Relations Regulated by Civil Legislation

📘 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Article 1 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan defines:

· the scope of application of civil legislation;· the types of relations subject to its regulation;· the participants in civil legal relations;· the delimitation of civil law from other branches of law.

📑 COMMENTARY BY CLAUSES

🔹 Clause 1. Subject Matter of Civil Legislation

“Civil legislation regulates commodity-money relations and other property relations based on the equality of participants…”

✅ CHARACTERISTICS:

· Civil law regulates property relations based on:o a commodity-money form (sale and purchase, lease, contract for work, etc.);o legal equality of the parties(for example, a lease agreement between a private individual and a state institution);

· It also covers personal non-property relations related to property(for example, the right of authorship).

📎 Participants:

· Individuals (citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, foreigners, stateless persons);· Legal entities (companies, institutions);· The State and administrative-territorial units(for example, the city of Almaty, Akmola Region).

📌 Example:

· A lease agreement between the State Municipal Enterprise“City Polyclinic” and “Medikom” LLPis regulated by civil legislation.

🔹 Clause 2. Personal Non-Property Relations

“Personal non-property relations not related to property…”

✅ KEY POINTS:

· Civil law regulates personal non-property relations such as:o protection of honor and dignity;o inviolability of private life;o the right to a name;o copyright(Articles 143–147 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

· But only if:o there is no special legal regulation(for example, in the Law “On Information”);o it does not contradict the nature of the relationship(for example, parental love is not a civil-law relationship).

🔹 Clause 3. Subsidiary Application of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

“…civil legislation shall apply in cases where such relations are not regulated…”

✅ SIGNIFICANCE:

· Civil legislation may be applied to:o family relations, if a specific issue is not regulated by the Family Code;o labor relations, if regulation is absent in the Labor Code;o environmental and natural resource relations, if environmental legislation does not provide an answer.

📌 Practical example:

When dividing spouses’ jointly owned property (Family Code),the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan(provisions on common ownership) may be appliedif the matter concerns a business held in shared ownership.

🔹 Clause 4. Limitations on the Application of Civil Legislation

“Civil legislation shall not apply to property relations based on authoritative subordination of one party to another…”

✅ PRINCIPLE:

· Civil law does not apply to relations that are:o authoritative in nature (tax, administrative, budgetary);o public-law relations(where the state acts as a bearer of public authority rather than as an equal participant).

📎 EXCEPTIONS:

· If the law expressly provides for the application of civil-law norms(for example, public procurement carried out on a contractual basis).

⚖️ JUDICIAL PRACTICE

📍 Example No. 1: Determination of Jurisdiction

The court of Nur-Sultan refused to consider a taxpayer’s claimto invalidate an act of a tax audit,referring to the fact that tax relations are not regulated by the Civil Codeand fall under administrative judicial proceedings.

📍 Example No. 2: Protection of Business Reputation of a Legal Entity

An LLP filed a claim against a mass media outletfor protection of its business reputation.The court recognized that the dispute concerned personal non-property relationsregulated by civil legislationon the basis of Clause 2 of Article 1 and Article 143 of the Civil Codeof the Republic of Kazakhstan.

📚 RELATED LEGAL PROVISIONS

🌍 INTERNATIONAL CONSISTENCY

· UNIDROIT Principles and Model Civil Codes— emphasize equality of the parties and dispositive autonomy.

· UNCITRAL recommendations— indicate that civil legislation should regulate property relationsin the absence of an authoritative element.

· European Convention on Human Rights(Article 8 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1):respect for private life and property rightsis also ensured through civil legislation.

✅ CONCLUSION

Article 1 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstanis a fundamental provision defining the subject matterand limits of application of civil legislation:

· ⬛ It regulates private-law relations based on equality of the parties.· ⚠️ It does not apply to authoritative (public-law) relations,except in cases expressly provided by law.· 📍 It may be applied subsidiarily in family, labor, and environmental law.

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