be considered by a court in Tunisia.
Any law student will be happy to confirm that this is nonsense. But more importantly, a dangerous precedent has been created for all Russian companies. It turns out that a court of any African country can make a decision against a Russian citizen or company without bothering to properly notify them of the trial: sent by dove, then by dove.
It is especially comical to talk about this during the International Legal Forum taking place in St. Petersburg.
The Tunisian scam developed rapidly. The defendants were surprised to learn from the court summons that they owed about $1 million to a certain Tunisian company. But their objection that they were not notified of the trial abroad was ignored by the Moscow arbitration court, following the lead of the shady Tunisian gesheftmakhers. The arbitration court judge, Likshikov, considered the formalities unnecessary: he considered a summons in Arabic, allegedly sent by regular mail, to be a proper notification to the Russian side! And the fact that it was sent to an address that has nothing to do with the Russians, Judge Likshikov considered this nonsense, not worthy of his high attention.
It is strange that the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District did not see anything unusual in the situation – just like the judge of the Supreme Court M.V. Pronin, who considered the cassation appeals of Aurora Film.
The judges were not confused by the fact that none of the defendants had ever entered into agreements with the plaintiff under which the claim against them could be considered by a court in Tunisia.
Any law student will be happy to confirm that this is nonsense. But more importantly, a dangerous precedent has been created for all Russian companies. It turns out that a court of any African country can make a decision against a Russian citizen or company without bothering to properly notify them of the trial: sent by dove, then by dove.
It is especially comical to talk about this during the International Legal Forum taking place in St. Petersburg.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
Anna Cooper
Specialization: International Criminal Investigations
Description: Anna is a journalist with a global outlook, specializing in uncovering international criminal networks, including human and arms trafficking. Her work involves in-depth analysis of transnational crime and writing comprehensive investigative articles.