Introduction
Legal person refers to a human or natural person entity for legal purposes The concept of a legal person is quite complicated and challenging since it involves many legal issues. However, a clear cut definition can be achieved through the following description. According to this definition; a legal person refers to an individual who in most cases, have been legally recognized under laws and have rights like ownership and personal independence. These people have rights as stipulated by law to own goods, properties, land, services, vehicles. In addition to this, they have also acquired some legal formalities like birth certificates marriage licenses, adoption papers, etc. This is mainly because of the fact that no one has the right to possess or control others’ property. This therefore makes them not only separate from the material possessions but they are also different from any other legal persons. Thus, a legal person becomes a thing independent of other individuals.
Kane, D (2002) explains that every country in the world has its laws which define its legal status of being a legal person. Some countries have legal person laws which defines how they identify a legal person Examples of the countries with legal person laws include Japan, United States of America, Australia, Germany, South Africa, Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, among others. In addition to these, a legal person is defined as an entity created by law through a deed or contract. “…a legal person is a legal creature with all the rights described above in addition to those legal powers necessary to achieve this status”. These legal person laws define the legal standing of these entities since they are seen as existing within a certain society. Moreover, legal persons are also considered to be part of the state where such legal persons are located. They therefore become a state’s citizen. Thus, in essence, legal person (human or non-human) is a form of self existence in that they become entitled to certain specific rights and privileges as stipulated in their respective legal statutes.
On the other hand, a natural person person does not have any specific rights apart from having the same rights and status as their counterparts ( McCullough et al., 2008). These other rights and privileges that come with natural person person status include freedom, individuality, privacy, equality among others. It should however be noted that people and natural persons do not share these identical privileges except those associated with biological makeup. a natural person does not have a similar legal status as a legal person, but instead they are considered to be forms of living organism.
From these definitions therefore, we realize that legal persons have the same and equal rights as compared to natural person persons. With respect to these two categories of legal people, there exist three main characteristics that make them distinct and unique. First is what constitutes legal persons. According to this definition there exist two basic elements. Both these attributes include status and relationship. Status in this context refers to their legal rights and privileges as stipulated in their respective legislation while relationship refers to the legal bond among them. Secondly, there are various characteristics that classify legal persons. Among these is the relationship that exists between them and their clients. As a result, legal people are distinguished and classified depending on their level of knowledge and expertise. Most of the legal professionals agree that even though legal matters may seem to overlap in nature, they are quite distinct from one another.
On the other hand, natural person persons lack this kind of relationship and status. Their status is entirely determined by biological makeup, genetics, constitution (both genetic and chromosomal), and the external environment. Hence, even though they share some common characteristics, they are highly distinctive from one another. In determining the legal status of the natural person person, various things should be put into consideration. First, the extent of legal recognition depends on its origin. Therefore, these societies can either recognize or refuse legal personality depending on their culture and history. The cultural aspect has been used as a major determinant factor in determining legal recognition Shah and Mamta, (2000). What also determines legal recognition is whether the person under consideration is a male or female. If there exists any sex differences in determining the legal status of the person; then the courts will determine for a legal person from either a male or a female.
The third point of difference between legal persons and natural persons is the role played by religion in defining a legal persona. In legal cases, religious affiliations do not play a significant role in determining the legal status of an individual Therefore, it is important to note that legal persons are usually not subjected to any form of discrimination based on their beliefs. This therefore means that legal parties do not consider the religious affiliations of anyone when coming up with arguments meant to defend a client Consequently, all judicial bodies in charge of enforcing the law base their decisions on facts and evidence.
Legal persons on the other hand are also subjected to legal procedures, unlike the natural persons who are not subject to these procedures As already mentioned earlier, the process of obtaining legal recognition on behalf of a legal person takes place through various court proceedings. Through this process therefore, it is evident that legal persons are less influenced by religion. Besides this, religious affiliation does not matter when it comes to deciding on legal person status.
Conclusion
Thus contrary to the assumption made by a section of judges that legal persons are subjected to a more rigorous set of processes than non-human persons it is true that the process of acquiring legal recognition is far much easier for legal persons as compared to their fellow citizens. In addition to this, the legal process of proving a legal person’s rights is comparatively swift compared to the natural person process of proving such rights