Correlation of procedural and procedural forms of activity of public administration in the context of the Law of Ukraine «On administrative procedure»

Abstract

The article examines the essence of the legal procedural and legal proceedings form of public administration activity in the context of the adoption of the Law of Ukraine «On Administrative Procedure». The main differences of legal procedural and legal proceedings forms are revealed. The latter, due to the presence of stages, can cause the onset of a legal consequence even before the final resolution of the case, for example, after the completion of a specific stage of the case. While the procedural form can cause a legal consequence only at the final stage of its implementation. It is noted that a mandatory element of the legal proceedings form is the stage of proving the circumstances of the case. Based on the analysis of the features and correlation of the procedural and legal proceedings form, the thesis is substantiated that in the field of public management and administration there are two independent varieties of the legal proceedings form: administrative justice and administrative proceedings. Administrative procedure is a branch type of procedural form in administrative law. The impracticality of distinguishing between the concepts of administrative procedure and administrative proceedings on the basis of statics and dynamics has been proven. As branch varieties of higher-order categories (procedural and legal proceedings, respectively), these concepts can and should be distinguished precisely by generic features. It is emphasized that administrative procedure and administrative proceedings are specific concepts of different content categories, and attempts to establish generic-specific connections between these concepts lead to a number of logical contradictions. These contradictions are analyzed on the example of the Law of Ukraine «On Administrative Procedure». The main problematic issues, the solution of which is necessary before the entry into force of this law, are indicated. The circle of relations that should receive the legal proceedings form in administrative law has been clarified. At the same time, it was emphasized that administrative justice is an independent type of legal proceedings form of court activity and should not be considered part of the theory of procedural forms of public administration activity. Differences between theoretical and normative constructions of procedural and legal proceedings forms are emphasized. It is noted that their mistaken identification hinders the construction of the theory of administrative-procedural law, causes discussions about the relationship between the categories «administrative process», «administrative proceedings», «administrative procedure».