The article aims at studying the legal nature of legal action in the administrative proceedings. Noting the undisputed importance of legal action as a procedural form in the administrative proceedings ensuring efficient protection of violated rights and freedoms of individuals in disputes with subjects vested with power, the author emphasizes the fact that the doctrinal understanding of the legal nature of this institution is insufficiently elaborated, and most scholars are unable to reach a consensus on the characteristics of its substantive features. Given this, the article highlights that exploration of the legal nature of administrative action is a topical issue of modern administrative law science.

The purpose of the article is to determine the legal nature of administrative action as a procedural basis for appeal and a means of protecting the rights of individuals and legal entities in disputes with holders of public power – subjects vested with power in the meaning of the Code of Administrative Proceedings of Ukraine (CAP of Ukraine).

The author reviews scientific approaches to the understanding of the legal nature of administrative action. Thus, within the framework of this analysis, the article studies the achievements of scholars who defend, firstly, a purely procedural vision of administrative action and focus only on the study of its structure; secondly, those who attempt at characterizing administrative action through the prism of the administrative legal dispute, i.e., by analyzing its substantive-law nature; thirdly, those who argue for the synthetic nature of administrative action. Such an approach implies that characterization of administrative action ensues from its dualistic understanding, which means a combination of substantive-law and procedural features in its definition. The substantive-law aspect of administrative action covers the claimant’s claim against the defendant which arises in connection with the substantive-law relations between the claimant – an individual or a legal entity and a subject vested with public power with regard to the latter’s exercise of public administration. In its turn, the procedural aspect of administrative action relates exclusively to the claim filed by the claimant to the administrative court.

In this regard, the author attempts at marking out the most characteristic features of administrative action by reckoning among them: 1) focus on resolving an administrative legal dispute; 2) presence of the defendant – the subject vested with public power; 3) presence of a claim which is based on the method of protecting a violated right or legitimate interest as provided for by law; 4) presence of violations of rights or freedoms of individuals which are committed as a result of decisions, actions or omissions of the subject vested with public power; 5) administrative action is an individual’s request for the protection of his/ her rights which is filed to the court of law; 6) the structure of administrative action is formed by the content, subject matter and grounds of the action.

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