CORPORATE CONTRACTS
IN THE LIGHT OF SUI GENERIS CORPORATE LEGAL
RELATIONSHIP THEORY AND CORPORATE LEGAL
CAPACITY THEORY

​

E.A. CHIRKOVA,
PhD Student of the Department of Civil Law of the Faculty of Law
of the Lomonosov Moscow State University

​

DOI: 10.24031/1992-2043-2019-19-4-171-205

​

The article explores how sui generis corporate legal relationship theory and corporate
legal capacity theory influence views on corporate contracts. The author determines
theoretical background of these theories. The concept of corporate contract according
to which corporate contracts are considered to be sui generis corporate legal facts is
based on sui generis corporate legal relationship theory. Sui generis corporate legal
relationship theory in turn is built upon Gierke’s real entity theory, ontological holism,
anti-singularism and objective idealism. Corporate legal capacity theory underlies
the concepts of corporate contracts as acts of corporate legal capacity execution. The
author analyses whether corporate legal capacity theory is in tune with ideas that
underpin the very concept of legal capacity and views on functions of legal regulation.
Besides that, the article contains the results of the research into legal nature of legal
bonds between a corporation and its members. The author argues that these legal bonds
can be qualified as obligations because corporations and their members have exclusive
opportunities towards each other’s behavior.

Keywords: corporate contracts; shareholders’ agreements; corporate legal relationships;
corporate legal capacity.

