LEGAL QUALIFICATION OF THE MENTORING AGREEMENT

Abstract

The article attempts to provide a legal qualification of the mentoring agreement. In particular, it emphasizes the cross-sectoral nature of the mentoring institution, which encompasses elements of family, civil, and administrative law, and highlights the need to consider this specificity when defining the legal status of such an agreement. Within the context of the current regulatory framework for mentoring in Ukraine, the article points out the complexity of the legal construct that precedes the emergence of mentoring legal relations, which includes a sequence of imperative legal facts. One such fact is the conclusion of a mentoring agreement, which currently lacks a clearly defined legal status. The absence of a legislative definition of the term “mentoring agreement” is critically assessed, with the argument that its formal legal consolidation would ensure a unified approach to interpretation and application in legal practice. The article outlines the current doctrinal discourse concerning the classification of agreements in the field of family law, specifically addressing the issue of correlation between the terms “contract in family law” and “family law contract”. Various scholarly views on the scope and criteria for distinguishing these categories are considered. The author draws attention to existing theoretical contradictions, particularly regarding the parties to family law contracts, the legal status of public entities as contracting parties, and the nature of legal relations arising from the placement of children into care or support settings. Based on the analysis of legal acts and doctrinal sources, the article concludes that the mentoring agreement should be classified as a distinct group of social agreements in family law. Although these agreements do not regulate classical family legal relations (such as marriage, adoption, or kinship), they are directly related to the implementation of the social function of family law and the protection of the child’s best interests. Given the specific subject matter of the mentoring agreement – providing support, assistance, and social integration of the child in preparation for independent living – as well as the composition of the parties involved (including institutional care facilities, guardianship authorities, and social service centers), it is proposed that the mentoring agreement be recognized as a legal act mediating social legal relations within the sphere of family law. It should, therefore, be allocated a separate place in the classification of agreements operating under the system of family law regulation.