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NB: Administrative Law and Administration Practice
Reference:

Principles of public service provision: system and content.

Fialkovskaya Irina Dmitrievna

ORCID: 0000-0002-3322-2940

PhD in Law

Associate Professor, Department of Administrative and Financial Law, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod

603000, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Prospekt Gagarina str., 23

i.fialk@yandex.ru

DOI:

10.7256/2306-9945.2024.1.69515

EDN:

VEKFJI

Received:

08-01-2024


Published:

04-04-2024


Abstract: The principles on which the public sphere is based are of great importance in terms of the legitimacy and effectiveness of government. The article examines the principles underlying public activities in the provision of state and municipal services to citizens and organizations. The purpose of the study is to define a public service, characterize the principles established by law for the provision of public services and analyze their content. The principles of providing public services are an important independent part of government activity and are directly related to the observance of the rights of citizens in relations with the state. The implementation of the principles affects the quality of relations between the state and the individual and, ultimately, trust in government. When highlighting the general and special principles of the type of activity under consideration, the article presents their relationship, interdependence and influence. The article achieved the following results: the concept of public service was formulated; the difference between a public function and a public service is defined; the content of the principles for the provision of public services established by law analyzed; principles have been proposed that can be supplemented with legislation in order to improve the provision of public services; The interaction of the principles of providing public services with the general legal principles of public activity and with each other has been identified. The article establishes measures that promote the efficiency of the provision of public services and respect for the rights of citizens: standardization and regulation of services, the introduction of multifunctional centers operating on the “one-stop” principle, and the use of electronic forms of service provision.


Keywords:

principles, legal principles, public services, state services, municipal services, the applicant, standard of service, administrative regulations, multifunctional center, service portal

This article is automatically translated.

The principles of the implementation of various types of government activities have always been carefully studied by legal scholars. The principles of the state structure, the principles of the legal process, and the principles of justice are studied in legislation and the science of public law. In the theory of administrative law, considerable attention is paid to the principles of public administration, administrative proceedings, and state control (supervision) 1[1, pp.34-37; 2, pp.57-58; 3, pp.138-142]. Despite the difference between these types of activities, their relationship as "general and private", the private has all the properties of the general [4, p.62].

The principle is a complex phenomenon containing a pattern, a fundamental attitude, a relationship, as well as knowledge about these phenomena. Depending on the type of government activity, the structure of the principles differs, but their general content mostly coincides. Separately, the literature examines the issue of normative consolidation of principles. The legislative regulation of the system of principles in the sphere of power brings certainty and stability to the relevant legal relations.  The principles of any direction of public activity or part of it reflect objective patterns, correspond to an integral social phenomenon [5, pp.264-265]There is no doubt that these provisions fully apply to the principles of providing public services, as an important independent part of state and municipal activities.

There is no concept of a public service in Russian legislation. However, in the literature in connection with the administrative reform, discussions on the content of the legal structure of this concept are actively conducted [6, 7, 8].

Thus, according to Yu. A. Tikhomirov, public services are defined as "legally and socially significant actions in the interests of society, the state and citizens" related to "public functions of the state and the activities of state structures with certain competence" [6, p.200]However, in this definition, a public service is directly related to the activities of government agencies. It seems that in this definition the concept (public service) does not correspond to the content (activities of government agencies). In general, the public sphere refers to the activities of competent authorities with external powers. These clearly include public authorities and local governments, as well as some organizations that implement external functions (state or municipal) [8, p.50]. Therefore, the content of a public service cannot be limited only to state activities.

The provision of services is a type of social legal relations, the participants of which are a public authority as a guarantor of the realization of rights, and the population as a bearer of social rights [7, p. 19]. This opinion seems to be quite fair and logical. The competent authorities exercise their powers to carry out various functions of public authority, including the provision of state and municipal services.

It seems to be the most correct general understanding of public services as a system of state and municipal services, in the implementation of which the powers of state and local bodies are realized [9, p.16]. This provision is fully confirmed by the law, which establishes exactly such types of services.

The legal basis of the activity in question is Federal Law No. 210-FZ "On the organization of the provision of State and Municipal services" dated 07/27/2010 (hereinafter FZ-210), which defines the main provisions of this area of the public sphere. The subject of regulation is the relations arising in connection with the provision of state and municipal services, respectively, by federal executive authorities, bodies of state extra-budgetary funds, executive bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as local administrations and other local self-government bodies exercising executive and administrative powers (paragraph 1. art.1. FZ-210). These bodies and organizations are conventionally called service providers.

