A sham legal phenomenon: the concept and legal composition

Introduction: in recent decades, there has been an increase in the number of legal phenomena in which nominal properties do not correspond to the real ones. So, even such terms as, for example, the nominal value of an asset and the like began to be included in the laws. The discrepancy between nominal and real properties has long been typical for sham transactions. Therefore, the researchers considered it appropriate to extend the rules on such transactions to the legal phenomena of various branches. So, in tax law, it is proposed to talk about a sham counterparty and apply the legal consequences to the real one. It is also important that in recent years the concept of “sham object” has appeared in the acts of financial and administrative law. The accumulation of relevant circumstances predetermined the purpose of the study - based on the generalization of the construction of a sham transaction to reveal the composition of the concept of “sham legal phenomenon”. Results: the prerequisites for the formulation of the concept of “sham legal phenomenon” are revealed. The expediency of introducing this concept into the legal circulation is characterized. The relevance of extrapolating the construction of a sham transaction to sham legal phenomena is justified. It is shown that the elements of the composition of a sham legal phenomenon are the covering phenomenon claimed bythe participants as real; the covered (real) legal phenomenon; the legal consequences of the covered phenomenon; the participants of the legal phenomenon seeking to achieve the legal consequences characteristic of the covered phenomenon. The rule on the legal meaning of the consequences of the covered legal phenomenon is formulated. The scope of application of the results is the theory of law, the branch legal sciences, scientific legal research, law enforcement, law-making. Conclusions: it is necessary to study the scale, causes and consequences of the prevalence of sham legal phenomena in various branches of law.