Subjects of civil law- These are bearers (holders) of civil rights and obligations. A subject of civil law can only be a person who has a certain status - legal capacity and legal capacity.
Subjects of civil law can be:- (individuals);
- — The Russian Federation and its constituent entities, as well as urban and rural settlements and other municipalities.
Objects of civil law
The object, or subject, of civil law is the direction of its influence.
According to the law (Article 128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), objects of civil law are divided into the following five types:- property;
- work and services;
- information;
- results of intellectual activity;
- intangible benefits.
Objects of civil rights participate in civil and civil circulation in different ways.
Most objects can be freely alienated (sale, exchange, etc.) or transferred to other persons in the order of universal succession (i.e., upon inheritance or reorganization of a legal entity). Such objects are called negotiable.
Some objects of civil rights are limited in civil circulation: they can either belong only to state organizations, or only to Russian citizens and legal entities, or be in civil circulation only with special permits (the right to use weapons, natural resources, etc.).
Objects limited in civil circulation include land and other natural resources: they can be alienated or transferred from one person to another only to the extent permitted by the laws on land and other natural resources.
Finally, some objects of civil rights are completely excluded from civil circulation. This includes, in particular, particularly important cultural sites (for example, the Bolshoi Theater).
Below we will consider in detail property - this main object of civil law. Other types of its objects are described in the corresponding chapters of the manual.
Property is the most important and most complex category of objects of civil rights. This includes things (this concept includes material objects, money and securities) and other property, including property rights.
Things
In the narrow sense of the word, these material objects for the purposes of civil law can be divided into the following categories:
- means of production and consumer goods;
- immovable and movable things. Immovable things include land plots, subsoil plots, as well as everything that is firmly connected to the land (buildings, structures, perennial plantings). Real estate and transactions with them are subject to mandatory state registration. The remaining things are classified as movable, which, according to the general rule, do not undergo state registration;
- divisible and indivisible things. A thing that can be divided without changing its purpose is considered divisible; divisibility is an important legal property of a thing;
- things determined by individual characteristics, and things determined only by generic characteristics. If a thing is unique (the only one) or if it is isolated from a number of other similar things, for example, “this bag of sugar,” then it is determined by individual characteristics. Things defined individually participate in civil circulation differently than things defined only by generic characteristics;
- consumable things (disappearing when used once) and non-consumable things. The latter are consumed gradually (depreciated);
- main thing and accessory; an accessory is a thing intended to serve the main thing (for example, a violin bow); usually the accessory follows the fate of the main thing, for example, it is transferred along with it upon purchase;
- basic things and the fruits, products, income received from them; fruits, products, income belong to the person using the thing legally, unless otherwise provided by law or contract.
Company
As an object of law, it is a complex thing, a property complex that is used to implement. It is generally recognized as real estate. An enterprise, in whole or in part, can be the object of purchase and sale, pledge, or lease.
The enterprise includes all types of property intended for its activities: land, buildings, structures, raw materials, products; rights of claim, debts, company name, trademark, etc.
Money (currency)
The ruble is legal tender, obligatory for use in Russia. Refusal to accept rubles as payment is considered a violation of the law.
Payments on the territory of the Russian Federation are made in the form of cash or non-cash payments. The rules for non-cash payments are established by the Government of the Russian Federation and the Central Bank.
Foreign currency and currency valuables (these include diamonds, rubies, gold bullion, checks denominated in foreign currency, bills of exchange, etc.) can be the object of transactions only in accordance with the rules established by the government of the Russian Federation. These rules contain a limited list of persons who have the right to carry out such transactions.
Securities
They are a kind of thing.
These are documents certifying certain rights, and these rights can only be exercised upon presentation of a security. Transferring a security to another person means transferring to him all the rights certified by the security.
The peculiarity of securities is their abstract nature: obligations certified by a security do not depend on the basis for their occurrence.
Securities are documents of a strictly defined form. Failure to comply with the formal requirements for a security entails its nullity.
Securities include: government and other bonds (usually interest-bearing), bills of exchange (they certify the right to receive money after a certain period), checks (certify the right to receive money from a bank), deposit and savings certificates (for example, a passbook), shares and etc.
Securities are divided into three groups:
- bearer - rights belong to the bearer, owner;
- registered - rights belong only to the person included in the security;
- order - rights belong to the person specified in the security or to the person whom this person authorized by his order (order, warrant). This authority is included in the security.
