The subject of the law, its concept and kinds
Topic 3. LEGAL RELATIONS
Concept, basic features and kinds of legal relations
Structure of legal relations.
Subject of the law, its concept and kinds
Legal facts, their concepts, value and classification.
Concept, features and types of offenses.
Structure of offense.
Concept, features, purposes, kinds of legal responsibility.
Concept, basic features and kinds of legal relations
The legal relations are public relations settled by legal norms, the participants of which have mutual rights and duties.
Features of legal relations:
1. The legal relations are inversion of a public relations, so they can arise only in a human society between particular subjects.
2. Legal relations arise only on the basis of legal norms.
3. There is specific legal connection in the form of a subjective right at one person and a duty of another person between participants of legal relations
4. Legal relations have strong will character, so will is necessary for its occurrence at least for one participant. People enter in legal relations with a special purpose (for example, to take part in the elections).
5. Legal relations arise concerning the real public benefit.
6. Legal relations are protected and provided by the force of a state compulsion (constraint).
Types of legal relations:
1) according to a branch feature:
a) constitutional;
b) administrative;
c) civil;
d) labour;
e) family;
f) criminal and others.
2) according to the function of the law:
a) regulative (arise from lawful acts of subjects);
b) protective (arise from wrongful acts of subjects). For example, the legal relation between the landlord and the land tenant of land arise from lawful act – conclusion of Land lease contract – and so is the regulatory. The legal relation between a person, which suspected of committing a theft, and the investigator conducting an investigation, is protective;
3) according to the character duties:
a) active;
b) passive;
In the active one the duty of a subject consist of necessity tomake certain action, in the passive – the duty is not to make any action.
Structure of legal relations.
Legal relation is a structure consisting of the following elements: subjects, object, content.
Subjects– at least two, one of them is the right character and the second one – owing character.
Objectare real material or non-material public benefits, on the basis of which the subjects come into legal relations;
Content are the subjective rights and legal duties of the participants of the legal relationship.
Subjective right – is the line of possible behavior of the person, provided by the state.
Legal duty – is the line of due behavior person, provided by the state.
In the every legal relation to the subjective right of one participant corresponds with legal duties of the other participant.
The subject of the law, its concept and kinds
Not all people, but only those, who have legal ability and legal competence (legal personality) can be participants of legal relations. And from the other hand legal personality can be recognized as a feature not only person, but also an organization, enterprise, establishment.
Subjects of the law – are the person possessing legal personality and they can be physicall and legal entities or physical and legal bodies.
Kinds of subjects of the law:
1) Physical person – can be citizens, foreign citizens, and citizens without citizenship.
2) Legal person (legal entity)– can be organizations (including a public organization, establishment and enterprises);
3) State agencies or state bodies of local self-government.
The legal personality includes two legal characteristics of the person:
Legal ability – possibility of the person to possess the subjective rights and legal duties;
Legal capacity - is ability of a person to get rights and duties with their actions.
Legal ability of natural person arises when s/he is born. Legal ability of natural person shall stop in the moment of his/her death.
Legal capacity depends on the age and mental condition of the person.
Depending on the age legal capacity divided into:
till 14 years physicall person have minimal legal capacity;
from 14 till 18 – a partial capacity;
after 18 – full legal capacity.
Depending on the health:
limited dispositive legal capacity (substances abuse);
general disability (a person suffering mental illness or dementia).
Such persons can be carriers of rights and duties, but their realization is carried out by other persons guardians appointed by the court.
Legal ability and legal capacity of the legal person (legal entity) arises from the moment of state registration and stops with liquidation.