An important feature of the provision of public services is the application procedure, i.e. the attitude towards the provision of public services can arise only on the initiative of an individual or legal entity. It is on this basis that the concepts of "public function" and "public service" differ.

V. V. Avdeev, researching the provision of public services in foreign countries, draws attention to the opinion found in the literature that any interaction between the state and a citizen is a public service. The system of public services includes, for example, standard-setting activities, control and supervision activities, and even the detention of an individual in penitentiary institutions [10]. It is impossible to agree with this position, since the law clearly establishes the possibility of a service provision relationship only on the initiative of an individual or legal entity (applicant). And these examples of power activities are state functions. A public function can be implemented both on the initiative of a government entity and in the interests of a private person at his request. For example, control and supervisory measures are the implementation of an exclusively public function, since they are carried out only on the initiative of a government entity - a state or municipal body. And the permissive activity of the state (licensing, accreditation, privatization, etc.) is both a public function and actions for the provision of public services.

Thus, a public service is the implementation of a state or municipal function, which is carried out on the initiative of applicants – individuals and legal entities who have made a request to the competent authorities and organizations in writing, orally or electronically.

Based on this definition, it is possible to distinguish the composition of the legal relationship for the provision of a public service: initiator of legal relations – individuals and legal entities, that is, applicants; subjects of service provision – public authorities and authorized organizations with public functions;the object of legal relations is the commission of a legally significant action or the issuance of a law enforcement act; the purpose of providing services is to satisfy the applicant's interest.

As it was said, the legal literature presents a variety of groups of principles of various types of public activity. At the same time, the most common is the division of principles into general, underlying the entire state sphere, and special - the system of such principles depends on the specific direction of public authority [4, p.68; 11, pp.34-37].

This classification is quite applicable to the principles of public service provision. The general principles of the type of activity under study include the principles of legality, federalism, respect for human rights, transparency, protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, and efficiency. The general principles have been repeatedly disclosed in the scientific literature and their detailed study is not included in the subject of this work. Special principles for the presentation of public (state and municipal) services and their interaction with general legal principles deserve some attention.

Article 4 of the Federal Law 210 establishes a list of principles in force in the field of public services.

1. The principle of legality of the provision of public services.

This principle means that the subjects of the provision of public services in their activities are guided by federal laws, other normative legal acts of the Russian Federation adopted in accordance with them, laws and other normative legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation, municipal legal acts. The list of entities authorized to provide public services is exhaustive, i.e. other government structures (state or municipal) located outside this list are not entitled to provide public services.  In addition, Article 7 of FZ-210 establishes that government entities cannot make demands to applicants that are not provided for by the rules for providing public services. The implementation of the principle of legality is ensured by the right to appeal against illegal actions in the process of providing public services, which is an important legal guarantee (paragraph 4 of Article 5 of FZ-210).

This principle is directly related to and follows from the general principle of legality – the requirement of strict enforcement of the law, the established procedure, the rights and legitimate interests of the applicant. The legal order of the public sphere is an important condition for its legality, efficiency and rationality [5, p.273].

In the literature, there is an opinion on understanding legality more broadly than legality and, in this regard, on the need to rename the principle of legality of providing public services to the principle of legality generally recognized in legislation with its characteristic features in the sense established for administrative law [12, p.336]. This opinion is quite understandable, since legality is a fundamental principle of Russian statehood and is traditionally widely used in legislation on types of public activities. This position is most likely caused by the usual perception of the concept of legality and well-established legal formulations. However, the process of changing the name seems impractical. It seems that the principle of legality, by its characteristic, fully reflects the content of legality in the public sphere under consideration and does not need to be renamed.

2. The principle of the declarative procedure for obtaining public services.

This principle characterizes the voluntary nature of relations related to the provision of public services. The applicant occupies a primary place in public service relations, since he is the initiator of such relations. It can be noted that this principle corresponds to the foundations of the formation of a socially oriented state in Russia. Targeting the provision of public services is an important feature of this type of activity. The applicant, if he needs to receive a public service, directly applies to the appropriate service provision structure, while no competent permission is required to apply for the service. The law establishes that the applicant has the right to receive a public service in accordance with the standards (paragraph 1 of Article 5 of FZ-210) and within the prescribed period. This right of applicants corresponds to the obligation of the service provider to act in accordance with the administrative regulations (paragraph 1 of Article 6 of FZ-210). In addition, bodies providing public services do not have the right to require documents and information from the applicant, or to carry out actions not provided for by regulatory legal acts regulating relations for the provision of relevant services (paragraph 1 of Article 7 of FZ-210).

