Legal relationships exist in society, and not on the pages of codes and laws. Their occurrence depends on the environment, on people, on any phenomena. Legal relationships and change, and cease not by themselves, but as a result of human actions or any other events. The legislator fixes these diverse phenomena of society’s life in normative acts in order to timely respond to existing specific situations. That is why in legal science there is a separate category called “legal facts”. This article is dedicated to them.
Legal facts - what is it?
Most legal categories are ideal and exist only in the minds of people. However, legal facts are related to real life, because, in fact, they are nothing more than a separate episode of reality, which causes legal consequences. What does this category mean? In legal science, there is more than one concept of legal fact. Interested in this phenomenon back in the 19th century, the German scientist Savigny. He characterized the legal facts as events entailing the beginning and end of legal relations. Russian lawyers of the twentieth century expanded this concept. In particular, they added to the stages of the emergence and termination of legal relations the stage of their change.
The concepts formed by scientists in the future further reflected the dynamic nature of legal facts. Their offensive was associated not only with the above three stages of legal relations, but also their suspension, as well as their existence. Scientists pointed out that legal facts can modify not only social relations, but also individual rights and obligations of the entities participating in them. You can highlight the most striking signs of this legal category. Firstly, it is a phenomenon that really exists in space and in time. Feelings, emotions and thoughts cannot act as a legal fact. Secondly, they are important for the state, society or for individuals. Thirdly, they always indicate some specific circumstances or their absence. Fourthly, they are fixed in legal norms. Fifthly, they cause certain legal consequences.
Types of Facts
A fragment of reality, which gives rise to specific legal consequences, may depend on the actions of people or one person, but may arise on its own. By volitional evidence in science, such types of legal facts as events and actions are distinguished. The former are formed by themselves, without active participation in this person. Often the occurrence of a legal fact-event occurs in addition to human will. Also referred to this type are circumstances that, although they were generated by human actions, but subsequently got out of his control. Events include such legal facts as the death of the testator, fire, state of kinship. Actions, in turn, are directly dependent on the will of the people. They represent real life circumstances that arose due to the conscious activity of a person. Actions may be lawful and unlawful.
The former comply with the requirements of legal rules enshrined in regulatory enactments. These include, for example, recognition of paternity, payment under a supply contract. The second ones contradict the current legislation. Examples of unlawful actions include the conclusion of a marriage by a person incapable, a delay in payment under a contract of employment.The first type of legal facts has a separate classification. So, legitimate actions can exist in the form of acts (human activity, deliberately aimed at causing certain consequences, for example, filing an application for the recovery of alimony) and actions (cause the emergence, change or termination of legal relations regardless of the intention of the people - finding a valuable thing). Legal facts can be presented in the form of administrative documents (state registration of ownership of real estate) or transactions (sales contract). These forms are characteristic of official administrative and civil relations.
How do legal facts manifest themselves?
The nature of the consequences may vary. According to this criterion, scientists distinguish such types of legal facts as law-making, law-changing and law-ending. The former give rise to circumstances that result in social relations. The second ones modify or suspend them. Still others, in turn, are the cause of the termination of legal ties. In addition, separate from the most common types of legal facts mentioned above are legal and restorative circumstances. The former include fragments of reality that prevent social relations from developing (for example, a husband without the consent of a pregnant wife cannot initiate a divorce case). With the second, the law connects the renewal of previously lost rights and obligations (restoration of illegally dismissed at their previous place of work).
How long do these circumstances last?
Another classification criterion is the period of existence of a legal fact. Some events occur instantly or over a short period of time and give rise to legal consequences only once. Such legal facts are called short-term. These include, for example, the death of a family member, the birth of a child. Other circumstances exist over a long period of time and can repeatedly give rise to legal consequences. An example of a continuing legal fact is the state of matrimony, poverty.
In civil law
The bases of legal facts in this industry are fixed at the regulatory level. Article 8 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation refers to such agreements, as well as other transactions, decisions of assemblies, acts of state bodies, court decisions, creation of intellectual property, harm to another person, unjust enrichment, as well as other actions of people and organizations and events.
In family law
This industry has its own specific legal facts. So, family law operates with the category of kinship - blood connection of persons who come from one another or from any common ancestor. This property may be a legitimate legal fact. So, for example, parents are required by law to support their children. Also, kinship can also hinder the emergence of legal relations. In Russia, marriage between siblings is prohibited. In addition, in family law there is a concept of property. Under it is understood the relationship between the wife and relatives of the husband and vice versa. Property is a legal fact only in civil relations (in particular, property), although it is directly related to family ones.
In administrative law
Often for the emergence of this type of social relations, not only one specific circumstance is necessary, but a whole complex of certain facts. This set of provisions is called the legal composition. For example, in order to enter the civil service, it is necessary not only to reach adulthood, but also to receive an appropriate education and not have diseases that prevent it.
In labor law
And in this branch of law there is a specificity of circumstances giving rise to certain consequences. So, in labor law, legal facts are the relevant agreements, contracts (due to which legal relations arise), death, disciplinary offenses, agreement of the parties (grounds for termination of obligations), medical reports, transfers (change the validity). All these circumstances are enshrined in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
The value of legal facts
The value of this legal category is often not fully understood by people. But legal facts help to analyze the causes of occurrence, change, and termination of legal relations. They indicate the relevance of certain obligations, the need and validity of their legislative design. They help to study legal relations from a practical point of view, provide an opportunity to trace the mechanism of their implementation.
