PVL1501 The Concept of a Legal Subject.

1) The Concept of a Legal Subject 1.1 Definition of the law of persons  Law of Persons (LoP) is that part of private law which determines which entities are legal subjects, when legal personality begins and ends, what legal status involves, and what effect various factors (such as being born of unmarried parents, minority, and mental incapacity) have on a person’s legal status. 1.2 Law and Rights Objective view The law can be viewed as a system of norms of conduct or rules, posited by competent bodies to regulate relations between members of the community in a peaceful and just manner  Taking this into consideration, we are concerned with the law in the objective sense o Examples of such norms of law are: o That one should fulfil ones contract (pacta sunt servandai) o That one person should not cause damage to another o That a person should have a drivers licence before driving on the roads o Etc… Subjective View The law can also be viewed as a network of legal relationships between legal subjects, rather than norms of conduct or rules (as above)  For example: o If a person owns a vehicle, they have a right to that vehicle which all other legal subjects must respect o If a person concludes a contract with somebody else, they have the right to fulfilment of contractual obligations, which the other party to the contract must meet Therefore, when it comes to Rights, we are concerned with a dual relationship 1. The legal relationship between the bearer of the right and other legal subjects a. This is the subject-subject relationship b. The content of this relationship is a right and a corresponding obligation c. The bearer of the right is entitled to the right, while other legal subjects are obliged to respect it 2. The legal relationship between the bearer of the right and the object of the right a. This is the subject-object relationship b. You can only speak of the right if the right relates to the object c. Eg. The right to your car, which operates against all other legal subjects 1.3 Legal Subject and Legal Object Legal norms make a distinction between legal subjects and legal objects  Legal subject o Refers to an entity that the law recognises as being able to bear rights duties and capacities o Eg. People.  Legal object o Refers to any object that has an economic value, and is not something that the law has given the capacity to have rights or duties. o In other words, a legal object is anything that a legal subject may have rights, duties and capacities over, but cannot have rights, duties and capacities itself. o Eg. House, animals, furniture, cars etc Distinctions between legal subjects and legal objects This distinction was based on the understanding that people created the law to regulate their relationships with other people and things. From this understanding it follows that people are, in the first instance, subjects of legal rules and legal relationships, and that the things over which they have legal control are legal objects. 1) Legal Subjects During the development of Roman Law there was obviously no knowledge of the modern day concept of juristic persons, and so only natural persons were regarded as legal subjects. It was not until the development of Roman-Dutch Law that juristic persons were recognised, and this recognition has been incorporated into our legal system today. Natural persons  In our law this refers to all humans o Regardless of age, mental capacity, intellectual ability, race, gender etc o And are regarded as legal subjects  This means that every human is able to bear rights, duties and capacities o Although the content and scope of these vary depending on factors such as age and mental capacity Juristic persons  The demand of legal order necessitates that legal personality extent to certain associations of natural persons o This means that the association is a legal subject in its own right, and gains its own legal identity o And exists independently from the members or natural persons who created it o This new legal entity is known as a juristic person  While the juristic person exists independently from the natural persons that comprise it, it must always act through its functionaries o Eg – in a company, the directors or officers (natural persons) act on behalf of the juristic person