Legal Capacity of Citizens

🔷 I. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Article 13 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan establishes a fundamental principle of civil law: all individuals possess legal capacity — the ability to have civil rights and bear civil obligations. This is referred to as passive legal capacity.

🔹 II. PARAGRAPH 1 — UNIVERSALITY OF LEGAL CAPACITY

“…is recognized equally for all citizens”

🔸 This means that:

· All citizens, regardless of gender, age, race, nationality, property status, education, and other characteristics, have equal legal capacity;

· This principle also applies to foreign citizens and stateless persons within the limits established by law (see Article 12 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

📌 Related provisions:

· Article 2 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan — the principle of equality of participants in civil legal relations;

· Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan — equality before the law;

· Articles 17–18 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan — regulate legal competence (capacity to act) and its limits, but do not affect legal capacity itself.

📌 Example: A newborn child is a legally capable person, although they cannot independently participate in civil transactions.

🔹 III. PARAGRAPH 2 — EMERGENCE AND TERMINATION OF LEGAL CAPACITY

“…arises at the moment of birth and terminates upon death”

🔸 Commencement of legal capacity:

· Legal capacity arises from the moment a living child is born (regardless of legal competence);

· Legal capacity may be conditionally recognized for a conceived but unborn child (for example, in inheritance matters) — see Articles 1046 and 1051 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

📌 Example: An unborn child may be appointed as an heir; if born alive, the child acquires this right in full.

🔸 Termination of legal capacity:

· Occurs at the moment of death, confirmed by a death certificate;

· All civil rights and obligations terminate unless otherwise provided by law (for example, obligations pass to heirs — Article 1045 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

🔹 IV. LEGAL CAPACITY vs. LEGAL COMPETENCE (CAPACITY TO ACT)

🔹 V. JUDICIAL PRACTICE

🔸 Example: In an inheritance case, the court established that a conceived child has the right to inherit from the deceased father provided the child is born alive, recognizing the child’s conditional legal capacity.

🔸 Example: Challenging a transaction concluded by an elderly person who was later declared legally incompetent does not eliminate that person’s legal capacity — they remain a subject of civil rights.

🔹 VI. INTERNATIONAL LEGAL NORMS

🔷 VII. CONCLUSION

Article 13 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

· establishes the universal and non-discriminatory nature of legal capacity;

· clearly distinguishes between legal capacity (possessed by everyone) and legal competence (which may be restricted);

· constitutes a cornerstone provision upon which the participation of individuals in civil legal relations is based.

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