The legal capacity of the creditor community in insolvency relations: theoretical justification and practical consequences

The subject of this study is a comprehensive analysis of the legal nature and legal status of the creditor community within the framework of bankruptcy procedures. The author consistently substantiates the thesis that this entity possesses a complete set of universal characteristics typical of a full-fledged subject of law. The work conducts a detailed critical analysis of the reductive position established in scientific doctrine and law enforcement practice, which reduces the essence of the creditor community to a narrow, limited model of a civil law community. Through an in-depth comparative legal analysis, its principled distinction from classical constructs of legal entities and simple partnerships is proven, indicating its unique legal nature that cannot be reduced to existing forms. Thus, the central question is the problem of adequate legislative recognition of its special legal subjectivity. The methodological foundation of the research consists of general scientific and specific scientific methods of cognition: dialectical, formal-legal, comparative-legal, system-structural analysis, as well as methods of legal modeling and interpretation of legal norms. The novelty of the study lies in the development and justification of the concept of legislative recognition of the creditor community as an independent sui generis legal subject. As a key mechanism for realizing its legal subjectivity, the establishment of the principle of unity of the community's will is proposed. This principle implies the establishment of a monopoly for its bodies to initiate claims that significantly affect the formation of the bankruptcy estate (for example, challenging the debtor's transactions, filing claims for subsidiary liability), while simultaneously introducing a mandatory pre-trial filter to review initiatives from individual creditors. The work analyzes both micro-level consequences of this recognition (increased efficiency and speed of the procedure, reduction of abuses) and macro-legal consequences (improvement of the entire insolvency institution, prompt transition to restructuring). The main conclusion is that the legislative consolidation of this status of the creditor community not only reflects objective legal reality but also creates a solid foundation for balanced and coherent modernization of the Russian bankruptcy institution.

bankruptcy, creditor community, legal capacity, meeting of creditors, legal entity, simple partnership, legal subject, civil law community, separate property, competitive mass