Administrative litigation system and structure in the Russian Federation
Authors:   Korean Administrative Law Association, Jang Hwijin 
Published: June 2023

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of Russian administrative litigation, incorporating legislation, case law, and academic scholarship, in order to introduce the system and structure of administrative litigation in the Russian Federation. Indeed, the structure of legal relationships in Russian administrative law is completely different from that in South Korea's administrative law, so there are many aspects that can be compared between Russian administrative litigation law and South Korea's administrative litigation law. Moreover, since administrative litigation law in all countries is based on administrative law, the administrative litigation law in the Russian Federation introduced in this paper can also be compared with South Korea's administrative litigation law.
Currently, the Russian administrative litigation system consists of administrative proceedings and administrative lawsuits. The administrative proceedings system has evolved based on the administrative proceedings system in the Soviet Union, while the administrative lawsuits system has been established in a completely different form from the administrative lawsuits system in the Soviet era. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian administrative litigation system treated administrative lawsuits as a special type of civil or commercial litigation, while categorizing administrative proceedings as a separate remedy under administrative law. However, with the enactment and implementation of the Administrative Lawsuit Law in 2015, administrative lawsuits were separated from civil and commercial lawsuits and established as an independent litigation system, establishing its own type of lawsuit, alongside the types of lawsuits enumerated in the Russian Constitution (constitutional lawsuits, civil lawsuits, criminal lawsuits, commercial lawsuits, and administrative lawsuits).
Administrative litigation in the Russian Federation refers to the administrative remedy under administrative law, which is carried out by the administrative adjudication committee established by law for administrative agencies or individual administrative systems. One characteristic of Russian administrative litigation is that the appellate body that can cancel or invalidate administrative decisions is the administrative adjudication committee of the superior agency or individual administrative system established by law, and the administrative agency cannot review its own administrative decision. In the case of administrative litigation, it is a full trial based on a lawsuit by the parties involved. The type of administrative litigation is distinguished based on whether the dispute has economic value and whether the administrative action is illegal. In the former case, it is classified into general administrative litigation and administrative commercial litigation, based on the existence of economic value in the administrative dispute. In the latter case, it is classified as administrative violation litigation based on whether there is illegality in the administrative action that imposes legal sanctions for the administrative punishment of illegal administrative acts by administrative authorities. Therefore, the types of administrative litigation in the Russian Federation are composed of 1) general administrative litigation for disputes between administrative entities regarding rights and obligations under administrative law, 2) administrative commercial litigation for disputes regarding economic rights and obligations under administrative law, and 3) administrative violation litigation for administrative punishment of illegal administrative acts by administrative authorities as a lawsuit material.
The characteristics of Russia's administrative litigation system are as follows. First, in administrative adjudication, administrative agencies are bound by their own administrative decisions and cannot review them on their own.