According to Z. K. Babayeva, this principle is unreasonably included in the list of principles of providing services, since submitting an application is the basis for providing services, the principle of receiving them, and not providing them [12, p.337]. However, the actions of submitting an application are an element of the procedure, the initiation of a relationship, its first stage; the principles underlie all activities and are not divided into stages of the process. The establishment of an application procedure as a basic principle for the provision of public services is well-founded and does not contradict the logic of the type of activity under consideration.

3. The principle of the legality of charging applicants state fees and fees for the provision of public services.

As a general rule, state and municipal services are provided to applicants free of charge (paragraph 1 of Article 8 of FZ-210), however, the law establishes the circumstances under which applicants are charged. At the same time, providing the service to the recipient free of charge does not mean that such actions are free for the service provider.

This principle means fixing the grounds and amount of monetary payment for the provision of certain types of public services by a regulatory legal act. The fee from the applicants is taken in order to cover the costs that the subjects of public services had to incur in connection with the performance of this duty. The most common form of payment in this area is the state fee, which is levied in accordance with tax legislation. Articles 8 and 9 of FZ-210 establish the requirements on the basis of which the applicant pays for the provision of public services. The lists of cases and the amount of fees for the provision of public services depend on the level of the service provider and are established by the appropriate level of legislation: federal, regional or municipal. The budget for financing the service also depends on this.

Here it seems reasonable to consider renaming this principle based on the following arguments. The term "legality" is used for the second time in the system of principles. Due to the social significance of such a phenomenon as the "legal principle", the duplication of terminology in definitions seems incorrect. It is proposed to state this principle as "the validity of charging applicants a state fee and a fee for the provision of public services." Reasonableness includes legality, motivation, and confirmation by serious evidence and convincing arguments. First of all, the determination of the basis and amount of the fee charged to applicants should be based on reasonableness. In this form, the law looks more logical and sustained.

 It is possible to support the opinion on the definition and establishment of the All-Russian minimum social standard for the provision of gratuitous services of special public importance. In any case, such services are provided at the expense of budgets of all levels or extra-budgetary funds [13, p.313]. In addition, it is allowed to establish the right of the executive authorities of the subjects of the federation and local governments to supplement this list at their own level, taking into account the capabilities of the region or municipality.

4. The principle of openness of the activities of entities providing public services.

When providing public services, applicants have the right to receive complete, up-to-date and reliable information about the procedure for providing services (clause 2 of Article 5 of Federal Law 210). This also applies to the provision of services in electronic form (clause 1 of Article 10 of the Federal Law 210). It is important to note that in this context, the requirements of Federal Law No. 8-FZ dated February 9, 2009 "On Ensuring access to information on the activities of State Bodies and Local Self-government bodies" (Part 1 of Article 2) are also taken into account. In addition, Federal Law No. 149-FZ of July 27, 2006 "On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection" stipulates that state bodies and local governments are obliged to provide access to information about their activities in Russian and the official language of the relevant republic within the Russian Federation, including using information and telecommunication networks. At the same time, a person wishing to gain access to such information is not obliged to justify the need to obtain it (part 5 of Article 8 of the said law).

In this aspect, some authors highlight the principle of combining openness (publicity) and non-disclosure of certain information. Openness does not apply to cases where this may lead to the disclosure of state, commercial, official or other legally protected secrets, as well as cases where this is required by the interests of ensuring the rights, legitimate interests and safety of applicants, protecting their honor, dignity, and business reputation [11, p.627]. This opinion deserves some support.

