Legal fact is a concept that is very often found in the practice of people involved in the protection of rights and legitimate interests in the field of civil relations. What does this concept mean? What features does it have? And how are legal facts classified? More on this later.
General concept
The concept of a legal fact is clearly enshrined in civil law. It says that such is any event that entails the beginning, change or termination of legal relations in the civil sphere. Many life circumstances can be attributed to this definition. An example of such is the fact of concluding a contract or terminating it, since the parties to any agreement after its conclusion are endowed with certain rights and deprived of them. For example, in the process of signing a contract for the sale of property, one party (the seller) loses ownership of it, and the other (the buyer), on the contrary, acquires it.
The grounds of legal facts are not only vitalcircumstances, but also some conditions and situations.
Fact as a constituent element for the emergence of legal relations
In order for certain civil legal relations to arise between persons, it is imperative that there are two circumstances that entail the beginning of such.
In civil law there are norms that state that for the emergence of legal relations between subjects there must necessarily be some material prerequisites. These are called the needs of people, they also include interests that arise in the process of life and certain situations. As practice shows, it is under the influence of these two factors that all people enter into legal relations with each other. In other words, the material prerequisites for the emergence of legal relations include cultural, economic, social circumstances, as well as some others. The main requirement for them is the need for their legal regulation.
And finally, the second element, which is necessary for the emergence of legal relations between specific subjects, is the legal prerequisites. As for this concept, it also includes three components: legal norms, legal personality of persons, as well as the legal fact itself.
Signs of facts
A fact that entails the emergence, change or termination of legal relations has certain features, in the absence of which it will not be such. As they say in the theoretical literature in the field of jurisprudence, this circumstance is necessaryshould contain certain information regarding the current state of a particular type of social relations. An example of this may be the determination of the existence of the subject's ownership right to a specific object in respect of which legal relations arise, change or terminate. In addition, an important feature is that their appearance requires the presence of a certain kind of circumstances that can cause some consequences of a legal nature.
One of the main signs of a legal fact in civil law is that they represent certain circumstances that arise in the process of life, they must be expressed in real form, appear externally and exist for a certain time. Among other things, such circumstances must necessarily be provided for by the norms contained in the legislative acts that are in force on the territory of the state.
Functions
As it becomes clear from the definitions above, legal facts are events that have a special legal significance. In practice, it is easy to see that each of them also performs some functions. It is they who determine the role and significance of such facts in the mechanism of regulation of society in the field of law. Among them, a particularly pronounced function is the preliminary impact on the legal relationship. In addition, they can also include ensuring the termination, change or emergence of a relationship, as well as a guarantee of legality.
In practice, such functions helpestablish facts of legal significance. In addition, with their help, the mechanism for the implementation of legal legal relations is traced, as well as their study from the point of view of practice.
Role in the legal system
The facts of a legal nature are an important element in the system of law. And this applies not only to Russia, but also to other countries in which a civilized society lives, adhering to the norms of civil law. The importance of the role of legal facts in the legal system of any country lies in the fact that they are the main prerequisites for various legal relations. They serve as a link between social relations that arise in real life and the norms prescribed in the legislative acts that regulate them. This is how the meaning of legal facts in the legal nature is determined.
Some circumstances, together with a certain set of legal norms, constitute the content of the spectrum of duties and rights of a person and a citizen. This phrase means that for the emergence, termination or change of some legal relations, it is important that there is far from one legal fact, but several, and they must occur simultaneously. This circumstance has a separate name - the legal structure, which in some sources may also be called the actual. As a vivid example of this, we can cite the situation of the emergence of legal relations in the pension sphere. So, for the fact of a person's retirement, it is necessaryreaching a certain age, as well as a certain number of years worked, which in legal practice is called seniority. In addition, there is a third component that determines the possibility of a legal fact. It is the decision of the relevant bodies of the social security system on the appointment of pension payments.
Types of legal facts
In legal practice, there are several types of facts. All of them are divided among themselves depending on certain criteria and characteristics. The largest group among them are those that are divided according to the nature of the consequences that occur as a result of the fact that has taken place. In addition, there is a classification depending on the volitional sign, and they are also distinguished depending on the period of action and the size of the composition (quantitative sign).
Let's consider each of the types of legal facts with the concept and a brief description of the group.
By the nature of the consequences
Any fact that is provided for in legislative acts has a certain property, which is considered one of the main ones - it entails specific consequences. According to the nature of such facts, a classification of facts is made into those that contribute to the emergence of rights, affect their change or stop.
So, a striking example of a law-forming fact is the circumstance of hiring. It is under this condition that the two parties to labor relations have certain rights: the employee - to safe work, its payment, and the employer - to receive a well-madework.
As for law-changing facts, they include those circumstances as a result of which human rights change their form. A striking example of this is the fact of the exchange of living space.
As for terminating circumstances, they include all those as a result of which a person loses certain rights. An example of this is the fact that a student graduated from an institute, as a result of which he no longer has the right to receive the appropriate amount of knowledge through participation in the educational process, which is due to the terms of the contract concluded upon his admission.
