Legal capacity and capacity - what is it?

The concepts that we will look at are pretty similar in spelling and sound. However, revealing them, we will immediately see the key differences and unique features. It is about legal capacity and legal capacity. Let's delve into the essence of the terms, determining for themselves the most significant differences.

Legal capacity - what is it?

Civil legal capacity is the ability to both have certain rights and bear specific responsibilities. Note that it occurs at the time of the birth of every citizen and ceases at the time of his death (according to the Civil Code, part 1, article 17).

We will continue to understand such concepts as “legal capacity” and “legal capacity”. Any citizen has the opportunity to abandon his own subjective right. But here it is impossible to renounce their legal capacity.

The term itself only means a prerequisite for the emergence of already specific rights and obligations. The presence of legal capacity as such only means that a person may have such and such rights and obligations.

For example, a citizen can draw up (legal) ownership of an apartment. But not the fact that he necessarily has such a property. He will gain such a right only after concluding a contract of sale, registering other documents, depositing a certain amount of money.

And what do we see in the end? Before buying an apartment, a person had only civil legal capacity - the ability to have a property right. After the acquisition of real estate, the situation has changed. A citizen became the owner of subjective rights - ownership of an apartment.

The legal capacity of citizens

What is legal capacity and legal capacity? Note an important thing. All citizens have the same legal capacity. That is, any two randomly selected people will have the same set of rights and obligations.

This issue is explained in detail by the Russian Civil Code - Art. 18, part 1. In the continuation of the conversation about civil legal capacity and legal capacity, we list the most important rights that each of us has:

• The right to engage in entrepreneurship and other activities that is not prohibited by law.
• The right to register a legal entity.
• The right to choose a place of residence.
• Ownership of the property.
• The right to inherit, bequeath and receive property in this way.
• The right to enter into a variety of transactions not prohibited by law.
• Copyright on the intellectual property of a personal work or under a contract of assignment of such a right.
• Have other personal property, non-property rights.

Legal capacity - what is it?

Legal capacity is considered to be a citizen’s ability to act, to acquire and exercise rights, and to create and fulfill duties. It is she who makes the person a full-fledged participant in a large number of civil law relations. More details about legal capacity and legal capacity in this regard are described in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. To be more precise, this is Art. 21 hours 1.

Important! The ability to commit acts that give rise or terminate specific rights and obligations depends on the age, health of the subject, and other determining factors. And here the main difference between civil legal capacity and legal capacity. If the first is equally possessed by all persons, then the second may be far from the same.

In terms of capacity, legal entities are divided into four categories:

• full;
• incomplete;
• partial;
• incapacity.

Now is the time to familiarize yourself with each of the presented groups in more detail.

The concept of full legal capacity

We begin to concretize legal personality, legal capacity, legal capacity. We turn again to the Civil Code - to Part 1, Art. 21. The Act calls fully capable of all citizens of the Russian Federation who have reached 18 years of age.

What does it mean? These citizens have unlimited opportunities both to acquire any of the existing civil rights, and to take upon themselves any of the duties prescribed by law.

Exceptions also exist.

And now let’s pay attention to exceptions in the environment of legal capacity and legal capacity of legal entities. Full legal capacity can be gained before the age of 18. There are only a few ways to achieve this:

• Emancipation. The process, as a result of which a minor under 16 years of age, the guardianship and trusteeship bodies are recognized as fully competent. The procedure is started with the consent of both parents, guardian, adoptive parent or other legal representative of the subject of law. The basis for emancipation is work under an employment contract, employment of a teenager in entrepreneurial activity.
• Marriage Russian laws allow a person to acquire full legal capacity to marry before he reaches the age of 18, from the very moment of his conclusion. Recall that becoming a husband or wife in the Russian Federation is possible from the age of 16. A decrease in this age limit is permissible only in those subjects of the federation where early marriages are permitted by law.

And an important feature in harmony with how legal capacity and legal capacity arise. If the marriage is divorced before the age of 18, a divorced citizen or citizen will still be fully functional. But if the marriage ties are declared invalid by the court (the same fictitious marriage), then a decision can be made on the loss of a failed spouse or spouse of full legal capacity before the age of 18.

The concept of partial legal capacity

What does it mean? We analyze the concept of legal capacity and legal capacity. Who is called partially competent? These are all minor citizens - persons under the age of 18.

So this is the following. A minor citizen, through his actions, may acquire a partial, but not a full range of rights and obligations. And as for what is not included in it? These rights can be acquired by minors in two ways:

1. With the consent of the parent, guardian, adoptive parent, etc.
2. By making a transaction on their behalf by legal representatives - parents, adoptive parents, guardians.

