Protection of the business reputation of a legal entity category c Russian law not so new, but there are still many questions about it. The situation is simplified by the fact that cases are considered in part by arbitration courts. Their approach is usually considered to be more reasonable, and general courts are forced to align themselves with arbitration courts.

The legislative framework

A whole list of articles in the Constitution mentions the right of citizens and organizations to personal dignity and reputation (Articles 21, 23, 34, 45 and 46). The Basic Law obliges the use of the right to freedom of speech, acting reasonably and with discretion, and submits such disputes to the jurisdiction of the court.

The Civil Code reveals the provisions of the Constitution on the business reputation and dignity of the individual and describes the means of protection and the mechanism for their application.

How to proceed is mentioned in the section on intangible benefits and in part in the section on redress.

As clarifications, one can refer to a number of resolutions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the infliction of moral harm, the actual protection of the business reputation of organizations, the application of the norms of the Constitution, etc.

Disputes about the violation of non-material benefits are mentioned in other resolutions of the Plenum, in particular on the application of the provisions of international treaties and the Basic Law of the country.

Periodically, the courts of the regional level conduct a generalization of practice, its results are regularly published. Similar reviews were issued by the RF Armed Forces in 2007 and 2016.

Reference should be made to international treaties and acts affecting the right to protect business reputation.

A special position is occupied by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, which is the basis for the activities of the ECtHR. Russian courts, in particular the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the acts of this court, adopted against the Russian Federation and other countries party to the Convention, are actively applied.

It is difficult to find a topic so extensively discussed by representatives of the judiciary as the protection of the honor and business reputation of a legal entity.

Changes in legislation in 2013

The accumulated judicial practice has made it possible to amend the Civil Code, expanding the possibilities for protecting the honor and business reputation of a legal entity. What are they?

• the court has the right to establish the fact of violation of non-property rights and publish its decision;
• if the refutation is not enough, the court has the right to oblige other persons to delete the relevant information;
• use as a measure of protection the seizure of material media with discrediting information, and its destruction without compensation to the owner of the media;
• prohibit the dissemination of any information that does not correspond to reality, and is not of an exclusively vicious nature.

Changes in the legislation have led to the fact that the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity is based on Article 150 of the Civil Code. It lists the methods and means of protecting business reputation.

Some features of the protection of legal entities

The practice of applying legislation in this area shows that, on the one hand, the business reputation of individuals and legal entities has the same status. But we must not forget about some of the nuances.

The reputation of an organization may be transferred to a successor as a result of a merger, division or reorganization. If the owner of the enterprise changes as a result of the transaction, goodwill passes along with all rights.

But this applies only to commercial organizations. Simply put, buyers evaluate a product by remembering the brand or other designation that allows them to identify it with a particular manufacturer. So the case for the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity can be initiated either by the successor or the new owner of the organization.

In general, the legislator maintains the unity of legislation regulating the status of citizens and organizations, excluding the occurrence of unnecessary conflicts.

Reputation as an intangible good

The Civil Code mentions the dignity and business reputation of a person several times. The first time - in the part equating the owners of this benefit: people and organizations, the second - in the provisions on a simple partnership, the third - in the clauses on the commercial concession agreement.

As a punishment for administrative violations, it is forbidden to choose measures that would somehow affect how buyers and partners evaluate the goods and services of the punished organization.

One of the signs of unfair competition is the dissemination of discrediting, distorting reality or other information that adversely affects the evaluation of goods or services of a competing company by third parties.

It is not for nothing that the legislation calls some of the benefits intangible, they do not have an exact monetary value, and it always remains approximate. Both the legislator and judicial practice in fact, it is recognized that a violation, in particular, of goodwill cannot be fully compensated. Thanks to this, the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity remains open. So how is reputation measured?

Assessment of infringement of rights in material terms

What are they guided by in terms of settlements when initiating cases to protect the business reputation of a legal entity?

It is part of intangible assets in accordance with the Accounting Rules as amended on December 27, 2007, order 153n. The assessment is made on the basis of the premium that the buyer is willing to pay when purchasing goods from a particular manufacturer.

The assessment also includes lost profits, those contracts that could have been concluded. The information in connection with which it is submitted must have direct influence on the plaintiff's business. A mere statement that the defendant's actions caused damages is not sufficient.

Material circumstances

Judicial practice for the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity obliges the court to clarify the following points:

• whether there was a fact of dissemination of information;
• whether these facts took place in reality;
• whether the information was damaging.

Information is considered widely disseminated if it is published through the press, the Internet, by means of messages officials authorities orally or in writing. This also includes statements in public, in front of a mass of people. It is enough to disclose information even to one person.

Under the second point, it is clarified whether the event took place, whether the plaintiff had anything to do with it, and whether it took place at the time indicated in the disputed information.

Information is considered discrediting if it alleges a violation of applicable law, in particular competition rules, business ethics, business practices and other actions that are negative and may affect reputation.

It should be noted that the dissemination of information that is not true, but not recognized as defamatory, can also be the subject of legal proceedings under the 2013 amendments. Otherwise, by confusing similar concepts due to misunderstanding, the plaintiff runs the risk of losing the case, which is justified.

What does not fall under the defamatory and inaccurate information

Judicial practice for the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity excludes the following statements or information from falling under the definition of discrediting information.

From the point of view of the law, statements made by a specific person may be in the nature of a value judgment and represent an exclusively personal opinion of a person about an event. They cannot be verified for their existence in reality.

If the information makes a statement about facts or events that have taken place, it cannot be perceived as a value judgment.

So far, the courts have not been able to fully distinguish between a statement of fact and a judgment. Especially in cases where the participants are engaged in political activities.

Thus, having addressed negative statements, including using profanity, the plaintiff runs the risk of having the court accept this information as a judgment. However, the fate of the claim depends on the level of literacy of the position developed by the lawyer representing the defendant and the explanations that the defendant will give.

border with slander

Proceedings to protect the business reputation of individuals and legal entities often involve defamation, which is an act falling under the provisions of the articles of the Criminal Code.

What is the difference between them? Slander is a deliberate lie, and the person who is the distributor understood that it actually did not correspond to reality.

In practice, it is almost never possible to prove libel, i.e., a deliberate, deliberate lie, which is why a lot of cases of this kind are considered within the framework of civil and arbitration proceedings.

Moral injury

Since the 1990s, the question has been raised of how the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity and moral damage are combined. Courts long time could not fully formulate their opinion on this matter.

In 2013 in Art. 152 of the Civil Code amended. In particular, in the last paragraph of the indicated article, a reservation is made that measures aimed at protecting honor and dignity also apply to organizations. An exception is established in relation to the recovery of moral damages.

Why is that? Moral harm is the suffering and feelings of a person in connection with misconduct defendant. In addition, the law gives the organization the right to recover damages, which the average citizen cannot count on.

By this, those who wish to protect the business reputation of a legal entity from defamation (spread of lies) are not infringed, but equalized with citizens in terms of protection. How correct the position is is another question, especially since the ECHR has repeatedly referred to compensation for non-material damage to the organization.

Claim structure

The claim is drawn up in accordance with the requirements of procedural legislation. There is some difference between applications to arbitration and general court. The sample business reputation claim is usually designed to accommodate this difference.

