Consideration of cases in court when filing a counterclaim is carried out according to the general rules applicable in civil proceedings. However, the filing of a counterclaim has certain characteristics that should be taken into account.
Any defendant in a civil proceeding has the right to file a counterclaim if it also has certain reasonable claims against the plaintiff. Usually, the need for a counterclaim arises in a situation when the parties have entered into any contract, in the process of execution of which mutual claims have arisen. At the same time, a counterclaim can perform several tasks at once, which include compensation for mutual claims of the parties, an objective consideration of a civil case by a court, taking into account all significant circumstances.
When can a counterclaim be filed?
The procedure for filing a counterclaim in a civil procedure by the defendant is regulated by Articles 137, 138 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The defendant can exercise the right to such a filing at any time, but this should be done before the final decision on the case is made. If a substantiated counterclaim is accepted for consideration by the court, then the claims of the plaintiff and the defendant will be considered jointly, and the court's decision will record the conclusions of the court in relation to each of them. It should be borne in mind that in order to accept a counterclaim for court proceedings, the defendant must comply with the requirements established by procedural legislation for the form and content of an ordinary statement of claim. Only in this case can such a requirement be considered.
Under what conditions is a counterclaim accepted?
In addition to the general requirements for statements of claim, legislation imposes a number of special conditions, in the presence of any of which it becomes possible to file a counterclaim. For example, a counterclaim can be offset against the requirements set out in the original statement of claim. In addition, in some cases, the satisfaction of the counterclaim of the defendant excludes the possibility of making a positive decision on the main claim. Finally, a counterclaim is accepted when the claims of the plaintiff and the defendant have a significant connection, which predetermines the need for their joint consideration. The presence of one of the listed circumstances is determined by the court, and in their absence, the acceptance of the counterclaim may be refused. In this case, the defendant will be able to initiate a separate civil case by filing a statement of claim in a general manner.