The state, state and municipal entities as subjects of civil law
The Russian Federation and its subjects - republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, autonomous regions, autonomous okrugs, as well as urban and rural settlements and other municipalities - along with persons, constitute another group of subjects of civil law. , state and municipal entities are bearers of such civil rights as property rights. They may be a party to contracts regulated by civil law, for example, a party to a gift agreement, under which a citizen transfers any valuables or works of art to the state ownership. Civil rights can also be transferred to the state in other ways, in particular, by the right of inheritance by law or by will.
In all these cases, on behalf of Russian Federation and its subjects are acted by bodies state power, for example, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, management committees state property, and on behalf of municipalities - local government bodies within their competence. In some cases, legal entities and citizens can act on behalf of the state, state and municipal entities (Article 125, Part 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
According to Article 209 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the object of ownership is property. The concept of property is used in various meanings. First of all, the object of property rights can be things, and individually defined things. According to E.A. Sukhanov, individually defined things in Russian civil law are the only object of ownership. L.V. Shchennikova believes that the object of property rights cannot be money as ancestral things. It should be noted that this position is not indisputable and recognize that generic things can go through the stage of individualization, becoming the object of property rights. V.P. Mozolin believes that among the objects of property rights there are also generic things without their individualization.
Some material things cannot become objects of property rights, since they are not mastered by man, cannot satisfy needs, and therefore do not act as objects of property rights as things not included in civil circulation, for example, planets, space and so on. It is necessary to distinguish airspace from such material things as an object of property rights as part of a land plot in some legal orders.
The development of market relations and scientific and technological progress lead to significant changes in the system of objects of property rights. According to M.I. Kulagin, new types of property appear, for example, human organs and tissues in connection with the possibility of their transplantation, information, incl. stored in computer memory; The legal regulation of property has changed (a shift in the center of gravity from immovable to movable) due to the distribution of securities in which property rights are secured. In addition, securities are most often issued in book-entry form. R. Savatier notes that “...legal-technical abstractions have supplanted physical things.” The object of property rights is increasingly not individual things or rights, but their property complexes, for example, an enterprise that includes things, intangible elements (including rights to trademarks, industrial designs, etc.), as well as actual relations of the enterprise with its counterparties (chances, clientele).
The question of the possibility of being the object of ownership of property rights is debatable. Thus, V.P. Mozolin believes that not all, but only some property rights, namely those embodied in securities, act as the object of property rights
The content of property rights in Russian civil law traditionally comes down to a triad of powers - ownership, use and disposal of a thing. The owner has the right to transfer to other persons, of his own free will or by force of law, part or all of his powers, while the owner remains the owner of property rights, for example, when introducing an insolvency procedure, external administration or bankruptcy proceedings, when seizing property, when transferring property for rent, in trust management. Along with the indicated “triad,” the literature also names other powers granted to the owner, for example, the right to manage (V.P. Mozolin).
INFORMATION AS AN OBJECT OF CIVIL RELATIONS
O.V. KIRICHENKO
Information as an object of civil law appeared in Russian legislation on January 1, 1995. According to E.N. Nasonova, “the inclusion of information in civil legal relations became possible in connection with the development of society as a whole - its communication connections, which have a different physical nature. Information has become a real value capable of influencing the property status of members of society - participants in civil legal relations.”
Currently in Art. 128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation of 1994 (hereinafter - the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), containing a list of objects of civil rights, there is no information. It was excluded from this article in connection with the entry into force of Part 4 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on January 1, 2008.
The issue of recognizing information as an independent object of civil rights is debatable. According to E.A. Sukhanov, it is necessary to consider not any, but only protectable information (trade secret, production secret (know-how)), which can be the object of property law, as an independent object of civil rights. “Abstract information is not an object of civil law; in many cases it is not an object of law at all. In order to be the object of a legal relationship, information must be the object of the subjective civil law of its participant.”
In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 1225 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, production secrets (know-how) are protected results of intellectual activity. According to Art. 1465 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a production secret (know-how) is information of any nature (production, technical, economic, organizational and others), including the results of intellectual activity in the scientific and technical field, as well as information about methods of carrying out professional activities that have actual or potential commercial value due to their unknownness to third parties, to which third parties do not have free access legally and in respect of which the owner of such information has introduced a trade secret regime.
Of course, production secrets (know-how) are objects of information relations, of which there are currently a lot. The object of these relations is also information of an economic, social, scientific, socio-political and other nature.
According to V.A. Dozortsev, in a broad sense, information can be understood as any information transmitted on any basis. This includes, in particular, the transfer of information related to the sphere of production, which constitutes only a prerequisite for practical use and has no independent significance, as well as information that is valuable not as such, but in connection with their practical application. At the same time, from the entire mass of information relations, a special group emerged, distinguished by the following main features. Firstly, the object of such relations is information, information as such, in a separate form. Secondly, they represent a special product that is transferred to other persons through the market as an object of economic turnover and, as such, has commercial value. Thirdly, the information should not be publicly available, otherwise there would be no object of transfer; the object would not be the information, but its use (see:).
