Exclusion of a legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities: cases of use, procedure and consequences

Abstract

The subject of research. In 2005, a new institution for exclusion of a legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities by decision of the registering authority (or, as it is also called "administrative termination of a legal entity"). Subsequently, as a result of a number of changes, including the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, introduced by federal laws in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019, this institution was formed in the form in which it currently exists Its importance, at first more technical, has increased significantly after the changes in 2015, when this institution began to be used to conduct a large-scale "cleaning" of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities from inactive legal entities. As a result, millions of legal entities have been excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities in recent years. In addition, the range of situations in which this institution began to be applied has expanded. Accordingly, the increase in the number of disputes is due to the fact that such exclusion affects the rights and interests of many persons (creditors, participants of excluded legal entities, members of their governing bodies). These disputes have often been the subject of close attention of the Russian Constitutional Court (the latest example is the decision of the Russian Constitutional Court of May 21, 2021 No. 20-P). The article examines the goals of this institution, its development, shows the most problematic situations related to the application of the institution of exclusion of a legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.The purposeof the article is to identify the main problems of the institution of exclusion of a legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, as well as formulate the main directions for changing this institution. The author's main scientific hypothesis is that during the development of the institution of exclusion of a legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, its original goals were lost. New goals and meanings were also formulated (in the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation), which eventually (taking into account the significant shortcomings of the exclusion procedure itself) lead to violation of the rights of a significant number of interested persons. The author believes that in the development of this institution there is clearly a disproportion in terms of its application in relation to limited liability companies and persons controlling such a company. The author also notes the lack of a unified concept of the institution of exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, since along with the administrative procedure for the termination of legal personality, the legislation also recognizes the judicial procedure. Description of research methods and methodology. The research is based on a systematic analysis, as well as the use of methods of interpretation developed in the doctrine.The main results, scope of application. The goals of creating the institution of exclusion of a legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities are established, the development of this institution is shown taking into account the legal positions of the Russian Constitutional Court, judicial practice, conceptual provisions on reforming civil legislation.Conclusions.There is a need for a complete renovation of the institution of exclusion of a legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The main directions for improving the institution of exclusion of a legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities are formulated.