The interaction of citizens among themselves, as well as with organizations and authorities always involves the emergence of legal relations. The structure of such communications is rather complicated, but quite logical. What are its features? We’ll talk about this. So, the topic of our conversation today: "Legal relationship: concept, types, elements."
What is a legal relationship?
Lawyers understand a legal relationship as a way of interaction of persons with the status of citizens, organizations or authorities in various combinations, which implies the emergence of rights and obligations stipulated by the agreement or the provisions of the law for the parties. Consider the specific structure of such communications.
Relationship structure
The main elements of legal relations are the subjects, the object, as well as the content. This communication structure is valid in relation to any legal industry - commercial, civil, tax, administrative law.
Some elements of a legal relationship can be characterized by a number of significant criteria, the satisfaction of which becomes the main factor in participation in the corresponding interaction. In particular, this applies to the subject. Let's consider this aspect in more detail.
Criteria for the subject's participation in legal relations
An entity can become a party to legal relations only if it possesses a property such as legal personality. In its structure there are two components - legal capacity and legal capacity. Regarding the first component of legal personality: it involves the ability of a person to possess certain rights and obligations.
Legal capacity is a practical opportunity for an entity to acquire an appropriate legal status. It can be noted that legal personality often includes such an element as tort - a property that characterizes the ability of the subject of legal relations to be responsible for violations of the law.
Participants in legal relations, from the point of view of the law, are considered subjects of law. However, this does not always imply that they are automatically recognized as actual participants in the respective communications. In order for a citizen to be considered a full-fledged subject of legal relations, he must realize the legal personality guaranteed by law.
Types of subjects
Now we will study the basic elements of legal relations in more detail. The subjects may be citizens, that is, individuals. They have a legal personality guaranteed by law by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Citizens, as full-fledged subjects of communications, bear rights and obligations during the conclusion of transactions between themselves or other participants in legal relations, as well as in the process of performing various legally significant actions.
Those or other types of entities that are part of the relationship are often determined by a particular branch of law. It can be noted that citizens are among those participants in communications that may be relevant to any area of interaction between individuals and legal entities.
Specificity of subjects in different branches of law
For example, in administrative law, the subjects of relations are most often state and municipal authorities. The main elements of labor relations are the employer in the status of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, as well as an employee. All of them have the status of subjects of communication. In the tax aspects of relations can be both government agencies (such as the Federal Tax Service), and private organizations or individuals.In civil law, the elements of legal relations are most often individuals and commercial enterprises.
Subjective structure of legal relations
Consider this aspect of legal communications, as their subjective structure. It is formed by those persons who participate in a specific legal relationship. Among them will surely be authorized and obligated entities. What is their specificity?
An authorized subject of legal relations is one in respect of which certain actions should be carried out in his interests, under a contract or by virtue of legislative requirements. That is, this side is a bearer of rights. In turn, the obligated entity is the one that must carry out, in favor of the authorized person, certain actions provided for by the contract or legislative provisions.
The importance of legal facts
Studying the concept and elements of legal relationship, it is useful to explore the essence legal facts. We noted above that the subject of law does not always by default have the status of a participant in relevant communications. To do this, he needs to realize his legal personality. The main mechanism by which such activities are carried out is the action of legal facts. Their function is to activate the rules of law, which determine obligations for participants in legal relations, and also establish the rights provided for by law for them.
Legal facts come in three main varieties. Consider them. First, law-making. This may be, for example, the conclusion of a transaction for the supply of building materials between two organizations. As soon as the corresponding agreement is signed - this means that the legal relationship began to be implemented. Secondly, these are legal facts. Among them - the extension or adjustment of the conditions of the signed contract. Thirdly, these are de facto facts - for example, cancellation of a contract between enterprises.
Another basis for the classification of legal facts is to classify them as actions or events. Subjects of law, as elements of a legal relationship, can begin to interact upon the fact that they have committed any activity, for example, signing a contract, or because of circumstances not directly dependent on them. For example, if the deadline for filing tax reports is suitable, the entrepreneur must send the relevant documents to the Federal Tax Service, otherwise the agency will impose a fine prescribed by law.
Types of legal actions
With regard to actions as a variety of legal facts, they may be lawful or involve an offense. The criteria for classifying certain activities of participants in legal relations to one or another type, as well as determining the level of responsibility for specific individuals, depends, again, on the specifics of the branch of law. So, for example, if an employee working in a scientific laboratory accidentally spills reagents, as a result of which the surface of the desktop becomes unusable, most likely, he will get away with an oral reprimand of the manager (since the labor contract may state that specialists are not responsible in such cases ) But if the student student does the same, the laboratory may ask him to repair the damage.
