In the current legal policy of the Russian Federation, a rather large role is played by civil legal relations regulated by the civil branch of law. It should be noted that this array of legal norms appeared at a time when scattered tribes of barbarians were still traveling across the territory of modern Russia.
Ancient Roman lawyers can be considered the progenitor of the private industry. It was they who developed the bulk of the legal structures that are used to address certain civil issues to this day. A significant part of civil relations is occupied by obligations. The mechanism of their regulation has been developing for decades.
Today, this area of the civil industry is the most interesting to study. Although it was formed at the maximum legal capacity of the current society in Russia, it still remained quite interesting problems. In addition, obligations are included in a separate sub-branch of civil law, which allows us to distinguish the concept, grounds and types of obligations, as well as their species division.
The development of the obligatory institution in Roman law
Concept and types of obligations were formed back in Roman law. In fact, it was from obligations that Roman law was for the most part created. The foundations of this institution are laid in one of the first examples of written law: the code of laws of XII tables. According to this source, obligations initially arose only on the basis of unlawful actions. Over time, this trend has changed. The obligations found a new source - the contract. At the same time, a new concept of obligations and types of obligations appeared.
Contractual relations began to develop actively during the period of the Roman Empire. At this time, key theories were developed to understand commitment. Lawyers formed the concept of property manifestation of this institution of private law. In a codified legal act, Corpus juris civilis, obligations were presented in their classic form, which is still in use today. For example, already in those days, lawyers brought out two main parties to such legal relations: creditors and debtors. Plus, various types of obligations were identified based on the source of the legal fact.
Obligations: concept, types, grounds for occurrence
Based on the current legislation of the Russian Federation, namely, the provisions of Article 307 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, obligations are a specific civil relationship, the parties to which are the debtor (obliged to take any action in favor of the other party) and the creditor (takes the committed actions by the debtor) . This kind of activity can be expressed in the provision of services, the transfer of borrowed money.
Obligatory legal relations can exist both with a material manifestation, and without it. They are usually bilateral. Each party is endowed with rights and obligations, however, the characteristics and scope of competencies are completely different. This indicates the difference in the legal regimes of the debtor and the creditor. The concept and types of obligations allow us to talk about the existing isolation of this institution of civil law. Some scholars quite often put forward the theory that the law of obligations is a separate industry, but such conclusions require scientific reflection.
Grounds for occurrence
The concept of obligations and types of obligations are key aspects. But it is also worth highlighting the grounds for the occurrence of obligation relations. The mechanism of appearance, or rather the implementation of the norms of the institute, begins only with the establishment of a special legal fact. Such facts are combined in a system called the basis for the occurrence of obligations. As a rule, these legal relations arise from unilateral transactions, contracts, facts of harm, enrichment of an unreasonable nature, the spread of false information, etc.
The list is not exhaustive. As we understand it, the world does not stand still. People are constantly evolving. This leads to the emergence of completely new, non-standard legal relations, which are quite capable of becoming the basis for the emergence of obligations. An example is vehicle ownership. The concept and types of transport obligations are very difficult to find today, as they are common in many regulations. As a result, people are simply not interested in them. Nevertheless, the concept and types of transport obligations must be known, because with their help the institution of ownership of property is most fully disclosed, in this case, transport.
Parties to the obligation
The largest role in the implementation of the obligation relationship is assigned to the parties. Ever since Roman private law, there has been a tendency for the existence of only two main parties:
- A creditor is a person in relation to whom any actions should be taken. Many people mistakenly believe that only the party that lends money can be called a creditor. Based on the concept of the term, we can conclude that such conclusions are erroneous. The lender in some cases does not provide money or other values to the other party.
- A debtor is a person who is obliged to perform certain actions (or to refrain from their implementation) in favor of a creditor on the basis of a legal fact of the occurrence of obligations.
There are no restrictions on the number of persons who can be attributed to one or another side of the obligation relationship. However, here it is necessary to highlight a rather interesting rule. Rights and obligations in obligations arise exclusively for parties that are directly involved in them. Thus, third parties have neither rights nor obligations. Although, if we analyze the concept of obligations and types of obligations, we can highlight the moments when third parties still play a role in the presented legal relationship.
Liabilities where third parties participate
There are a number of legal relations in which, in addition to the classical parties (the debtor and the creditor), third parties are also present. In some cases, they may indeed be parties to the obligations. But in this case, it should be noted that they are neither creditors nor debtors. Their subjective mode has a specific form. These obligations include:
- Obligations in favor of third parties - this is a type of obligation in which the "classic" parties create the right for a third person not participating in the legal relationship. In turn, this person can exercise this right personally or refuse it altogether.
