Kelson's View on Legal Personality

The question asks to identify the jurist who viewed the legal personality of a company as essentially indistinguishable from that of an individual.

Kelson's Theory of Legal Personality

Hans Kelsen, a prominent legal philosopher, proposed the "Pure Theory of Law." According to Kelsen:

• Legal personality, whether of an individual or a corporation, is a legal construct.
• The law imputes rights and duties to both individuals and companies.
• From a purely legal standpoint, the way the law assigns these roles is fundamentally the same, thus there is no essential difference in their legal personality.
• He saw both as centers of imputation, created by the legal order.

Comparing Legal Theorists

While other theorists like Maitland and Gierke discussed group personality and corporate identity extensively, Kelson's specific contribution focused on the abstract, normative nature of legal personhood, equating the legal status of companies and individuals as creations of legal norms.

Therefore, Kelson is the jurist who stated that there is essentially no difference between the legal personality of a company and that of an individual.