5. The principle of accessibility of access to public services, including for persons with disabilities. 

One of the important areas of administrative reform is to improve the quality and accessibility of public services. To achieve this goal, the following measures have been carried out and successfully implemented: the introduction of administrative regulations and standards for the provision of public services, the implementation of the principle of "one window" in the provision of services, the active and widespread use of the electronic form of service provision. As a result, the interaction between the state and citizens has been simplified, and the level of accessibility of applicants to public services has been significantly increased. Multifunctional centers (MFCs) play a significant role in the practical implementation of this principle. An MFC is a state or municipal institution that organizes the provision of public services on the principle of a "one-stop shop" and operates on the basis of an agreement with a public service provider. The provision of services through the IFC is one of the main ways of decentralized provision of public services. The creation and increase in the number of multifunctional centers is due to such properties of citizens' interaction with public administration as quality, accessibility, efficiency, and efficiency. MFCs have a special administrative and legal status with a wide range of powers, including making decisions on the provision or refusal to provide services [8, p.146]It is assumed that accessibility includes several parameters: territorial accessibility (an affordable place to receive a service), financial accessibility (the affordable cost of a service fee), information accessibility (the ability to receive a service without the need for additional consultations).

 The creation of necessary conditions for the provision of public services for people with disabilities and persons with disabilities is essential in the implementation of the principle of accessibility. Federal Law No. 181-FZ of November 24, 1995 "On Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities in the Russian Federation" establishes requirements for creating a barrier-free environment and conditions for such persons to access service organizations (Articles 14-15). These conditions include a comfortable and convenient arrangement of the internal premises and adjacent territories of organizations providing public services. Currently, it is possible to note the gradual introduction of these requirements into everyday life. 

One of the constituent elements of the accessibility of public services is the extraterritorial principle of their receipt. This principle implies the applicant's right to apply to any body providing such services, regardless of the place of residence or place of residence of this person.

6. The principle of the possibility of obtaining public services in electronic form or other forms at the applicant's choice.

This principle is directly related to the principle of accessibility of services, since the interaction of the service provider and the applicant is greatly simplified in the electronic space in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the entire process. In accordance with this principle, applicants have the right to receive state and municipal services in electronic form, unless prohibited by law, as well as in other forms provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation (paragraph 3 of Article 5 of FZ-210). In addition, the law establishes the obligation of the service provider to provide the applicant with the opportunity to interact in electronic form, as well as the requirements for the organization of electronic interaction (paragraph 2 of Article 6 of FZ-210, Article 10 of FZ-210).

Digital relations between entities providing public services and applicants are carried out using information technology through the portal of state and municipal services — this is a state information system that provides public services in electronic form, as well as applicants' access to information about public services using the Internet information and telecommunications network. This information is posted in state and municipal information systems that ensure the maintenance of registers of relevant services (clause 7 of Article 2 of FZ-210).

Electronic interaction is the best service aimed at increasing the mobility of applicants and the effectiveness of the activities of service providers. In general, the use of electronic technologies should help radically reduce the time required to provide services, eliminate queues when applying for services, reduce their cost in the future, increase transparency in the process of providing them, and improve other parameters of the quality of public services [14, p.61].

One of the problems of the development of the information society in Russia is the insufficient level of literacy in the field of information technology, the lack of mass interactive interaction of citizens and organizations with subjects of public services. The State should create conditions for increasing citizens' access to information technologies. Now the problem of citizens' access to the Internet continues to be relevant, and this prevents the receipt of services in electronic form. Also, not all state and municipal services have been digitized, and the possibility of obtaining them is difficult, including due to ineffective interdepartmental electronic interaction or its complete absence. 

It seems to be true that the principles enshrined in law, by virtue of their purpose, "determine the practical limits of the operation of the norms of law, their correlation with the scope of other norms" [15, p.75].

Considering the provision of public services in foreign countries and comparing them with the peculiarities of this activity in Russia, V.V. Avdeev notes that in our country, traditionally, the main provisions are fixed in legislation, which takes into account all legitimate possibilities. However, proper consumer orientation is not enough. This orientation should be aimed at providing the applicant with the necessary service in a high-quality and timely manner. Therefore, it is necessary to form a system of basic principles for the provision of public services, expanding the list established by law [10].      

Indeed, from the point of view of the effectiveness of the provision of services, the system could be supplemented by some principles aimed at improving the type of activity under consideration. It is proposed to legislate the principles of efficiency, quality of service provision and responsibility of service providers.

The principle of efficiency is that the necessary actions to provide a public service should be carried out as soon as possible [4, 112]. The principle of efficiency contains two beginnings: the beginning of speed and the beginning of economy, in which the provision of public services should be carried out with minimal financial and time costs.  The principle of providing services in electronic form, discussed above, also serves to implement the principle of efficiency.