The document is compiled according to the following scheme:

• the name of the court;
• information about the plaintiff (full name of the organization and location according to the constituent documents and entries in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, as well as full name and actual address of residence);
• similar information about the defendant (the author of the material, or its distributor, or both);
• similar information about a third party (one whose rights are still affected by the lawsuit, for example, an employee who disseminated information using his official position);
• the circumstances that forced the claim to be filed with the court (all three components described above);
• norms on legislation, references to clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and Resolutions of the Plenums;
• arguments and references to evidence supporting the position of the plaintiff;
• requirements (what exactly the plaintiff asks the court to do to protect his rights);
• a list of attached documents or evidence of their sending to the defendant along with a copy of the claim, if the materials have been submitted to the arbitration court;
• signature and date of filing.

The statute of limitations for applying to the court is 12 months from the date of publication of the materials.

If a representative is acting by proxy, a copy of it is attached. A copy of the document confirming the authority of the official who signed the claim or the power of attorney for representation is also attached.

The practice of applying to the courts shows that sometimes there are not enough samples to prepare a claim for the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity. It is advisable to involve a specialist with experience in this field.

In which court is the claim filed?

Claims for the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity are considered by courts of both general jurisdiction and arbitration. How is the jurisdiction of the courts determined?

If the information disputed by the entrepreneur or commercial organization does not relate to entrepreneurial activity, the case is heard by the district court in the first instance.

This is the case, for example, with lawyers, whose activities are not considered business under the law. This also includes organizations or legal entities that are not engaged in entrepreneurship.

Commercial activity or entrepreneurship is the provision of services or the sale of goods for the purpose of distributing profits among the participants or founders of the organization. If such activity takes place, but its result is aimed at ensuring activities, for example, paying for utilities, rent, the organization cannot be assigned the status of a merchant.

Claims about the reputation of authorities or institutions performing public functions, in particular the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the MFC, etc., are not accepted by the courts. The motivation lies in the fact that such persons perform administrative and managerial functions.

If the dispute does not affect the economic activity of the plaintiff, but rather is settled labor law, he must deal with the general court.

If information is disseminated about the quality of goods and services, violations of the rules of business ethics (everything that was mentioned above about unfair competition), then the application for the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity falls within the competence of arbitration justice.

Applicable evidence

Video materials, newspaper issues may not be stored in the archives, and the plaintiff has the right to present any evidence supporting the claim. For example, testimonies of witnesses who watched the program, copies of programs or materials posted on the Internet. This includes the program guide or other channel announcements about the release time of the relevant material.

In this case, in a case on the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity, the court will accept as evidence a certificate from an organization that monitors the activities of the media. It will serve as confirmation of the fact of the release of the program and its content.

In addition, the plaintiffs use the services of notaries, fixing the fact that information is located on the page on the Internet in preparation for the trial, so that the owner does not have time to delete the information.

In the arbitration process, the circumstances confirmed in the course of the exercise by the notary of his powers do not need additional confirmation. There is no similar provision in the CPC.

How is proof built?

The general rule is that each party must prove the circumstances to which it refers. The described category of cases provides for some exceptions, in particular, the defendant is obliged to prove the validity of the information disseminated by him.

As mentioned above, the assessment of the circumstances of the case is given on three points:

• the fact of distribution;
• information is not true;
• information is damaging.

In its review, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation refers to the need for an examination. It is assigned to identify the significance of the effect of the dissemination of actions by the defendant, to identify plagiarism on the part of the plaintiff and whether the statements are discrediting.

If no assessment is given on the above points or an examination is not carried out, the risk of overturning decisions is significantly increased.

Difficulties of proof

First, it is difficult to prove a connection between the damage and the actions of the defendant. Economic activity is inherently risk-based, and it is difficult to tie stock drops or contract terminations or customer refusals to purchase goods or services to defamatory propaganda.

It should be noted that the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity from a citizen is built according to the same rules and does not have any specifics.

In conclusion - about the claims

Protecting the business reputation of a legal entity provides a wide range of ways to influence the defendant. The law provides for the following options:

• the imposition of an obligation by the court to disseminate the refutation in the same way that the original information was disseminated;
• refutation of information through the media should be done in the press that disseminated the information;
• the document issued by the organization is subject to cancellation or a new document with rebuttals is issued instead;
• oblige the perpetrators to remove the information and (or) oblige the suppression of its further dissemination, as well as oblige the authorities to seize material carriers such information and destroy them without compensation to the owner;
• if the information is disseminated on the Internet, the plaintiff has the right to demand that the information be deleted and the refutation disseminated in a manner that would facilitate its dissemination;
• it is allowed to ask the court to establish the fact that the information does not correspond to reality.

The plaintiff must choose one or more methods that best suit his circumstances and most adequately protect the business reputation of the legal entity.

In the current Civil Code there are three references to the right of legal entities to the protection of business reputation. The first is found in Art. 152, the second refers to the commercial concession agreement (Article 1027), the third is indicated in Art. 1042 and refers to a simple partnership. Next, let's look at how protection of honor and business reputation of legal entities.

General information

Based on the norms indicated above, it is possible to determine the key signs of goodwill.

First of all, it is. Secondly, reputation is endowed with the sign of transferability. Thirdly, the protection of the business reputation of individuals and legal entities is carried out in identical ways.

In addition, she is endowed with a sign of alienation. However, it manifests itself only in the entrepreneurial sphere. Alienation of reputation occurs when a transaction is made with an enterprise acting as a property complex. The possibility of reputation transfer is determined by the fact that a commercial designation is included in the organization. Also, the alienation of reputation occurs along with the transfer of a trademark.

It is also of particular importance. Its value is the amount of the premium paid by the acquirer in anticipation of future economic profits in connection with the purchased non-identifiable assets.

The Importance of Reputation

Business reputation is one of the essential conditions for the successful operation of a legal entity. Its special significance is enshrined at the legislative level. in different regulations rules are set to ensure protection of the business reputation of a legal entity. Article 3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, for example, contains a prescription that the purpose of an administrative sanction cannot be to damage reputation. In Art. 14 Federal Law No. 135 prohibits unfair competition. In particular, the dissemination of false, distorted information about business reputation capable of harming the company.

Jurisdiction

Goodwill claims arising from legal relations in the field of business or other economic activity, is considered by the arbitral tribunal. In this case, the subject composition of the dispute does not matter. If the need for protection of honor, dignity and business reputation arose within the framework of other legal relations, then the case is within the jurisdiction of the instance of general jurisdiction. In this case, the subject composition also does not matter.

Grounds for filing a claim

According to article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a legal entity can file an application with the court if there are a combination of three circumstances: there was a fact of dissemination of information about the organization, the information is discrediting and does not correspond to reality.

The Supreme Court in Resolution No. 3 of 2005 reveals the essence of these circumstances.

The concept of "dissemination of information" is interpreted quite broadly. It can be carried out, for example, on radio, TV, in the press, public speeches, messages addressed to certain officials in written or oral form, on the Internet, etc.

Information that does not correspond to reality is called statements about events / facts that did not take place in reality during the period to which they relate.

Discrediting is, for example, information containing a statement about the legal entity's failure to comply with the requirements of the law, dishonesty in the conduct of business activities, violation of business ethics, and turnover customs. All this information detracts from the reputation of the organization.

