Legal examination of regulatory legal acts or, as it is also called, legal serves to check documents for their compliance with the current legislation in any field. It is used in those difficult situations when there is a need to establish the legitimacy of documents: charters, orders, contracts, etc.
Let us consider in more detail what constitutes a legal examination of normative legal acts (concept, subjects), how it is carried out and some other related issues.
general information
When the procedure is appointed, the expert draws up the questions necessary for disclosing the specifics and contents of the document being examined. Next, a list of other documents is formed that will help clarify the situation. They can be various acts, applications, powers of attorney, etc. In general, the examination may have different directions:
- establishing a fact of violation in a document of a legislative act;
- analysis of any points, for example, regarding the settlement procedure, responsibility, rights and obligations of the parties to the contract, etc .;
- decoding and more detailed consideration of the provisions of the contract or agreement.
Why appoint an examination
Documents submitted for examination are checked for compliance with acts of the law. Legislation may be violated through negligence, incompetence, or intentionally. Both federal and regional or municipal acts are examined so that there are no contradictions in them. Decisions and orders of heads of organizations may also be subject to analysis, so that the rights and freedoms of employees who must comply with them are fully respected.
Legal examination of normative legal acts establishes their conformity:
- federal laws;
- codes of the Russian Federation (administrative, civil, criminal);
- norms and rules that are approved by bodies controlling the relevant areas;
- regional and municipal acts;
- other legislative acts.
The procedure may be prescribed, for example, in a court proceeding for the fulfillment of contractual obligations, if one participant considers that the provisions of the contract are illegal. At the same time, legal expertise of regulatory legal acts may be initiated by one or more employees of the organization. The reasons may be doubts about the compliance of these documents with the provisions of current legislation or constitutional rights.
The methodology for conducting legal expertise of regulatory legal acts is preventive in cases of verification of contracts before concluding an important transaction. This allows in the future to avoid litigation regarding certain clauses of the agreements and provisions that were signed by the parties. The audit also establishes the conformity of the clauses of the transaction with the foundations of law and order and morality.
What else can clarify the examination
Often the described examination clarifies some clauses of the contracts or reveals the legal meaning and possible consequences of a particular step prescribed in them or appearing after signing. Inexperienced in matters of jurisprudence, citizens may simply not notice the pitfalls that are implied by a particular point.
Legal concepts may have a similar sound, but may be different in meaning. Such interpretations can be found in a wide variety of highly specialized fields, and jurisprudence is no exception in this sense. Therefore, a person who does not have special knowledge can make an erroneous conclusion from the contract, different from the one that the author put into it. In addition, disadvantageous conditions are usually disguised by lawyers so that the amateur simply does not notice them. Thus, in some cases, conducting a legal examination of regulatory legal acts is a prerequisite.
When examination is needed
In any situation where documents are drawn up, an examination may be appointed. Contracts, orders, regulations and so on - all this can be examined by experts. This means that if the drafters or those who must comply with the provisions have doubts about their compliance with the current legislation, it is better to entrust the verification of the document to real experts.
Specific Cases for Appointment Examination
But there are situations when the procedure is prescribed most often:
- So, in court proceedings, it may be necessary to conduct a legal examination of regulatory legal acts on the issue of fulfillment of obligations in accordance with the clauses of the contract.
- It may also be required if a serious transaction is to be completed on the property. Then, thanks to the expert, the risk of losing funds during a purchase will be significantly reduced. At the same time, a lawyer can give advice on how best to act in accordance with housing law, and also analyze the purity of the transaction.
- Modern couples increasingly prefer to sign a prenuptial agreement. Then the help of a specialist is to check it for compliance with the law. If necessary, recommendations are given on changing or adding some points.
- Legal examination of normative legal acts, examples of which we consider in the article, is also necessary in cases when a large amount is taken on credit (whether it is a mortgage, funds for entrepreneurial activity, etc.). At the same time, it examines both the economic component, which includes the legality of interest calculation and fulfillment of other clauses of the contract, and the observance of rights under various special conditions (force majeure circumstances, early repayment, bankruptcy, etc.).