The principle of ensuring the quality of service provision is one of the most important guarantees of the rights of recipients.  This principle includes two main provisions: the quality of decision-making and the quality of the organization of conditions for the provision of services. In this sense, the quality of the organization of activities corresponds to the principle of accessibility established by law, and the proposed principle of prompt receipt of services, including for persons with disabilities. At the same time, the principle of quality assurance should not contradict the principle of prompt provision of services, and vice versa. Thus, the decision must be made quickly and efficiently.

The principle of responsibility of the service provider is the proper exercise of authority to consider applicants' appeals, including complaints, under threat of administrative or disciplinary liability. The service provider has a special administrative and legal status, performs a certain state or municipal function, interacts with individuals and legal entities in its activities. He is charged with the duty to protect both the public interest and the rights of applicants.

Thus, the addition of Article 4 of FZ-210 to the principles of efficiency, quality and responsibility will be an important guarantee of the protection of the rights of citizens and organizations when they receive public services.

According to G. V. Atamanchuk, legal principles interact with each other, and such interaction of principles exists within their integral system in which they reveal their regulatory abilities. Only in the system does each principle express its individuality and the limits of its specific application [5, p.266]. In this regard, it is important to briefly consider the relationship between general and special principles in the implementation of the right of applicants to provide public services. 

General and special principles interact with each other, since general principles are the legal basis for the practical implementation of special principles. Thus, the principle of legality in the field under consideration is implemented through the implementation of the principle of legality of the provision of services, the principle of reasonableness of charging fees, the principle of the declarative procedure for receiving services. The principle of legality is also correlated with the general principle of independence in decision-making within the framework of the powers granted. The general principle of transparency in these relations is implemented through the principle of openness of the activities of service providers established in the law. The principle of federalism is implemented through the legislative delimitation of powers for the provision of public services by federal, regional and municipal bodies and relevant organizations. The principles of respect for human rights and protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens are implemented through the principle of accessibility of access to public services. Finally, the principle of efficiency is directly implemented, including through the principle of electronic interaction between service providers and applicants.

Also, special principles are connected and interact with each other, and some principles may follow from others, or serve as a condition for their implementation. Thus, the right to electronic appeal is directly related to the principle of accessibility; the declarative procedure of appeal correlates with the principle of openness of entities providing public services; the principle of legality of the provision of services is fundamental in the field of activity under consideration and underlies the implementation of the remaining principles. 

Based on the results of the study, the following conclusions can be drawn.

It seems logical to define a public service as an activity for the implementation of a state or municipal function, which is carried out on the initiative of applicants – individuals and legal entities who have made a request to the competent authorities and organizations in writing, orally or electronically.  The legal relationship for the provision of a public service consists of mandatory elements: the participants in the legal relationship are the subject of the provision of the service and the applicant, the object of the legal relationship is a legal act (decision, action), the purpose is to satisfy the applicant's interest.

The question arises: should a legal definition of a public service be introduced into legislation? It seems that so far there is no special need for this. The legislation currently establishes the concepts of state and municipal services, as well as a list of entities implementing each of them. Our legislation is characterized by voluminous detailed regulation and cumbersome formulations, and therefore the introduction of another concept into the regulatory sphere of this activity may cause certain difficulties for law enforcement officers due to excessive regulation and overload of terms. In legal science, this term has been widely used for a long time [7, 8, 9] and, it can be assumed, will be actively used further.

The system of special principles for the provision of public services established in the law (art. 4 FZ-210) seems incomplete and requires the introduction of additional principles. From the point of view of ensuring the rights of citizens and in order to meet their interests in a high-quality and timely manner, it is proposed to include in this list the principles of efficiency, quality of service provision and responsibility of service providers.

In addition, it seems correct to rename the principle of the legality of charging state fees and fees from applicants to the principle of the reasonableness of charging state fees and fees for the provision of public services to applicants. Such a statement, firstly, excludes unjustified repetition of formulations, and secondly, more specifically and objectively characterizes this important principle both from the point of view of legality and from the point of view of accessibility of services.

In the activity under consideration, it is possible to talk about the presence of general and special principles. General principles underlie all state activities and are established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal and regional laws, other normative acts of Russia and its subjects, as well as municipal legal acts. Special principles specify the sphere of public administration in terms of obtaining public services for citizens and organizations at their request. At the same time, general and special principles interact with each other and work most effectively in a complex. 

 Therefore, a distinctive feature of the system of principles, including in the provision of public services, is their correlation. When characterizing a principle, it is necessary to take into account its relationship with other principles, their complementarity and dependence on them.

