Civil law of Russia. Public competition: what is it and why are we talking about it? A public competition should be aimed at

Public competition is a type of public promise of reward. The person who publicly announced the payment of a monetary reward or the issuance of another award (payment of an award) for the best performance of work or achievement of other results (the organizer) must pay (give out) the stipulated award to the one who, in accordance with the terms of the competition, is recognized as its winner. A public competition must be aimed at achieving some socially useful goals.

Organizers of the competition there may be any legal entities and (or) individuals, as well as state bodies and local governments. Circle of participants public competition is also unlimited.

Types of public competition: open - when the offer of the competition organizer to take part in it is addressed to everyone by means of an announcement in the press or other media; closed – when an offer to take part in a competition is sent to a certain circle of people chosen by the competition organizer.

Form announcement of a public competition can be of any kind.

The conditions that the competition announcement must contain are: are divided into mandatory and optional.

Mandatory conditions include: information about the essence of the task (the subject of the competition); deadline for completing the task; the procedure for presenting works or other achievements; place of presentation of the work; criterion, procedure and deadline for comparative evaluation of works; amount of remuneration (bonus); procedure and deadline for announcing the results of the competition.

Optional conditions are specified at the free discretion of the competition organizer, and their number and nature depend on the characteristics of the competition.

Changing the conditions and canceling the public competition: the person who announced the public competition has the right to change its conditions or cancel the competition only during the first half of the period established for the submission of works; notification of changes in conditions or cancellation of the competition must be made in the same way as the competition was announced; the person who announced the competition must reimburse the expenses incurred by any person, cat. completed the work specified in the advertisement before he became or should have become aware of the change in the conditions of the competition and its cancellation; the person who announced the competition is released from the obligation to reimburse expenses if he proves that the specified work was not performed in connection with the competition, in particular before the announcement of the competition, or knowingly did not comply with the conditions of the competition.

The competition organizer is obliged to return competition works that are not awarded an award to the participants immediately after the announcement of the results. Failure to fulfill this obligation gives the competition participants the right to demand the return of their works, and in case of their loss or damage, compensation for losses.

nothing more than a one-sided legal transaction. That is, to carry it out, the desire or will of one party is sufficient.

And what’s interesting is that from the side of the person who completed certain work and ultimately presented it to the organizer or organizer of the event, this process will also be considered as a one-sided legal transaction. Since this person participates in the competition without prior approval of the necessary issues related to this event.

It must be said that a public competition is a type of legal action such as public announcement of the award. And both of these forms civil law unites actually for some lawful action.

The organizers of a public competition can be

individuals or various types of organizations. Often, those who announced such a competition, as well as those who participate in it, do not fully understand the legal aspect of such an event. And this sometimes leads to the fact that, without knowing all the intricacies of organizing this process and the subsequent responsibility for their public statements or proposals, the organizers, to put it mildly, take a great risk, not quite clearly understanding the situation from a formal point of view.

After all, any event publicly announced as a competition is, first of all, a process related to the institution of civil law. From which it follows that someone who publicly promises to provide, as a result of a competition, a certain reward in the form of a specific award (cash or material prize) as a result of a competition, undertakes obligations to hold a certain competitive event within a certain period of time with the subsequent issuance of a specified reward to that person. of the participants who will be declared the winner of this event.

That is, in legal terminology, a person who publicly announces the payment of a monetary reward or the issuance of any other award for the best performance of work or achievement of other results, being the organizer and initiator of the competition, must fulfill its publicly stated promise.

All these public announcements are usually made either at some events or in the media information, or on Internet sites. That is, the public nature of such an event is determined by the fact that its information is addressed to a wide and, in essence, indefinite circle of people located in any kind of public place.

But let's talk about this in more detail. Often - and especially recently - there are many public competitions of various sizes. As a rule, they are announced and held when their organizers intend to encourage their audience to achieve a certain result in a particular type of activity. That is, one of their features is that such events should set themselves the task of achieving some socially useful goals.