Special information relations and the right to information appear only on the condition that the reported information acquires independent value, independent of its use, when the information itself is clearly isolated and that is why, as such, it participates in economic circulation. The meaning of identifying information relations as a separate category lies in the emerging need to include their object in economic circulation and in creating a legal framework for this. Outside of this task, their identification is generally pointless (see:).
Only non-public, confidential information is of value for economic turnover, and, accordingly, only it can be the object of civil law, and such information can be different and cannot always be reduced to know-how. Closer to the right to information is the right to know-how, based on data confidentiality. This right has as its content the transfer of information, but not as such, but for the purpose of its subsequent practical use.
Know-how arose in connection with the emergence of a need to protect any results that may be of commercial value, not predetermined either by their nature or by the field to which they relate.
The legal regime of know-how has significant differences from traditional exclusive rights. In this regard, several circumstances should be noted. Know-how exists as long as data about it remains inaccessible to others. Strictly speaking, it is not know-how as such that is protected, but the inviolability of the personal sphere of its owner.
Know-how is valid as long as it is kept confidential and inaccessible. It is also protected in the case when data about it is transferred, usually under a contract, to another person on the basis of confidentiality. It’s just that the scope of know-how is narrowed to the persons who rightfully possess it.
Know-how does not apply to persons to whom it is lawfully known, for example, to those who have lawfully independently created a similar achievement. Such a person has the right to freely use the decision he received. It may even turn out that the know-how for similar solutions independently belongs to different persons - the original owner and the repeat creator. In this case, the know-how belongs to each of them. Thus, the scope of know-how is further narrowed.
The right to information is also based on confidentiality and represents the second branch of rights based on confidentiality, along with know-how. Therefore, the previously discussed features relating to know-how fully apply to the right to information.
The transfer of information can be carried out for various purposes. Previously, it was most often produced for the purpose of use, practical application. Relationships regarding information develop when it comes to communicating knowledge as such, when they themselves are of interest.
To highlight a special group of information relations in civil law, it is important that the transfer of information is carried out in the process of economic turnover, on a reimbursable basis.
IN modern world the fact of knowledge itself is important, even regardless of the right to use. Information as such, even outside of its use, is an independent commodity. It has become an object of economic turnover, a sphere of special professional activity.
The object of information relations is the intangible result of labor, information, knowledge as such, regardless of their use. At the same time, the rights to know-how and information differ significantly. Rights to know-how are traditionally built on the model of exclusive rights. They aim to use the data that constitutes know-how. The prohibition of disclosure is established only so that the right itself continues to exist. Know-how has its roots in the patent system, where some additional data relating to the implementation of the invention was transferred along with the patent license. This is the so-called mixed license. And only the next type is a license, under which the copyright holder transfers production secrets and even undertakes to assist in the implementation of the decision. In terms of know-how, information alone is of no use to anyone at all.
The content of the right to transmit information is only the communication of data. It does not include any rights to use or practical application of this data. The transfer of data and knowledge is cut off from the right of use, isolated from it. In this case, we are talking specifically about the transfer of data on a confidential basis, and not about their publication, which excludes the very right to transfer data.
The different contents of the right to know-how and to information also predetermine differences in the relationships regarding their transfer. If know-how involves granting the right to use the transferred object, issuing permission for such use, then this is nothing more than the issuance of a license, a licensing relationship. When transferring information, no right is transferred, no permission is required - there is a simple actual transfer of information, for which, as a rule, the free use regime applies. There is no place or basis for any permissions or licensing relations. Another content of the law corresponds to the difference in the nature of relations in economic turnover, differences in the legal nature of the grounds for the transfer of an object.
To answer the question of whether information is an independent object of civil rights, it is necessary to understand what it is.
As noted by O.A. Gavrilov, “information is one of the fundamental characteristics of the universe, along with matter, energy, space, time. Information is an attribute of matter and consciousness. But it is not material and is associated with such properties of matter as reflection, structure, diversity. Information cannot exist outside material carrier - a physical object...". Further O.A. Gavrilov emphasizes that “the form of existence of information is movement (information is a “migrating structure”). Constantly circulating in the physical or social environment, it satisfies people’s needs for communication and interaction.” It is clear that these features are characteristic of any type of information.
