Actions without an assignment in someone else's interest - what is it? The Civil Code of the Russian Federation, or to be more precise, chapter 50, can answer this question. In the article below, you can familiarize yourself with some of the features of this legal institution.
Legal conditions
Acts without a mandate in the interest of others were legislatively enshrined only in the new civil law. Previously, such rules were not provided. The aforementioned civil legal relations are a type of non-contractual obligations, which, in turn, entail the emergence of not only rights, but also obligations. What are the main postulates of this concept?
- Actions without an assignment in someone else's interest will be such if the person who produces them does not have such instructions from the person concerned. A person performing such acts should not have authority for these actions, not only on the basis of a power of attorney or a legal contract, but also on the basis of other instructions. Other directions include, for example, the previously promised consent given by the person concerned. In other words, a person acting in someone else's interest should perform such manipulations without the consent of (even in absentia) the person in whose favor these actions are performed. Moreover, the latter should not even be aware of these manipulations. If this is not so, and the current one has received instructions or even consent, then his actions cannot be qualified by the chapter of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation under consideration.
- The relations under consideration must be directed towards obtaining a specific goal and at the same time must be consistent with the letter of the law. Such goals, for example, can mean a situation in which a person saves children or property from a burning apartment. That is, he acts at his discretion, without an appropriate indication of the owner of things or parents of children, but the result of his act has favorable consequences for the latter.
- Based on the paragraph described above, it can be concluded that another of the special characteristics of an action without an assignment in the interest of others is considered to be that it should be performed not with benefit for oneself, but with benefit for a third party. The actor does not need to know who will be the beneficiary, and if he is mistaken at the expense of such an interested person, this can not be a basis for not recognizing actions in someone's interest. For example, saving property from a burning apartment, who thinks that a fire occurred in his friend’s apartment, if he is mistaken (for example, the apartment belongs to a completely different person), still commits acts in someone else’s interest.
- The acts in question must comply with the intentions of the person concerned. If the action is contrary to intentions, then it cannot be considered committed within the framework of the chapter of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation under consideration.
- When committing acts, care and prudence should be shown. That is, the incumbent should really care about the benefits of a third party and not invest so much that the result will be unprofitable for him. The incumbent must assume what actions the beneficiary would take in his place, and act accordingly.
- Only if all of the above conditions are met, the actions of a person can be recognized as acting without an assignment in someone else's interest, and he can be rewarded for this.
Message to beneficiary
When committing an act in someone else's interest without an order, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation imposes certain obligations on the person committing such an act. One of these obligations is the proper notification of the beneficiary of the measures taken.
It is not legally established for how long a person should notify the person concerned, however there is a reservation that such a message should be made as soon as possible. Such notification is due to the fact that as a result of the act in question, an invasion of the personal space and sphere of activity of a particular citizen is made. However, it is impossible to predict in advance with certainty what kind of reaction such actions will cause.
Moreover, within the meaning of the analyzed article, it turns out that the person acting in the interests of others must, after notifying the beneficiary, also wait for him to make a decision. This decision must be expressed either in the form of disapproval or approval of the perfect. But in any case, the period of such an expectation should not be so long as to result in losses to the person concerned.
The legislator does not disclose whether it is necessary to suspend actions after informing the beneficiary of the measures taken. However, based on common sense, it follows that if the urgent need has disappeared, then actions can be suspended. And, conversely, if such a need still persists and the benefits of the person concerned are at risk of loss and damage, then measures must continue.
In certain cases, it is not required to notify the interested person that actions are being taken in the interests of others without an order. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation calls such cases those in which such measures are obvious. For example, committed in the presence of the beneficiary.
Beneficiary Approval
What does it mean to approve an act in the interest of others without a mandate? Judicial practice in this case converges on the following. The approval expressed by the beneficiary of the actions taken without his knowledge regarding the property belonging to him should be considered as expression of will. Approval of actions means that the person concerned encourages and considers the act of the person acting in his interest to be correct.
Further, when approving the committed or ongoing activities between these two people, civil relations arise, rights and obligations appear. In other words, the person acting in the interest of others and the person concerned conclude an agreement between themselves.
What type of contract is concluded when performing an act in the interest of others without an order? The judicial practice in this case is unambiguous - depending on what actions the beneficiary approved, what civil law rules govern these relations, such a transaction will be concluded. For example, if a person who has found any lost property of a third party has saved it and subsequently transferred it to the owner, then such legal relations are governed by the rules governing the storage agreement.
Very important! The approval does not have to be expressed in writing, the oral form will also be fully consistent with the law.
Disapproval of actions by the beneficiary
When defining an action in someone else's interest without an assignment, the characteristics of which are indicated above, the position of the beneficiary, his view of the actions performed or being performed, is of no small importance or even significant. The norms of civil law, which are available in Chapter 50 of the Civil Code, state that if the beneficiary has not approved the measures held in his interests, then they must be stopped. If they continue to be committed, then the incumbent bears the entire risk of possible losses that may occur, and is also liable for obligations if such arose from committed civil transactions.
In this case, it is necessary to determine the period when an action takes place in someone else's interest without an order. An example may be the following - the acting person takes measures before he receives the disapproval of the beneficiary, and he does certain actions in the interests of others, after he learned about this disapproval. In the second situation, the consequences of such acts are assigned to the acting. If the first situation arose, then according to the norms of the Civil Code, such a person may demand compensation for losses incurred by presenting the relevant claim to the person concerned.
