Legal facts in the civil law of the Russian Federation and foreign countries

The modern world legal science pays great attention to such a large-scale and, at the same time, well-known institution, as a legal fact. It is unquestionable that its theoretical-methodological and legal basis is extremely broad, and the basis is unlikely to need any detailed supplement. However, a very protracted modernization of the Russian civil law shows that it is necessary to upgrade and to work out qualitatively new approaches to understanding of such an important and comprehensive category, as a legal fact. It is expected that in this area an optimal decision will be to actualize the foreign experience and prospects of its use in respect to the Russian activities. In view of this, the paper is aimed at a study and a comparative analysis of legal facts in the civil law of the Russian Federation and foreign countries, which are focused on supplementing the scientific-research basis of the legal facts institution itself as well as their systematization, structuring and regulation. The methodological framework of the assigned problem research includes a general scientific dialectical method of scientific cognition, special legal methods (structural-functional and legal dogmatic methods), methods of legal simulation, comparative and historical legal studies, and universal methods (analysis and synthesis, description, observation, induction and deduction, comparison, generalization, formal- logical and systemic methods). As a result, the legal facts in the civil law of the Russian Federation and foreign countries of the continental and Anglo-Saxon legal systems are considered. The general and particular signs of the legal facts are sorted out and analyzed on individual examples, their influence upon the legal relations is established, and the further avenues of the research are marked. The conclusions are as follows: the research made it possible to determine a vector of the further research of the legal facts institution, which is important in the context of transforming and modernizing the national civil law. It is formulated in the form of a question to be discussed: “Is there a necessity, which is driven by the challenges of time and the accumulated domestic experience, to enshrine the legal fact definition in law?”. It is supposed that now it is not quite clear if this will make it possible to remove the lawapplication barriers in the short term; if this will make the civil-law relations more flexible, movable and honest. At the same time, the author is sure that this possibility should be considered, especially in relation to unfavorable legal consequences that often accompany the legal relations between the parties to civil transactions.