In practice, again, such high moral motivations that characterize a public competition as a public event are not always found in this case. More often, such events are announced for a more prosaic purpose: to warm up, as they say, the audience; get people interested in a particular opportunity; In this way, obtain their loyal attitude towards this or that type of business proposal.

However, there is nothing wrong with this. The main thing is that all conditions are met and that everyone is satisfied.

A prerequisite for a public competition is

setting the exact date for the announcement of its result or choosing a certain period of time during which, after the decision on the winner is made, these results will be announced.

Such an announcement occurs either verbally for personally invited participants, or using various types of media. Each winner of the competition is notified separately; often the organizers announce the winners and the results of the event in a specially organized ceremonial atmosphere.

Speaking about the reward, it should be noted that it can be both a certain monetary reward and some other type of prize or several prizes given to the winners. In this case, the number of announced prize places is taken into account.

Sometimes it happens that the work indicated in the competition conditions is completed by a group of participants of two or more people. Then the winnings or bonus must be distributed in accordance with a separate agreement negotiated between the participants. If such an agreement amicably, as they say, cannot be reached, the court decision comes into force, which puts an end to everything in this kind of dispute (Clause 2 of Article 1059 of the Civil Code). As usual, the competition organizers do not interfere in this process.

It often happens that at competitions those who become their winners are awarded various kinds of honorary titles, certificates, diplomas, honorary diplomas, ceremonial medals, cups, and so on.

At the same time, from a legal point of view, moral encouragement cannot be a reward for participation or victory in a competition and becomes such only with the issuance of a prize of a material nature.

Despite this, this kind of reward as a moral incentive for the winners is used by the organizers quite often.

An example of one such event is the once held open all-Russian competition for scholarships from the President of the Russian Federation.

In this case, the basis for participation in it, along with other conditions, was precisely the fact that applicants for participation in the competition already had the title of winners in various kinds of creative competitions and Olympiads.

Well, returning to the topic of public competition as such, we should note one more side of it.

If, say, something went wrong with the organizers -

the person who announced the public competition, may change its terms. But this can only be done practically at the beginning, or more precisely, during the first half of the deadline that was established for submitting competition tasks.

It must be remembered that:

• Information about the cancellation of the competition or changes in the conditions of its conduct must reach its participants in the same way and in the manner that were used when announcing the competition;
• If the person or organization that announced the competition decides to cancel it for some reason, - they must be prepared to reimburse expenses incurred by any participant who has completed the tasks provided for in the terms and conditions, until the moment when the participant in the competition was informed either of a change in the conditions or of the cancellation of the competition event;
• At the same time, competition announcers may be exempt from the need to reimburse expenses only if they can prove that tasks or certain work in this regard were performed by participants regardless of the announced event or did not comply with its conditions.
• By the way: we must keep in mind that a publicly announced competition is usually considered invalid and insolvent if only one person takes part in it or intends to take part in it.

If we consider specific situations- we can give an example of a similar event announced in 2003 by Bee Line GSM. Thus, she announced a public all-Russian competition for best story dating through mobile phone, and this story was to be presented to the founders as an article on a designated topic.

In this particular example, it is obvious that in this case there came together, as they say, the private interest of a business organization (advertising, increasing the number of clients), and the goal, as they say, of a socially beneficial nature: strengthening mutual communication between people plus the creation, moreover, a certain product of a creative nature: a literary or journalistic article.

That is why, in this case, the relations between the organizers and participants of the competition must be regulated by the legal norms given in Chapter 57 of the Civil Code “Public Competition”. This chapter Civil Code, divided into articles 1057 -1061, regulates such events.

Full text of Art. 1057 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with comments. New current edition with additions for 2019. Legal advice on Article 1057 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

1. A person who publicly announced the payment of a monetary reward or the issuance of another reward (payment of an award) for the best performance of work or achievement of other results (public competition) must pay (give out) the stipulated reward to the one who, in accordance with the terms of the competition, is recognized as his winner.

