Publication details
Přičítání vědění členů orgánů právnické osobě
| Title in English | Company Officers and Attribution of Knowledge |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Právník |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | Open access časopisu |
| Keywords | knowledge; attribution; artificial legal entities; company officers; organizational duties |
| Description | Literal reading of § 151 subs. 2 CC could imply that the knowledge of every member of every organ within a legal entity always constitutes knowledge on part of the entity itself. Nevertheless, such view would unreasonably expand the scope of knowledge attributable to legal entities. Drawing on German jurisprudence, I propose a differentiated approach in accordance with which knowledge will be attributable to legal entity only in cases where it is functionally justified. The resulting model is based on three rules. First rule says that if the applied knowledge norm mentions a specific organ of a legal entity in its hypothesis, it is the knowledge of the members of this organ that is relevant. Second rule adds that if no organ is mentioned in the hypothesis of the knowledge norm, the knowledge of the members of the organ, which makes the decision whether the entity will take action based on the information at hand, is to be attributed. However, limiting knowledge attribution to those organs, which decide on the relevant issues, shifts the risk of flaws in the transfer of information within the legal entity to third parties. To remedy this defect a third rule is introduced, which states that legal entity can also be made responsible for knowledge which is present in the sphere of control of the entity and which would have made its way to deciding organ in a properly organized legal entity. |