Administrative act in the system of public administration instruments: issues of definition and legal nature

In the paper, the authors conducted a study of the legal nature of an administrative act in the system of public administration instruments and the content of this concept in the administrative-legal doctrine and legislation on administrative procedure. It is noted that the law of the European Union and the legislation of individual European Union states defines an administrative act through the categories of individual legal acts, administrative-legal decisions of public administration bodies and administrative contracts with their participation, that is, through the instruments of activity of public administration bodies. On the other hand, the legal acts of the Council of Europe include regulatory legal acts as administrative acts of public administration bodies. In the administrative-legal doctrine of Ukraine, as a rule, an administrative act is defined precisely through the categories of decisions and actions of public administration bodies, that is, as defined in the Law of Ukraine "On Administrative Procedure". However, there are approaches to defining the concept of an administrative act as only an individual legal act that completes administrative proceedings (primarily of the administrative-service type); as an act that also completes administrative-delict proceedings; as individual acts and acts-actions of public administration bodies; as regulatory, individual legal acts, actions of public administration bodies and administrative acts with their participation. The key to defining the concept of an administrative act is the realization of the rights and legitimate interests of participants in administrative-procedural legal relations or the creation of conditions for such realization. The paper concludes that an administrative act is individual legal acts and acts-actions of public administration bodies, which complete administrative-service, administrative-delict proceedings and implement or create conditions for the realization of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities, the interests of the state. Regulatory and legal acts and administrative agreements do not belong to administrative acts and are independent instruments of the activities of public administration bodies.