Specifics of the civil law nature of service level agreements (SLA) and prospects of their application in the domestic it sphere of Ukraine

Abstract

Problem setting. Due to the information sphere’s rapid and dynamic development many new specific contractual structures emerge. Amongst others, an IT service level agreement (SLA or Service Level Agreement) constitutes a particular interest as a subject for scientific research. As the doctrine of civil law provides a solid legal basis that makes a direct impact on lawmaking and law enforcement in the private law sphere, and thus actively influences the regulation of social relations on storage, processing, provision, receipt and dissemination of information, ensuring proper and positive dynamics of the IT sphere development, the emergence and widespread use of IT service level agreements (SLAs) necessitates definition and qualification by the science of civil law and demands further research on the specifics of legal regulation of SLAs. Analysis of recent researches and publications. Special scientific research on the civil law regulation of relations in the provision of information services was carried out by such Ukrainian scholars as: V. I. Borisova, Y. P. Burilo, B. M. Gogol, N. O. Davidova, O. V. Kokhanovska, V. O. Kokhanovskyi, A. O. Kodynets, O. O. Kulinich, E. O. Michurin, V. V. Nakhratov, O. P. Orliuk, I. V. Panova, O. V. Sibilova, N. V. Fedorchenko, E. O. Kharitonov, O. I. Kharitonova, G. Y. Sharkova, I. R. Shishka. Purpose of the research is to investigate the civil law nature of IT service level agreements (SLA or Service Level Agreement) under the current legislation of Ukraine. Аrticle’s main body. The article focuses on the civil law analysis of relations arising in the IT environment. It is noted that civil law relations in the IT sphere have a number of specific characteristics due to both the dynamic nature of scientific and technological progress and the complex nature of the relevant types of digital products and related works or services. Relations in the IT sphere can be broadly understood as relations concerning the collection, storage, distribution and protection of electronic information in the global market. Conclusions and prospects for the development. The authors established that civil law relations in the IT sphere have a number of specific characteristics due to both the dynamic nature of scientific and technological progress and the complex nature of the relevant types of digital products and related works or services. Relations in the IT sector can be broadly understood as relations regarding the collection, storage, distribution and protection of electronic information in the global market. The specifics of the SLA also lie in its special purpose which is to establish a stable relationship between the service provider and the customer, to establish a transparent system for monitoring the quality of the service provided and to outline the liability for failure to achieve the agreed quantitative and qualitative parameters. The most optimal contractual structure for the regulation of SLA relations in the Ukrainian legal environment is a service agreement. The specificity of the civil law nature of a service level agreement lies in the organic combination of legal and technical components of its content. The SLA corresponds to the essence and nature of the relationship, the scope of rights and obligations of the supplier and the customer, respectively, and the relationship between them should be governed by the provisions of Chapter 63 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.