The draft federal law On Amending the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation was submitted by State Duma deputies Alexander Ageyev and Oleg Mikheyev.

The Government has reviewed the submitted draft federal law.

The draft law proposes amending Articles 378, 3791, 3911 and 3914 of the Civil Procedure Code. The amendments repeal the requirement to provide certified copies of court rulings when filing cassational and supervisory appeals or recommendations of prosecutor.

According to the explanatory note, the draft law is designed to remove additional administrative barriers and duplication of certain functions when appealing final rulings by courts of general jurisdiction by removing them from the list of mandatory documents that must be attached to cassational and supervisory appeals (or recommendations) or certified copies of the court rulings being appealed.

Pursuant to the draft law, the federal law shall take effect from July 1, 2013.

The idea behind the draft law is supported in general. However, submitting the amendments proposed by the draft law is deemed premature for the following reasons.

Creating a single database of court rulings within the system of courts of general jurisdiction involves upgrading the pilot model of the Court Records software system, which is part of the Justice State Automated System, and running its pilot testing in courts, which will take time.

In order to improve the quality of justice and the judicial protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and organisations, Government Resolution No. 1406 of December 27, 2012 approved the federal targeted programme Developing the Russian Judicial System in 2013 - 2020.

This federal programme proposes creating a modern information and telecommunications infrastructure within the single information space of the Supreme Court and federal courts of general jurisdiction, magistrates, judicial communities, and the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court; creating a scanning and storage centre for electronic copies of court documents; converting court archives into electronic format; enabling electronic court proceedings based on fast-track procedures for filing claims and complaints; obtaining copies of documents and familiarising with case materials, as well as equipping courts and the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court with software and key media for electronic document management and digital signatures.

A digital signature process must be in place if we want to form a database of electronic documents relevant in law and establish information exchange in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. Such measures call for equipping courts and the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court with appropriate software and key media for electronic signatures, as well as establishing a digital signature certification authority.

There is also a need to draft and adopt a federal law on establishing legal regulations for electronic documents and ensuring its relevance in law, including in the judiciary.

Thus, the proposals in this draft law can be implemented as part of the work under the federal targeted programme Developing the Russian Judicial System in 2013 - 2020.