The Supreme Court draws attention to the need to differentiate statements about facts and events, the correspondence of which to reality can be verified, and opinions, value judgments, beliefs that are not the subject of protection in accordance with Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The latter are an expression of the subjective views of a certain person. They cannot be verified for validity.

Nuances

If information discrediting the organization's reputation was published in the media, the victim may demand their refutation in the same media. If such information is present in a document emanating from the enterprise, then the legal entity has the right to demand the cancellation or replacement of such an act.

Detractors can disseminate information in the media that violates the interests or rights of the organization, but is not vicious at the same time. In such situations, in accordance with paragraph 3 of article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a legal entity may publish its response in the same media.

Losses

As part of protection of the business reputation of a legal entity in judicial practice claims for compensation for damage caused by the dissemination of defamatory information are considered. Losses also include unearned income.

When collecting legal entities often face certain difficulties and in some way with injustice. Difficulties associated with compensation for lost profits. The injustice is expressed in the fact that even if the claims for recovery are satisfied, the indemnified loss will not be able to cover all losses, since the impact of the defamatory message can be quite long.

If the need for protection of business reputation of a legal entity arose as a result of the dissemination of information in print media, then over time the relevance of this information will decrease. However, on the Internet, the relevant information can be accessed without any restrictions.

Compensation for moral damage

With its help, the issue of injustice can be resolved while meeting the basic requirements for protection of the business reputation of a legal entity. Meanwhile, the organization, being an artificial formation, in fact, cannot experience either physical or moral suffering. Therefore, the company cannot claim compensation for moral damage. This conclusion is confirmed by judicial practice.

However, since 2003, a slightly different trend has been observed. turning point was the adoption of the Definition of the Constitutional Court No. 508-O of 2003. In it, the possibilities protecting the business reputation of legal individuals have been significantly expanded. In particular, the SC stated that:

• Applicability specific way restoration of a violated right must be determined solely in accordance with the nature of the organization.
• Absence in the legislation of a direct reference to a particular instrument protection of the business reputation of a legal entity does not deprive him of the right to file a claim for compensation for losses, including non-material ones that have arisen in connection with the dissemination of defamatory information, or non-material damage that has its own content that differs from the essence of the harm caused to the citizen.

In its ruling, the Constitutional Court referred to the judgment of the ECtHR of 2000, in which the European Court indicated that the possibility of satisfying the claims commercial organization for compensation for moral damages.

Case Studies

It should be noted that the concept of "intangible losses" is not used in domestic legislation. According to the provisions of Article 15 of the Civil Code, losses are always material. At the same time, this concept reflects the features of the harm caused to the commercial structure.

In jurisprudence, there are many good examples about this question. Thus, the subject of one of the disputes was information discrediting the business reputation of the bank. The courts, including the court of appeal, spoke in favor of recovering non-material (reputational) damage from the infringer. In satisfying the claim, the arbitral tribunal indicated that the damage was expressed in the loss of confidence in financial organization from the clients side. This caused an outflow Money. The court also agreed with the bank's argument that the amount of reduction in the size of the deposit base acts as a measure to diminish its business reputation.

In another dispute, the plaintiff was denied compensation for reputational damage. However, the cassation instance canceled the earlier decisions and sent the case back for a new trial. The Court of Appeal held that an organization cannot suffer suffering, either physical or moral. The legislation, in turn, does not establish the possibility of compensation for moral damage to legal entities.

This conclusion is opposed by the position of another arbitral tribunal. He pointed out that Article 12 of the Civil Code contains a provision providing for compensation for moral damage, as well as allowing the use of other methods of protection established by federal law.

In the development of this norm in paragraph 5 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code contains an indication of the possibility of a citizen to demand compensation for non-pecuniary damage within the framework of protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. According to paragraph 7 of the same norm, the rules of the article also apply to cases of protecting the reputation of a legal entity. The Arbitration Court also referred to the provisions of Ruling CC No. 508-O. In fact, the court concluded that there is such a method of protection in the law as compensation for reputational damage, but under a different name - "compensation for moral damage."

findings

As can be seen from the above examples, judicial practice on compensation for moral damage is very contradictory. This is due, first of all, to insufficiently clear regulatory regulation.

The fact is that the legislator put the first part of the Civil Code into effect in 1994. At that time, market relations were just beginning to emerge. Developers of normative acts then did not assume that the reputation of legal entities would soon acquire such significance. With the development of market relations, the need arose for a detailed study of issues related to provision of legal services to legal entities in protecting their reputation.

Criminal law

Statement on the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity may also be filed in criminal proceedings. This possibility is provided for under Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. When a crime damages the reputation of an organization, it can be recognized as the injured party. Accordingly, for the defense, the wrongful act and damage must be established.

Crimes that can harm the reputation of a legal entity include:

• Illegal use of means of identification (trademark, in particular).
• Illegal receipt and disclosure of tax, banking, commercial secrets.

controversial points

To ensure the protection of its reputation, a legal entity in criminal proceedings may file a claim for compensation for pecuniary damage if there is reason to believe that it was caused by a crime.

Article 44 of the Code of Criminal Procedure contains a provision providing for the possibility of the victim to file a civil claim for compensation for moral damage. Compensation for such damage, as follows from the above reasoning, may take place within the framework of civil proceedings. However, the same conclusion cannot be drawn for criminal trials.

In the event of damage to business reputation, extra-contractual obligations arise related to its compensation. Them regulation provided for by the norms of Chapter 59 of the Civil Code.

At the same time, the Code contains Article 1064, which has general character as part of the regulation of obligations related to compensation for harm. This rule states that damage caused to the property of an individual or legal entity must be fully compensated by the entity that caused it. Based on this, it can be concluded that either reputation relates to property, or damage does not entail the emergence of non-contractual legal relations.

Due to the fact that Article 152 is contained in Chapter 8 of the Code, which is called "Intangible Benefits and Their Protection", the assumption that reputation is included in the property complex of a legal entity has no grounds. An analysis of the content of Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure leads to a similar conclusion. It states that an organization is also recognized as a victim if its property and reputation were harmed by a crime.

Timing

Due to the fact that the claim to protect the reputation of the organization is aimed at restoring non-property rights, the limitation period, according to Article 208 of the Civil Code, does not apply to it. However, there are exceptions to this rule.

If defamatory information was disseminated in the media, then the legal entity may require the editorial office to publish a refutation. If this is denied to the applicant, then he has the right to apply to the court to challenge the inaction of the violator of rights. In this case, the application can be submitted within one year from the date of dissemination of the relevant information.

Features of the content of the claim

The application is made according to general rules. The claim must indicate:

• The name of the authority authorized to consider such disputes.
• Information about the claimant: name, location, contact details.
• Information about the defendant. They can be a legal entity or a citizen. In the first case, the name of the location, contacts are also indicated, in the second - full name, address of residence, telephone number (if known).

The text of the claim summarizes all the circumstances of the case. It is recommended that information be presented in chronological order. It is important to avoid emotional statements in the text. The claim must be written in business official language.

Legal assistance

As a rule, the company provides for the position of a legal adviser or an employee dealing with legal issues. In the absence of such people, the manager can contact the competent law firm. In addition, as part of the activities of many private lawyers, provision of legal services to legal entities. It is important to choose an experienced representative who understands the intricacies of legal proceedings in such cases.