By volition
There are several types of legal facts, which are divided depending on the sign of will. Among them, the main groups are actions and events. Both concepts represent certain life circumstances, however, their difference lies in the fact that some occur by the will of a person, while others - without it.
Events include such circumstances that do not depend on the will, desire or mind of people or a particular person. A striking example of such are natural disasters and force majeure. Such phenomena, depending on the duration, can be classified into instantaneous and long-term, and according to the frequency of repetition - into periodic and unique. In addition, this group of circumstances is also divided into absolute and relative. Of these, those that are completely independent of the will or specific actions of a person will be considered absolute, and events that one way or another were attributed to relative ones.caused in the course of human activity, but the causes that gave rise to them did not depend on the will of people.
The main difference between actions and events is that in the process of circumstances that have happened, the actions of people, as well as their mind and even intent, are essential. All such facts are committed directly by the hands of man or with his direct participation. The group of legal facts-actions is divided into two subgroups: legal and illegal. Accordingly, the first category includes all activities that give rise to the occurrence of events that were carried out in accordance with the law, and in the case of illegal actions, the opposite is true.
In legal practice, lawful and illegal actions are also divided into separate subgroups. Thus, lawful are classified into acts and deeds. A legal act in this concept recognizes all the facts that were deliberately created by human hands in order to achieve a certain goal. A striking example of an act is the issuance of a decision or sentence by a court. Also, procedures for concluding contracts in relation to any subject, writing statements, participating in voting, etc. can be considered as such.
As for legal actions, they include those facts that were created by human hands, but at the time of their creation, this person did not have as its goal the pursuit of legal consequences. An example of such an act is the fact of painting a picture by an artist or the creation of any other work of art, as well as the discovery of a treasure or somethings.
If we talk about illegal actions, they are classified into misdemeanors and crimes. The concept of crimes is more clearly revealed in the criminal law, which states that such a fact is the implementation by a person of acts that pose a particular danger to society or a specific person. All situations that can be classified as crimes are clearly spelled out in the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Misdemeanors include more minor violations of rights in the field of labor law, civil, administrative and some other areas. Depending on this, several types of misconduct are distinguished in legal practice: procedural, civil, material, administrative, disciplinary and some others.
There are works of some legal scholars that offer another classification of facts - legal states. They propose to refer to this category such concepts as disability, kinship, marital relations, etc.
By duration
In the classification of legal facts there are also two groups of events that determine their duration: short-term and lasting. A striking example of a short-term fact is the imposition and payment of a fine.
As for a lasting event, in legal practice they represent certain conditions, such as kinship, marriage, disability, etc. However, modern scientists also distinguishthis category in the group of classification of facts by will.
By composition
It often happens that the share of occurrence of any consequences requires the presence of several circumstances, which, in their totality, are called "legal structure". In the event that this is not required, this fact belongs to the group of simple ones, otherwise it is defined in the category of complex ones.
All actual compositions are also classified into several groups: completed and incomplete, as well as simple and complex.
Complete legal theorists propose to include those sets of facts that have already been completed, and incomplete - those that are still in the process of accumulation. For example, a person who has a certain number of years of service cannot yet receive a pension because they have not reached the legal age threshold and, as a result, do not have permission from the social security authority.
As for simple and complex compositions, the first group includes all those that include legal facts related to the same branch of law, and complex are those that require the presence of facts of different branches of law.
By value
Another group of facts is classified by value. According to this criterion, they are divided into negative and positive.
The legislator refers to positive facts such circumstances that, by their presence, imply the emergence or termination of relations. An example of this would be the achievement by a personspecific age in order to be eligible to perform certain acts prescribed by law.
As for negative facts, this concept provides for the absence of any circumstance that gives rise to the emergence or termination of rights. An example of a negative fact is the absence of a marriage and a relationship between a couple for the possibility of concluding a marriage union on legal grounds.
Presumption
The legislator determines that legal facts also include presumptions and fictions - these are separate, independent categories of concepts that are not taken into account in the general classification, but are very common in practice.
So, a presumption is a kind of assumption that a certain legal phenomenon is present or, conversely, absent. The main feature of this concept is that it is conjectural, that is, probable, and not reliable. However, despite this, only such a fact, the existence of which is known for sure, can be called the concept of a presumption. Such beliefs can be based on certain phenomena and circumstances. Examples of such are the phenomena of the objectivity of the world, as well as the periodicity of the implementation of certain life processes.
In legislation, there are often definitions of some general presumptions, including the integrity of citizens, as well as innocence, which is more typical for the criminal process. In addition, there are presumptions of fidelitynormative legal act, as well as knowledge of the law, on the basis of which the statement widely used in legal practice is built that ignorance of the requirements of the law does not exempt from liability provided for their violation.
