Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow: criminal cases, pre-trial detention, administrative offences

Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow: criminal cases, pre-trial measures and administrative offences

For residents of Ramenki, Prospekt Vernadskogo, Troparyovo-Nikulino and Ochakovo-Matveevskoye a criminal case that reaches trial will be heard here, at 17 Michurinsky Prospekt. This is where an investigator asks for an arrest, where complaints against the investigator are heard, and where administrative arrest and driving bans for the heavier offences are imposed. The bar association's office is a few minutes from the court.

History of the court

The court grew out of the Gagarinsky District People's Court, which served the south-west of the capital. By Order of the Mayor of Moscow No. 30-RM of 25 January 1994 it was renamed the Nikulinsky Intermunicipal (District) People's Court of the Western Administrative Okrug. Its territory was then described through police units: the court served the areas of the internal affairs departments of the municipal okrugs of Matveevskoye, Prospekt Vernadskogo, Troparyovo, Ramenki, Ochakovo and Nikulino, and of the 6th militia station at Moscow State University. This link to police departments is telling: a district court's criminal jurisdiction is still built around the territories of police departments.

Federal Law No. 88-FZ of 2 July 2003 "On the Creation and Abolition of District Courts of the City of Moscow" abolished the intermunicipal court and created the Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow with jurisdiction over the districts of Ochakovo-Matveevskoye, Prospekt Vernadskogo, Troparyovo-Nikulino and part of Ramenki. Chairs of the court: T. Verzilina (1998–2011), P. Maltsev (2012–2018), and since December 2018 A. Tolstoy.

What happens here in criminal cases

Ordering and extending pre-trial measures under Articles 108 and 109 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation on motions of investigators of the Nikulinsky Inter-district Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee, investigators and inquiry officers of the four district police departments, and other bodies where the detention took place within the court's territory. This is the stage where a defence lawyer matters most: the decision is taken within hours.
Complaints against investigators and inquiry officers under Article 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code, warrants for searches of homes, seizure of property, wiretapping.
Trials on the merits, except cases within the jurisdiction of justices of the peace (minor offences) and of the Moscow City Court (certain especially grave offences).
Parole and substitution of punishment are not heard here: they belong to the court at the place where the sentence is served.

Judgments and rulings are appealed to the Moscow City Court within 15 days.

Administrative offence cases

The district court hears administrative offence cases where administrative arrest, deportation or suspension of activity is possible, as well as cases transferred from the police after an administrative investigation. It also hears appeals against rulings of justices of the peace of precincts Nos. 177–189 and 452 and against decisions of the traffic police and the district police. The court's news regularly features cases on drug propaganda and road accidents with grave consequences, which gives a picture of its practice.

Address, hours, filing

Address: 17 Michurinsky Prospekt, building 1, Moscow, 119192. The neighbouring building 17/2 houses the Ramenki district police department.
Filing office: +7 (499) 739-31-51. Email for enquiries: info@18.msksud.ru.
Hours: Monday to Thursday 9:00–18:00, Friday until 16:45, lunch 13:00–13:45. A duty judge hears detention motions at weekends too; the court's duty desk accepts the papers.
Bank details for posting bail for a defendant are on the court's page on the mos-gorsud.ru portal.
Motions and complaints are filed through the filing office or the personal account on the Moscow courts portal; email is not for this purpose.

What the bar association does

Advocates of the Moscow Bar Association "Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners" defend in the Nikulinsky District Court at every stage: when a pre-trial measure is chosen, when challenging the investigation's actions, at trial and on appeal in the Moscow City Court. We represent victims and civil claimants. In administrative cases we defend against arrest and driving bans.

An advocate enters a case under a retainer agreement. We discuss the procedure in the first conversation.

Data from the official portal of Moscow courts of general jurisdiction, verified 21.09.2026.

Data from the official sites of the courts and authorities, checked 21.09.2026.