In any state, at the level of the entire civil society as a whole, or within its individual parts, relations presented in the widest range are taking place. What can they be? What are the main legal relations, concept and types their present in Russian legal practice? Due to what signs can they mutually separate?
The essence of legal relations
What is the concept of legal relationship? According to a common point of view, this phenomenon occurs in the process of regulation by certain rules of law of those communications that are formed in society. That is, any processes taking place in society can only be considered legal relations if there are laws whose provisions are relevant to them. In turn, there are lawyers who believe that the concept of legal relations can not always be associated with codified norms of the law. The fact is that people participating in certain social communications can be guided not by the normative base, but, say, by customs and traditions. Based on the so-called natural law, which may well not be reflected in the laws.
Thus, among Russian lawyers there is no single position regarding the criteria for classifying certain social communications as legal relations. There are two fairly polar points of view. According to the first, the concept of legal relationship implies a close relationship between the activities of people and the norms of the law. Another point of view suggests that legal relations arise due to the social nature of communication between people, and not because of the presence of certain norms reflected in laws.
Are legal relations always civil?
There are discussions among lawyers on the subject of whether it is correct to identify legal communications in general and the concept of civil legal relations. It all depends on whether a social element is present in them. That is, if certain administrative structures, authorities, state or municipal bodies participate in communications, then the legal relations that arise with their participation are not always correctly called civil. In this case, communications are likely to be relevant to administrative rather than civil law. At the same time, as some lawyers believe, scenarios are possible in which certain political institutions can still participate in relations that can be classified as civil. For example, this is possible if one or another state body orders on a commercial basis any goods or services produced by a private enterprise.
Thus, the concept of civil relations involves participation in the communications in question, at least one participant in the status of an entity not related to political institutions. The second most important criterion is the essence of these communications. If they involve, for example, an order from a tax authority in relation to an individual entrepreneur to pay such and such a tax, then this type of interaction cannot be considered a civil relationship. This interaction scenario is governed by tax law. In turn, if the territorial authority of the Federal Tax Service orders the same IP, for example, a batch of laptops, then this is a completely different matter.In this case, the communication between the tax authorities and the entrepreneur will be regulated by civil law, and therefore they will be relevant to the corresponding type of legal relationship.
Civil relations in the legal system
The concept and features of civil type legal relations, therefore, suggest the isolation of the relevant communications from other branches of law - in particular, tax, labor, financial, and family. What are the criteria that determine the allocation of civil law and relevant relations in a separate legal field? Experts note that their nature is twofold: firstly, it can be traced at the level of legislation, and secondly, at the level of the actual content of communications.
Thus, the concept of labor relations assumes that the interaction between its participants is, firstly, regulated by special legislation - in the Russian model it is TC, and secondly, they actually correspond to the signs of the relationship between the employer and the employee. Similarly, everything is for other branches of law. The concept of tax relations suggests that, firstly, communications are regulated by special legislation - in the Russian version, this is the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and secondly, they correspond to the signs of the relationship between the Federal Tax Service and the taxpayer.
There are, of course, many other legal sectors in the Russian Federation. So, for example, the concept of family relations will, firstly, be governed by the norms of the relevant Code, and secondly, assume communication conformity with the signs characteristic of the interaction of family members - spouses, children, parents, relatives.
Relationship structure
At the same time, regardless of the criteria for classifying certain social communications as legal relations, there is a specificity of structuring such interactions. Thus, in all cases, they will be relevant:
- subjects;
- objects;
- content.
These categories are considered by lawyers as key elements of legal relations. In various legislative acts, if we talk about the legal system of Russia, some of the noted elements of social communications may be referred to differently than in the list indicated by us. For example, the subjects of legal relations: their concept is fixed in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation through such terms as “participant” or “person”. In a number of provisions of regulatory legal acts, of course, there is a term that sounds exactly as we indicated in the list of communication elements. For example, in the 121st article of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the parties to relations, the subject of which are property issues, are referred to as “subjects”. Thus, the conceptual apparatus as a whole allows for some discrepancies in the use of terminology, however, as lawyers note, this does not have a practical impact on the quality of legislation. However, it will be useful to study in more detail the concept and types of subjects of legal relations.
