An agreement on joint activities and cooperation is the unification of the joint efforts of two or more persons to achieve a common goal. The activities of such associations are regulated by various regulatory acts, since such formations can operate in any area of legal relations.
Commercial Partnership
Agreement on joint activities and cooperation The Civil Code is interpreted as a friendly agreement. In most cases, common efforts are aimed at obtaining financial benefits and optimizing taxation.
The main advantage of the agreement is that the partnership does not imply the creation of a new legal entity.
Any legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and non-profit institutions can be organized in such partnerships, provided that such a right is enshrined in the charter documents. It is forbidden to join such associations to municipal and state educational organizations.
Parties to the agreement may be any number, no restrictions. You can combine not only efforts, but also property.
Collaboration Agreement: Sample
As a basis for creating a partnership, there may be a desire to provide services or provide financial or technical assistance to someone, to develop documentation together. The contract may be urgent, concluded for a specified period or unlimited, or concluded for a period until the goal specified in the agreement is achieved. The legislation establishes a number of requirements for the content of the agreement. Let us consider in detail some points.
Obligations undertaken by participants
This paragraph should indicate the amount of financial and material contributions made by each of the parties. In addition, it is advisable to establish:
- What work will be carried out to achieve the goal.
- How will the roles of the parties be distributed.
- What technical base will be used in the work.
- Methods of accounting and legal justification of the activities provided for by the agreement.
- If losses occur, how will they be repaid.
Confidentiality
It is important to immediately stipulate whether the contract contains confidential information and how it can be used. This type of transaction involves close attention to the use of information. The parties will cooperate closely, so some confidential information will become known, therefore it is better to immediately write down the conditions for its use.
Profit and loss sharing
So that in the future neither party will have any unnecessary questions, it should immediately be written how the benefits will be shared by agreement on joint activities and cooperation. Profits can be distributed in accordance with the contribution of each participant. Income can be calculated as a percentage or in shares. You can also distribute losses.
Rights of the parties
If the agreement does not clearly state the rights of the parties, then by default they have the right to:
- use of common property that is entered into the partnership in accordance with the contract;
- receive from the other side all the necessary documents that are required to achieve a common goal;
- enter into legal relations with third parties if a power of attorney has been issued for this or this is expressly stated in the text of the contract.
Budget liabilities
Any profit should be taxed, so this point should be clearly stated in the agreement. Profit tax may be paid by each of the parties separately after receiving the share due. The parties may also agree that the tax will be paid at a time when the profit has not yet been distributed between them.
Partnership of individuals
There is no direct prohibition on an agreement on joint activities and cooperation between citizens. Despite the requirements of Article 1041 of the Civil Code, which defines the parties to a simple partnership and in which there are no individuals, other articles of the Code allow individuals to carry out entrepreneurial activities. Any cooperation implies the achievement of a common goal, so we can conclude that there are still no prohibitions.
Naturally, such a point of view cannot be called impeccable, but the creation of a partnership by concluding a model agreement on cooperation and joint activities between individuals cannot be called illegal.
“Deal with justice”
Relatively recently, the term "pre-trial agreement on cooperation" appeared in the criminal process. It means that the parties to the defense and the prosecution conclude a certain “transaction” providing for liability conditions for the suspect or accused. An agreement may be concluded at any stage of the criminal process. This can happen at the time of opening the case. However, the execution of the document is allowed until a decision is made to end the preliminary investigation.
The essence of the pre-trial cooperation agreement is as follows:
A person who is suspected or accused of committing a specific crime goes to cooperate with the investigation. For example, the alleged thief tells where the stolen things are, or when and where they were sold, that is, he helps in every way in solving the crime;
The investigator or interrogator gives a guarantee that such cooperation will reduce the possible sentence by half.
At the stage of consideration of the case in court, the judge also cannot violate such agreements, he can only mitigate the punishment, up to the conditional sentence. When concluding a pre-trial agreement on cooperation, extreme measures, life imprisonment or capital punishment cannot be applied to the accused.
However, there are restrictions in such an agreement, the accused cannot report only his own participation in the crime, in other words, he must expose the “leaders” and the organizers.
At the conclusion of the transaction, the investigating authorities pursue certain goals, their desire to uncover previously undetected crimes, or to obtain information that can help disclose the criminal intentions of certain individuals. The purpose of the suspect or accused is understandable, and so is to obtain the shortest possible period of imprisonment.
There is still a lot of controversy surrounding the conclusion of a pre-trial agreement on cooperation. Firstly, the Code of Criminal Procedure states that, despite the conclusion of a “deal” with justice, the accused is not required to plead guilty. And if the person under investigation told all the "secrets", and the prosecutor or investigator does not want to conclude an agreement? What to do in this situation to the accused, because in fact his rights to defense are violated. Secondly, it is possible to appeal against the actions of an official only in a departmental manner, that is, by filing a complaint with the head of the official conducting the investigation. However, another chapter of the Code of Criminal Procedure states that the court is obliged to consider any complaints from suspects, accused and their defenders, about offenses and inaction that were allowed by officials in the course of the criminal investigation. Thirdly, the issue of ensuring security to a person who entered into a pre-trial agreement on cooperation after he was given a suspended sentence. Can such a person be detained? After all, this is a great risk and threat to the life and health of the accused. The issue of cooperation with the investigation of persons who have not reached the age of majority has not been settled. Despite the difficulties, it is still noticeable that at the state level they are taking steps towards the eradication of crime and the interests of persons in custody are taken into account.
Intergovernmental partnership
Perhaps not only cooperation between businesses and an agreement on cooperation in criminal proceedings. Such relationships arise at the international level.
States can join forces to achieve specific goals by creating specific organizations:
- for economic development, for example, the European Union;
- political formation - OSCE;
- military association - NATO;
- collaboration in the field of medicine - WHO.
Governments of states are also entitled to sign agreements on cooperation, not only on specific issues, but also on general issues, for example, at the UN and the OSCE. Such organizations can consider any issues related to international life.
Relations within the state
Self-government bodies have the right to conclude agreements, cooperation agreements. On the part of the city executive committee or village council, a certain department may act. For example, this Department of Physical Culture and Sports of a particular region may conclude a cooperation agreement with the council of rectors of higher educational institutions. The direction of the partnership may be the implementation of state educational standards, the improvement of youth and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. Cooperation can be manifested in the form of joint events and the development of programs for the implementation and implementation in the student environment of a desire for a healthy lifestyle.