The Essence of Private Legal Relations Arising as a Result of Digital Transformation

The relevance of the study is caused by both the rapid processes of digital transformation in the world, the active development of legislation in the European Union and Ukraine regulating this area, and the lack of consensus among scholars regarding the nature and place of private relations arising from digital transformation in the civil law system. This, in turn, leads to difficulties in determining the appropriate mechanism for their legal regulation. The main purpose of this research is to analyze the essence of private legal relations arising as a result of digital transformation. The main emphasis is placed on the views of representatives of innovative and conservative approaches to understanding the essence of civil legal relations arising as a result of digital transformation. Methods. The study uses the following methods of scientific cognition: logical and legal, regulatory and dogmatic, comparative, analysis, and others. Results. It is established that depending on the stages of introduction of digital technologies into the activities of a legal entity and/or the life of an individual, civil legal relations are divided into: those arising from the creation of digital technologies; those arising from their implementation; those arising from the use of the results of digital transformation. Depending on the sector of the digital single market, civil legal relations may arise in the following sectors: electronic trust services; telecommunications; and e-commerce. Their specifics are analyzed. Conclusions. The author proves that civil legal relations do not exist and cannot exist in the digital environment. The digital environment is only a means (tool) through which interaction between subjects takes place. Therefore, legal relations arising from digital transformation are well-known and traditional for civil law. And the statement that a new type of civil legal relationship has been formed in the digital environment, which exists exclusively in the digital environment, is false, as is the statement about the existence of virtual reality, in which civil legal relations and their objects allegedly arise.