- Obligations to perform any actions in favor of a third party. In such legal relations, a third party has the right to demand the fulfillment of obligations. If this right is exercised, the initial obligation between the debtor and the creditor will cease.
- Putting performance on a third party. Sometimes situations arise when the lender does not actually care who fulfills this or that obligation. In this case, the debtor has the right to execute it through a third party. In other words, he may assign the performance of an obligation to a third party. In most cases, the third party decides on the performance or non-performance of the obligation.
Classification of the entire array of obligations
The concepts of obligations and types of obligations are those components that help to understand the essence of this institution. At the same time, the classification of the presented legal relations makes it possible to understand the methods of implementing the institute in the practical industry. The concept and types of civil obligations are complementary concepts. All existing types of legal relations of a similar nature actually emerge from the concept presented in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Thus, obligations can be divided into the following types:
- Contractual and non-contractual. The first type of obligation arises from an actual contract or transaction, when the actions of the parties are aimed at changing, terminating and establishing the legal regime. As for non-contractual obligations, they arise from various legal facts. The peculiarity of such legal relations is that they are not aimed at changing the legal regime. Legal facts include the following: transfer of property, provision of services, performance of work and harm. The latter species is characterized by a lot of features, which makes it possible to separate it into a whole sub-institute, although this theory is still controversial. The concept and types of non-contractual obligations along with contractual obligations are enshrined in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, the legislative regulation distinguishes them in a separate part of the act, which allows us to talk about the specific legal regime of non-contractual obligations.
- The concept, content and types of obligations are the main categories in this institution. Species, in turn, can be divided according to different criteria, for example, by the ratio of duties and rights of the parties. According to this classification, one can distinguish one-sided and mutual types of obligations. Unilateral obligations are characterized by relative stability, since one side has exclusively rights, and the other - obligations. Such legal relations “live” according to the previously drawn up scenario and practically do not change. Mutual obligations are characterized by the presence of both rights and obligations of both parties. This is the most complete model of legal relations between the debtor and the creditor, because they have the ability to regulate their legal regime on the basis of general principles of civil law and special rules. It is on the basis of mutual obligations that most of the relations of contract law are realized.
- You can highlight a certain mandatory hierarchy. According to this principle, there are main and secondary legal relationships. To better understand such legal relationships, you need to submit a loan. The body of the loan itself will be the main in relation to the fines accrued for late payments. The debtor will be obliged to repay the debt on the main loan, and only then provide fines.
- There is such a classification aspect as the nature of the performance of an obligation. According to him, peremptory obligations, alternative and optional, are distinguished. All these legal relations differ among themselves by the principle of fulfillment of obligatory actions. For example, in peremptory legal relations, it is necessary to carry out strictly defined actions. In alternative, on the contrary, there is a choice. The most specific are optional obligations. In this form, along with the title obligation, there are additional ones, the performance of which is optional.
What is collateral?
The concept, types and fulfillment of obligations exist thanks to the developed mechanism for ensuring such legal relations. It should be remembered that through some civil law methods the fulfillment of obligations in the future is guaranteed. The combination of such methods is called “securing obligations”. Speaking in scientific language, these are measures of a legal nature, the purpose of which is to reduce the likelihood of the dissatisfaction of the interests of the creditor. It is worth noting that the methods of support were formed not so much on the basis of civil legislation of the Russian Federation as on the customs of business turnover.
It must be remembered that a civil law obligation, a concept the types of which were presented earlier in the article, very often can be realized only after applying security methods. This negative trend has developed in the vastness of the Russian Federation, which in some cases prevents domestic companies from entering the European market due to a bad reputation.
Certain types of collateral
Earlier, we indicated that along with categories such as the concept of obligations and types of obligations, civil law also provides ways to ensure them. If you analyze the Civil Code in detail, then the following methods can be distinguished:
- pledge;
- deposit;
- surety;
- retention
- forfeit.
All of the presented methods can actually ensure the future fulfillment of the obligation. For example, the penalty is presented in the form of a fine if the relationship is not fulfilled on time. In turn, the deposit is the method used by the debtor in the form of advance cash, which in case of violation of the terms of the obligation will go to the creditor in the form of compensation.
Bank guarantee as an independent type of security for a liability
The concepts of signs and types of obligations indicate a significant development of this sub-sector. Therefore, specific methods of providing it are needed, one of which is the bank guarantee. A bank guarantee is characterized by a specific implementation mechanism. The main feature is that the guarantor must be the bank or other financial institution. It follows that not everyone can get a bank guarantee to secure their obligation. In most cases, banks do not give guarantees to unknown people.
Conclusion
So, in this article obligations were described. The concept, types, grounds for occurrence were also presented. Specific aspects of some legal relations and methods of their support are disclosed.