It is important to understand well what the concept of a contract means, since such legal instruments are very often used in practice. What is a contract? What types of this document exist, what features does it have? We will consider all this in more detail in our article.
General information
Speaking about the concept of the contract and the forms of contracts, it should certainly be noted that this term in the practice of the implementation of civil law can be used in completely different meanings. First of all, by this concept they mean a certain fact that has a legal nature, which underlies a certain obligation. This fact should be combined both with the contractual obligation itself and with the document in which it is fixed.
The concept of a contract is also enshrined in modern civil law. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that such an act is an agreement concluded between two persons (or a large number of them), the content of which provides for the emergence of mutual obligations, a specific set of rights, as well as liability measures in case of failure to fulfill agreed obligations.
If you characterize the concept of the contract in other words, it can be noted that it is a kind of multilateral transaction.
The peculiarity of the contract as a normative act is that its content expresses the will of the parties, which is aimed at achieving a specific goal.
Signs
Considering the concept and signs of the contract, it should be determined that all acts of this type provide for the voluntary conclusion. An agreement concluded under duress is considered invalid if it was possible to prove the act of duress at its signing. In this case, all conditions contained in the document are canceled.
At the conclusion of any contract, all its parties are equal to each other and act as partners. Moreover, each of the parties must agree with all the points presented in the content of the act. Otherwise, it cannot be signed.
As a rule, all contracts that are found in civil practice are onerous in nature, i.e. involves the payment of services, goods or actions prescribed in this document. It should be noted that the legislator establishes the mandatory proportionality of retribution.
If a party to the contract does not fulfill its obligations stipulated in its content, or does not do so fully, then it must be punished, which, as a rule, is stipulated in the body of the contract. The responsibility of the participants is mutual.
One of the main features of any type of agreement is that these agreements are legally supported, i.e. endowed with legal force.
Value
Speaking about the concept and content of contracts, it is necessary to clearly determine the significance of this act in the practice of implementing civil law. Basically, it consists in the fact that an agreement is a basis that gives rise to obligations and rights of a mutual nature. Moreover, this is a reliable and only way to formalize legal relations based on the norms and principles of civil law.
A contract is an agreement on the basis of which there is a mediocre movement of certain rights from one entity to another. This is also the meaning of acts of the type in question.
Functions
The concept of a legal contract partially reflects the main functions of this type of legal act. These include the main areas of impact, which reflect the role of the agreement in streamlining relations in society, governed by civil law.
The main function of the agreement, presented in the form of an agreement, is that it is a form of establishing economic ties between economic entities. Its main function also consists in the fact that this document to a large extent allows its subjects to clearly define their responsibilities and mutual rights.
A contract is an agreement whose main function is to provide legal guarantees. This is expressed in the fact that all its provisions are binding. Otherwise, the offender expects liability.
Items
Any agreement should consist of certain elements, the presence of which is necessary to recognize the act as valid and to give it legal force. Speaking about the concept of the elements of the contract, it should be determined that these are the structural components of the agreement, which reflect not only its essence, but also the legal nature. The list of such elements includes, first of all, the parties to the agreement, its subject, as well as the essential conditions, prices, terms and contents.
As for the essential terms of the contract, these include those factors without which the conclusion of the agreement becomes unrealistic. All conditions present in the agreement must be sufficient and necessary.
Parties
From the concept of a civil contract, it can be ascertained that certain persons who are referred to as parties participate in such an agreement. They can be different (private, state, legal and so on), which depends on the essence of the agreement.
On the concept of the parties to the contract, it is said that such are the participants in civil turnover who have certain duties and rights. It should be noted that, in accordance with the norms established by law, the parties may have different legal status, becoming obligated or competent parties to the agreement. The legislator provides for the possibility of simultaneous performance in both a competent and a mandatory status. Let us consider the features of these statuses in more detail below.
The eligible status gives the subject the right to demand from another participant in the legal relationship the performance of a specific obligation specified in the content of the contract. The obligated party is entrusted with the need to implement specific agreements in an appropriate manner and in full.
Kinds
The concept of contracts is fixed by the content of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In his articles there is also a brief description of their species. It should be noted that in addition to the basic classification of this type of acts, based on the subject of the agreement, there is their division into types depending on some other factors. So, for example, in nature there are basic and preliminary agreements. Of these, the main action is aimed at generating obligations and rights of the parties, and preliminary - at the forthcoming conclusion of the agreement.
Among the types of contracts there are real and consensual. As for the first of them, within its framework it is necessary not only the actual conclusion of the agreement, but also the presence of a situation of transferring its subject from one person to another. If we talk about a consensual agreement, then for the recognition of it as concluded it is sufficient to have the consent of the parties for all the conditions specified in it.
In fact, you can find simple and complex contracts, the difference between which is the number of items for which they were concluded. Also, the classification of normative acts of the type in question is based on the principle of retribution. The agreement may be onerous (provide for counter compensation of losses or payment by the other party) and free of charge (not provide for any material compensation).
