The lawyers of the Moscow Bar Association "Magnetar" provided qualified legal assistance to the Client and achieved the cancellation of the judicial act due to newly discovered circumstances, taking into account the amendments adopted to the Bankruptcy Law and the clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The Client was a creditor in the insolvency (bankruptcy) case of a legal entity. The prerequisite for filing a petition to review the judicial act was to prevent the inclusion in the register of creditors' claims of another, affiliated majority creditor who has the largest number of votes and the ability, thereby, to control the bankruptcy procedure.
The innovations in the bankruptcy law have unambiguously regulated the procedure for protecting the rights of creditors and arbitration managers whose interests were violated by the judicial act on which the claim stated in the bankruptcy case is based. Previously, the procedure for protecting the rights of persons participating in a bankruptcy case was regulated by paragraph 24 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 22.06.2012 No. 35 “On certain procedural issues related to the consideration of bankruptcy cases” and represented an extraordinary appeal, through which creditors whose rights were violated by a judicial act on which the claim stated in the bankruptcy case was based, could apply to the court to protect their rights through an appeal of this judicial act. Currently, by virtue of Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 107-FZ dated May 29, 2024 "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)" and Article 223 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation", Article 16 of the Bankruptcy Law has undergone significant changes, according to which persons whose rights and legitimate interests have been violated by a judicial act on which the creditor's claim in a bankruptcy case is based, have the right to apply for the cancellation of this judicial act in accordance with the rules of review due to newly discovered circumstances. The explanations of the recently adopted Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 17.12.2024 No. 40 "On Certain Issues Related to the Entry into Force of the Federal Law of 29 May 2024 No. 107-FZ "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)" and Article 223 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation" deserve special attention. The court indicates that, by virtue of paragraph five of clause 12 of Article 16 of the Bankruptcy Law, persons participating in the consideration of the application have the right to present new evidence and state new arguments in the court of any instance from which the review of the case begins, which were not presented or stated during the initial consideration of the case. As part of the provision of qualified legal assistance to the Client, the lawyers analyzed and took into account the innovations in the current legislation, as well as the clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Among other things, the lawyers presented new arguments that were not the subject of the initial consideration of the case, including arguments about incorrect accounting of debt repayments under the agreement, the court's failure to examine key aspects such as affiliation of persons, invalidity of agreements, and, as a consequence, the absence of an adversarial process. As a result of the assistance provided by the lawyers of MBA "MAGNETAR", the judicial act on the basis of which the majority creditor wishing to join the bankruptcy case based his claims was cancelled. Thus, the Client's ability to take an active part in the bankruptcy case was preserved, and his rights and legitimate interests were protected.