Legal acts and actions
Legitimate actions include acts and deeds. The main criterion for the difference between them is that the first type of action aims to stimulate some legal consequences, and the second is usually not characterized by this sign, but is accompanied by the emergence of certain rights or obligations. A double interpretation of acts may take place, it all depends on specific precedents.
For example, an employee who decided to leave the company of his own free will, on the one hand, enjoys the corresponding right, which is guaranteed by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. And in this sense, submitting an application to the personnel service will be an act.At the same time, a person, also in accordance with the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, will have to work 2 more weeks in his company before leaving. Surely the employer will ask him to perform functions with increased intensity. In this sense, his application to the personnel service became a legal act - the employee did not submit it for the purpose of working with the company for two weeks with a double load, although he assumed that the employer would initiate this mechanism using the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Transaction specifics
An act is a type of legal action that is common to all branches of law - labor, administrative and tax. In civil law, a special subspecies of the instrument in question is used - the transaction. They represent contracted activity, accompanied by the free expression of the will of each of the parties involved in the legal relationship. Transactions may be aimed at establishing rights or obligations, at changing or terminating them. Most often they are committed by the parties to the legal relationship in order to obtain a result in subjective interests, but it is quite possible that in order to satisfy the needs of third parties.
It can be noted that Russian law allows such an act as one-way transactions. This may be, for example, an order to appoint a person to a certain position. True, this type of legal action is still not characteristic of civil law, where deals involving the participation of two or more parties are used, but for labor.
If two or more parties participate in transactions, they are most often defined as contracts or agreements. At the same time, appropriate communications may suggest that the subjects have different interests, but with the help of the transaction they come to an agreement on key positions and find a compromise, while securing it legally.
The essence of the objects of legal relations
Elements of legal relations are also objects of the corresponding communications. To such modern lawyers include benefits. They come in two varieties. Firstly, material. This is a different type of property, values, money. Secondly it intangible goods. These may include, for example, any useful actions of one person in relation to another by virtue of their legally fixed agreement.
Elements of legal relationship objects, therefore, may involve transactions whose subject matter is property, intellectual property, work, services. Much also depends on the specific legal industry. Among those where almost any elements are found (the composition of the legal relationship), civil law is listed. Consider the specifics of the respective communications in more detail.
Features of civil relations
What are the distinguishing features of civil law? Among those:
- the isolation of subjects of legal relations (mutual independence), which is expressed both in the property aspect and in organizational features;
- subjects as elements of the content of legal relations have equal status, there is no subordination between them;
- dispositiveness of civil law rules governing the relevant communications (this assumes that the main legal facts are formed as a result of the subjective will of the participants in the form of transactions).
These criteria distinguish civil law, for example, from labor law, which just involves subordination between entities (the employer can give orders to the employee), as well as a significant amount of legal norms that are mandatory. For example, the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation prohibit the employer from dismissing employees without unambiguous reasons, which, moreover, must be recognized as valid by a special commission.In turn, the employee also has a large number of obligations stipulated by labor legislation.
The content of legal relations
Elements of the structure of legal relations are also represented by the content of communications. Modern lawyers define it as law-compliant behavior of entities that exercise their rights and bear responsibilities. The content of the relationship may involve, for example, the transfer by one person of some material value to another or the performance of a certain job for him.
Subjective law and legal obligation
We examined the basic structural elements of a legal relationship. As you may have noticed, each of them is characterized by a number of noteworthy nuances. For example, with regard to the content of legal relations, then in its structure there are two most important components, namely subjective law and legal obligation. Let's consider their essence in more detail.
Subjective law is a possible scenario for the behavior of a participant in legal relations. It is expressed in the possibility of performing certain actions by him, as well as in the admissibility of the requirement on his part of the activities stipulated by law or contract from other communication entities. Also, subjective law includes the ability of a participant in legal relations to apply for third-party protection of his interests - for example, in court.
What is a legal obligation? It is most often understood as the necessary behavior of a participant in legal relations, which involves satisfying the criteria of subjective law. It can be manifested in the need to perform certain actions (by law or by agreement) or, conversely, refrain from certain activities, since otherwise the interests of other communication participants may be violated. Also, a legal obligation implies the responsibility of the subject for possible offenses.
