Court · Russia
Судебная повестка — a case with your name is on the court's calendar
A Судебная повестка is an official summons to a civil court hearing, telling you when and where your case will be heard. Receiving it means a case is already on the docket — and the hearing will take place with or without you.
How serious: needs actionAlso called: судебное извещение, вызов в суд, исковое заявление (копия с приложениями), письмо разряда «Судебное»
A civil court has scheduled a hearing in a case that involves you, and this summons tells you the date, the time and the place. Your procedural role is printed on it: ответчик (defendant), истец, третье лицо or свидетель.
If you are the defendant, the повестка usually arrives together with, or after, a copy of the исковое заявление — the lawsuit against you, typically over a debt, rent, damages or a family matter.
The hearing happens whether or not you come. A properly notified defendant who stays silent can be judged in absence, in заочное производство (ГПК РФ ст. 233).
Who sends it
A суд общей юрисдикции — a районный суд or a мировой судья — the civil court where someone has filed a lawsuit naming you as ответчик (defendant) or requires you as a participant.
A court form naming the суд, the case number, the дата и время судебного заседания, your procedural role (ответчик, истец, третье лицо, свидетель) and the courtroom. Delivered by registered mail with уведомление о вручении in an envelope marked 'Судебное' (kept only 7 days at the post office), by courier, or electronically via Госуслуги (ГПК РФ ст. 113).
The deadline
The hearing date and time stated in the повестка (no separate response period; extra time must allow preparation — ГПК РФ ст. 113: extended so that participants have 'достаточный срок для подготовки к делу и своевременной явки в суд').
The date that counts is the hearing date and time stated in the повестка; there is no separate response period. The summons must be sent so that participants have 'достаточный срок для подготовки к делу и своевременной явки в суд' — enough time to prepare and to appear (ГПК РФ ст. 113).
If you do nothing
If you were properly notified and do not appear, without communicating valid reasons and without asking to proceed in your absence, the court may hear the case without you — including in заочное производство, which produces a default judgment against a silent defendant (ГПК РФ ст. 233). A letter you refused or never collected still counts as delivered (ГК РФ ст. 165.1).
How it escalates
- 01The hearing proceeds without you; your evidence and objections are never heard.
- 02The court may issue a заочное решение (default judgment) against an absent, properly notified defendant (ГПК РФ ст. 233).
- 03Once the judgment takes force, the creditor obtains an исполнительный лист and passes it to ФССП — account debits, fee, possible travel ban follow.
- 04You may learn about the outcome only from bailiffs, with all the short cancellation windows already running.
How to respond
Response types
- Confirm receiptЗаявление (ходатайство) о рассмотрении дела в отсутствие ответчика с направлением копии решения · ГПК РФ ст. 167 ч. 5 — стороны вправе просить суд о рассмотрении дела в их отсутствие и направлении им копий решения суда
- Ask for more timeХодатайство об отложении судебного разбирательства · ГПК РФ ст. 167 ч. 1 (обязанность известить суд о причинах неявки и представить доказательства их уважительности), ч. 6 (суд может отложить разбирательство по ходатайству лица в связи с неявкой его представителя по уважительной причине); ст. 169 (отложение разбирательства дела)
- File the objectionВозражения (отзыв) на исковое заявление · ГПК РФ ст. 149 ч. 2 (ответчик представляет истцу и суду возражения в письменной форме относительно исковых требований), ст. 35 (права лиц, участвующих в деле)
- Ask for clarificationЗаявление об ознакомлении с материалами дела (в том числе о выдаче копии искового заявления и приложений) · ГПК РФ ст. 35 — лица, участвующие в деле, вправе знакомиться с материалами дела, делать выписки, снимать копии
Where and how
- ГАС «Правосудие» (the state court information system) — filing documents with courts of general jurisdiction
- Registered letter with delivery notice and inventory of enclosures (Почта России)
- Ordinary (unregistered) post
- In person at the registry of the authority or the court, against a dated receipt stamp
- Telephone — the number printed on the document
What makes it count
There is no separate deadline for the response — the only benchmark is that the documents must ACTUALLY reach the judge before the hearing begins, so post is risky at this stage and is fit only where you have a week to ten days in hand. It is safer to file through ГАС «Правосудие» (the system records the time of arrival in Moscow time) or to hand the papers to the court registry in two copies, keeping your own with the incoming stamp. A request to adjourn should also be repeated by telephone message to the judge's assistant, but a phone call by itself is not a filed document. Copies of the objections and enclosures go to the claimant and the other parties, with proof of sending attached.
Common questions
Will the hearing be cancelled if I don't come?
No. If you were properly notified and do not appear without communicating valid reasons, the court may hear the case without you, including in заочное производство with a default judgment (ГПК РФ ст. 233).
I never collected the letter — does that mean I wasn't notified?
A letter you refused or never collected still counts as delivered (ГК РФ ст. 165.1). 'Судебное' mail is kept only 7 days at the post office.
Can I ask the court to move the date?
A written ходатайство to postpone the hearing can be filed, with proof of the valid reason. A ходатайство to hear the case in your absence is another option.
Sources
Facts verified against the sources below on 28 August 2026.