- A legal examination of draft normative legal acts may also be necessary when additional documents are included in the contract, which regulate the various subtleties of the parties ’relations and specify obligations in the event of special cases.
Sometimes a check is appointed to establish the fact how the actions of a legal entity comply with those standards that are fixed by its constituent documents.
Documents for examination
Since the procedure is carried out on the provided papers, they should be transferred in a form convenient for research - on electronic media, sent to E-mail, in the form of copies, photocopies or original documents. The subject should also be clearly established along with the entire list of questions to which answers must be received. In this case, the methodology for conducting a legal examination of regulatory legal acts will be as relevant as possible to the request of the applicant.
Procedure
The described procedure is carried out by a highly specialized specialist who has all the necessary knowledge and competence in the relevant field. In the subject of the study, the expert should be fully oriented, be aware of all the latest changes in regulatory documents, have access to the necessary databases in order to competently implement their activities.
The methodology of legal examination of regulatory legal acts consists of several stages:
- The main tasks are set.
- The analysis on the correctness of the preparation of the document.
- Compliance with its current legislation is analyzed.
- Customer request is being investigated.
- An expert opinion is drawn up.
Legal basis
Let's consider what requirements of legal examination of regulatory legal acts should be fulfilled. The procedure can be carried out by individual specialists and non-governmental organizations that have accumulated relevant knowledge and competencies in a particular area. This is recorded in Article 41 of the Federal Law No. 73 of May 31, 2001, where expert activity in Russia is generally regulated.
The Civil Code determines whether a transaction is lawful. So, in Art. 168 states that a transaction that does not comply with the requirements of the law is invalidated. And Art. 169 determines its illegality in cases where it contradicts the legal foundations and principles of morality.
Questions for specialists
An expert may be asked only for information regarding his competence. Consider a sample list. Of course, it is not complete and has a general character, but it will be able to help form a model of legal examination of a normative legal act, which the client wants to receive as a result. These are the questions:
- Is the document drawn up correctly?
- Does it comply with the requirements of law and order and morality?
- Is there a risk of invalidating it, and if so, what is it?
- Are there any violations of the rights and freedoms of counterparties in the document?
- Are there any errors in it? What kind?
- What other documents are required in order to take into account the subjects of legal expertise of normative acts?
- What items need to be changed?
- What items to add?
- What is the legal meaning of a particular paragraph?
- What obligations should a party fulfill based on the legal meaning of a particular paragraph?
- Are details necessary for examining parts of a document?
- Does the clause have hidden meaning and interpretation?
- What is the best way to reformulate the paragraph in order to avoid ambiguity in the interpretation?
- Are there errors and inaccuracies in the paragraph?
- Can a person who endorsed a document do this?
- Does it contain provisions that worsen the position of one side in relation to the other?
- Can a document, if signed, lead to additional costs for the client?
After answering these questions, the conclusion of the legal examination of the normative legal act will become more complete and clear. However, for a comprehensive understanding, questions should be specified in each case. Then the expert’s assessment will help you make the only right decision.
Expert opinion
After the legal examination of regulatory legal acts is completed, an expert opinion is drawn up. It should reflect the following information:
- Details of the act, which was subject to legal examination, indicating all changes and additions, if any.
- The reason for the study. For example, a new law was adopted at the federal, regional or municipal level, or there are doubts about the fact that the document contains a contradiction to the law, an erroneous provision, etc.
- The subject of regulation and its compliance with the relevant articles.
- The state of regulation in this area.
- Competency assessment.
- Compliance with the content of the act of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
- Consistency with all the rules of legal technology.
Conclusion
In the article, we examined what a legal examination of regulatory acts is, the concept and types of this process. It turns out that this mechanism protects counterparties, for example, when concluding an expensive and long-term contract, from unfavorable conditions for them. In general, a legal examination of regulatory legal acts is a measure aimed at ensuring the compliance of the investigated documents with all legislative acts in order to protect the rights and interests of citizens.