TFL Vsebine / Revija Pravnik

3

Prispevek je zasnovan kot nekoliko širša analiza odločbe Vrhovnega sodišča ZDA v zadevi Hobby Lobby, s katero je sodišče pravico do svobode veroizpovedi pripoznalo tudi (nekaterim) korporacijam. Izhajajoč iz ključnih poudarkov pravnoteoretične zasnove pravne subjektivitete korporacij oziroma pravnih oseb se hkrati spogleduje s pozitivnopravno ureditvijo, tudi v evropskem pravnem okolju. Poleg izoblikovanih teorij o naravi korporacij oziroma pravnih oseb poudarja zlasti predpostavko njihove samostojnosti ter trend izenačevanje pravne sposobnosti. Z vidika pravne subjektivitete kot skupka pripadajočih pravic se prispevek dotakne tudi pravice do svobode veroizpovedi v obeh pravnih sistemih. Poleg pozitivnopravne ureditve poudarja opredelitev pojma osebe v luči svobode veroizpovedi kot tudi individualni in kolektivni vidik slednje. Ob tem išče odgovore na tesno povezana vprašanja pravne teorije in pozitivnega prava o tem, čigava bi lahko bila pravica do svobode veroizpovedi, če/ko se nanjo sklicujejo korporacije oziroma pravne osebe (gre za pravico slednjih, pravico njihovih lastnikov ali morda celo obeh), ali oziroma kako bi to vplivalo na splošno sprejeto stališče o samostojnosti pravne subjektivitete korporacij oziroma pravnih oseb in navsezadnje kako na razumevanje pravne subjektivitete nasploh.

The article presents a somewhat broader analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case, by which the court also recognised the right to freedom of religion to (some) corporations. Proceeding from the key emphases of the legal-theoretical concept of the legal personality of corporations/ legal persons, it also flirts with positive legal regulation, in the European legal environment as well. In addition to the known theories on the nature of corporations / legal persons, it emphasises in particular the assumption of independence of the latter and the trend of assimilation in the field of legal capacity. From the perspective of legal personality as a set of associated rights, the article also touches upon the right to freedom of religion in both legal systems. In addition to positive legal regulations, it stresses the definition of the concept of the term person in the light of freedom of religion, as well as the individual and the collective aspect of the latter. In doing so, it seeks answers to closely related questions of legal theory and positive law about whose right to freedom of religion could be if/when it is invoked by corporations / legal persons (the right of the latter, the right of their owners or perhaps even both), or how this would affect the generally accepted position on the independence of the legal personality of corporations / legal persons and, last but not least, on the understanding of legal personality in general.

On the Legal Personality of Corporations or Legal Entities in the Light of the Hobby Lobby Case