“ The idea of a correct procedure is what we designate as an "ought": when I think of an "ought," I think of what has to be done in order to realize either the final purpose of all human procedure or some accidental personal purpose. ”
Procedure
Definition and stakes
Procedure denotes a standardized method for carrying out tasks, serving as a structured framework across legal, administrative, and scientific fields. From Paul Eltzbacher’s philosophical perspective on procedure as a moral necessity to the National Constituent Assembly’s focus on procedural fairness in justice, writers have examined its role in ensuring clarity and equity. Legal experts such as William O.
Douglas emphasize its function in shaping societal regulation, while Heinrich Jaques highlights procedural accessibility, and Frederick Pollock discusses its role in formalizing intricate laws. In scientific and technical contexts, as noted by Andy Biggs, the emphasis is on methodological rigor based on empirical approaches. These diverse viewpoints collectively illustrate procedure as both a practical instrument and a foundational concept for organizing human activity.
Quotes about “procedure”
National Constituent Assembly, Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (2006 (second edition))
“ Procedure represents a fundamental instrument for the administration of justice. Procedural laws shall provide for the simplification, uniformity and efficiency of legal formalities, and shall adopt expeditious, oral and public procedures. Justice shall not be sacrificed because of the omission of nonessential formalities. ”
Henry Earle Riggs, The Valuation of Public Service Corporation Property
“ A change in the process of Court procedure relative to such expert evidence is needed, and the influence of the Profession, both individually and collectively, might be used to secure the appointment of such witnesses at the instance of the Court, instead of the litigants, to the great advantage, both of society and of those more immediately concerned. ”
William O. Douglas,
National Labor Relations Board v…
“ The rule-making procedure performs important functions. It gives notice to an entire segment of society of those controls or regimentation that is forthcoming. It gives an opportunity for persons affected to be heard. ”
Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (1989)
“ If the evidence for undertaking a specific administrative act is conclusive, the application of the law and regulations to the act is correct, and the legal procedure is complied with, the specific administrative act shall be sustained by judgment. ”
Heinrich Jaques,
Popular Science Monthly
(1884)
“ The easiest accessibility to the courts for the parties, an obligatory stipulation for the gratuitous representation of poor suitors in establishing their claim, an official preliminary investigation, public oral pleadings according to the rules of civil process, the free examination of witnesses, the designation of the amount of indemnity after an open judicial estimation, inquiry into every kind of injury that may have been suffered, and a system of procedure corresponding with these conditions, are obvious points. ”
Frederick Pollock, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica (1911)
“ Criminal law procedure, and a good deal of commercial law, had been or were being put in a shape intelligible to civilian magistrates, and fairly within the comprehension of any intelligent man who would give a moderate amount of pains to mastering the text of the new codes. ”
“ Covered assessments carried out under section 7 and discussion of such assessments and review of third-party assessments carried out under section 7A, shall be conducted using scientific information, technical procedures, measures, methods, protocols, methodologies, or models in a manner consistent with the best available science. ”
Orson B. Felt, Felt’s Parliamentary Procedure (1902)
“ The student should bear in mind that great care should be taken to keep the distinction clear between the organic law, special rules, and principles which are of general application, and adopted to meet the requirements of certain assemblies. ”
Thomas Brady, Introductory lecture on medical jurisprudence… (1839 | noyear)
“ The object of this Course of Lectures is to communicate such a knowledge of medicine, and its collateral sciences, as is absolutely necessary in the practice of your profession. Questions of the highest interest, in a social point of view, are constantly occurring in our various courts of justice, some affecting the rights of property, some the health and comforts of whole communities, and some the character, the liberty, or the lives of individuals, the determination of which depends almost entirely on evidence derived from the medical sciences. ”
by John Marshall Harlan, Old Wayne Mutual Life Association of Indianapolis…
“ The term 'process' shall be construed to mean and include any and every writ, rule, order, notice, or decree, including any process of execution that may issue in or upon any action, suit, or legal proceeding to which said company may be a party by themselves, or jointly with others, whether the same shall arise upon a policy of insurance or otherwise, by or in any other court of this commonwealth having jurisdiction of the subject-matter in controversy, . ”
Plato,
Laws — The Preamble
(1875)
“ In reading the Laws of Plato, or any other ancient writing about Laws, we should consider how gradual the process is by which not only a legal system, but the administration of a court of law, becomes perfected. ”
Thomas Henry Huxley,
Popular Science Monthly
(1877)
“ The business of the hygienist and of the physician is to know the range of these modifiable conditions, and how to influence them toward the maintenance of health and the prolongation of life; the business of the general public is to give an intelligent assent, and a ready obedience based upon that assent, to the rules laid down for their guidance by such experts. But an intelligent assent is an assent based upon knowledge, and the knowledge which is here in question means an acquaintance with the elements of physiology. ”
Ministry of States, Government of India, White Paper on Indian States (1950)
“ The mechanism of justice in a modern State involves an elaborate process; in this process details such as the qualifications of the men who are to administer justice in Courts, the way in which they are to perform their functions, the method by which they are to be selected, the terms on which they shall hold office, are as vitally important as the jurisdiction or the authority of the Courts and the machinery for the enforcement of their judgments and orders. ”
John Dewey,
Essays in Experimental Logic
