The Legal Status of Public Subjects in the Russian Civil Procedure

The grounds for endowing public law entities with the procedural status of a party to a case in civil and arbitration proceedings are investigated. The author proceeds from the fundamental idea that only participants in a disputed material legal relationship can act as parties to the civil process. Accordingly, persons who do not have the status of a subject of civil law cannot participate in civil and arbitration proceedings as a party. When deciding on the issue of granting the status of a party to a public legal entity, the courts need to proceed from their alleged connection with the dispute, civil legal personality, and the nature of the interest. Attention is also focused on the restriction of freedom in the disposal of the disputed right in cases involving public entities; when approving settlement agreements concluded between a private legal entity and a public entity, the courts need to check whether these agreements violate public interests (the interests of an unlimited number of persons).