In accordance with Art. 2 of the Federal Law of July 27, 2006 N 149-FZ “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” (hereinafter referred to as Federal Law N 149-FZ), information is “information (messages, data) regardless of the form of their presentation.” From this definition it follows that information cannot be the object of legal relations regardless of its content. The function of information in society is the mediation of communication and connections between people. In this case, the information is objectified in reality. Forms of information can be oral speech, image (text, drawing, symbols), actions (gesture, result of actions), physical signals (magnetic, electrical, radio, light, sound, nervous, etc.) (see:).
Depending on the various characteristics information can be classified. Thus, according to the content, artistic, political, economic, scientific, legal, technical, everyday information, etc. are distinguished. According to qualitative characteristics - reliable and unreliable, timely and untimely, complete and incomplete (sufficient and insufficient), useful and useless (for a specific case or subject), known and unknown, relevant and irrelevant (significant and insignificant). Depending on the medium on which it is located, information can be divided into that which is possessed intelligent system(intelligent being, artificial intelligence), and located on a material medium. The latter, in turn, is divided into information located on natural carrier(stone, wood, sand, etc.), and information located on artificial media (recorded indirectly on a device specially designed for this purpose: paper, fabric, magnetic, digital media, etc.). According to the source of origin, information can be internal (created by the subject independently) or external (received by the subject from the outside). Depending on the method of broadcasting, dynamic (transmitted using different signals) and static information (transmitted along with the medium on which it is recorded) are distinguished (see:).
In modern conditions, the question of information as an object of law is especially relevant. An indispensable condition is the question of identifying information and its isolation. Only a separate part of information that can be identified and, to a certain extent, individualized, can become the object of a legal relationship. Both a certain range of information (for example, environmental information) and an indefinite range of information (for example, any information that has actual or potential value due to its unknown to third parties) can be isolated (see:).
Legal science has developed several provisions that are key in determining the place of information in legal relations. Firstly, legal relations in the information sphere are characterized by indicating that such legal relations arise in connection with and regarding actions with information (see:). Secondly, the only essential feature of legal relations in the information sphere is their object - a certain type of material, spiritual and social benefits associated with information as a result of the behavior of a participant in the legal relationship (providing, receiving, non-disclosure of information, etc.) (see:) . In this regard, it is quite logical to consider information as an object of civil legal relations.
Based on the content of Art. 128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, we can conclude that information acts in legal relations as an object in the form of intangible benefits, results of intellectual activity (intellectual property), information itself. In the first case, information acts as an object in relations to protect the honor and dignity of an individual, a person’s name, business reputation, etc. In the second, it is an object of intellectual property rights. It seems that the concept of information legal relations should cover the last of the listed cases, since information is the object of information legal relations, which can be different. The purpose of information relations is to obtain, transmit information or limit these actions, regardless of their further use. Naturally, these relationships also require legal protection, and not just know-how.
In addition, relations of this nature are based on Part 4 of Art. 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993: “Everyone has the right to freely seek, receive, transmit, produce and disseminate information in any legal way.” The right contained in it should be recognized as an intangible benefit in accordance with Art. 150 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Relations based on this norm are carried out by each person independently and freely, regardless of any conditions (general regulatory relations). To ensure their implementation, it is sufficient for the right to protect this intangible benefit from encroachments and violations. The situation is similar with personal and family secrets (see:).
An important prerequisite for the ability of information to act as an object of legal regulation is its isolation as an object of relations. It is obvious that in order to involve any object in economic circulation, it must first be isolated in such a way that a specific subject has the opportunity to individually own, use and dispose of the object, i.e. information must become the object of subjective law.
The ways to isolate information as an object of intellectual property are: a) recognition by the object of the right to the results of intellectual creativity, subject to their unique form; b) recognition by the object of the right to the result of intellectual activity that has the ability to bring practical result, on the basis of artificial formalization and description of its content (in this case, exclusive rights perform in relation to information a function similar to the right to a thing); c) restriction of access to information.
According to Art. 5 of Federal Law N 149-FZ information is an object of legal relations, i.e. any information can become the object of civil rights, both unlimited and limited in access. Thus, information limited in its access, including various information, and not just production secrets and trade secrets, can also be classified as an object of civil rights.
Bibliography
1. Gavrilov O.A. Informatization of the Russian legal system: theoretical and practical problems. M., 2008. P. 10.
2. Gunin D.I. Information as an object of legal regulation // Russian legal journal. Ekaterinburg: Publishing house UrGUA. 2008. N 4. P. 182 - 184.