Subjects of legal relations
As we noted above, these elements of social communication can also be called “participants” or, for example, “persons”. But this is not important. What can be the legal status of subjects of legal relations in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation?
This can be an individual - citizens of the Russian Federation, citizens of foreign states, as well as persons who do not have a passport of any country. This can be a legal entity - also having a residence permit in Russia or abroad. The subjects of legal relations in the Russian Federation can also be political institutions - the state itself, the Russian Federation, its regions, territories, republics, as well as municipal entities. One of the key criteria that determines the ability of individuals or institutions to be a participant in the type of communication under consideration is legal personality.Having studied what constitutes the signs of legal relations, the concept and structure of it, we examine this aspect in more detail. What are the main signs of legal personality?
Legal personality
Having examined the concept and types of subjects of legal relations, we will study aspects related to such a legal category as legal personality. According to a common point of view, citizens are characterized by legal personality, called general, and legal entity - special. In turn, the state, according to lawyers, has the so-called targeted legal personality.
Consider the aspect of the definition of the term in question. The fact is that legal personality is a complex phenomenon. It is actually a bundle between two states - legal capacity and legal capacity. That is, there may be cases when one or another citizen will be capable, but will not be able to be considered competent by virtue of one reason or another. And in this case, he will not have legal personality.
Legal capacity is the guaranteed by law possibility of a person in one way or another to exercise his civil rights. In particular, to be a participant in relevant communications. Legal capacity is the presence of individual personality criteria in a person that allows you to use the opportunities that open up, thanks to the legal capacity guaranteed by law. If for some reason a person cannot be recognized as capable, his legal personality can be expressed with the assistance of other people. For example, major civil law transactions in the Russian Federation cannot be made by minor citizens. However, their legal personality under the law can be realized through the mediation of parents, who on their own behalf can buy something for their children.
The content of legal relations
Having examined the concept of legal relations, aspects reflecting the possible status of its subjects, and also having studied the issue relating to such a legal category as legal personality, we will consider the essence of another key element of the communications in question - the content. In accordance with the prevailing point of view among Russian lawyers, the content of legal relations means, first of all, the totality of the rights and obligations of entities that participate in communications of this type - in accordance with the terms of the contract or due to other circumstances provided by law.
If we are talking, for example, about civil law transactions, then the content of legal relations within the framework of the latter, as a rule, presupposes the existence of an obligated and authorized party. The first, in accordance with the terms of the contract, must do something for the second (transfer the thing, do the work, etc.). However, the unilateral orientation of contractual obligations is not the norm of legal relations. It is quite possible that in a number of conditions the obligated party can also be authorized at the same time. A simple example is the conclusion of a contract of sale.
On the one hand, the seller is an authorized party, he is entitled to receive payment for his goods. On the other hand, he is a obligated party, since under an agreement he must transfer goods that meet the required criteria and within the time period specified by the agreement to the buyer.
Objects of legal relations
Having examined the concept and content of legal relations, we will study the features of another important element of the communications in question - objects. It can be noted that in this part of the legal theory in the expert community there are active discussions. There is, for example, the point of view according to which the object of legal relations is a too abstract phenomenon, and it simply cannot be fixed as a separate legal category. According to another theoretical concept, a wide range of possible objects of legal relations is recognized.The second point of view, experts say, is more characteristic of Russian legal practice. In particular, in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - the main source of law for the type of relationship under consideration - there is a classification scheme for civil law objects. Let's consider this aspect in more detail.
Thus, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation says that objects of civil law can be classified into the following main categories: things, cash, stocks, material values, property rights, information, products of intellectual activity, as well as intangible goods. The main criterion for determining the essence of a particular object of relations is the load in the aspect of correlation of the terms of the contract for the obligated and authorized person.
