On Legal Cooperation of the CIS Countries
Desiring to prevent the emergence of legal complexities, some of CIS countries established the order of providing legal cooperation on criminal, family and civil matters. Legal cooperation is based on the Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters. Following this convention, the legal assistance may be granted by conducting expertise, searches, requisition, sending and delivery of exhibits, compiling and sending documents, conducting expertise and interrogations of the parties, accused, witnesses, experts, starting criminal persecution, search of the wanted persons and their delivery, recognition and fulfillment of court decisions in civil cases, verdicts on civil claims, writs of execution and so on.
Above listed ways of legal assistance are carried out through the central bodies of the CIS parties. Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine carry it out through territorial bodies. The competent bodies in Armenia are specialized bodies of the Ministry of Justice of the RA and in Russia – specialized bodies of the Ministry of Justice in federal subjects. Sending the documents through the territorial bodies reduces the terms of delivery of the document and facilitates execution of the order. The order must consist of required and sufficient information for its execution by the body of the requested state.
Minsk Convention established the obligation of the parties to satisfy requests for mailing without translation and free of charge certificates on registering acts of civil status, documents about education, duration of labor and so on. Persons turn to central bodies for mailing and vindication of documents. Armenia and Russia established an opportunity to mail the documents on registering acts of civil status through the bodies of Civil Act Agency what reduces the terms of requisition of such documents. Documents concerning with personal and property rights of the citizens are subject to mailing through the territorial bodies.
Minsk Convention lets recognize and fulfill decisions of competent bodies of Russia and Armenia on family and civil matters as well as verdicts on civil claims which are pronounced in the territory of the CIS countries. Decisions can be recognized by the courts of the countries where they are subject to enforcement after filing the application on recognition of decision.
The petition must be appended by the decision or its authorized copy, document confirming that the decision came into effect, the document confirming that the side against which the decision was taken and which didn’t participate in the process was summoned to the court in time and in proper order, the document confirming the partial execution of the decision at the moment of its sending as well as the document confirming the agreement of the sides about their turning to court. Fulfilling the commission on rendering legal assistance the organization that is an object of the commission applies the law of its state.
The following countries are the participants of Minsk Convention from 1993: The Republics of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.