Civil Law Analysis of the Category «Public Legal Entity»: A Case Study of such Legal Entities as Public Authorities

Abstract

The paper analyzes the possibility of applying the categories «public legal entity» or «legal entity of public law» in civil law. The application of this category to legal entities — public authorities — can be explained by the problem of dualism of their legal status. This dualism is manifested in the fact that, participating in civil legal relations as independent entities, legal entities-public authorities do not cease to be part of the public authority mechanism, which affects the independence of their volition and expression of will, calls into question the existence of their independent interest, different from the interest of the entire public legal entity. Under certain circumstances, legal entities-public authorities may participate in civil law relations on behalf of and in the interests of the entire public legal entity. This complicates the differentiation of such forms in practice and requires its resolution in the science of civil law. As the type-forming features of public legal entities, the author highlights their inherent connection with the public legal entity that created them and the specifics of the legal regime of their property regulation. Applying an extensive set of methods, including comparative legal and formal legal methods and from the standpoint of a systematic scientific approach, the author comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to exclude the possibility of granting public authorities the legal status of legal entities and defining the public legal entities themselves — the Russian Federation, its constituent entities and municipalities — as public legal entities instead of the legal status sui generis. The paper provides a valuable description of the risks of such an innovation caused by an incorrect understanding of the essence of a public legal entity.