2. A public competition must be aimed at achieving some socially useful goals.

3. A public competition can be open when the offer of the competition organizer to take part in it is addressed to everyone by means of an announcement in the press or other means mass media, or closed, when an offer to take part in the competition is sent to a certain circle of people at the choice of the competition organizer. An open competition may be due to the preliminary qualification of its participants, when the competition organizer carries out a preliminary selection of persons who wish to take part in it.

4. The announcement of a public competition must contain at least the conditions stipulating the essence of the task, the criteria and procedure for assessing the results of work or other achievements, the place, deadline and procedure for their presentation, the size and form of the award, as well as the procedure and timing for announcing the results of the competition.

5. For a public competition containing an obligation to conclude an agreement with the winner of the competition, the rules provided for by this chapter apply to the extent that Articles 447 - 449 of this Code do not provide otherwise.

Commentary on Article 1057 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

1. The article under comment is devoted to the organization of a public competition. A public competition is a type of public promise of a reward. When announcing it, the person who publicly announced the payment of a monetary reward or the issuance of another reward (payment of an award) for the best performance of work or achievement of other results must pay (give out) the stipulated reward to the one who, in accordance with the competition, is recognized as the best performer of the work or has achieved best results.

2. In contrast to the public promise of a reward, a public competition is aimed at achieving some socially useful goals and can be addressed to everyone (open competition) and to a certain circle of people chosen by the competition organizer (closed competition).

For example, the purpose of holding an open public competition for the best history lesson on the topic: “The first world war on the map of the Union State" there was a need to find new formats for conducting history lessons in order to form and educate military-patriotic feelings among the younger generation, to identify the common historical roots of the Russian and Belarusian peoples.

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See the Regulations on the public competition for the best history lesson on the topic: “The First World War on the map of the Union State / URL: http://www.kp.ru/daily/26245/3126779/
The purpose of the public competition “BAM in the history of my family” is to popularize the history of Russia, promote patriotism and the achievements of domestic railway construction.

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See Regulations on the public competition "BAM in the history of my family" / URL: http://www.kp.ru/daily/26227.5/3110226/
The purpose of the All-Russian competition for the best scientific work among students, graduate students and young scientists of higher educational institutions of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia is to support talented youth, promote scientific knowledge and creative achievements, identify and develop creative abilities and interest in scientific activities among Russian youth (see the order of the Ministry agriculture RF dated July 17, 2014 N 283).

3. The announcement of the competition may take place in the press or other media. This announcement, like the promise of a reward, is a unilateral transaction or public offer. Clause 4 of Art. speaks in favor of the latter. 1057 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, namely the fact that the announcement of a public competition must contain conditions stipulating the essence of the task, the criteria and procedure for assessing the results of work and other achievements, the place, deadline and procedure for their presentation, the size and form of the award, the procedure and timing for the implementation of the results competition.

For example, an announcement about an open public competition of works for awards from the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of education in 2014 was published on January 15, 2014 in " Rossiyskaya newspaper"(federal issue N 6278), as well as on the website of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science.

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See also the electronic version: URL: http://www.rg.ru/2014/01/13/konkurs-site-dok.html
See URL: http://Ministry of Education and Science.rf/news/3856/file/2660/Announcement of competition_prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of education in 2014.doc
Announcements about the competition “BAM in the history of my family” and for the best history lesson on the topic: “The First World War on the map of the Union State”, as well as the corresponding regulations on the conduct of these competitions, were published on the website of the Publishing House “Komsomolskaya Pravda” CJSC on the Internet at: www.kp.ru.

4. Since the competition is a competition that determines the best among its participants, it assumes the presence of several participants who take into account the announced conditions and submit works to the competition - the results of authorship, performing skills, sports achievements, scientific works, etc.