References
1. Dobrynin, N.M. (2006). Theory and practice of public administration: Textbook. – Novosibirsk: Science.
2. Treushnikov, Ì.Ê. (Åd.). (2017). Administrative proceedings: Textbook. Moscow: House "Gorodets".
3. Bochkarev, I.E. (2021). On the problems of legislative regulation of the principles of state control (supervision) and municipal control. In Current issues of control and supervision in socially significant areas of activity of society and the state. materials of the VI All-Russian scientific and practical conference. (pp. 138-142). Nizhny Novgorod: Publishing house of Nizhny Novgorod State University.
4. Makhina, S.N. (1999). Administrative process. Problems of theory, prospects for legal regulation. Voronezh: Publishing house of Voronezh State University.
5. Atamanchkuk, G.V. (2005). Theory of public administration. Lecture course. Moscow: Omega-L.
6. Tikhomirov, Yu.A. (2001). The theory of competence. Moscow: Yurinformtsentr.
7. Ponikarov, I.V. (2012). Theoretical approaches to understanding the definition of a public service. Questions of Economics and Law, 6, 17-20.
8. Kharinov, I.N. (2019). Providing public services and protecting the rights of their recipients: administrative and legal research. Dis... cand. legal Sci. Ekaterinburg.
9. Akhrameeva, O.V. (2011). The relationship between public law and private law principles in the provision of public services to the population in the Russian Federation (using the example of the legal profession and the notary office): abstract of the diss...cand. legal Sci. Stavropol.
10. Avdeev, V.V. (2019). Features of administrative and legal regulation of the provision of public services in foreign countries. NB: Administrative law and administration practice, 5, 8.
11. Starilov, Yu.N. (Åd.).(2007). General administrative law: textbook. Voronezh: Publishing house of Voronezh State University.
12. Babaeva, Z.K. (2015). On the issue of the principles of providing state and municipal services. News of Saratov University. New episode. Series: economics, management, law, 3, 334-342.
13. Borisoglebskaya, L.N., & Kirsanov, S.A. (2008). State and municipal finance: financing of social services. St. Petersburg: Andreevsky Publishing House.
14. Yuzhakov, V.N. (2014). Quality of state and municipal services: efforts and results of administrative reform. Issues of state and municipal management, 1, 52-72.
15. Skurko, E.V. (2008). Principles of law: monograph. Moscow: Os-89.