​

References

​

Агарков М.М. Обязательство по советскому гражданскому праву [Agarkov M.M.
Obligation Under Soviet Civil Law] (in Russian) / Агарков М.М. Избранные труды
по гражданскому праву. В 2 т. Т. 2: Общее учение об обязательствах и его отдель-
ных видах [Agarkov M.M. Selected Works on Civil Law. In 2 vols. Vol. 2: General
Doctrine of Obligations and its Individual Types]. Moscow: Statut, 2012.
Асосков А.В. Коллизионное регулирование договоров об осуществлении кор-
поративных прав (корпоративных договоров) [Asoskov A.V. Conflict Regulation
of Agreements on the Execution of Corporate Rights (Corporate Agreements)] (in
Russian) // Law. 2014. No. 8.
Белов В.А. Гражданско-правовая форма корпоративных правоотношений
(к проблеме так называемых корпоративных правоотношений) [Belov V.A. Civil
Law Form of Corporate Legal Relations (on the Problem of the So-Called Corporate
Legal Relations)] (in Russian) // Корпоративное право: Актуальные пробле-
мы теории и практики / Под ред. В.А. Белова [Corporate Law: Actual Problems of
Theory and Practice / Ed. by V.A. Belov]. Moscow: Yurayt, 2009.
Белов В.А. Общие проблемы корпоративного права [Belov V.A. General Problems
of Corporate Law] (in Russian) // Корпоративное право: Актуальные про-
блемы теории и практики / Под ред. В.А. Белова [Corporate Law: Actual Problems
of Theory and Practice / Ed. by V.A. Belov]. Moscow: Yurayt, 2009.
Бородкин В.Г. Гражданско-правовое регулирование корпоративного догово-
ра: Дис. … канд. юрид. наук [Borodkin V.G. Civil Regulation of a Corporate Contract:
Thesis for a Candidate Degree in Law Sciences] (in Russian). Moscow, 2015.
Варюшин М.С. Гражданско-правовое регулирование корпоративных дого-
воров: сравнительный анализ: Дис. … канд. юрид. наук [Varyushin M.S. Civil Law
Regulation of Corporate Contracts: A Comparative Analysis: Thesis for a Candidate
Degree in Law Sciences] (in Russian). Moscow, 2015.
Гирке О. Сущность человеческих союзов [Gierke O. The Essence of Human
Unions] (in Russian) // Социология / Сост. В. Зомбарт; пер. И. Маркусон [Sociology
/ Comp. by B. Zombart; trans. by I. Markuson]. St. Petersburg: Mysl, 1924.
Губин Е.П. Предмет предпринимательского права: современный взгляд [Gubin
E.P. The Subject of Business Law: A Modern View] (in Russian) // Business Law.
2014. No. 2.
Ильин В.В. Идеализм [Ilyin V.V. Idealism] (in Russian) // Философский словарь /
Под ред. И.Т. Фролова [Philosophical Dictionary / Ed. by I.T. Frolov]. 7th ed. Moscow:
Respublika, 2001.
Каминка А.И. Очерки торгового права [Kaminka A.I. Essays on Commercial Law]
(in Russian). Moscow: Tsentr YurInfoR, 2002.
Козлова Н.В. Понятие и сущность юридического лица. Очерк истории и тео-
рии: Учебное пособие / Науч. ред. В.С. Ем [Kozlova N.V. The Concept and Essence
of a L egal Entity. Essay on History and Theory: Textbook / Ed. by V.S. Em] (in Russian).
Moscow: Statut, 2003.
Корпоративное право: Учебник / Отв. ред. И.С. Шиткина [Corporate Law: Textbook
/ Ed. by I.S. Shitkina] (in Russian). 2nd ed. Moscow: KNORUS, 2015.
Корпоративное право: Учебник / Отв. ред. И.С. Шиткина [Corporate Law: Textbook
/ Ed. by I.S. Shitkina] (in Russian). Moscow: Statut, 2019.
Косиков Г.К. От структурализма к постструктурализму (проблемы методоло-
гии) [Kosikov G.K. From Structuralism to Poststructuralism (Problems of Methodology)]
(in Russian) / Косиков Г.К. Собрание сочинений. Т. 2: Теория литературы.
Методология гуманитарных наук [Kosikov G.K. Collected Edition. Vol. 2: Theory of
Literature. Humanities Methodology]. Moscow: Tsentr knigi Rudomino, 2012.
Ломакин Д.В. Договоры об осуществлении прав участников хозяйственных
обществ как новелла корпоративного законодательства [Lomakin D.V. Contracts
on the Execution of the Rights of Participants in Business Entities as a Novelty of
Corporate Legislation] (in Russian) // Bulletin of the Supreme Arbitration Court
of the Russian Federation. 2009. No. 8.
Ломакин Д.В. Корпоративные правоотношения: общая теория и практика
ее применения в хозяйственных обществах [Lomakin D.V. Corporate Legal Relations:
General Theory and Practice of its Application in Business Companies] (in
Russian). Moscow: Statut, 2008.
Молотников А.Е. Ответственность в акционерных обществах [Molotnikov A.E.
Responsibility in Joint Stock Companies] (in Russian). Moscow: Wolters Kluwer, 2006.
Новицкий И.Б., Лунц Л.А. Общее учение об обязательстве [Novitsky I.B., Lunts L.A.
General Doctrine of Obligation] (in Russian). Moscow: Yuridicheskaya literatura,
1950.