Facts to be proven

As mentioned above, there are three such facts. Their presence must be documented. For example, the fact of dissemination of discrediting information in the media is verified directly by the publication itself. If it was an article in a newspaper, then a copy of the corresponding page is attached to the case file. If the information was published on the Internet, you must take a screenshot of the site and print it.

It should be said that dissemination is the communication of information to third parties. Therefore, if the information was received only by the legal entity and did not get to third parties, there is no subject of dispute.

The discrepancy between reality and the perversity of the information must also be confirmed. The plaintiff must provide a refutation, the reliability of which will be assessed by the court. If necessary, experts may be involved.

As a general rule, the defendant does not have to prove anything. However, in such cases, he will have to provide evidence of his correctness, legitimacy and validity of his actions.

As practice shows, the majority of such cases are resolved in favor of the plaintiffs.

Solution implementation specifics

The key purpose of going to court is to force the defendant to publish a refutation of the information damaging the plaintiff's reputation.

If the request is satisfied, the operative part of the decision will contain the text of the refutation, the time period within which the defendant must publish it is indicated. In addition, the court may determine the period during which the information must be in the relevant media.

It must be said that the refutation is published in the same place where the defamatory information was located. For example, if an article in a newspaper was on the front page, then a refutation should also be placed there. The same rule applies to online media.

Conclusion

Questions about protecting the reputation of legal entities are of particular relevance today. Business reputation is regarded as a specific intangible asset. It can have a direct impact on the performance of an organization.

A positive reputation helps to attract partners and customers, expand business, and increase economic profits. In market conditions, consumers and contractors trust more those companies that have been able to establish themselves as successful and law-abiding participants in the turnover. Negative reputation negatively affects the status of the company. There may be insurmountable barriers between the legal entity and potential partners and customers.

It is worth saying that even after the publication of a refutation of the defamatory information, the organization will have to restore it for some time. client base. Some counterparties are of the opinion that without good reasons no one will publish defamatory information. The injured organization can only continue to work, proving its integrity with concrete activities.

Information discrediting business reputation

Understanding the subconscious real facts, as well as information damaging business reputation, it is worth noting that for full understanding of what affects the attitude towards a person and a company, it is necessary to take into account psychological factors, as well as to make certain equalizing statistics, which allows you to reset the estimated errors and approach the analysis and correction of all factors. Speaking more plain language In order to understand and eliminate the negative factors that affect the reputation, it is necessary to maximize the number of those people whose attitude is analyzed, both before the appearance of any factor, and after. Based only on this approach, one can really derive examples and conclusions for each specific case, as well as start productive work on reputation.

What data and information discredit business reputation?

AT modern world business reputation is becoming more and more a factor confirming the reliability and diligence of a person and a company, their business qualities, and, most importantly, the liquidity of investing money and time in them. For example, we can recall the situation when many people turn to one master who lays tiles, and no one turns to the same, but less well-known one. That is why it is important to assess the reputation among the main buyers, as well as to eliminate and prevent information that discredits business reputation.

I must say that business reputation and the process of building and maintaining it rather depends on working with the masses and the media than on the specific quality of services or goods, which, in theory, should be a confirmation of reputation. The whole point is that reputation consists of huge amount factors, more than 90% of which are purely subjective, that is, they are dictated by subconscious emotions, are rarely based on facts and arguments, and are also very sensitive to mood. It is for this reason that information discrediting business reputation often appears at a time when a client who has received negative emotions has the opportunity to express them in mass sources of information, which, on this moment, enough to bring the reputation to naught.

A qualitative approach to regulating image and reputation issues sometimes requires analytical measures that allow you to correctly identify the key parameters that affect reputation, as well as really bring to the fore a list of activities that allow you to identify and eliminate information that discredits business reputation. In reputation analytics, there is a percentage indicator that reflects the fall or rise in sales and demand for the services of a company or a particular person, and also allows you to predict certain changes in reputation. To obtain such an index, it is necessary to analyze the demand before the change in the reputation factor, the data of such an analysis are taken as a starting point. After modeling or predictable creation of factors that change reputation, usually in negative side, the change in demand is estimated and a specific percentage of losses is displayed, which is an indicator of how important or vice versa, this factor is insignificant. Thus, a list of the main factors is displayed, with which the work of the person or company itself takes place, or they are delegated by a specialist in other areas.

Regarding the delegation of the task to eliminate information that discredits business reputation, it is worth noting those areas that are difficult to regulate by a person or company. For example, a company has several negative reviews on the Internet that contain not entirely pleasant information that is not necessarily real. If it is impossible for the company to eliminate the factors that caused such reviews, it makes sense to work with this data from the position of eliminating or moving to the bottom of the list of search engines. This is done by optimizing the company's main website and creating positive reviews that are displayed at the top of the list. Thus, the negative moves lower, closer to the end. Another way, which perfectly complements the first one, is to post or register such content (text or group of texts) that can allow a forum with a review to be recognized as non-unique, which will put it at the bottom of the list or block it for a long time. As a rule, the concerned administration of such forums will gladly remove information that discredits business reputation, so as not to experience pressure at the SEO level.

Engaging in such optimization, as well as modeling risks and crisis conditions, are tasks that not every person or company can do. As a rule, in such situations, the help of specialists in these areas is required, which will ensure the absence of losses, quickly complete tasks and maximize the duration of the results.

Every citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to protect his honor, dignity and business reputation. More specifically, we will talk about the very concepts of these benefits, as well as how to protect them in court or about the conditions for compensation for moral harm in our article.

Honor in civil society, it is customary to call the socio-ethical assessment on the part of society, which determines the measure of spiritual and social qualities person. Dignity of a person is the representation of one's own value as a person, and is recognized by the state for all members of society, without excluding the recognition of the merits of some over others in greater or lesser degree. Business reputation- there is an objective opinion of society about a particular citizen or legal entity. The business reputation of a person is determined by the level of his professionalism, and a legal entity - by the level and assessment of his type of activity, taking into account the legal status of the organization.

Honor, dignity and business reputation are social and legal values ​​that occupy an important place in the life of any state and society. As well as, the concepts of honor, dignity and business reputation are directly related to legal institution, and in case of their loss or limitation, they reduce a certain status in legal relations with other subjects. From a civil law point of view, the concepts of honor, dignity and business reputation are intangible social benefits, the protection of which is an important duty of the state, which establishes a ban on encroachment on these benefits with the provision of judicial protection if they have been violated. An individual or legal entity endowed with certain rights receives a system of guarantees from the state that allows them to exercise these rights on the terms of legality in the Russian Federation, as well as providing for the responsibility of obligated persons. The right to protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is enshrined in Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, according to which every citizen has the right to demand a refutation of information that has discredited his honor, dignity or business reputation, except in cases where the disseminator of information can provide an evidence base for the validity of the information disseminated by him.

Important! The right to refute defamatory information exists, regardless of the method of dissemination of information.

Protection of the honor and dignity of a citizen on demand stakeholders may also arise in the event of his death, thereby allowing the preservation of the reputation and good name of the citizen's family and other subjects of legal relations.

In what cases should one go to court to protect honor, dignity and reputation?

