Karnaukh V. Legal regulation of pre-contractual relations in the EU and Ukraine.

The thesis deals with the understanding of the category of pre-contractual legal relationship on the basis of the theory of civil legal relationships. The comparative analysis of the approaches to the legal regulation of pre-contractual relations has been made. The theoretical conclusions aimed to develop the doctrine of pre-contractual legal relationships have been given. The proposals which are aimed to improve the regulations of the Civil Code of Ukraine have been formulated. Such elements of civil categorical apparatus, as contract, will, expression of will, freedom of contract have been researched within the development of a conceptual understanding of the pre-contractual relations. Special attention is paid to the problem of recognition of the contract as a source of civil law. The author shows difficulties which come from such doctrinal understanding. The pecularities of interrelation between contract and obligation were analysed. The relevance of the approach to understanding contract as complicated juridical fact was shown. The nature of subjective legal abilities and corresponding acts was explored in the context of dynamics of pre-contractual legal relationships. The characteristics of the principle of freedom of contract were analysed within the conceptual vision of the essense of pre-contractual legal relationships. The legal definition and classification of pre-contractual legal relationships have been proposed. Their structure has been recognised as a traditional structure of civil legal relationship with its subjects, objects and content. Juridical facts which serve as the bases of occurance of the pre-contractual legal relationships have been defined. It was noted that informational duties and duty to conclude the contract are suitable for analysis in the pre-contractual legal field. The doctrinal approaches to the classification of pre-contractual agreements have been described. Special attention is paid to a preliminary contract. The movement of idea of culpa in contrahendo to the modern vision of pre-contractual liability has been described on the basis of German doctrine with considering limitations of Ukranian experience of legal regulation. The approach to understanding pre-contractual liability as a separate type of pre-contractual legal relationships was proposed on the basis of theory of sui generis nature of pre-contractual liability. The difference between torts and pre-contractual violations was revealed.