Fiction
In legislation, especially in the civil sector, such a concept as fiction is very widely used, which also represents a separate group of legal facts. What does it mean? In specialized literature, this term is characterized as a phenomenon or event that does not exist, however, in the course of certain legal actions, the fact of its presence was recognized as real. A vivid example that is often heard is a fictitious marriage, which is concluded without the real purpose of creating a family, but to obtain certain benefits or to achieve other goals. However, in addition to illegal fictions, there are also legal ones, for example, recognizing a citizen as missing or dead.
Fixing facts
Based on their concept of legal fact, it is clear that many events related to such may exist in an unformed form. However, the legal environment defines a range of circumstances that are subject to mandatory fixation. In practice, this process is a procedure for entering them into the register of information about legal facts. Some of them are created at the federal level, and everyone has free online access to them. A striking example of this is the Register of Legal Facts of the Activities of Entrepreneurs, which contains information about committedtheir functions.
The fixation process is carried out by specially authorized officials working in organizations that are created as bodies designed to perform such a function. All information provided by citizens must be entered by these bodies clearly in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law in special regulatory legal acts. In addition, the legislative framework contains prescribed standards for working with such information. An example of these could be instructions for filling out and maintaining employee work books, making entries in their personal files, issuing orders, and so on.
The procedure for recording facts also includes the activities of authorized bodies for the issuance of certain documents confirming the presence, change or absence of a particular legal circumstance, for example, the issuance of certificates, certificates, etc.
The concept of fixing a document, which sets out information about legal facts, implies not only entering data about it in a special register, but also fixing some circumstances, as well as their certification. Moreover, the certification procedure is often combined in the same document, where the fact itself is fixed. A striking example of this can be the execution and issuance of a marriage certificate, which establishes a legal fact and is immediately certified with the signature and seal of the registration authority.
However, in practice, it often happens that the procedure for verifying a fact can be carried out separately from fixing, which is clearly expressed indocument authentication procedure.
When analyzing the practice of certifying legal facts in the law of different branches, a large degree of imperfection is significantly noticeable. As a rule, all problems are associated with untimely entries in registers, as well as their incorrect execution. In this regard, citizens are not always able to adequately protect their legitimate interests and rights prescribed in acts.
Finding the facts
In the course of legal practice, the relationship between the establishment of a legal fact and its fixation is clearly defined. It manifests itself simply: before fixing any circumstance, it should be discovered and established.
The process of establishing means conducting information activities, and its content is the conduct of various actions to transform information into an open form from a hidden one, as well as into a systematized one from a scattered one. Also in this procedure, it is necessary to establish the exact facts from probable and alleged information (presumptions).
In accordance with Russian legislation, the establishment of a legal fact is carried out in a procedural form, by applying to the judicial authorities with an appropriate statement of claim. In addition to the statement, the plaintiff is required to submit the maximum amount of evidence that, in his opinion, indicates that the alleged fact really exists and should be legally established.
The procedure itself for establishing and identifyinglegal facts in civil law provides for a number of provisions. One of them is to prohibit the identification of individual facts and evidence, as well as their break. As stated in legal science, these definitions are not identical, but are interconnected.
In the process of establishing the facts, an assessment is made of the events and circumstances that are part of them. Summarizing them, the person considering this issue must determine whether such a combination is the basis for recognizing the fact as legal.
In some cases, in order to determine the reliability of any facts, it is enough to present documents in the original form, such as a passport, military ID, school or university diploma, etc.
Occurrence in different branches of law
The concept and types of legal facts can be found in various branches of law. Among them, the civil one is especially significant, since it is the fact that arises on the basis of the Civil Code that can be found very often in everyday life. The provision enshrined in Article 8 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation says that all contracts, transactions, agreements, as well as acts and other regulatory documents are legal facts. The Code also refers to them decisions of courts, assemblies, the presence of the circumstances of the creation of objects of intellectual property, the fact of causing harm to another person, unjust enrichment, as well as some other situations.
As for the norms of family law, the articles of sectoral legislation (the Family Code of the Russian Federation) also speak of a largethe number of grounds for the emergence of legal relations and legal facts. As practice shows, this concept is presented here in a rather specific form. Vivid examples of this are the facts of the state of kinship, property (between the wife and the husband's relatives or vice versa), marriage. They also include the fact of the obligation of parents to support their children until they reach the age of majority, and so on. To some extent, these facts also apply to the branch of civil law.
The peculiarity of such facts in the branch of administrative law lies in the fact that it is here that the need for a whole range of circumstances necessary to recognize them as such is most often encountered (in the classification of legal facts, it is defined as the actual composition). A clear example of this is the need to reach the age of majority and education, as well as the absence of certain diseases in order to enter the civil service.
In the field of labor law, the concept of a legal fact is also widespread. Here, as a rule, it is presented in the form of contracts, agreements, due to which certain rights arise between the subjects of labor relations. Circumstances such as the death of an employee or the liquidation of an enterprise, as well as the expiration of an employment contract, give rise to the termination of such rights, and, for example, the fact that an employee is transferred from one position to another will indicate a change in previouslegal relations.