3. Dozortsev V.A. Intellectual rights: Concept. System. Codification tasks: Sat. articles. M.: Statute, 2005. P. 223.
4. Nasonova E.N. Information as an object of civil law: Dis. ...cand. legal Sci. M., 2002. P. 13.
5. Prospects for the development of civil legislation in Russia: plans and modern realities: Interview with E.A. Sukhanov. Access from SPS "ConsultantPlus".
6. Rassolov M.M. Information law: Uch. village M., 1999. P. 47.
7. Sitnikov A.L., Tumanova L.V. Ensuring and protecting the rights to information. M., 2001. P. 118.
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In a narrower sense, the concept of property is used, for example, in inheritance law: the inherited property includes things, property rights and obligations of the testator, with the exception of those that are inextricably linked with his personality; personal non-property rights and other intangible benefits are not included in the inherited property (Article 1112 of the Civil Code). In a number of norms of civil legislation, the concept of property is used to refer to the totality of things and property rights (clause 1 of Article 56 of the Civil Code) or even just things (clause 2 of Article 15, clause 2 of Article 46, Articles 301-303, 305 , 307 Civil Code).
Things as objects of civil rights
A thing can be created by man or have a natural origin. As objects of the material world, things are tangible and, depending on their type, have certain characteristics: mass, area, volume, location in space, external features, etc. Things in the civil legal sense are objects whose value is recognized by a person and which he can influence and control. Objects that a person at this stage of development is not able to master, control, evaluate, or make into a subject of circulation are not considered things from a legal point of view - they are not involved in the sphere of civil legal regulation (for example, space objects: planets, stars, comets ). Things are also characterized by one degree or another of isolation, which may be the result of human efforts, for example, atmospheric nitrogen is not a thing, but liquid nitrogen placed in a special container is subject to the legal regime of things.
The concept of things in the legal sense differs from the commonly used one. Thus, the regime of things is established by civil law for living beings (wild and domestic animals), land plots and separate water bodies, apartments in residential buildings, energy resources and raw materials extracted and used by humans. In addition to their natural properties, things also differ in their intended and economic purpose and consumer value. The legal regime of a particular group of things reflects these differences and allows things to be classified on various grounds.
Classification of things
When distinguishing between movable and immovable things, the legislator first of all proceeds from their natural properties. Immovable things (real estate, real estate) include land plots, subsoil plots, separate water bodies and everything that is firmly connected to the land, i.e. objects, the movement of which without disproportionate damage to their purpose is impossible, including forests, perennial plantings, buildings, structures, unfinished construction objects (clause 1 of article 130 of the Civil Code).
The defining feature that allows an object to be classified as real estate is, therefore, its strong connection with the land. Moreover, it does not matter whether the thing is of natural origin or created by human hands, whether it rises above the surface of the earth (buildings, structures), whether it is part, a variety of this surface itself (land plots, water bodies) or hidden in the depths of the earth (subsoil areas , tunnels and metro stations).
If there is no strong connection with the land, the object is not real estate. Thus, prefabricated and mobile pavilions that do not have a foundation are not classified as real estate; tree seedlings. The forest growing in the taiga is subject to the legal regime of real estate, and cut down trees become movable property.
A number of objects that have no connection with the land are also subject by law to the legal regime of real estate: these are aircraft and sea vessels subject to state registration, inland navigation vessels, and space objects. The reason for classifying these objects as real estate are special beneficial features, stipulating the need for more stringent legal regulation of the relations arising in connection with them.
The legal regime of real estate can be extended by law to other objects that do not have a direct connection with the land. For example, laws define real estate as apartments, rooms in apartments, and other residential premises in residential buildings and other buildings suitable for permanent and temporary residence (Clause 1, Article 16 of the Housing Code); non-residential premises located in buildings and structures (Article 1 of the Law on State Registration of Rights to Real Estate).
A special real estate object Art. 132 of the Civil Code refers to an enterprise as a property complex used to carry out business activities. It includes all types of property intended for the operation of the enterprise, including land plots, buildings, structures, structures, equipment, inventory, raw materials, products, claims, debts, as well as rights to designations that individualize the enterprise, its products, works and services (brand name, trademarks, service marks), and other exclusive rights, unless otherwise provided by law or contract. An enterprise within the meaning of this norm is an object of law. This concept should not be confused with another meaning of the specified term, used for the corporate name of unitary enterprises - subjects of law (Articles 113-115 of the Civil Code).
An enterprise as an object of real estate acts as an object of turnover as a single whole. It is possible, however, to carry out transactions in relation to individual components of this object. Concluding a transaction with an enterprise as a property complex does not affect the existence of the legal entity to which this complex belongs. For example, when an enterprise of a legal entity - a debtor is sold during the application of bankruptcy procedures, the legal entity itself continues to exist, and the proceeds from the sale of its enterprise are included in the property of the debtor.