Is it correct to identify the categories defined in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with “Objects of legal relations”? A number of experts believe that this should not be done, although, of course, there is a certain relationship between certain types of objects that are defined in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the actual content of legal relations. The fact is that in themselves things, stocks, cash, products of intellectual labor do not at all imply the emergence of social communications of the type in question. Everything depends, first of all, on the subjective will of the parties to the relationship. Only after it is fixed, then the categories listed in the Civil Code can be considered transformed into objects of legal relations, lawyers believe.
Types of Legal Relations
Having examined the concept and signs of legal relations, we will study such an aspect as their classification - a division into certain types. What are the experts' views on this area? In the framework of one of the common models for classifying legal relations, modern lawyers consider it possible to identify several types of criteria. For clarity, we examine examples in the framework of one of the key legal areas - civil relations.
For example, the communications in question may be categorized as absolute or relative, depending on the nature of the interaction between the authorized and the obligated parties. What is this expressed in? If we are talking about legal relations of the absolute type, then the obligated party is identified in them - at the level of individuals, its forming, names of legal entities, political institutions. As a rule, bilateral transactions within the framework of civil law are built exactly according to the scheme under consideration: the names of the companies are indicated in the contracts, full name their representatives, etc.
In legal relations of a relative type, the obligated party, in turn, is not identified at the level of personalities, names of legal entities and signs of other entities. As a rule, the law assumes that the community as a whole, or some part of it, is acting in its quality. Most often, in practice, such legal relations are built in the field of intellectual property protection. That is, for example, the author of a musical work, who has protected the rights to his songs by registering a license in a recording studio, has the right to demand that all his fellow citizens comply with the law regarding the prohibition of copying and distribution of files.
Considering the concept and types of civil relations, you can pay attention to such a classification criterion for this type of communication as the volume of rights. So, interactions can be, for example, property ones. They arise, as a rule, in the process of relations, the subject of which is some material property. In turn, rights may be personal non-property. Among them - the honor and dignity of a person or, for example, copyright.
Also, modern theoretical concepts that define the concept and types of civil relations allow such a classification criterion as a way to ensure the interests of the authorized party.So, communications can be proprietary and binding. Within the framework of relations of the first type, it is assumed that the main scope of actions in the framework of ensuring their interests is performed by the authorized party itself. For example, uses the purchased item. And in case of obligatory legal relations, the main scope of actions should be performed by the obligatory party - to perform such and such work, for example.
Grounds for legal relations
Having considered what the legal relationship is, the concept, types, structure of these communications, we will study the aspect regarding the grounds for their occurrence. Lawyers distinguish two of their main categories. Firstly, civil relations arise when there is a regulatory basis. That is, if at the level of civil law there are rules governing certain communications. Secondly, relations may arise as a result of the appearance of certain legal facts - events, actions involving the initiation of communications, which can be attributed, in particular, to civil ones.
Studying the concept and signs of legal relations above, we drew attention to the fact that the assignment of certain interactions to a specific branch of law is predetermined by the very nature of regulatory legislation, as well as the nature of communications. Actually, in this part we can fix some analogy. The regulatory basis in accordance with which the legal relationship may arise may be classified as labor, family, civil or administrative law. A legal fact is a phenomenon recorded as a result of events or actions that arise in that part of the social environment that is related to regulatory acts - in the family, in the work collective, in the structure of power, or, for example, in society as a whole.
What can be legal facts? If we take as an example the civil legal relationship, the concept, types, structure of it, as we have already defined above, are characterized, as a rule, by the presence of the bilateral will of the participants in communications. That is, an authorized party is formed, which wants to receive certain preferences, as well as an obligation, which voluntarily goes to fulfill the conditions on its part. Corresponding arrangements between participants in communications are made out in the form of a transaction. Which is considered one of the most common examples. legal facts.
At the same time, for example, administrative legal relations (the concept and types of them may differ from civil) arise due to other facts. Such as, say, orders and acts of state or municipal authorities. It can also be noted that any legal relationship (the concept and structure of them may vary significantly) can arise as a result of a court decision. Which, for example, can predetermine the obligation of certain subjects of civil communications to enter into a transaction by virtue of the requirements of the law.
