Legal Presumptions of Good Faith and Reasonableness of Doing Business

Introduction: the good behavior of a business entity is formed, among other things, based on legal principles and presumptions. They determine the content of the subjective right to conduct business, its limitations, and the limits of its implementation. When creating a business model, it is advisable to conduct a study of the main elements of the structure of such a model in order to identify their legal essence, distinguish them from similar legal categories, identify key features, and formulate proposals aimed at improving current legislation. Purpose and objectives: the purpose of the study is to develop basic approaches to the formulation of criteria for good faith and reasonable behavior and the formulation of proposals to change the mechanism of legal regulation in relation to these categories. The objectives of the study are to consider the definitions of good faith and reasonableness, compare these categories with each other and other similar categories, identify criteria for classifying behavior as good faith and reasonable, and study the means of legal regulation used by the legislator. Methods: the key means and methods of achieving the goal are the study of the categories of good faith and reasonableness of business using the methods of a systematic approach and determinism, modeling, abstraction and concretization, analogy, formal legal, comparative law, and the method of legal forecasting. The method of a systematic approach made it possible to investigate not only the signs of good faith and reasonable behavior as an element of the system of good behavior of a business entity but also to establish the factors ensuring the functioning of the system as an integral education. The method of determinism contributed to the consideration of the maximum number of factors affecting the reasonable and good-faith behavior of the subject of business relations. The methods of modeling, analogy, abstraction, and concretization made it possible to construct an abstract model of good faith and reasonable behavior to predict the patterns of development of the object under study. The methods of formal legal, comparative law, and legal forecasting allow taking into account the specifics of the legal nature of the concepts under study, comparing homogeneous legal phenomena, and identifying prospects for the development of legal relations in dynamics. Results: the paper reveals the problems associated with the fundamental categories of the exercise of the subjective right to conduct business, the categories of good faith and reasonableness. The indicated phenomena are analyzed from a different perspective, including the position of presumptions and principles of law and the limits of their implementation. A comparative analysis is carried out with two antagonisms: bad faith and unreasonable conduct. Based on the conducted research, the signs of good faith and reasonable behavior of a business entity are formulated. Its subjective and objective factors are revealed. The trends are formulated to transform good faith and reasonable behavior into offenses that entail civil liability. Conclusions: the study of the mechanism of legal regulation of the fair and reasonable exercise of the right by business entities made it possible to express a negative attitude towards the legal means used in the form of prohibitions as well as the legislative technique used. The proposals aimed at optimizing the system of legal regulation of relations are formulated.