All able-bodied citizens and legal entities can apply to the court for the protection of their rights, in the event that a claim is filed by minors or incapacitated persons, their interests in court must be represented by their legal representatives (parents, guardians, etc.). In a number of cases that require the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, perhaps, in the first place, it is worth noting the dissemination of information that discredits the honor and dignity of a particular citizen or organization from the point of view of public opinion. The defamatory accusations include:

• in illegal receipt of funds;
• in nationalistic statements;
• in violation of family debt;
• in slander;
• in committing a crime;
• in professional dishonesty;
• in insulting the honor of a woman, etc.

All this and other information can be considered false information if the fact of their reliability (presumption of integrity) has not been established.

The current Russian legislation does not currently provide for a complete ban on defamation - the disclosure of reliable information that leads to the oppression of a person (for example, the dissemination of information that a person has AIDS). Accordingly, upon the occurrence of any case regarding the dissemination of truthful information discrediting the honor, dignity and reputation of a citizen, Russian judiciary will not be able to hold the distributor liable. The dissemination of information discrediting the honor, dignity and business reputation of a citizen or legal entity through the media can be of two types:

1. Information that is communicated directly to the person to whom they are directly related is not distribution.
2. Information shared through anonymous letters and statements - the victim has the right to protect his interests in court (Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

When considering a statement of claim, the court establishes: whether there was a dissemination of discrediting information, whether the information is reliable and discredits your honor and dignity.

In accordance with Art. 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period does not apply to claims for the protection of non-property rights, in particular, honor, dignity and business reputation. That is, the protection of these benefits can be carried out even after the death of a citizen, as well as after the termination of the activities of a legal entity.

If the person who disseminated information discrediting honor, dignity and business reputation has not been identified, on the basis of paragraph 8 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the victim has every right to apply to the court with a claim for recognition of the disseminated information as untrue. Failure to comply with a court decision entails penalties in the amount and manner statutory, fines are collected from the violator in the income of the Russian Federation. In addition, paragraph 9 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the possibility of compensating the injured person for moral damage and losses that were caused as a result of the dissemination of defamatory information.

Ways to protect honor, dignity and business reputation

The civil law of the Russian Federation (Articles 151 - 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) provides for two ways to protect honor, dignity and business reputation:

1. Refutation, that is, bringing relevant information about the recognition by the court of previously disseminated information as untrue.
2. Compensation for moral damage (compensation), with recognition of the infliction of moral and physical suffering to the injured person.

Untrue information disseminated through the media must be refuted by the same sources. Inaccurate information contained in any document originating from the organization can be removed by replacing, revoking or destroying the document. Other situations regarding the refutation of information that discredits honor, dignity and business reputation are established in court (clause 2 of article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Also, it is worth noting that in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 46 of the Law "On funds mass media”, a citizen whose rights and interests have been infringed through the dissemination of false information, has the right to publish his response to the disseminated information in the same media. In cases where false information was disseminated through book editions- the release of this product may be terminated by a court decision. Compensation for moral damage (compensation) is one of the ways to protect honor, dignity and reputation, and, like, is determined by the court in accordance with the civil procedural legislation of the Russian Federation. Based on Art. 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the plaintiff has the right to receive satisfaction of his claim for compensation for moral damage. The procedure for compensation is determined by Articles 151 and 1101 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of compensation directly depends on the degree of guilt of the offender, taking into account the moral and physical suffering caused to the injured person. Compensation for non-pecuniary damage is carried out only in cash.

Note that moral damage can only be compensated for individuals!

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides grounds for compensation for moral damage, which is recovered in court, in particular:

• in cases of violation of personal non-property rights, as well as encroachments on intangible benefits (honor, dignity and business reputation);
• in cases of dissemination of information discrediting the honor, dignity and business reputation of a citizen.

Statements of claim demanding compensation for moral damage do not have a statute of limitations, since they are the result of violations of personal non-property rights and other intangible benefits (clause 1, article 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Judicial protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

Judicial protection of intangible benefits of citizens and legal entities, in particular, their honor, dignity and business reputation is a system of legislative measures aimed at protecting human rights and freedoms, as well as at eliminating their consequences. The right to judicial protection is considered as a subjective constitutional right of an individual or legal entity, which is realized in civil proceedings by a number of powers.

Based legislative framework RF, any person interested in protecting their rights and interests has the right to apply to the court, including with a claim to refute the disseminated information that does not correspond to reality and discredits honor, dignity and business reputation.

In accordance with Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, all cases on claims for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation are initiated in general order established by law. When considering a statement of claim, the plaintiff, for his part, must prove that the fact of dissemination of discrediting information took place, and the defendant, in turn, must prove the accuracy of the information disseminated by him. It should be noted that a court decision can be executed already during the period of acceptance and consideration of a civil case, including claims for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. So, the court even before the moment of pronouncement final decision further dissemination of information discrediting the honor and dignity of the plaintiff may be prohibited. At the same time, the court must take all measures to resolve the dispute, without prejudice to the rights and legitimate interests of all parties.

Svetlana

Sergey, thank you very much for your answer! I would also like to clarify - in my actions (I left the voice recorder to record someone else's conversation and left), are there definitely no illegal actions?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Svetlana! It depends on what the interlocutors were talking about during the conversation. If from the content of the conversation you can see information constituting a personal or family secret, then there are signs of a crime.

Svetlana

Hello! We have one employee at work who spreads rumors discrediting my honor and dignity. She tells everyone that I write reports and reports to the authorities about everyone, that is, I am engaged in denunciations. The situation in the team has developed such that almost everyone shy away from me and does not want to communicate. This gossip herself does not say anything to my face and does not make contact and direct conversation with me. One of our employees told me about this while I was on sick leave for two weeks. When I left the hospital, I decided to make sure of all this and secretly left the recorder in the office where we work together and left for 2 hours at work. When she returned, everyone went to lunch and I took out the recorder and listened to what she was talking about with the second employee. I was convinced that she was telling a lie about me , she also told about my personal life with mockery. The question is, can I, as evidence, attach this voice recorder to the libel statement, I’m going to file it with the police and the court? And another question is whether my actions are legal, which I decided to achieve the truth in this way? Maybe I also broke the law by secretly using a voice recorder? And if I did, then what punishment could I get for it later? I simply could not imagine any other way. I have only one witness and a voice recorder. Thanks in advance for your reply!

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Svetlana! If you really did not write any reports and memorandums, then you can try to file an application to the libel court. But you will have to prove that this false information discredits honor and dignity. It is also necessary to study the content of the dictaphone recording, whether it will help in substantiating the claim. You can attach a voice recorder. There are no violations in your actions, since you collected information that is not related to personal or family secret person.

Alexander

In one of the groups social network Vkontakte, a certain person, published a record telling that I had committed the theft of funds. However, the author of the entry disguised a direct reference to me by replacing the letter in my last name (name, name, birth date and other information about me were not written). Is it possible to go to court in such a situation? If, in fact, the author, replacing the letter in my last name, means me, as I think ... Will the court refuse the claim against the author of the entry?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello, Alexander! In this situation, since other data identifying you are not indicated, it will be very difficult to prove that the information about the theft concerns you. The court will likely dismiss your claim.