Submission of works and achievements to the competition is acceptance and the moment of concluding the contract (). This is a conditional transaction with a suspensive condition, since the obligation to pay the reward arises only for the winner. The form of the agreement can be any. Most often, evidence of its conclusion is a written presentation of work results or other achievements. Essential condition of such an agreement - its subject: the above-mentioned works or achievements, the criteria and procedure for their evaluation, the size and form of the award, the procedure and timing for announcing the results of the competition.

The reward can be paid not only in cash. Memorial signs are awarded as a reward. The issuance of an award may be accompanied by the awarding of various types of certificates, the awarding of honorary titles of laureate or diploma winner of the competition. However, these are only measures of moral encouragement, which in themselves are not a competitive award.

The subjects of the contract can be any natural or legal entities. The competition organizer can be: government bodies and organs local government.

5. For a public competition that contains an obligation to conclude an agreement with the winner of the competition, the provisions on the public competition and, accordingly, the articles on concluding an agreement at auction (Articles 447-449 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) apply.

6. Applicable law:
- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated August 28, 2013 N 744;
- order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated 09/08/2014 N MS-127-r;
- order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated 09/08/2014 N MS-126-r;
- order of the Ministry of Labor and social protection RF dated 04.08.2014 N 516;
- order of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation dated July 17, 2014 N 283;
- order Federal service execution of punishments dated May 13, 2014 N 224;
- order of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs dated March 17, 2014 N 60;
- order of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs dated March 12, 2014 N 56;
- order of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs dated March 12, 2014 N 50;
- order of the Federal Forestry Agency dated 03/07/2014 N 61;
- order of the Federal Bailiff Service dated January 15, 2014 N 3;
- order of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs dated January 13, 2014 N 6;
- order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated August 10, 2013 N 612;
- Regulations on the competition "For the production of high-quality food products"(approved by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation on August 20, 2014);
- Regulations on the All-Russian competition "For service to sport" (for contribution to the development physical culture and sports) (approved by the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation on July 21, 2014);
- Regulations on the All-Russian competition "Sports Solidarity" (for strengthening international sports relations) (approved by the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation on July 1, 2014);
- Regulations on the competition “Best Family Livestock Farm” (approved by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation on June 18, 2014);
- Regulations on the All-Russian competition for the title “Pride of Russia” (best athlete, best athlete, best coach) (approved by the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation on June 11, 2014);
- Regulations on the All-Russian competition for the title “Epoch in Sports” (for many years of work for the benefit of the development of sports in the country) (approved by the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation on June 11, 2014);
- letter of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated January 28, 2014 N VK-101/09.

7. Judicial practice:
- determination of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated April 11, 2012 N 32-APG12-3;
- Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Far Eastern District dated October 22, 2009 N F03-5483/2009 in case N A59-148/2009;
- Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Far Eastern District dated October 19, 2009 N F03-5340/2009 in case N A59-6592/2008;
- Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Far Eastern District dated October 16, 2009 N F03-5395/2009 in case N A59-6582/2008;
- resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga District dated January 22, 2009 in case No. A55-8445/2008.

Consultations and comments from lawyers on Article 1057 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

If you still have questions regarding Article 1057 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and you want to be sure of the relevance of the information provided, you can consult the lawyers of our website.

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The word "competition" means competitiveness, competition, competition. This category is used in law when it is necessary to obtain the optimal (best) result from a number of possible results, based on the legal model of competition, and has both an inter-industry and intra-industry character.

Outside the civil law regulation of competitions are relations that are built on an industry principle. These are, in particular, the relations regarding competitive personnel selection.

The competitions are divided into bidding competitions and public competitions.

Chapter is devoted to public competitions. 57 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In the Civil Code of the RSFSR of 1964, this institute was regulated by the norms of Chapter. 39 "Competition". Of course, the design of a public competition has undergone significant changes, so its subject can be not only the best performance of work (as provided for by previously applicable legislation), but also the achievement of other results (for example, a competition for pianists or dancers).