Civil legislation does not contain the concept or list of movable property. This is not necessary, since it is determined that things not classified by law as real estate are movable (clause 2 of Article 130 of the Civil Code). Movable things, therefore, include money, securities, other material objects of civil rights, primarily various kinds of goods, things for household and individual use.
The peculiarity of the legal regime of real estate is that transactions with it must be concluded in writing, and real rights to it, as well as restrictions, emergence, transfer and termination of these rights, are subject to state registration (clause 1 of article 131 of the Civil Code, p. 1 Article 4 of the Law on State Registration of Rights to Real Estate).
State registration is an act that recognizes and confirms the emergence, limitation (encumbrance), transfer or termination of real rights to real estate, as well as an act that gives legal force to a number of transactions with such property (Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law on State Registration of Rights for real estate). State registration has legal significance, i.e. rights to real estate arise from the moment of their state registration.
State registration is carried out by specially authorized bodies. Currently, such a body is the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography within the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.
State registration is carried out by making an appropriate entry in the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Estate and Transactions with It. To confirm registration, the copyright holder is issued a certificate.
State registration of real estate has the property of public reliability: the registered right from the moment of its registration is considered legally valid, and when making transactions, subjects can trust the information entered in the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Estate and Transactions with It. Any entities can obtain information about the ownership and rights to a property from the Register upon request. The copyright holder, in turn, has the right to receive information about which persons requested information about the real estate property owned by him.
State registration of certain types of real estate is carried out in the manner established by special laws - the Law on State Registration of Rights to Real Estate does not apply to them (Clause 1, Article 4 of the said Law). For example, civil aircraft are registered in the State Register of Civil Aircraft of the Russian Federation (Article 33 of the Air Code). Sea vessels - in the State Ship Register, in the ship book or bareboat charter register (Article 33 of the KTM).
Whether a thing belongs to movable or immovable property affects the legal regulation of relations related to it within the framework of various institutions of civil law. For example, foreclosure on movable and immovable property that is the subject of a pledge is applied differently (clauses 1, 2 of Article 349 of the Civil Code), there are features of the definition of the subject in contracts of sale and purchase, lease of real estate objects in comparison with the general rules about these contracts (Article 554, paragraph 1 of Article 654 of the Civil Code).
II. Things defined by generic characteristics and individually defined things. Immovable things are always individually defined, as well as unique, one-of-a-kind things. Things determined by measure, weight, number are generic.
The line between individually defined and generic things is not immutable, established once and for all. The status of a thing as individually defined or generic largely depends on the subject of which relationships it acts. The subjects of these relations can, by their own will, individualize a thing, distinguishing it from the generic ones, for example, if it is necessary to make a transaction with it.
The legal significance of the difference between individually defined and generic things is that individually defined things are irreplaceable: their destruction terminates the debtor’s obligation to transfer things to the creditor due to the impossibility of fulfillment. The death of a ancestral thing does not terminate the obligation: based on a principle rooted in Roman law, “the gens cannot perish”; In this case, the same number of things of the same kind and quality is subject to transfer. If the subject of the transaction is a generic thing, then regardless of which of the existing set of things is transferred under this transaction, the obligation will be considered properly fulfilled. If the subject of the obligation is an individually defined thing, the transfer of this particular thing will be recognized as its proper fulfillment. Only individual things can be demanded in kind from the obligated person through a claim based on an obligation or a proprietary (vindication) claim.
III. Consumable and non-consumable things.
This division is also conditional. “Eternal” things practically do not exist, so it must be borne in mind that this difference is solely of a legal nature.
Consumed items during operation (usually single use) completely lose their consumer properties - they are destroyed or transformed into a qualitatively different item. For example, food products are destroyed (cease to exist) in the process of consumption; During the construction of a house, building materials and fertilizers, after being applied to the soil, lose their independent existence and become part of the house, part of the soil. Non-consumable things retain their consumer properties for a long time and lose them gradually (depreciate). Non-consumable things include all real estate, as well as many movable things: a car, furniture, a telephone, a computer, etc.
Classifying things as consumable or non-consumable predetermines the possibility of them being the subject of certain relationships. The subject of a loan agreement can only be generic consumable things (Article 807 of the Civil Code), while the subject of a lease agreement can be individually defined non-consumable things (Articles 607, 689 of the Civil Code).
IV. Divisible and indivisible things.
As objects of the material world, things are divisible in the physical sense. However, in civil law the classification of things is legal, i.e. determines the legal regime of things, and does not reveal their natural properties.
