Effective claims and litigation work

Programme

Day 1

Action proceedings, hearing a case in the court of first instance

• Defining the subject matter and scope of the claims, determining the risks of counterclaims, determining whether initiating court proceedings is expedient
• The statement of defence: content, preparation and submission
• Filing a counterclaim and the conditions for its acceptance by the court

Practice: Working with the audience on case examples

• Interim measures, recommended actions before filing an application for interim measures, appealing a ruling refusing interim measures
• Procedural consequences of changing the grounds or subject matter of the claim, withdrawing the claim, admitting the claim and a settlement agreement;

Practice: Working with the audience on case examples

• Persons participating in the case and the scope of their procedural rights, parties making and not making independent claims

Practice: Working with the audience on case examples

Evidence and proof in civil proceedings

• The concept of evidence in civil procedure. Legal force of evidence and assessment of evidence in terms of relevance, admissibility and reliability
• Burden of proof, subject matter and elements of judicial proof
• Factual data inadmissible as evidence and facts not requiring proof. Objections to the court's acceptance of evidence

Practice: Working with the audience on case examples

• Examining and assessing individual types of evidence
• Witness testimony, written evidence (including electronic messages/letters), expert and specialist opinions

Trial. Appealing judicial acts, review on newly discovered circumstances

• Trial, stages and procedures, closing arguments
• Appeal, specifics of appealing certain types of judicial acts, content and procedure for filing an appeal, submitting a response to the appeal, restrictions on submitting additional evidence in the court of appeal
• Appealing judicial acts that have entered into legal force (cassation and supervisory instances); content and procedure for filing cassation and supervisory appeals

Practice: Studying the regulatory resolutions of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan

• Review of judicial acts on newly discovered circumstances, conditions and procedure for review

Day 2

Alternative forms of resolving civil and commercial (economic) disputes. Mediation

Alternative dispute resolution: system and principles

• Concept, subject matter and system of alternative dispute resolution. Principles of alternative dispute resolution. Methods (forms) of alternative dispute resolution: variety and brief description. Advantages and disadvantages of alternative dispute resolution. The judicial system and alternative dispute resolution
• The history of mediation as a method of alternative dispute resolution. Concept and principles of mediation. Intermediation and mediation. The relationship between the concepts of «conflict», «conflictology» and «mediation». Basic principles of mediation. Different approaches in mediation. Advantages and disadvantages compared with other alternative dispute resolution methods
• Factors affecting the success of the mediation procedure. Mediation tools, their types and significance. The expediency of using particular tools in the mediation procedure. Perception and communication in mediation

The mediator and the mediation procedure

• Requirements for the mediator. The mediator's role and functions in the mediation procedure. The mediator's professional ethics. Organising the mediator's work. Different schools and approaches in mediation. The understanding-based approach
• The parties' application to a mediator. Choosing a mediator. Criteria for whether a dispute can be considered through the mediation procedure. Determining whether the parties' dispute can be settled through the mediation procedure. Rules for conducting the mediation procedure. Concluding an agreement on settling the dispute through the mediation procedure

The mediation procedure. The mediator's goals and objectives at each stage (phase) of the mediation procedure

• The mediation procedure and its structure. The significance of structure in mediation. Specialists' approaches to implementing agreements, monitoring their implementation and operation. Signing the mediation agreement
• Criteria for evaluating the outcome of negotiations in mediation. The parties' dispute settlement agreement and its relationship to a settlement agreement and a court judgment. The legal nature of the dispute settlement agreement. Performance of the dispute settlement agreement. Approval of the dispute settlement agreement by the court

Information in mediation

• The significance of information in mediation. Goals and ways of conveying information. Levels of information in mediation. The possibilities of positive communication. Ways of objectifying facts. Ways of obtaining and clarifying information
• Perception in mediation. Realities. Interests. Needs
• Working with the parties' interests. The concept of the «central» problem. Positional thinking. Hierarchies of needs
• Involving the parties' representatives, experts and other persons in the mediation procedure. Participation of the parties' representatives in mediation and their status. Determining the need for the participation of psychologists, lawyers, experts, etc. in the mediation procedure and their status