A public competition as a civil legal institution covers relations related to the formulation of a problem, which is resolved on the basis of a competition between an indefinite number of persons with the payment of a special reward to the winner. There are a number of features that characterize a public competition, which in essence bring this model closer to a public promise of a reward.

First, the promise of reward for better performance of a particular job or achievement of other results must be public, t.s. addressed to more than one person. Competitions can be open or closed depending on to whom the offer to participate in the competition is addressed.

At open In the competition, the invitation to take part in it is addressed to everyone, and everyone who responds to it can become a participant in the competition. In this case, the circle of participants in the competition may be wider (all those who wish to take part in it) or narrower (competition among persons of a certain profession), but it is always characterized by quantitative uncertainty and unknown to the organizer of the competition of the specific composition of its participants.

Closed a competition, on the contrary, is characterized by the fact that an offer to participate in it is sent to a certain circle of people chosen by the competition organizer. In this case, the circle of participants in the competition is always limited and known to its organizer.

Secondly, the public competition must be aimed at achieving some socially beneficial purposes. Otherwise, the public competition is declared invalid with the consequences provided for in paragraph 2 of Art. 167 Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Thirdly, the promised remuneration should not be the usual payment provided for by current legislation (labor, copyright) for performing a particular work, but a specially established bonus, which is paid to the winner of the competition for the result achieved, regardless of his right to receive other types of remuneration for his work. In this case, the bonus must be in cash or in kind (for example, a voucher, a car). Any other incentive for the winner of a competition (for example, the issuance of cups, certificates, diplomas, medals or other distinctive signs), if it is not combined with the payment of a bonus, is not recognized as a competitive reward.

Fourthly, a reward must be promised for best execution certain work or achieving other results, which implies the possibility of comparing and choosing one of many results comparable in their qualitative characteristics, also achieved by different persons. Consequently, the work must meet the conditions of the competition, and its nature must be such that its result when performed by different persons can be comparable.

Therefore, the competition must be declared invalid if only one work (one result) or, although several, are presented by one person.

Features of the competition announcement

The announcement of a competition in a public manner is made by publication in a newspaper, issuing an advertisement in public places, notices on radio, television and other media.

The conditions that the competition announcement must contain are defined in paragraph 4 of Art. 1057 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. They are divided into mandatory, i.e., such as must be specified when announcing any competition, and additional, t.s. those that are indicated at the free discretion of the competition organizer, and their number and nature depend on the characteristics of the competition. In the absence mandatory conditions or at least one of them, the competition is considered unannounced. These conditions include:

1. information about the essence of the task(subject of the competition). The level of detail of this information depends on the purpose and nature of the competition. Thus, a competition task can be expressed in a simple statement of a problem indicating the form of its solution (for example, the creation of a monument to internationalist soldiers) and can be detailed to specific indicators and features that must be met by the solution of the competition task (the creation of the same monument, but on the basis of a certain plot);

2. criteria and procedure for assessing work results or other achievements. They are established depending on the nature of the work itself. The evaluation criteria are determined by the competition organizer, but must be announced and explained to interested parties. The competition can be held in several stages, after which the most worthy works are evaluated and selected for participation in the next stage. The final evaluation of the work may be preceded by its preliminary open discussion in one or another group, the placement of works submitted for the competition at exhibitions for public viewing in order to determine public opinion about these works. The deadline for the final evaluation of the work is also recognized as the deadline for making a decision on the payment of remuneration to its author;

3. place, deadline and procedure for presenting work or other achievements. The place where the work will be presented is indicated in the competition announcement, among other conditions, and is of significant importance not only for the participants of the competition, but also for attracting public attention to the competition, especially when holding performing arts competitions. In the latter case, the place of presentation of the work is recognized as the place where the activity to be reviewed and assessed is carried out.

