Q. What do you understand by the term 'Legal Personality'? What are its theories? [20 marks - 2022]
Legal Entity
There are two kinds of legal entities: Human and non-human person
Human person are known as the natural persons in legal terminology.
Non-human persons are known as Legal Persons or Juristic Person in law.
Legal Person
A legal person or a juristic person is a person created by the law for legal purpose. These are not human beings. The legal persons have legal rights, they are represented in the court of law by their authorised representatives.
Examples of Legal Persons
1. Corporations
2. State
3. Deities
4. Animals
5. Rivers
Theories of Legal Person
Fiction Theory
The Fiction theory identifies only human beings as proper ‘persons'. Certain groups of human beings are regarded as persons, for certain purposes only by a fiction of law and they have no real personality. The prominent jurists Savigny, Salmond and Dicey support this theory. This theory is very popular because it is not based on any metaphysical notion or argument. It is argued on the basis of this theory that as a juristic person has only a fictitious will, it cannot commit crimes.
Concession Theory
The Concession theory states that the creation of juristic personality is absolutely at the discretion of state. This theory has been used in many cases to suppress autonomous institutions.
Realist Theory
Realist theory also called organic theory, says that a group has a real will, real mind, and a real power of action. A corporation has all the characteristics which a natural person has. Therefore, juristic person are real in the same sense in which human beings are. The main exponent of this theory is Gierke.
Bracket Theory
Also known as Symbolist Theory: This theory says that the members of the corporation are the only persons who have rights and duties. The granting of juristic personality means putting a bracket around the members in order to treat them as a unit. This is done for purposes of convenience. In other words, juristic personality is only a symbol which helps in effectuating the interest or the purpose of the group. The theory speaks great truth when it says that the groups are only to effectuate the interest of its members, but it has certain weaknesses also.
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