Сoncept, Content and Types of Procedures for Pre-Court Settlement of Administrative and Legal Disputes

Abstract

The topicality of the topic is due to the study of various forms and procedures of pre-trial settlement of administrative-legal disputes as alternatives to the judicial procedure for consideration of this category of disputes, which requires a much larger public resource. The purpose of the study is to carry out a scientific analysis of the legal nature of pre-trial procedures for resolving public-law disputes, their types, as well as substantiating proposals for their improvement. The tasks of the research are to carry out a theoretical-legal analysis of the concept and content of "administrative procedures", to define the concept of "procedures for pre-trial settlement of administrative-legal disputes", to clarify its content and types. Achieving the outlined goal and fulfilling the set tasks became possible thanks to the use of a complex of methods of scientific knowledge, in particular the dialectical method, the use of which made it possible to comprehensively reveal the nature of "administrative procedure" as a form of pre-trial settlement of an administrative-legal dispute, as well as to trace the genesis of this phenomenon; the formal legal method was used to establish the content of legal norms and analyze the practice of their application by courts. As a result of the study, it was established that the procedure for pre-trial settlement of administrative-legal disputes should be understood as a legally defined sequence of actions of a subject of authority or another authorized person aimed at taking measures to resolve an administrative-legal dispute out of court. The following alternative procedural forms of pre-trial and out-of-court settlement of administrative-legal disputes are singled out: 1) administrative procedure for consideration of complaints against decisions, actions or inaction of subjects of authority, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Appeals of Citizens"; 2) the procedure for appealing an administrative act of a subject of authority, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Administrative Procedure"; 3) mediation – an out-of-court procedure for the settlement of a public-law conflict (dispute), which is carried out with the help (mediation) of a mediator; 4) reaching a tax compromise when resolving tax disputes, in accordance with the Tax Code of Ukraine; 5) the procedure for administrative appeal of decisions in cases of administrative offenses, in accordance with the procedure specified by the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Customs Code of Ukraine. It has been proven that the most complete content of this procedure is defined in the Law of Ukraine "On Administrative Procedure", which gives reasons to distinguish the following stages of it: initiation of administrative proceedings (complaint and decision, action or inaction of the subject of authority) and filing of such a complaint directly to the entity authorized to consider it or through the Centers for the provision of administrative services; accepting, registering a complaint and opening proceedings for its consideration; investigation of the circumstances of the case and collection of evidence; consideration and resolution of the case; making a decision in a case in the form of an administrative act; bringing the administrative act to the attention of the applicant; ensuring the implementation of the adopted act. Proposals to improve the norms of the Law of Ukraine "On Mediation", which regulate the procedure for out-of-court settlement of public-law disputes by defining and meaningfully filling the stages of such a procedure, are substantiated.