Considering the concept, content and types of contracts, you should certainly pay attention to the fact that agreements can be divided into mutual and unilateral. This division is carried out on the basis of duties and rights. If after the conclusion of the document they appear in one person, then such an agreement will be called unilateral, and if they are mutual, then the agreement belongs to the group of mutual. Also, classification can be made depending on the number of participants stipulated by the agreement. Depending on this indicator, a contract can be either multilateral or bilateral.
Next, we consider the main types of contracts that are most often encountered in practice.
Contract of sale
Considering the concept of a contract of sale, it is necessary to determine that it is a special type of obligation, the essence of which is to transfer a certain object from one person to another on a reimbursable basis.
Sales contracts can be concluded both orally and in writing. As for the second case, the document is an agreement drawn up in relation to land, real estate, as well as valuable property for which a certain value is set. A written contract of sale must be certified by a notary.
From the concept of the contract of sale it follows that such an agreement is among the consensual, as well as bilateral and onerous. Its main purpose is to transfer ownership of a specific thing specified in the agreement from one person to another.
Work agreement
Considering the concept of a contract, it is necessary to determine that it is an agreement, according to which one of the parties undertakes to perform certain work in the agreed volumes, and the second - to pay its cost, as well as fully reimburse the cost of consumables.
This type of agreement is one of the oldest in the history of civil law. It was concluded during the time of the Roman Empire. Currently, in practice there are several types of contracts: construction, household, for the execution of survey work, as well as for the execution of the works necessary to satisfy municipal or state needs.
The parties to the agreement of the type in question are the customer and the contractor. If necessary, the legislator allows the hiring of subcontractors, if this is not prohibited by the content of the concluded contract.
The contract must necessarily be urgent, i.e. establish a certain period during which the ordered work must be done. Also among its essential conditions is price.
Lease contract
Often in the practice of the implementation of civil law, one can find cases of concluding lease agreements. The concept of this agreement provides for the provision of certain property for use by a citizen for a specified period. Hence it should be noted that the essential terms of this agreement are the term and price.
From the concept of a lease, we can distinguish that this type of agreement belongs to the group of consensual, onerous and mutual. Parties to such an agreement may be the lessor and the lessee.
The type of contract under consideration has several subspecies: leasing, rental of an enterprise, premises, vehicles (without and with crew), rental.
On the basis of a lease, the tenant does not have the right to rent the leased property to other persons without the consent of the other party.
International treaties, features of the drafting
The concept of an international treaty is also very common in legal practice related to the implementation of civil law. Despite the fact that this type of agreement does not belong to the category of civil law, we will very briefly consider it in the article.
If the concept of a civil law agreement states that this agreement is governed by the norms of domestic law, then in the case of international documents this is not so. Agreements of this type are concluded on the basis of international law and only between its subjects, which are entire states and their associations. This type of agreement has a peculiarity - the relations of these entities. Often they are reflected in the title of the document itself.
Such agreements are concluded only in writing. As for their structure, it is also special and consists of a preamble, as well as the main and final parts. At the very end of the document are signed by all parties to the agreement with their decoding.
Labor contract
The practice of concluding labor contracts is also very common in the territory of the Russian Federation. This type of agreement is also not governed by civil law. Despite this, it requires a more detailed consideration (due to its importance in modern legal practice).
The concept of an employment contract determines that such is an agreement concluded between two parties - the employer and the employee. The contents of this document indicate mutual obligations under which the employee must fulfill the work entrusted to him, and the employer must provide all the conditions necessary for its fulfillment and pay the agreed amount. This type of agreement can be concluded on an unlimited basis, for a specified period, for the period of execution of the agreed work. Also, an employment contract may be presented in the form of a contract, the validity of which is one year or more.
The conclusion of the agreement in question is possible both in written and verbal form.
Features of the preparation of such an act, the principles of its content, as well as the possibility of including other conditions are provided for by labor legislation currently in force in the Russian Federation (Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Conclusion procedure
The legislator establishes a clear procedure for concluding agreements governed by civil law. It is fully registered in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Considering the concept of concluding a contract in more detail, it should be noted that this procedure consists of two stages:
- Making suggestions.
- The conclusion of the agreement and its acceptance by the other party.
As for the proposal to conclude an agreement, in legal practice this action is called an offer. It must fully comply with certain requirements that are prescribed by law. Firstly, its content should reflect all the essential conditions of the upcoming agreement. Secondly, it should be addressed to a specific person or circle of persons. The legislator also provides for the possibility of drawing up a public offer, which provides all the essential conditions in its content, but does not have an appeal to a specific person - it is addressed to everyone. Having made such an offer, the party undertakes to conclude an agreement with all interested persons, regardless of whether they correspond to certain characteristics, if any, in the conditions.
In the process of concluding the contract, discussions and disputes can be conducted, inspections can be carried out (for example, before signing an agreement on the purchase and sale of a land plot, a house or a car, they assess the condition of the property). As part of the preliminary stage, the parties have the opportunity to amend the content of the document, as well as agree on all points of interest. When the general agreement will be established on absolutely all points of the agreement, the contract can be signed by its participants.
As for the assurance of the agreement, this is possible if the parties so wish. The legislator also provides for cases when this operation is mandatory. These include operations related to the alienation of immovable and valuable movable property.