Problematic issues of applying the category of “guilt” to legal entities

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Problematic issues of applying the category of “guilt” to legal entities

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Yu. M. Zhornokui

An analysis of the Ukrainian legislation, as well as doctrinal approaches to understanding the guilt of a legal entity as a participant in civil relations, was carried out. It was concluded that the issue of the possibility of guilt in a legal entity within the limits of civil liability is determined by several factors of both an objective and subjective nature, namely: a) various mechanisms of forming the will of participants in civil legal relations; b) lack of understanding of the manifestation of the legal entity's own guilt as an independent participant in civil relations, or the guilt of members of its bodies, participants or employees; c) the absence of a direct indication in the current Civil Code of Ukraine on the existence of guilt in a legal entity, since the code (Article 96) contains a norm only about its responsibility. Some questions remain unresolved: 1) does the category “guilt of a legal entity” exist at all; 2) if there is a legal entity's guilt, so which of the recognized doctrines should be applied - the doctrine of mental conditioning of the offender's behavior or the doctrine of objectively possible care and prudence in the behavior of a participant in a civil legal relationship. Guilt as a basis for civil liability is taken into account in civil legal relations only between natural persons. There is no separate type of guilt of a legal entity, and any failure by it to fulfill its obligations is caused by the actions of its bodies, participants, and team. This subjective factor is not and cannot be taken into account when imposing civil liability on a legal entity.