Commentary on Section 17 of the Civil Code : Person as an exclusive holder of rights and obligations
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to comment on Section 17 of the Civil Code and explain that the purpose of existence of a person within the law is to establish a "holder" (or "bearer") of rights and obligations. From this viewpoint, a person could also be considered a set of rights and obligations led by the legislation to a certain point.
From the legal-analytical view, a person means a point of imputation (imputability). In turn, the term "imputability" helps explain the mutual relationship between a person and its legal personality.
Legal personality means the rights and obligations that are led to a certain point; a person then means the point to which the rights and obligations are led. There cannot be one without the other.
However, certain prerequisites must be fulfilled for the legislation to be able to lead the rights and obligations to a certain point. These prerequisites are traditionally denoted as the defining elements of a person, including the possibility of identification, the capacity to enter independently into legal relationships, and the capacity to be liable for breach of legal duties.