Ilya

Hello. Tell me how to be. On my behalf, someone wrote a statement about checking the school to the prosecutor's office. The check passed, the data was confirmed, but only clarifications were given on them. I wrote to the police a complaint under Art. 152. Civil Code of the Russian Federation with a request to find the person who did this and bring to justice. Tell me, did I do everything right? Or is there no point in doing it?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Ilya! There is nothing offensive in the fact that someone on your behalf wrote an application for verification, which humiliated your honor and dignity, business reputation. The courts most likely will not find anything illegal in this. But the grounds for judicial protection may appear depending on the specific content of the application written on your behalf.

Olga

Good evening! Tell me, can I sue and protect honor and dignity against the curator of my son's group, who told the teachers that we had a dysfunctional family, told me that my child was abnormal and that she would gladly expel him from college. At the same time, she specifically provided the child with incorrect information about the dates of offsets, etc. Also in an official letter to me, the curator calls my son first by one name, then by the second and even by the third. And there are two letters. At the same time, the apartment number is incorrectly indicated in them, and it turns out that the letters reached me late.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Olga! There is nothing illegal in these actions of the curator of the group. In one case, she expresses her value judgment, which is not prohibited by law. In another case, an error in the execution of documents may simply have been made, which is also not a violation of the law.

Alyona

Good afternoon. It's a very unfortunate situation at work. The director, my ex-girlfriend, as it turned out today, invited me to work as her deputy. Today, after a year of my work, she directly demands to vacate her workplace or move to a lower position, arguing that she is tired of me, that I constantly set her up, openly says to my face that I am illiterate, incompetent, do not fulfill official duties. In response, I told her to explain in writing to me my incompetence, illiteracy, and what duties I do not perform. What did she start doing? I explain, I do not take the whole vacation at once, but I take the days on account of the vacation, since there is also a personal life. So the main reason is that I take days. Weaves intrigues behind my back with girlfriends of teachers that I am not competent, etc.. Encourages teachers to write reports on me in which they directly accuse me of incompetence and failure to fulfill my duties. Creates commissions so that I can sign acts on these reports in front of these witnesses. For my part, I began to write reports on teachers who, throughout my work, did not always fulfill their official duties and are not fulfilling at the moment, to whom I constantly made concessions and postponed the deadlines, did not write reports on them, tried to solve professional planning issues , reporting, student progress logs, etc., so my friend does not take explanatory notes from those who do not perform and does not collect commissions on familiarization. Such actions are shown only in my direction. Work for every citizen means a lot. For me, this is the main means of existence. this work so it turned out that today it is the basis for ensuring my and my family's normal life activities. The director created such an unbearable environment and atmosphere, my life turned into hell. I do not know what to do!?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Alena! Legal advice will be of no use to you, since the basis of the problem is not a legal, but a personal conflict. And jurisprudence should be involved in assessing the legitimacy of specific actions of the boss and other employees.

Oksana Ivanova

Good afternoon. In one of the communities on the Internet, a dispute ensued with a girl. There were barbs from both sides. But this girl did not stop there and switched her insults to her family - a child and a spouse. Is there a prospect for my appeal to the court and how to formalize it correctly. The defamatory message itself is attached as a screenshot. I will make a reservation right away - my husband is the father of the child. For this, you don’t even need to conduct a DNA examination, she is a copy of dad and grandfather.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Oksana! In the actions of the second girl, you can see the presence of slander, but for a judicial perspective in court, it will be necessary to investigate your family and intimate life to make sure that the statement is deliberately false. If you are ready for this, then you can file a lawsuit in court for the protection of honor and dignity and for the refutation of the information published by the second girl. You need to go to a notary and fix the text of the correspondence on the Internet.

Olga

Good day. Such situation. From a fake page, my photo was posted in a group of sex services. They also posted a link to my account. As a result, men began to write to me. How can I hold this person accountable. And what should be the order of my actions. Where do I go to write a statement and, accordingly, to the court. I left a complaint about the fake page and the post in the group on VK. Zero reactions. thanks in advance

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Olga! You first need to determine who exactly performed these actions. Without contacting the police, his identity cannot be established. Only the police can request from the administrator of the group or the VK network itself information about the IP addresses of the fake page.

Alexander Yakovlevich

Good day! In 2016, he participated in the elections to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg regional list from one of the parties. A conviction under Article 159, part 1-2, has long been removed, but I submitted the information. At the same time, in the ballot opposite my name it was indicated that I committed a crime as part of a group of persons, which does not comply with the articles. three years earlier I had been elected a municipal deputy and there the articles were simply listed in the ballot. Question: what is the prospect of the case if I sue the City Council for publishing false slanderous information in the ballot that negatively affected my honor, dignity and business reputation, and even the voting results. The prospect of compensation for non-pecuniary damage. Thanks to!

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Alexander Yakovlevich! The prospect of a successful resolution of the case is small, since the court will first of all pay attention to the fact that information about the existence of a criminal record was actually indicated and, therefore, there is no fact of dissemination of discrediting information that does not correspond to reality. It is possible to consider the option of bringing election commission employees to administrative responsibility for violating the electoral legislation, but in this case, you need to carefully look at the deadlines, since it is possible that the limitation period for bringing to responsibility has already passed.

Oksana

Good afternoon! The situation is rather banal. Relationships between children were discussed at the parents' meeting. I’ll make a reservation right away that the unfavorable situation has been developing for several years. Parents were urged to pay attention to this, several cases were cited that required heightened attention. As a result of the meeting, a complaint was filed against the parent committee to the school administration that such conversations caused irreparable moral damage to the children; the children were not present at the meeting, and there was no personal contact of the parent committee with them. AT this moment parents of children that the behavior was discussed are threatening to sue. Tell me how to act in this situation. Thank you in advance for your response.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Oksana! If truthful information was reported and without insults and humiliation of the dignity of children and their parents, then the claim will be denied. Yes, and touchy parents will have to prove the fact of humiliation of honor and dignity, which will be quite problematic to do.

Nikolai Glotov

Does my appeal to the court with a claim for the protection of my honor, dignity and business reputation have any judicial prospect if a citizen applies to a higher state authority in this form. Given the fact that everything she wrote about is not true.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Nikolay! Judicial prospects are unfavorable, as there is no main feature protected in court honor and dignity: publicity. The appeal of a citizen became known only to employees of a higher body of state power. In addition, the places you underlined can be regarded as value judgments of a citizen, in other words, her own opinion.

barbarian

Good evening. Please tell me is negative feedback on the Internet in relation to the office, on the part of the client, in initiating a criminal case? They said that the review discredits their business reputation, honor and dignity. In the review, a description was given to each employee in a negative context. With whom I had a chance to communicate. Thanks in advance.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Barbara! If the recall contains information indicating the presence of signs of a crime in the actions of certain employees of the company, then after an audit based on this review criminal proceedings may be initiated.

Igor

What means of protecting the honor and dignity of business reputation are provided for by Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Igor! This is the filing of an application with the court to refute information discrediting his honor, dignity or business reputation; removal of relevant information, as well as suppression or prohibition of further dissemination of the specified information; damages and compensation for moral damages.

