Legal entity

Legal entity

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A legal entity is a personified unit recognised by law^[2] as having rights and obligations, distinct from their individual components. Existing in public or private domains, these entities can be government bodies, organisations, companies or associations. Legal entities have a distinct legal personality, allowing them to contract, own property and intervene in legal proceedings independently of their founders. O law^[3] Brazil classifies legal entities into multiple categories, distinguishing between public and private types. Critically, legal entities are not absolute; the courts can "disregard the legal personality^[1]" when they detect fraud^[4]The concept is based on the concept of a "legal organisation", confusion of assets or abuse of the legal structure. The concept bridges sociological and technical perspectives, seeing these entities as complex social constructs with technical legal mechanisms for representation and action, ultimately serving organisational and societal functional needs.

Terms definitions

1. ↑ legal personality. Legal personhood refers to the capacity to possess rights and duties, inherent in all human beings regardless of individual conscience or will. Historically rooted in Roman law, where slaves were considered objects without legal rights, the concept has evolved to recognise universal human dignity. It encompasses fundamental attributes such as name, status and citizenship, beginning at live birth and ending at death. Legal personality applies to natural and legal persons, allowing individuals and entities to participate in legal relationships as subjects with rights and obligations. Property is seen as an economic extension of this concept. Doctrine distinguishes legal personality as a fundamental attribute that enables rights, rather than being a right in itself, with specific legal frameworks defining its beginning, scope and end in different jurisdictions.

2. ↑ law. The law has evolved through complex historical stages, from ancient Egyptian and Sumerian codes to sophisticated Roman legal systems. Ancient civilisations developed organised legal structures, with significant innovations emerging in Greece and Rome. Roman law, strongly influenced by Greek philosophy, was systematically codified and subsequently rediscovered in the 11th century, forming the basis for continental European legal systems. During the Middle Ages, custom and case law replaced rigid Roman codes, with the English royal courts developing common law precedents. Modern legal systems emerged with influential codifications such as the Napoleonic and German civil codes, demonstrating increasing standardisation. Throughout history, law has been closely connected to the development of civilisation, continually adapting to changing social contexts and reflecting national identities through philosophical, cultural and professional influences.

Legal entity (Wikipedia)

This page or section is written primarily from the perspective of Brazilian and may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss this case in the discussion page.

In legal science, legal entity designates a organisation which can hold rights and obligations and to which is attributed legal personality. No Brazilian lawIts regulation finds much of its legal basis in the Civil Code of that country, among other normative documents. In Portuguese lawThe term is more commonly used legal personas is the case with respective Civil Code or in the denomination of the Portuguese tax Corporate Income Tax (IRC).

The existence of legal entities took a few centuries to establish and materialise. Originally, it was based on Roman law with its clear distinction between the institutes of Public law and those of Private lawas well as in Canon law because of the collective structures that emanated from the Church.

However, recognition was made official in 1917 through the Code of Canon Law within the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, alongside the Church, the corporate and patrimonial units of the time began to be recognised as legal entities.

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