“ The organization which is to be fulfilled through action is an organization which, at the time of judging, is present in conception, in idea—in, that is, reflective inquiry as a phase of reorganizing activity. And since its presence in conception is both a condition of the organization aimed at and a function of the adequacy of the reflective inquiry, it is evident that there is here a confirmation of our statement that the practical judgment is a judgment of what and how to judge as an integral part of the completion of an incomplete temporal situation. ”
Peter Vivian Daniel, Barnard v. Adams — Dissent
“ And it is, as far as I have been able to learn, the practice of all countries.' The same will, the same positive action, the same purpose, and, it may be added, the same predicament or position of the actors, must exist in each class of cases. There must be intent and act, prompted by, and tending to, a practicable, or at least a probable result, and not mere endurance or submission to uncontrollable necessity in either case. ”
Henry James Sumner Maine,
Ancient Law
(1861)
“ The vivid pictures of a leading jurisconsult's daily practice which abound in Latin literature—the clients from the country flocking to his antechamber in the early morning, and the students standing round with their note-books to record the great lawyer's replies—are seldom or never identified at any given period with more than one or two conspicuous names. ”
Carl Schurz,
U. S. Senate Speeches and Remarks of Carl Schurz
“ To establish rules governing the applications of such persons, the times and places of their examinations, the subjects upon which such examinations shall be had and the investigations to be made concerning the character and qualifications of such applicants, the mode of conducting the same and the manner of keeping and preserving the records thereof, and of perpetuating the evidence of such applications, qualifications, examinations and investigations, and their result as they may think expedient. ”
Herbert Spencer,
Popular Science Monthly
(1873)
“ And when we find this persistence manifested throughout all ages in all departments of the regulative organization—when we see it to be the natural accompaniment of the function of that organization, which is essentially restraining—when we estimate the future action of the organization in any case, by observing the general sweep of its curve throughout long periods of the past—we shall see how misleading may be the conclusions drawn from recent facts taken by themselves. ”
William Henry Moody,
Standard Oil Company v. Edward Anderson…
“ To determine whether a given case falls within the one class or the other we must inquire whose is the work being performed,-a question which is usually answered by ascertaining who has the power to control and direct the servants in the performance of their work. ”
“ Process or system. Evidence describing a process or system used to produce a result and showing that the process or system produces an accurate result. (10) Methods provided by statute or rule. Any method of authentication or identification provided by Act of Congress, by rules prescribed by the Supreme Court pursuant to statutory authority, or by applicable regulations prescribed pursuant to statutory authority. ”
W. H. Sparks, The Memories of Fifty Years
“ In truth, the case comes up de novo, and is reviewed as from the beginning, and a judgment made up without regard to the proceedings below further than to determine from the record of facts and law sent up, holding in all cases jurisdiction as well of facts as law—and in truth it is nothing more than a high court of chancery. ”
Lady Isabel Burton, The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton…
“ Some day, perhaps, we shall see a return of the well-abused system of patronage, whose evils can so easily be checked by the administration of proper tests, and by provisional appointments to be confirmed only after a sufficient period of practical trial. ”
Worthington Hooker, Physician and patient (1849)
“ The one will fix upon a course of practice in a given case with all due consideration, and when he has once fixed upon it, he will pursue it most faithfully, even though the progress of the case may furnish conclusive evidence that he is wrong. ”
William Russell, Recollections of a Policeman
“ For the purpose of the object on which we now enter, we have consulted a great mass of documents, and have had recourse to the personal experience of a gentleman who has made this kind of research his business. In every statement we make, we shall speak by the card, that equivocation may not undo us. The proof of every assertion, is ready to our hand.The public have lately heard some trifling facts relative to Doctors’ Commons, through the medium of a young gentleman who was articled, by his aunt, to a proctor there. ”
“ Evidence of the habit of a person or of the routine practice of an organization, whether corroborated or not and regardless of the presence of eyewitness, is relevant to prove that the conduct of the person or organization on a particular occasion was in conformity with the habit or routine practice. ”
Alice Henry,
The Trade Union Woman
“ In handing down the foregoing decisions relating to preference which grew out of a three months' consideration of the subject, and after hearing it discussed at great length and from every angle, the Board is acutely conscious that it is still largely an experiment, and that the test of actual practice may reveal imperfections, foreseen and unforeseen, which cannot be otherwise demonstrated than by test. ”
Nathan Clifford, Commander-in-Chief — Opinion of the Court
“ Service of regular process is a warning to all parties who have any interest in the cause to come in and protect their interest; and unless they do so, if due notice was given, they are bound by the decree. ”
William O. Douglas,
Hecht Company v. Bowles — Opinion of the Court
“ Court and agency are the means adopted to attain the prescribed end, and so far as their duties are defined by the words of the statute, those words should be construed so as to attain that end through co-ordinated action. ”
James Clark McReynolds,
Knickerbocker Ice Company v. Stewart…
“ A familiar example is the law directing the common law practice, &c., in the District Courts to 'conform, as near as may be, to the practice, &c. existing at the time' in the State Courts. Rev. Sts. § 914 (Comp. St. § 1537) . ”
Henry Billings Brown,
Constable v. National Steamship Company…
“ The practice, even of a private office, if well established, is presumed to have been followed in individual cases, and is accepted as sufficient proof of the fact in question when primary evidence of such fact is wanting. ”
James Mill,
Jurisprudence — Section III.