Tatiana furniture

Good afternoon! We signed a contract for the manufacture of furniture. The seller brought furniture of inadequate quality. They refused to accept the goods on the basis of clause 5 of the contract, wrote a claim for termination of the contract and a refund. The seller ignored our right to a refund. An employee of the seller began to call me on the office phone and send personal letters to the office mail, although I did not provide the seller with the office phone number and office e-mail and repeatedly informed the seller that personal communication was carried out in free time by phone and e-mail specified in the contract. Wrote a claim for email the seller that his actions are no longer legal and violate my personal integrity. The seller considered this claim to be the dissemination of information discrediting his business reputation and informed me that he intended to apply to the judge to demand compensation for losses and moral damage from me. Tell me, please, where do I need and with what application to apply for protection? Thank you.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello, Alexander! Characteristics in a criminal case are kept with him and persons not connected with criminal proceedings cannot be acquainted with them. If these facts are not confirmed during the inspections on the employer's statement about the discharge of diesel fuel, you can demand that the employer be held liable for knowingly false denunciation of the employer. Also, if you refuse to initiate a criminal case, you should take care to obtain copies of these decisions, which you can always use as evidence of your innocence.

Maria

During a telephone conversation, I told the person information about another person, expressed in the fact that the latter abuses alcohol and "breaks" the planned events. That "other person", as it turned out, was present at the conversation on the other side of the phone, and either heard this conversation through the "speakerphone", or this telephone conversation was recorded. Can I be prosecuted for such words. In fact, I myself, from the owls of others, know about a person that he is abusing and not reliable.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Maria! Of course, a person whom you did not flatteringly mentioned can make demands for the protection of his honor and dignity. But there is practically no judicial prospect in this case, since there is no fact that you disseminated information that would defame the honor and dignity of this person. The communication in a private conversation of certain information about a person cannot be considered dissemination, which implies bringing defamatory information to a wide range of people.

Leila

Hello. Please tell me what to do in my situation. I work in kindergarten educator. The following happened to me: the child, seeing his mother entering the territory of the kindergarten, ran away from the site. I went up to him, standing with my mother, and said that it was impossible to run away from the site, and it was better to wait for my mother at the site. I said this calmly, without raising my voice. In response, the boy's mother began to yell at me, literally not letting me put in a word. Everything happened in the presence of children, parents and employees. In the end, she also threatened that she would talk to me in another place. What can I do to protect myself from this person's aggression and protect my business reputation?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello! In the future, try to conduct all communication with this woman and her child in the presence of loyal witnesses or record her behavior on video or audio. So far, everything that you have described does not give grounds for going to court or law enforcement agencies to bring this woman to justice.

R.A. Sabitov,
Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology of the Chelyabinsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation,
A.Yu. LITVINENKO,
Lecturer, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Chelyabinsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

The article deals with the concepts of "business reputation", "moral damage", theoretical and practical problems related to the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity; attention is focused on the lack of criminal legal protection of the business reputation of a legal entity in cases of slander, in connection with which it is proposed to supplement the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with article 178.1 “Defamation of a legal entity”.

Concepts “business reputation”, “moral injury”, the theoretical and practical problems connected to protection of business reputation of the juridical person are considered in the article. In the article it is paid attention to the absence of a criminal-right protection of business reputation of the juridical person in cases of slander, in this connection it is offered to fix in Criminal Code of the Russian Federation cl. 178.1 “Slander concerning the juridical person”.
Keywords: business reputation, moral injury, suffering, injured person, individual person, legal person.