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research in the article submitted for review is, as its name implies, the principles of providing public services. The author focused his attention on the analysis of the concept and system of these principles, indicating the following: "The general principles have been repeatedly disclosed in the scientific literature and their detailed study is not included in the subject of this work. Special principles for the presentation of public (state and municipal) services and their interaction with general legal principles deserve some attention." The declared boundaries of the study have been observed by the scientist. The methodology of the research is not disclosed in the text of the article, but it is obvious that the author used universal dialectical, logical, hermeneutic, formal legal research methods. The relevance of the research topic chosen by the scientist is undeniable and justified by him as follows: "The principles of the implementation of various types of state activities have always been carefully studied by legal scholars. The principles of the state structure, the principles of the legal process, and the principles of justice are studied in legislation and the science of public law. In the theory of administrative law, considerable attention is paid to the principles of executive power, administrative jurisdiction, administrative proceedings, and state control (supervision) [1, pp.57-58; 2, pp.34-37; 3, pp.143-151]. Despite the difference between these types of activities, their relationship as "general and private", the private has all the properties of the general [4, p.62]. ... There is no doubt that these provisions fully apply to the principles of providing public services, as an important independent part of state and municipal activities." The author needs to clearly identify which problems related to the chosen research topic remain unresolved (debatable). The scientific novelty of the work is manifested in some of the conclusions of the scientist, for example: "... a public service is the implementation of a state or municipal function, which is carried out on the initiative of applicants – individuals and legal entities who have made a request to the competent authorities and organizations in writing, orally or electronically." In general, the work is descriptive in nature, representing a compilation of a number of normative and theoretical sources used in its writing. The author did not identify the problematic aspects of the issues discussed in the article, did not propose ways to solve them. Thus, in the form submitted for review, the article does not make a special contribution to the development of domestic legal science. The scientific style of the research is fully sustained by the author. The structure of the work is not entirely logical in the sense that the final part of the article cannot be clearly separated from the main one. In the introductory part of the article, the author substantiates the relevance of his chosen research topic. In the main part of the work, the scientist defines the essence of the concept of "public service", lists the general principles of the presentation of public (state and municipal) services, analyzes the special principles of providing such and the specifics of their interaction with general legal principles and with each other. The content of the article corresponds to its title, but is not without some drawbacks. So, the author writes: "There is no concept of a public service in Russian legislation. According to Yu.A. Tikhomirov, public services are defined as "legally and socially significant actions in the interests of society, the state and citizens" related to "public functions of the state and the activities of state structures with certain competence" [6, p.200]." The author does not analyze this definition, does not identify its advantages and disadvantages, does not give examples of definitions of the concept under study proposed by other scientists. Does the concept of "public service" need a legal definition? The scientist notes: "And the permissive activity of the state (licensing, accreditation, privatization, etc.) is both a public function and actions for the provision of public services" - a comma is omitted after the word "accreditation". The author indicates: "This principle characterizes the voluntary nature of relations related to the provision of public services" - "characterized", "with the provision". The scientist writes: "The lists of cases and the amount of payment for the provision of public services depend on the level of the subject of the provision of services and are established by the appropriate level of legislation: federal, regional or municipal" - "fees for the provision". The bibliography of the study is presented by 9 sources (dissertation, monographs, scientific articles, textbooks). From a formal point of view, this is enough; from the actual point of view, some provisions of the work need to be clarified and specified. There is no appeal to opponents, which is unacceptable for a scientific article. The author refers to theoretical works solely to confirm his judgments or to illustrate certain provisions of the article. There are conclusions based on the results of the study ("Based on the above, it can be concluded that there are general and special principles in the provision of public services. General principles underlie all state activities and are established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal and regional laws, other normative acts of Russia and its subjects, as well as municipal legal acts. Special principles specify the general sphere of public administration in terms of obtaining public services for citizens and organizations at their request. It is important to note that general and special principles interact with each other, since general principles are the legal basis for the practical implementation of special principles. ... Also, special principles are connected and interact with each other, and some principles may follow from others, or serve as a condition for their implementation. .. Therefore, a distinctive feature of the system of principles is their interdependence. When characterizing a principle, it is necessary to take into account its relationship with other principles, their complementarity and dependence on them. The interaction of principles exists within their integral system, in which they reveal their regulatory abilities. Only in the system does each principle express its individuality and the limits of its specific application [5, p.266]"), however, the final part of the work, as already noted, cannot be clearly separated from its main part. In addition, the conclusions do not reflect all the scientific achievements of the author. Finally, they do not have the property of scientific novelty, which is partly confirmed by the presence of the final footnote (link to the course of lectures by G. V. Atamanchuk). The interest of the readership in the article submitted for review can be shown primarily by specialists in the field of administrative law, administrative process, provided that it is substantially improved: disclosure of the research methodology, additional justification of the relevance of its topic (within the framework of the comment made), clarification of the structure of the work and its individual provisions, introduction of additional elements of scientific novelty and discussion, formulation of clear and specific conclusions based on the results of the study, elimination of violations in the design of the article.