The choice of one of the paths depends on the age of the face. Consider them in detail in the continuation of the topic of legal capacity and legal capacity.

Partial legal capacity of minors

Juvenile citizens consider children 6-14 years old. For them, their parents or legal representatives are authorized to implement the transaction. However, minors are entitled on their own behalf to:

• A variety of household small deals.
• Actions that are aimed at making profit free of charge (accepting a gift), which does not require state registration or notarization.
• Transactions on the disposal of material resources that were provided to them by parents or legal representatives, both for free spending and for achieving a specific goal.
  

Partial teenage legal capacity

And again, back to the topic of family capacity and legal capacity. It is worth clarifying the points regarding adolescents. The partial legal capacity of persons aged 14-18 allows young citizens to make transactions on their own behalf. But only with the consent of the legal representatives, parents. It is also regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - Art. 26, part 1.

If a deal made with a citizen of 14-18 years old contradicts this condition, then by law it can be canceled (Article 175, part 1 of the Civil Code).

Imagine also a series of actions that adolescents 14-18 years old can perform completely independently:

• Small household issues.
• Disposal of his scholarship, earnings, other profits.
• Gaining the right of the author of a particular work of art, cultural object, idea, invention, etc.
• Both making a monetary contribution to a credit institution, and disposing of these funds.
  

The concept of limited legal capacity

Describing the legal capacity and legal capacity of individuals, we note that the restriction of neither one nor the other legislation is allowed. However, there are a number of exceptions.

We turn to Art. 30 h. 1 of the Civil Code. The act allows only through a court decision to limit the legal capacity of persons:

• Abusing alcohol.
• Dependent on narcotic, psychotropic and similar drugs.

If a person is thus restricted in his legal capacity, then guardianship should be established over him. Such a citizen can manage his income (for example, pension, salary), make transactions on the disposal of property only with the consent of his trustee. Otherwise, the act of a person with limited legal capacity will be invalidated.

And a key feature - all of the above does not exempt a citizen with limited legal capacity from property liability in the transaction, for causing one form or another of harm.

Incapacity

And in conclusion, the topic of the legal capacity and legal capacity of individuals, we consider this concept. Its essence reveals art. 29 part 1 of the Russian Civil Code. Disabled persons are citizens who cannot manage their actions and are responsible for the consequences of their own actions in view of a mental disorder.

Recognize someone legally incompetent can only court. An assessment of mental health in this case provides a forensic medical examination. Guardianship must be established over an incapacitated person, since such a citizen, through his actions, cannot acquire rights and fulfill certain duties.

All transactions on his behalf are made by the designated guardian. Accordingly, for the damage caused by a legally incapable person, his guardian is responsible - a certain citizen or specialized organization.

The main differences between the concepts

Thus, the subjects of legal capacity and legal capacity are individuals. After we have analyzed these significant concepts, it will be useful to present them in comparison in order to consolidate the key differences.

Now consider the concepts in the framework of a broader term.

Key concepts - components of legal personality

So, legal personality is the ability of a citizen to act as the subject of a whole series of legal relations. That is, to have their rights and perform duties directly or through representatives.

Legal personality consists of four components:

• Legal capacity.
• Sanity. The ability of a person to bear criminal responsibility, determined by his mental state.
• Legal capacity.
• Delictability. Both the opportunity and the ability of a person to bear responsibility for offenses committed in the field of civil relations.
  

Administrative capacity

In the media, educational reference books, scientific publications, you can come across such a separate category. What does she mean? The meaning of the term is given somewhat vague, because the law does not define clear conditions for its (legal capacity) offensive.

Administrative capacity - the ability to have duties and exercise rights that provide for administrative and legal requirements, as well as bear certain responsibilities according to them.

The difficulty lies in another. The administrative and legal sphere is full of elements for which completely different criteria are established. Compare:

• Realization of the right to medical care. It is carried out regardless of the age of the citizen.
• Realization of the right to education. Even at 80, no one can limit you to it.
• The implementation of suffrage. And here is the age framework - only upon reaching adulthood (18 years).
• Realization of the right to be elected. There are also age limits. A citizen can run for deputies only after reaching the age of 21.
• The only age of responsibility for all citizens is 16 years (according to the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses).

That is, administrative capacity depends on the specific conditions, certain relationships in which its carriers found themselves.

Now you are aware of the important features and the key difference between the two concepts - legal capacity and legal capacity. Together, they are components of a broader concept - legal personality.