In criminal law, the victim of a crime, undoubtedly, is recognized as an individual who has been inflicted physical, property, moral harm by a crime. The issue of recognizing a legal entity as a victim of a crime in theory is solved ambiguously. Thus, some textbooks on criminal law categorically state that the victim of a crime is the person against whom the crime was committed; In the criminal law sense, only an individual can be considered a victim, and a legal entity is the subject of a civil law relationship. Many authors confine themselves to indicating that the victim of a crime is an individual, and do not address the issue of recognizing a legal entity as such.
In investigative practice, the issue of recognizing a legal entity as a victim, to which this or that harm was caused by a crime, is also resolved ambiguously. So, V.V. Afisov, having studied 450 criminal cases of such crimes, found that only in 37% of them a legal entity was recognized as a victim, in other cases, interrogators and investigators recognized a representative of a legal entity as a victim.
In our opinion, victims of crimes in the criminal law sense can be not only individuals, but also legal entities. This opinion was shared by some pre-revolutionary and Soviet scientists. For example, N.S. Tagantsev believed that “the victim of a criminal act is, first of all, the owner of that right-protected interest that was directly damaged or endangered by the criminal, it doesn’t matter whether such an owner is a single person, a set of persons, constituting or not constituting a legal entity, including here and the state itself. P.S. Dagel singled out an individual or legal entity as a sign of the victim. Among modern scientists who share this point of view, one can note E.L. Sidorenko and A.V. Sumachev, who published works on the victim in criminal law3.
In favor of recognizing a legal entity as a victim of a crime, we present the following arguments.
First, according to Art. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a legal entity is recognized as a victim if a crime causes damage to its property and business reputation. In this case, the rights of the victim are exercised by the representative of the legal entity. Here we agree with those lawyers who believe that the substantive legal concept of the victim should be enshrined in criminal law. As long as it is not included in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, one should be guided by the criminal procedural concept of the victim.
The criminal procedure law refers to the victims only individuals and legal entities. A legal entity is an organization that has separate property in ownership, economic management or operational management and is liable for its obligations with this property, can acquire and exercise property and personal assets on its own behalf. property rights, bear obligations, be a plaintiff and a defendant in court (clause 1, article 48 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). This concept of a legal entity does not cover the Russian Federation, subjects of the Russian Federation, urban, rural settlements and other municipalities(Articles 124-127 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). However, the listed subjects of law may be harmed by a criminal act, and they should be recognized as victims of crimes on an equal basis with individuals and legal entities.
Secondly, the task of the criminal law is to protect not only the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, but also public relations in the field of economy, provision of state and municipal administration, in which legal entities operate, government bodies and local governments.
Thirdly, according to administrative law, the victim is both an individual and a legal entity, to whom administrative offense caused property or moral damage (Article 25.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).
Fourthly, the articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation often refer to damage or a significant violation of legally protected interests not only of citizens, but also of organizations, society or the state (articles 171-173, 185, 201, 202, 285-286, 288 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, etc.). Causing harm to organizations or the state by a crime should entail recognition of them as victims.
A victim of a crime is a legal entity in the event of damage to its property or business reputation, and not a representative of a legal entity and not the head of its representative office or branch. That is why in part 9 of Art. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation states that if a legal entity is recognized as a victim, its rights are exercised by a representative.
Despite the fact that the rules of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation apply to entrepreneurial activities of citizens carried out without forming a legal entity, an individual entrepreneur is not a legal entity. We cannot agree with the statement of V.V. Afisov that, taking into account the provisions of civil law individual entrepreneurs should be attributed to legal entities in the event that the crime caused (or could cause) damage to their economic activities. Chapter 3 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, on the contrary, includes individual entrepreneurs among individuals, which is why they should be recognized as injured individuals.
What types of harm can be caused to individuals? N.S. Tagantsev wrote that the harm caused to the victims various groups, can be material, property or ideal, not finding a tangible expression. Undoubtedly, a legal entity may suffer property damage, which consists in violating the powers of the owner (possessor) of property by illegally seizing, damaging, destroying it or not providing it with property. In Art. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation states that the victim is a legal entity in the event of a crime causing damage to its property. Physical harm cannot be caused to a legal entity, since physical harm is understood as damage to human life or health.
The issue of the possibility of causing moral harm to a legal entity remains highly controversial. Some civilists argue that a legal entity may suffer moral harm. Such harm has an objective content and consists in negative evaluation third parties the qualities of a legal entity and its products. Moral harm can be expressed in discrimination, undermining the authority of any legal entity. In paragraph 7 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that the rules of this article on the protection of the business reputation of a citizen are accordingly applied to the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity. In Art. 17 model civil code, adopted on October 29, 1994 at the fifth plenary session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States, expressly states that "in cases provided for by this Code and other laws, moral damage may be compensated to a legal entity."
However, many lawyers reasonably believe that moral harm cannot be caused to a legal entity.
In paragraph 2 of the resolution of the Plenum Supreme Court RF dated December 20, 1994 No. 10 “Some Issues of the Application of Legislation on Compensation for Moral Damage” refers to the infliction of moral or physical suffering by actions (inaction) that encroach on non-material benefits belonging to a citizen or violate his personal non-property rights or violate the property rights of a citizen. In this concept, the resolution connects the infliction of moral harm only with a citizen. Legal entity, as opposed to individual, cannot experience moral or physical suffering, since it is an artificial legal construction that does not have a bodily shell, does not have either consciousness or psyche, and is not capable of emotions and experiences. The concept of "suffering" means physical or moral pain that a legal entity is not able to endure.
However, the business reputation of a legal entity may be harmed. There is no concept of business reputation in the legislation. It is also absent in the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated February 24, 2005 No. 3 “On judicial practice in cases of protecting the honor and dignity of citizens, as well as the business reputation of citizens and legal entities”. In some publications, an attempt has been made to define the concept under consideration as definite opinion about an individual or legal entity, an assessment of its activities. For example, A.L. Anisimov believes that the business reputation of a citizen is determined by the level of his qualifications and characteristics professional activity, and a legal entity - an assessment of production or other activities in accordance with its legal status in the conditions of entrepreneurial and market relations. A.M. Erdelevsky defines the business reputation of an individual and a legal entity as related to the socially significant activities of a person, his assessment by society, the opinion of society about the qualities, advantages and disadvantages of this person.
T. Shulepova, judge of the Arbitration Court Sverdlovsk region, explains that the concept of "goodwill" is defined by the court as an established opinion about an individual or legal entity as a participant in commercial turnover.
The above concepts of a legal entity are based on its linguistic interpretation. For example, in one of the dictionaries, reputation (from French reputation and Latin reputation - reflection, reflection) is defined as a common opinion about the merits or demerits of someone, something, a public assessment. According to the dictionary of S.I. Ozhegova and N.Yu. Swedish reputation is a public assessment acquired by someone, something, a general opinion about the qualities, merits and demerits of someone, something.
Civilists associate the business reputation of a legal entity with business relations, commercial, business turnover. In our opinion, the concept of business reputation must be interpreted in such a way that it is possible to protect not only a legal entity engaged in entrepreneurial activity, but also non-profit organizations (public and religious organizations, foundations, institutions, associations and unions) from causing reputational damage. The word "business" means "related to work", social, service activities. It is won by the affairs of the organization. From this point of view, business reputation can be possessed, for example, by political parties, educational, healthcare, cultural institutions that do not carry out entrepreneurial activities.
Business reputation can be positive (good) or negative (bad). Legal protection subject to a positive business reputation. Apparently, it is impossible to exclude the protection of the organization's reputation even if it has deteriorated further as a result of the dissemination of defamatory information or other illegal actions. Harm to a legal entity can be caused not only by the loss of a positive reputation, but also by diminishing it.
Thus, the business reputation of a legal entity is a positive or negative public (and possibly state) assessment of its activities, advantages, disadvantages and qualities acquired by a legal entity.
Damage to the business reputation of a legal entity is not a kind of moral damage, since an organization cannot experience physical and moral suffering as a result of a crime. That is why in Part 1 of Art. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, it is highlighted in independent view harm.
Reputation is a sign of the composition of slander, provided for by Art. 129 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, this article does not apply to a legal entity, since the object of this crime is a person. Moreover, in no article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is damage to the business reputation of a legal entity listed as a sign of a crime. Nevertheless, such harm can be caused as a result of the commission of economic, environmental, official and other crimes both by the employees of the organization (from within) and by unauthorized persons (from outside). At the same time, the business reputation of a legal entity acts as an additional object of encroachment.
Damage to business reputation can be caused, for example, as a result of the illegal use of a trademark (Article 180 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the receipt and disclosure of information constituting a commercial, tax or banking secret (Article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), fictitious bankruptcy of Art. 197 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), commercial bribery (Article 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and other crimes. For example, the use of someone else's trademark has a negative impact directly or indirectly on the reputation of the quality of the goods, the business reputation of its manufacturer and financial position enterprises. Reputational harm is a type of those consequences of crimes that are expressed in causing significant harm rights and interests of the organization (articles 201, 285, 286, 288, 292, 293, 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Often there is such a way of harming the business reputation of a legal entity as the dissemination of false defamatory information about it. The dissemination of such information is understood as its publication in the press, broadcast on radio and television, distribution on the Internet, presentation in a public speech or communication in one form or another to at least one person. Discrediting, in particular, are information containing allegations of a violation by a legal entity of the current legislation, bad faith in the implementation of production, economic and entrepreneurial activities, violation of business ethics or business practices, incorrect, unethical behavior of a representative of a legal entity that detracts from its business reputation (p. 7 Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 24, 2005 No. 3 “On judicial practice in cases of protecting the honor and dignity of citizens, as well as the business reputation of citizens and legal entities”).
Independent criminal liability for the dissemination of knowingly false information discrediting a legal entity is not provided for by the criminal law. In our opinion, it should be established, since this act is capable of causing significant property damage and non-material damage.
The dissemination of deliberately false information discrediting the organization may be one of the ways to prepare for its raider takeover. The invading company organizes publications in the press, "custom" appearances on television, sending slanderous letters to competing companies in order to discredit the owners, managers, managers or major shareholders of the target company. Accusatory articles, speeches and letters may relate to the mismanagement of the enterprise, non-fulfillment of contractual obligations, violation of the rights of employees and shareholders, alleged bankruptcy, effective use property, etc.
Undermining the business reputation of a legal entity can be a way to eliminate competing economic entities from the market. In the context of the financial crisis, the antimonopoly authorities note an increase in the number of complaints about unfair competition. Some companies resort to discrediting competitors by publishing in the print media, distributing leaflets, sending letters to the company's customers. For example, one of the Yekaterinburg management companies pasted leaflets in the entrances of houses, in which they denigrated the organization providing public services to their residents. Another company sent to clients of a competing firm emails, in which it was said that the company did not deliver the goods on time, that the real prices did not correspond to those stated in the online catalog. Because of this, the company lost dozens of orders.
In our opinion, there is a gap in the criminal legislation, i.e. there is no criminal legal protection of the business reputation of legal entities. In order to eliminate it, we propose to supplement Chapter 22 “Crimes in the sphere of economic activity” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with Article 178.1 “Defamation of a legal entity” with the following content:
1. Dissemination of deliberately false information that undermines the reputation of a legal entity is punishable ...
2. The same act committed in a public speech, publicly displayed work or mass media shall be punished...

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