A procedure consists of a sequence of acts or operations that usually must be carried out in a certain order in the presence of certain authorities or private persons in order to obtain the execution of a particular legal act.
A legal (legal) procedure is a system that:
a) is oriented to achieve a specific legal result;
b) consists of successive acts of behavior and as an activity is internally structured by legal relations;
c) has a model (program) of its development, preliminarily established at normative or individual level;
d) is hierarchically constructed;
e) is constantly in dynamics, development;
f) it has a service nature: it acts as a means of implementation of the main, principal legal relation for it.
Legal procedure has the following inherent features:
- it is clearly stated in normative acts (for example, the procedure for admission to universities is prescribed in the Rules of admission to universities);
- it concerns the performance of legal activities (conclusion of marriage, assignment of pension, business registration, etc.);
- violation of the legal procedure, as a rule, entails the occurrence of adverse consequences (for example, violation of the procedure for admission to the university entails the cancellation of the order of admission);
- is focused on the achievement of a certain goal (for example, the registration of the company pursues the goal of identifying a new taxpayer);
- guarantees the effectiveness of legal activity. Legal procedure is a normatively established procedure
- legal activity, aimed at the implementation of norms of substantive law and protected from violations by sanctions.
Legal procedures are of great importance in private law, but are even more applicable in public law.
In private law, clear procedures determine the adoption of many important acts. In business law, for example, the procedure for the establishment of joint stock companies, bankruptcy proceedings, etc. In labor law, we have to deal with various procedures for dismissal of employees, resolution of labor conflicts, etc.
In public law, quite a large number of legal acts can be adopted only after clear and very laborious procedures. In administrative and financial law, procedures are very important, since the main focus is the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, control over the activities of public authorities. In constitutional law, the most important is the law-making procedure.