Evolvement and Development of the Concept of Limited Liability Company in Russian Law

Abstract

The article discusses the evolution of the limited liability company as one of the forms of commercial legal entities envisaged by current Russian law. The article identifies forms of incorporation of entities for the conduct of business existing in European law similar to the Russian limited liability company. Based on the research of the genesis of this legal structure, the authors explain certain features of the modern limited liability company, including the legal regime of the LLC’s property, relations among its members and other aspects. The research was focused on the legislation on limited liability companies during various historic periods. The methods applied were historic method, legal comparison, structural function analysis, formal logical and hermeneutics analysis. The historic method was used to analyse the Russian legislation during various periods. The legal comparison was used to compare the format of the limited liability company set forth in various statutes and similar legal systems. The Russian legal system was compared with the German and French law systems pertaining to the civil law systems. The comparison covered legal statutes governing the same scope of relations during the same and different historic periods. The structural function analysis was employed to determine the place of the limited liability company among the forms of incorporation used for the conduct of business. The formal logical method was used to identify the structure and contents of legal norms. The system-oriented approach permitted to consider the Russian legal system in combination with the economic, political, social and ideological systems of the society. The research of the legal provisions of earlier historic periods was carried out based on the hermeneutics analysis where the meaning of words and expressions used in each period was interpreted by reference to the conceptual framework of the authors of respective documents.