The instruments of public administration: definition and legal nature

The article attempts to formulate a definition and determine the essence of the instruments of public administration based on the analysis of doctrinal and normative sources. The authors propose the hypothesis that instruments of public administration constitute a relatively autonomous administrative-legal category, which is not reducible to forms, methods, or administrative procedures. These instruments possess their own legal nature, objective classification criteria, and functional linkage to the type of legal regime under which they are applied. As such, an instrument serves as a means of purposeful managerial influence on social processes and participants in public legal relations, based on the applicable norms of administrative law rather than creating them. It is emphasized that under special legal regimes (in particular, under martial law), the system of public administration instruments undergoes transformations that affect the boundaries of their lawful application, the degree of accountability, legitimacy, and effectiveness. This, in turn, necessitates a reconsideration and updating of existing theoretical and legal approaches to their legal evaluation. The authors argue that the main characteristics of public administration instruments are: legal certainty and administrative-legal nature; functional subordination to the public interest; connection to the competence of the subject; operational nature; integrative character; and regime sensitivity. In conclusion, the authors define instruments of public administration as legally mediated means of purposeful managerial influence by a duly authorized subject of public administration on social processes and participants in public legal relations, exercised within the limits of their competence and based on current administrative law, in order to realize the public interest and achieve socially significant outcomes within a given legal regime.