Inactivity of the Participants in Evidence Presentation as a Form of Lawful Procedural Conduct in Civil Cases

The paper demonstrates theoretical and practical significance of inactivity of trial participants involved in providing evidence in civil procedure. The relevance of the issue is predetermined by the fact that in the legal periodicals there is an increase in the number of proposals to impose fines on persons participating in the trial, if they demonstrate procedural inactivity in civil cases dealt with in courts of general jurisdiction, since, in their opinion, inactivity reduces the effectiveness of the trial. However, as the author shows, the problem lies in a more harmonious implementation of the principles of adversarial civil proceedings, primarily the disposition principle, in court’s practice. The paper provides judicial practice demonstrating the variety of procedural situations related to the legal consequences of the procedural inactivity of the parties. The author refers to judicial statistics, which also does not confirm the relevance of proposals for the introduction of fines for persons involved in the case. The author concludes that it is necessary to preserve the current legal regime of adversarial and dispositive civil proceedings, which allows for the procedural inactivity of the participants involved in the procedure of providing evidence.