Third section

A. Proceedings “regarding the establishment of a legal fact”
14. On 28 September 2017 the Novgorod Regional Department of the 
Ministry of the Interior (“the DMI”, which replaced the Federal Migration 
Service) applied to the Novgorod District Court of the Novgorod Region 
(“the District Court”) to have it established as a legal fact that the applicant 
had submitted false information about his siblings when applying for 

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USMANOV v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
3
Russian citizenship in 2008. Such a finding was required for the annulment 
of the applicant’s Russian citizenship.
15. On 20 November 2017 the District Court allowed the application on 
the grounds that the omission was not disputed by the applicant. The court 
dismissed his arguments that the officer on duty had advised him not to list 
all of his relatives; that the missing information was not important; that he 
did not intend to mislead the authorities; and that he had strong ties with 
Russia. The first argument was found to be unsubstantiated by evidence and 
the others were considered to be irrelevant to the subject matter of the case.
16. The applicant challenged that decision by way of an appeal and 
cassation appeals before the Novgorod Regional Court (“the Regional 
Court”) and the Supreme Court of Russia. Those courts dismissed the 
appeals on 14 March, 1 June and 17 August 2018 respectively, endorsing 
the District Court’s reasoning.