Legal Procedure as a Strategy for Legitimizing Legally Significant Decisions

The article explores  the relationship between legitimacy and legal compliance. In order for the rules of law to be effective, not just abstract texts, they must comply with certain general principles / criteria that express a generalized public perception of justice. The author argues that the process of such recognition or justification substantially conveys the term "legitimation", which results in its own legitimacy as a belief that the authority is properly used by the subject.

It is worth noting that the need for legitimization is expanding today. In particular, the validity of some international organizations directly affects their ability to issue new rules and regulations. The importance of the concept of due process or of procedural fairness for public legal activity is beyond doubt. At the same time, procedural principles within non-jurisdictional types of legal process have become increasingly important lately. Today, alternative dispute resolution is a bit skeptical, as the legal procedure in this case is not clearly regulated by official rules. This may pose a certain threat to the violation of the rights of one of the parties to the dispute, give rise to the possibility of abuse, and accordingly question the legitimacy of the decision. That is why we emphasize that clear criteria within the concept of due process, which would apply to all cases of legally significant decisions, should be formulated at the level of legal regulation.

In the course of the study, the author concludes that the assessment of the legitimacy of legal procedures by ordinary people (both formal and informal) is directly dependent on the observance of procedural fairness, which includes such characteristics as impartiality, transparency and respect for human rights. It is the adherence to the procedural requirements and rules that testifies to the legitimacy of the results achieved or the decisions taken. If the authorities need to confirm that an institution has the appropriate authority to make decisions in a particular area, then legitimacy requires confirmation that these powers are exercised properly.

The author reasonably emphasizes that procedural legitimacy should be considered as a separate and binding component of the legitimacy of any legally significant decisions, including in the alternative ways of resolving legal cases.