The deadline can be determined either by the length of time during which the task must be completed, or by a precisely fixed calendar date to which the execution of the task is timed, when, for example, the subject of the competition is an activity that is subject to evaluation during its execution itself. Final and interim deadlines may be set.

Failure to complete an assignment or failure to submit work to deadline Regardless of their reasons, it entails a refusal to accept work for the competition, which cannot be appealed either administratively or in court.

The procedure for submitting a work to a competition is determined by the nature of the work and is expressed either in the transfer by the participant of the competition to its organizer of a certain result of his work in the form of a materialized object, or by the execution of the work with the direct perception of this performance by the organizer of the competition. Refusal to accept a work for a competition can only be due to its non-compliance with the conditions of the competition or violation of the procedure and deadlines for its submission;

4. size and form of remuneration. They are usually established in the form of a certain amount of money (the amount of remuneration may vary depending on the place occupied), but can also be expressed in some other form: a valuable item (car, apartment), a tourist voucher, the right to conclude an agreement;

5. procedure and timing for announcing the results of the competition. The results of the competition are determined in the decision on the evaluation of competition works. ABOUT the decision taken participants of the competition may be notified in the same form in which the competition was announced, or in another way (for example, by written notification of all applicants or only the winners of the competition, etc.).

Additional conditions of the competition are established by its organizer and detail its individual provisions to add certainty to the relationship between the parties. Most often they relate to the design of works submitted to the competition; composition of the jury; procedure and timing of remuneration payment; the procedure for using awarded works of science, literature or art and paying royalties to the authors of these works; the procedure for returning works not awarded a prize to competition participants, etc.

Changing the conditions and canceling the public competition are allowed only within the first half of the period established for the submission of works (clause 1 of Article 1058 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Changes in the conditions of the competition or its cancellation must be brought to the attention of participants in the same way in which the competition was announced (clause 2 of Article 1058). Fulfillment of this requirement releases the competition organizer from the obligation to accept for the competition a work performed on the originally specified conditions, even if the author of this work, for good reason, did not know about the changes made to the competition conditions or about its cancellation. However, by virtue of clause 3 of Art. 1058, the organizer in this case is obliged to reimburse expenses incurred by any person who performed the work specified in the advertisement before he became or should have become aware of a change in the conditions of the competition or its cancellation. The organizer of the competition is released from the obligation to reimburse such expenses if he proves that the specified work was not performed in connection with the competition, in particular before the announcement of the competition, or knowingly did not comply with the conditions of the competition.

Violation of the requirements for the procedure for changing the conditions of the competition or its cancellation entails in accordance with clause 4 of Art. 1058 responsibility of the organizer in the form of payment of rewards to those participants in the competition who completed work that satisfies the conditions specified in the competition announcement.

Eligibility for an award arises for the applicant only if his work is recognized as the best and (or) worthy of remuneration in accordance with the terms of the competition. If the results specified in the advertisement are achieved in work performed jointly by two or more persons, the reward is distributed in accordance with the agreement reached between them. If such an agreement is not reached, the procedure for distributing the award is determined by the court (Clause 2 of Article 1059 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The legislator additionally ensures the interests of the person who announced a public competition to create a work of science, literature and art. According to Art. 1060 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the person who announced such a competition, unless otherwise provided by its terms, is recognized pre-emptive right to conclude with the author of a work that has been awarded a specified award an agreement on the use of the work with the payment of a certain remuneration to the author. An agreement which, in the case provided for in Art. 1060, the organizer concludes with the author of the work, according to general rule represents license agreement(Article 1286 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

In accordance with Art. 1061 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the person who announced the public competition is obliged to return to the participants the works that were not awarded. The person who announced a public competition is released from this obligation when the appropriate instructions in this regard were contained in the competition announcement or arise from the nature of the work performed. So, if a competition was announced for the execution of the best culinary work followed by tasting of this product, then one can only “guess” about future fate work results.