Divisible is a thing that can be divided into parts capable of being used for the same purpose as the original thing. An indivisible thing is one that cannot be divided into independent parts without losing its purpose. For example, a piano washing machine, the calculator, of course, can be disassembled into parts, but in this case their purpose will be lost - the parts cannot be used for the same purposes for which whole things were used.
The distinction between divisible and indivisible things is important when determining the solidary nature of an obligation (Article 322 of the Civil Code) or when dividing common property and allocating a share (Article 252 of the Civil Code): a divisible thing is divided between the participants in common property, while an indivisible thing is transferred one of them, and he pays the others compensation for the value of their shares.
Complex things are considered legally indivisible. A complex thing is a thing formed from heterogeneous things that involve their use for a general purpose (Article 134 of the Civil Code). Examples are a furniture or jewelry set, a service. Since a complex thing is indivisible from a legal point of view, a transaction made regarding a complex thing, as a rule, applies to all its component parts. Transferring a set of upholstered furniture for use means that all the items included in this set (chairs, sofas) are transferred to the user. The obligation to transfer a complex item will be considered fulfilled only from the moment of transfer of the last item included in its composition.
However, since the components of a complex thing may well be used separately from each other, the parties to the contract have the right to provide, for example, for the transfer of individual objects included in its composition, i.e. establish the divisibility of a complex thing.
V. The main thing and its accessory (Article 135 of the Civil Code) are heterogeneous things, separable from each other. In this case, a thing called an accessory is intended to serve the main thing, which has independent meaning. The accessory is designed to ensure the integrity, safety of the main item or the possibility of its effective use (for example, a case for glasses, a picture frame). Affiliation is associated with the main thing general purpose and follows the fate of the main thing. This means that under a transaction according to which the main thing is transferred, all its accessories must also be transferred, and, unless the parties have agreed otherwise, it is considered that the price specified in the contract includes the price of both the main thing and its accessories. However, the parties, by agreement, can change the rule regarding the following of ownership to the fate of the main thing, agreeing that only the main thing or only the accessory is subject to transfer.
It is necessary to distinguish between accessories that exist independently, separately from the main thing, and components (components), as well as spare parts. Components and components are structurally connected to the thing itself, forming it (for example, a bicycle handlebar, piano keys). Spare parts are used to replace components that need it; rights to them are acquired independently of the main item. For example, guitar strings are an integral part of this instrument and, if necessary, can be replaced with a spare set of strings.
In the process of being in civil circulation and exploitation (use), things can bring any income, material or monetary gain. Depending on the nature of these receipts and the method of obtaining them, they are called fruits, products or income. Fruits are the natural result of the development of plants, animals (fruit or berry trees and shrubs, livestock offspring, cow milk, poultry eggs). Products are property obtained as a result of purposeful production activities (processed raw materials, semi-finished products, finished products). Income - cash and other income that property brings in while in civil circulation (rent, interest on deposits, dividends, etc.). In a number of cases, the concept of “income” should be interpreted broadly and understood as all income received from the use of things (see, for example, Article 303 of the Civil Code).
Article 136 of the Civil Code establishes general rule, according to which the fruits, products and income from the use of property belong to the person using the property legally (owner, tenant, etc.). However, the law, other legal acts or agreement may provide exceptions to this rule, i.e. fruits, products and income can also be independent objects of transactions. Such rules are contained, for example, in Art. 346 of the Civil Code, which reserves (as a general rule) the right to receive fruits, products and income from the pledged property to its owner, but not to the pledgee.
Money
As objects of the material world (things), money exists in the form of banknotes: paper (banknotes, bank notes) or metal (coins) - and is the object of property rights. The release of money into circulation (emission) is a monopoly right of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia), granted to it by law. Banknotes and coins of the Bank of Russia are an unconditional obligation of the Bank of Russia and are backed by all its assets.
Monetary obligations must be expressed in rubles (clause 1 of Article 317 of the Civil Code). Payments by direct transfer of banknotes are called cash. In order to prevent an increase in the money supply in circulation, a maximum amount has been established within which payments can be made in cash by legal entities for one transaction: 100 thousand rubles. The maximum amount of cash payments for citizens has not been established.
Another form of existence of money is funds in accounts in banks and other credit institutions. In this case, money does not exist in material form, but in the form of entries in accounts; calculations are made by changing these entries and are called non-cash. A record of a certain amount of money in an account essentially confirms the existence of the account owner's right of obligation in relation to the bank in which the account is opened.