But civil law establishes two exceptions to the rules. Regardless of the approval or disapproval of actions, the actor can continue his actions and subsequently receive remuneration if:
- Actions aimed at saving life or health.
- Actions are aimed at the maintenance of persons whom the interested person was required to contain.
Losses and their compensation
If a person has fulfilled all the conditions of actions in the interests of others without an order that are required by law for the legal relationship under consideration (five of these conditions are listed at the beginning of this article), if he has duly notified the beneficiary and waited the necessary time period for obtaining approval or disapproval, then he can apply for compensation for losses and other expenses. The latter may include any expenses that the incumbent made in order to take care of the benefits and property of the beneficiary.
Naturally, the recovery of losses should be made from the person concerned, who will be required to make up for them. Only, the beneficiary is exempted from this obligation if the action is committed after he expressed his disapproval. In this case, losses are not reimbursed.
Article 984 of the Civil Code also determines that not all expenses are reimbursable, but only necessary, without which it would be impossible to achieve the desired result. If the expenses of the incumbent were not aimed at saving the property from damage or death, or another useful result, then they may not be reimbursed. There is a reservation - it is not necessary that the actions bring the desired result, most importantly, the usefulness of such events. If such conditions are met, the right to reimbursement of expenses appears if an action is performed in the interest of others without an order. An example could be the following. A person rescuing from a fire property used for this purpose some property that was damaged. If his attempts to save things were unsuccessful, then he can still claim compensation.
The amount of losses to be compensated may not exceed the amount of saved, saved property.
Remuneration
In certain cases, for acting in someone else’s interest without an order, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation requires a fee. The named opportunity arises for the actor if he simultaneously fulfilled the following two conditions:
- His actions and actions taken created a positive result.
- The remuneration is provided for by civil law, contract or custom.
If the beneficiary approved actions in his favor, then, therefore, the result can be considered positive. Further, it is necessary to determine what rules of the Civil Code govern the existing legal relations, and if these rules provide for remuneration, then the person who has the right has the right to receive it.
Remuneration for actions in the interest of others without a mandate, the conditions and consequences of such events are detailed in the comments to the Civil Code.
Consequences of the transaction
The concept of acting in the interest of others without a mandate includes not only acts that occur directly in favor of the beneficiary, but also transactions concluded with third parties. For this reason, the question arises of the legal relationship between these third parties and the person concerned.
The Civil Code discloses this situation as follows. If the actor has concluded a contract with a third party, then the powers and obligations under it can go to the beneficiary if he approved such a transaction, and if 3 persons are not against such a transfer. From the foregoing, it follows that in cases where the transaction is approved, the responsibilities may go to the person concerned. But if it does not approve of such actions, then the liability under the concluded contract rests with the incumbent.
It should also be noted that a third party may not provide consent to a transaction if, at the time of its conclusion, it knew in whose favor the contract was being concluded. If you did not know, and subsequently refused to approve the transaction, then the obligations under it also remain with the current person.
Unjust enrichment
The norms of the chapter in question provide not only the concept of action in the interest of others without a mandate, but also the consequences of unjust enrichment as a result of such events. Article 987 of the specified code separates the considered actions, delimiting them from legal relations arising due to unjust enrichment. The latter are regulated by Chapter 60 of the Civil Code.
This distinction is very clear and real. In the first case, the actor performs actions aimed at creating or maintaining benefits and other interests for the person concerned. These actions are legal in nature, committed consciously. Compensation and compensation for losses in this case occurs when the conditions specified at the beginning of the article are met.
The second situation is fundamentally different from the first. So, the person carrying out the actions does not have any legal justification for his actions. As a rule, such a person preserves or protects property at the expense of another, and in most cases unjust enrichment arises as a result of the fact that a third party makes some mistakes.
Summing up, we can say that a person who has preserved or protected the property of the person concerned, while not wanting this and did not act in his interests, cannot be considered acting in the interests of others. His actions should be evaluated in accordance with the norms of Chapter 60 of the Civil Code. The same applies to cases in which a citizen who acts in his own interest believes that he is acting in his own favor.
Damage and its compensation
Peculiarities of actions in the interests of others without a mandate also lie in the fact that the acting person who lawfully and subject to the above conditions caused damage to the person concerned or to other persons should be relieved of responsibility for such misconduct. However, if the conditions of the actions in question were not met, then the responsibility of the perpetrator comes under the rules of civil law, which stipulate and disclose the obligations following the harm, because actions in the interests of others without an order should be performed with care and discretion.
Report
The order of actions in the interests of others without a mandate provides for another obligation of the actor. So, it is obliged after the completion of such activities to provide the beneficiary with a report in which to indicate what results all this led to. That is, the report must necessarily indicate what positive aspects were created for the interested person, as well as what losses he suffered. A report on the consequences is necessary for the beneficiary to really assess the outcome of actions in his interests.
Moreover, it should be noted that the obligation to provide the named report rests with the citizen acting in someone’s interest, regardless of whether or not the person concerned has approved his actions.
Thus, the considered actions, although they are a somewhat new institution in civil law, largely overlap with its other norms and cannot exist apart from other legal relations. Considering these actions in someone else's interest, you need to extremely broadly evaluate the actions of both the actor and the interested person.