RELATION OF CONCEPTS “PUBLIC ASSOCIATIONS”, “NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS” AND “SOCIALLY ORIENTED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS”
The article outlines the problem of terminological ambiguity when using the concepts “public associations”, “non-profit organizations” and “socially oriented non-profit organizations”. Despite the existence of legal definitions for these concepts, in reality, it is difficult to choose the right term, for example, during the preparation of regulatory legal acts. The author discusses the differentiation between the concepts of “public associations”, “non-profit organizations” and “socially oriented non-profit organizations”. The article defines the similarities between concepts and their fundamental differences. The author concludes that the main differentiation of concepts should be based on the nature of legal relations as the terms “public associations” and “socially oriented non-profit organizations” are used in public legal relations, whereas the term “non-profit organizations” is used in private legal relations. Moreover, the author considers it is important to use only these three concepts since they cover all organizations involved in the development of civil society in Russia and solving social problems.