Money refers to movable, generic, fungible and divisible things. This is explained by the fact that the essence and value of money lies not in its material form, but in the amount that is expressed by this form. At the same time, banknotes can also act as individually defined things, for example, if they are collectibles or individualized through special marks, recording banknote numbers (for example, they act as physical evidence). In these cases, money becomes indivisible, irreplaceable things and can be the subject of contracts of sale, exchange, or the object of claim under a vindication claim (Article 301 of the Civil Code).
In cases, in the manner and under the conditions provided for by law or in the order established by it, foreign currency can also be used on the territory of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of Article 140, clause 3 of Article 317 of the Civil Code).
A special category of objects of civil rights are actions - active behavior of the subject (transfer of property in accordance with the contract, repayment of debt to the creditor, creation of a material object, etc.).
Actions and their results act as an object of civil law mainly in obligatory legal relations arising from a contract, tort or other legal fact.
For a long time in civil law it was customary to divide actions as objects of civil rights into two groups: works and services. Since October 1, 2013, terminological changes have occurred in the current legislation, and now Art. 128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation distinguishes not the work and services themselves as objects of civil rights, but the result of the former (the result of the work) and the process of implementing the latter (the provision of services).
Under work is understood as a type of action to create a certain useful result that has a material, material expression.
A typical example of work is activity under a contract. Under a contract, one party (contractor) undertakes, at his own risk, to perform certain work on the customer’s instructions using his or his own materials, and the other party (customer) undertakes to accept the work and pay for it. The result of the work can be the creation of a new thing, improvement (change, processing) of an existing thing, or something else that can be measured in natural (physical) quantities.
Actions, the results of which are inseparable from the activity itself and are consumed in the process of this activity, are called in legal science services.
Services are an independent and frequently encountered object of civil legal relations. Currently, intermediary, information, legal, medical, educational and other services are widespread. Accordingly, the object of civil law will not be the result of an action, which may not exist, but the very process of carrying out the activities of the performer.
The following types of civil rights objects that need to be considered are results of intellectual activity and means of individualization equivalent to them (intellectual property).
A fairly large group of property and personal non-property relations arises in connection with the creation and use of the results of human intellectual (creative) activity - works of science, literature and art, inventions, computer programs, industrial designs, etc. These products of creative activity are objects of intellectual property. right
The results of creative activity represent a specific object, since they are intangible benefits, although they have a material form. Thus, works of science, literature or art are a set of new ideas, images, concepts; invention, utility model and innovation proposal - technical solutions to a problem; industrial design - artistic and design solution appearance products, etc. But they become objects of civil legal relations only when the thought of their creator is reflected and consolidated in some kind of material form.
Thus, a literary work can be recorded in a manuscript, on a magnetic medium; invention - in the form of a drawing, diagram, model, etc.
The above, however, does not mean identity between the material carrier of the creative result and the object of intellectual property. The material medium acts as an object and can be transferred into ownership regardless of the transfer of rights to the creative object.
Works of science, literature and art, the results of technical and other types of creativity, being certainly the main component of the concept of “intellectual property”, do not exhaust its entire content, which also includes other results of intellectual activity, including those that are not are of a creative nature.
The last type of civil rights object we need to consider is intangible benefits. In the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the regulation of relations arising in connection with intangible benefits is assigned an independent chapter (Chapter 8).
In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 150 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, intangible benefits include life and health, personal dignity, personal integrity, honor and good name, business reputation, privacy, inviolability of home, personal and family secrets, freedom of movement, freedom to choose a place of stay and residence, the name of a citizen, authorship, other intangible benefits belonging to a citizen from birth or by force of law.
These benefits have no economic content and are inseparable from the personality of their bearers. Intangible benefits are inalienable and cannot be transferred in any other way. It is in relation to intangible benefits that personal non-property legal relations arise, which are included in the subject of the branch of civil law.
The importance of legal protection of intangible benefits lies in the fact that most of those listed in paragraph 1 of Art. 150 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, benefits are related to the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens.
The specificity of the legal regime of intangible goods lies in the special mechanisms for their protection from illegal actions of third parties. Along with the general methods of protecting civil rights listed in Art. 12 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, protection of violated intangible benefits is carried out through compensation for moral damage. Other methods are also allowed, for example, refutation in court of information discrediting honor, dignity and business reputation, publication of a response in the media mass media(Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), recognition by the court of a violation of a personal non-property right, publication of a court decision on the violation, suppression or prohibition of actions that violate or create a threat of violation of a personal non-property right or encroach or create a threat of encroachment on an intangible benefit.
In cases and in the manner provided by law, intangible benefits that belonged to the deceased may be protected by other persons (Clause 2 of Article 150 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
Special rules are established by law for the protection of the image and private life of a citizen (Articles 152.1, 152.2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).