Покровский И.А. Основные проблемы гражданского права [Pokrovsky I.A. The
Main Problems of Civil Law] (in Russian). 6th ed. Moscow: Justina Law Firm; Statut,
2013.
Предпринимательское право Российской Федерации / Отв. ред. Е.П. Губин,
П.Г. Лахно [Entrepreneurial Law of the Russian Federation / Ed. by E.P. Gubin,
P.G. Lakhno] (in Russian). 2nd ed. Moscow: NORMA; Infra-М, 2012.
Российское гражданское право: Учебник. В 2 т. Т. 2: Обязательственное пра-
во / Отв. ред. Е.А. Суханов [Russian Civil Law: Textbook. In 2 vols. Vol. 2: Law of
Obligations / Ed. by E.A. Sukhanov] (in Russian). Moscow: Statut, 2011.
Степанов Д.И., Фогель В.А., Шрамм Х.-И. Корпоративный договор: подходы рос-
сийского и немецкого права к отдельным вопросам регулирования [Stepanov D.I.,
Vogel V.A., Schramm H.-I. Corporate Agreement: Approaches of Russian and German
Law to Individual Regulatory Issues] (in Russian) // Bulletin of the Supreme
Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. 2012. No. 10.
Степанов П.В. Корпоративные отношения в коммерческих организациях
как составная часть предмета гражданского права: Дис. … канд. юрид. наук [Stepanov
P.V. Corporate Relations in Commercial Organizations as Part of the Subject of Civil
Law: Thesis for a Candidate Degree in Law Sciences] (in Russian). Moscow, 1999.
Суханов Е.А. Сравнительное корпоративное право [Sukhanov E.A. Comparative
Corporate Law] (in Russian). Moscow: Statut, 2014.
Третьяков С.В. О проблеме догматической квалификации «правомочия рас-
поряжения» [Tretyakov S.V. On the Problem of Dogmatic Qualifications of “Disposal
Authority”] (in Russian) // Основные проблемы частного права: Сборник
статей к юбилею А.Л. Маковского [Main Problems of Private Law: Collection of
Articles for the Anniversary of A.L. Makovsky]. Moscow: Statut, 2010.
Федоров С.И. Правовое регулирование корпоративных договоров и модернизация
гражданского права России [Fedorov S.I. Legal Regulation of Corporate Contracts and
Modernization of Civil Law of Russia] (in Russian) // Civil Law Review. 2013. No. 1.
Флейшиц Е.А. Соотношение правоспособности и субъективных прав [Fleyshits
E.A. The Ratio of Legal Capacity and Subjective Rights] (in Russian) // Civil
Law Review. 2009. No. 2.
Шиткина И.С. Соглашения акционеров (договоры об осуществлении прав
участников) как источник регламентации корпоративных отношений [Shitkina
I.S. Shareholder Agreements (Agreements on the Execution of Rights of Participants)
as a Source of Regulation of Corporate Relations] (in Russian) // Economy
and Law. 2011. No. 2.
Barker E. Introduction / Gierke O. Natural Law and the Theory of Society 1500
to 1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1934.
Elder-Vass D. Social Entities and the Basis of Their Power // Rethinking the
Individualism-Holism Debate: Essays in the Philosophy of Social Science / Ed. by
J. Zahle, F. Collin. Cham: Springer, 2014.
Epstein B. What Is Individualism in Social Ontology? Ontological Individualism
vs. Anchor Individualism // Rethinking the Individualism-Holism Debate: Essays in
the Philosophy of Social Science / Ed. by J. Zahle, F. Collin. Cham: Springer, 2014.
Gierke O. Political Theories of the Middle Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1922.
Hodgson G.M. Meanings of Methodological Individualism // Journal of Economic
Methodology. 2007. Vol. 14(2).
Maitland F.W. Introduction / Gierke O. Political Theories of the Middle Age. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1922.
Pettit P. Three Issues in Social Ontology // Rethinking the Individualism-Holism
Debate: Essays in the Philosophy of Social Science / Ed. by J. Zahle, F. Collin.
Cham: Springer, 2014.
Risjord M. Structure, Agency and Improvisation // Rethinking the Individualism-
Holism Debate: Essays in the Philosophy of Social Science / Ed. by J. Zahle,
F. Collin. Cham: Springer, 2014.
Szigeti A. Collective Responsibility and Group-Control // Rethinking the Individualism-
Holism Debate: Essays in the Philosophy of Social Science / Ed. by J. Zahle,
F. Collin. Cham: Springer, 2014.
Zahle J., Collin F. Introduction // Rethinking the Individualism-Holism Debate:
Essays in the Philosophy of Social Science / Ed. by J. Zahle, F. Collin. Cham: Springer,
2014.

Information about the author

​

Chirkova E.A. (Moscow, Russia) – PhD Student of the Department of Civil
Law of the Faculty of Law of the Lomonosov Moscow State University (1 Leninskie
Gory, Bldg. 13 (4th education building), GSP-1, Moscow, 119991, Russia; e-mail:
ea4irkova@gmail.com).