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A REVIEW of an article on the topic "Principles of public service provision: system and content". The subject of the study. The article proposed for review is devoted to topical issues of establishing the system and the content of the principles of public services provision. The author reveals the normative content, influence on practice, including judicial, as well as theoretical problems for each principle of providing public services. The specific subject of the study was the norms of legislation, legal practice, as well as the opinions of scientists. Research methodology. The purpose of the study is not stated directly in the article. At the same time, it can be clearly understood from the title and content of the work. The goal can be designated as the consideration and resolution of certain problematic aspects of the issue of establishing a system and content of principles for the provision of public services. Based on the set goals and objectives, the author has chosen the methodological basis of the study. In particular, the author uses a set of general scientific methods of cognition: analysis, synthesis, analogy, deduction, induction, and others. In particular, the methods of analysis and synthesis made it possible to summarize and share the conclusions of various scientific approaches to the proposed topic, as well as draw specific conclusions from the materials of practice. The most important role was played by special legal methods. In particular, the author actively applied the formal legal method, which made it possible to analyze and interpret the norms of current legislation (first of all, the norms of the administrative legislation of the Russian Federation). For example, the following conclusion of the author: "1. The principle of legality of the provision of public services. This principle means that the subjects of the provision of public services in their activities are guided by federal laws, other normative legal acts of the Russian Federation adopted in accordance with them, laws and other normative legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation, municipal legal acts. The list of entities authorized to provide public services is exhaustive, i.e. other government structures (state or municipal) located outside this list are not entitled to provide public services. In addition, Article 7 of FZ-210 establishes that government entities cannot make demands to applicants that are not provided for by the rules for providing public services. The implementation of the principle of legality is ensured by the right to appeal against illegal actions in the process of providing public services, which is an important legal guarantee (paragraph 4 of Article 5 of FZ-210)." Also, based on the analysis of practice, the author draws the following conclusion: "One of the problems of the development of the information society in Russia is the insufficient level of literacy in the field of information technology, the lack of mass interactive interaction of citizens and organizations with subjects of public services. The State should create conditions for increasing citizens' access to information technologies. Now the problem of citizens' access to the Internet continues to be relevant, and this prevents the receipt of services in electronic form. Also, not all state and municipal services have been digitized, and the possibility of obtaining them is difficult, including due to ineffective interdepartmental electronic interaction or its complete absence." Thus, the methodology chosen by the author is fully adequate to the purpose of the study, allows you to study all aspects of the topic in its entirety. Relevance. The relevance of the stated issues is beyond doubt. There are both theoretical and practical aspects of the significance of the proposed topic. From the point of view of theory, the topic of principles of public service provision is complex and ambiguous. The principles are the fundamental basis for regulating relations in a certain area. Nevertheless, their practical applicability is not always clear, for example, to solving problems of protecting the rights and legitimate interests of citizens in the provision of public services. It is difficult to argue with the author that "The principle is a complex phenomenon containing a pattern, a fundamental attitude, a relationship, as well as knowledge about these phenomena. Depending on the type of government activity, the structure of the principles differs, but their general content mostly coincides. Separately, the literature examines the issue of normative consolidation of principles. The legislative regulation of the system of principles in the sphere of power brings certainty and stability to the relevant legal relations. The principles of any direction of public activity or part of it reflect objective patterns, correspond to an integral social phenomenon [5, pp.264-265]. There is no doubt that these provisions fully apply to the principles of providing public services, as an important independent part of state and municipal activities." Thus, scientific research in the proposed field should only be welcomed. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the proposed article is beyond doubt. Firstly, it is expressed in the author's specific conclusions. Among them, for example, is the following conclusion: "It seems logical to define a public service as an activity for the implementation of a state or municipal function, which is carried out on the initiative of applicants – individuals and legal entities who have made a request to the competent authorities and organizations in writing, orally or electronically. The legal relationship for the provision of a public service consists of mandatory elements: the participants in the legal relationship are the subject of the provision of the service and the applicant, the object of the legal relationship is a legal act (decision, action), the purpose is to satisfy the applicant's interest." These and other theoretical conclusions can be used in further scientific research. Secondly, the author offers comments on the current legislation, which may be useful and necessary for practitioners in the field under consideration. Thus, the materials of the article may be of particular interest to the scientific community in terms of contributing to the development of science. Style, structure, content. The subject of the article corresponds to the specialization of the journal "NB: Administrative Law and Practice of Administration", as it is devoted to legal problems related to the provision of public services. The content of the article fully corresponds to the title, since the author considered the stated problems and achieved the research goal. The quality of the presentation of the study and its results should be recognized as fully positive. The subject, objectives, methodology and main results of the study follow directly from the text of the article. The design of the work generally meets the requirements for this kind of work. No significant violations of these requirements were found. Bibliography. The quality of the literature used should be highly appreciated. The author actively uses the literature presented by authors from Russia (Akhrameeva O.V., Babaeva Z.K., Borisoglebskaya L. N., Kirsanov C.A., Bochkarev I.E., Dobrynin N.M. and others). Many of the cited scientists are recognized scientists in the field of problems of regulating relations regarding the provision of public services. Thus, the works of the above authors correspond to the research topic, have a sign of sufficiency, and contribute to the disclosure of various aspects of the topic. Appeal to opponents. The author conducted a serious analysis of the current state of the problem under study. All quotes from scientists are accompanied by author's comments. That is, the author shows different points of view on the problem and tries to argue for a more correct one in his opinion. Conclusions, the interest of the readership. The conclusions are fully logical, as they are obtained using a generally accepted methodology. The article may be of interest to the readership in terms of the systematic positions of the author in relation to the issues of establishing the content and legal significance of the principles of public services provision. Based on the above, summing up all the positive and negative sides of the article, "I recommend publishing"