THE CONCEPTS OF COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION AS A COLLECTIVE SUBJECT OF LAW

Non-profit organisation is a general concept that includes all types of associations created by individuals and legal entities for the excercise of certain private and public-law functions. Despite the importance of this institution of civil society, the legal regulation of their activities is imperfect. Inaccuracies in the definition and use of key definitions continue to be allowed. The variety of types of community associations makes it difficult to understand their specificity as a collective subject of law. The purpose of the article is to study the concept of community association and to identify specific features of its legal personality as a collective subject of law. It was found that the totality of all types of public (non-profit) organizations is a complex and extensive system of civil society actors, and each of them may require additional study as a collective subject. Internationally accepted definitions of associations as «non-profit», «non-governmental», «voluntary» and other organizations do not reflect their substantive content as subjects of law. The legal definition expressing such essential features of a community association: is a collective subject of law; the purpose and goals are to protect the rights and freedoms of the founders and members of the association, as well as the public interest; the content and forms of activity of a community association is determined by the specific state-legal regulation of the respective branch of law (in the sphere of economy, social sphere, labor activity, etc.); is the subject of private law; participation of authorities in the association is inadmissible, this is one of the guarantees of their activity. The specificity of community associations as a collective entity is revealed in: the nature of the interaction with other subjects of law; the method of legal regulation of formation and activity; the organizational and legal conditions of formation of the association; the mechanisms for interaction with the public sector.