PROBLEMATIC ISSUES REGARDING THE DETERMINATION OF THE SUBJECT MATTER OF A CIVIL LAW CONTRACT FOR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES

Abstract

The article analyzes legislative and doctrinal approaches to the definition of the legal category “service” as the subject of a contract for the provision of services and a separate object of civil rights. It is emphasized that the institution of services in national law has not received a clear and unambiguous understanding and interpretation. The absence of a legal definition of the “service” category leads to inconsistencies in the application of legal norms that regulate the procedure for providing certain types of services. There is no single approach to understanding the essence of the “service” category in the doctrine of civil law either. In the Civil Code of Ukraine, the norms that establish general provisions on the provision of services and that can be applied to all contracts on the provision of services are highlighted in Ch. 63. The provisions of this chapter also apply to such types of contracts that are not provided for by legislation at all, but have as their subject the provision of a service, which consists in the performance of a certain action or the performance of a certain activity. The legal definition of the concept of a contract for the provision of services is given in Article 901 of the Civil Code of Ukraine. A contract for the provision of services is a complex obligation consisting of two organically interconnected obligations: first, a legal relationship in which the executor must provide a service, and the customer has the right to demand the fulfillment of this obligation; secondly, a legal relationship in which the customer is obliged to pay for the provided service, and the performer has the right to demand the corresponding payment from the customer. According to Art. 177 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the service is a separate object of civil rights, as well as the subject of a contract for the provision of services. Doctrinal definitions of the concept and existing concepts regarding the understanding of the essence of the “service” category are given. Characteristic features of “service” as a legal category are distinguished. It was established that, according to the criterion of normative certainty, contracts for the provision of services are divided into those provided for by the Central Committee of Ukraine or other normative legal acts, and those that, although not provided for by the current legislation, are common in the contractual practice of participants in civil legal relations (agreements on the provision of hotel, financial, theatrical and entertainment, telecommunications, educational services, catering services, surrogate motherhood services, etc.).