“Protection of Property Rights in a Contract of Carriage: Commentary on the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Ruling No. 45-P of December 16, 2025” — an article by Tatiana Tereshchenko for the magazine “Zakon”
An article by Tatiana Tereshchenko, Head of the Analytical Practice at Prime Advice Law Offices, for the "Legal Chronicle" section in the "Zakon" magazine. This section includes several short pieces by different authors on significant events. The authors write about what captured their attention in the legal sphere over the previous month.
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Ruling No. 45-P of December 16, 2025, issued on the complaint of OOO "Trading House MMK" (hereinafter — Ruling No. 45-P), is interesting not only from the perspective of regulating railway transportation. At the center of attention was the question of the extent to which a contract can limit the protection of property rights, including within the framework of a public contract for the carriage of goods.
The reason for appealing to the Constitutional Court was a practical conflict that participants in transportation regularly encounter. The cargo is damaged or lost, and the owner suffers economic losses. The question arises: can such an owner directly claim compensation from the carrier if the contract was concluded between other persons — the consignor and the consignee? Judicial practice on this matter is ambiguous, which creates legal uncertainty (para. 5, clause 1.3 of Ruling No. 45-P). Some courts, relying on the provisions of clause 2 of Article 797 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and para. 3 of part 3 of Article 120 of the Charter of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation, believe that such a right belongs exclusively to the parties to the contract of carriage. Others allow for the possibility of protecting the owner's interests, taking into account the actual distribution of risks and the moment of transfer of ownership of the cargo.