(1825)
“ If we have now ascertained the importance and practicability of a civil code, and have shown what is to be done in order to obtain the benefit of it, we shall conclude, with some confidence, that we have rendered a great service to mankind. ”
Henry M. Robert, Robert's Rules of Order
“ Any society adopting this Manual, should make its rules govern them in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the By-Laws and Rules of Order of the society. ”
James Moore Wayne,
United States v. Bank of the Metropolis…
“ When instructions are asked, they should be precise and certain, to a particular intent; that the point intended to be raised may be distinctly seen by the court, and that error, if one be made, may be distinctly assigned. ”
Warren E. Burger,
O'Connor v. Donaldson
(1975)
“ It is too well established to require extended discussion that due process is not an inflexible concept. Rather, its requirements are determined in particular instances by identifying and accommodating the interests of the individual and society. ”
William Theodore Barnard, Popular Science Monthly (1885)
“ Every applicant for membership is required to state in his application his age and length of service with the road, or its branches, which is held to be conclusive evidence in respect to any subsequent claim presented by him or his representative. ”
Joseph Story,
Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States
(1833)
“ This review of the forms and modes of proceeding in the passing of laws cannot fail to impress upon every mind the cautious steps, by which legislation is guarded, and the solicitude to conduct business without precipitancy, rashness, or irregularity. Frequent opportunities are afforded to each house to review their own proceedings ”
French National Assembly, Constitution of the French Republic (1848)
“ Every proposition, the object of which is to declare the urgency of a measure, must be preceded by an explanation of motives. If the Assembly is of opinion to accede to the proposition, it will fix the time when the report upon the necessity of the case shall be represented. ”
Felix Frankfurter,
Rochin v. California — Opinion of the Court
(1952)
“ In each case 'due process of law' requires an evaluation based on a disinterested inquiry pursued in the spirit of science, on a balanced order of facts exactly and fairly stated, on the detached consideration of conflicting claims, see Hudson County Water Co. ”
E. H. Davis, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley
“ To carry into effect the purposes of the testator, the plan of organization should evidently embrace two objects,—one, the increase of knowledge by the addition of new truths to the existing stock; the other, the diffusion of knowledge thus increased, among men. ”
William R. Day,
Pennsylvania Gas Company v. Public Service Commission Second District of State of New York…
“ But while admitting this general principle, it, like others of a general nature, is subject to qualifications not inconsistent with the general rule, which now are as well established as the principle itself. ”
Ward Hunt, Adams v. Adams — Opinion of the Court
“ This will appear from an examination of a few of the strongest cases on each side of the question.'He then goes into an examination of the decided cases, for which it is only necessary to refer to the case itself. ”
Sheldon Amos, Popular Science Monthly (1874)
“ If the law is unwritten, and has to be gathered either from traditional report or by reference to the rules which have been laid down on previous occasions in cases resembling the one now calling for decision, opportunity is presented for all sorts of logical conflict as to the import of the previous cases cited in illustration, or as to the value of the analogies insisted upon. ”
Samuel Nelson, Arthurs v. Hart — Opinion of the Court
“ We have stated more at large the proper practice in bringing up for review cases of this peculiar character, than was necessary to the disposition of the one before us, as they are frequently occurring, and the practice governing them not very well settled. ”
John Buchan,
The Empire and the century — The Law and the Constitution
(1905)
“ Advisory and executive functions, and a quasi-representation, seem to be three essentials in any experiment Till the principle has been generally accepted, detailed schemes are simply a waste of time, but it is worth while to get our minds quite clear on the necessary elements of any plan. ”
Aegineta Paulus, The seven books of Paulus Ægineta… (1844)
“ We must not have recourse to cupping at the commencement of complaints, nor when the body is in a plethoric state, but when the general system has been evacuated, and when there is no defluxion any longer to the part, and especially when there is a necessity of removing, dislodging, and determining something outwardly. ”
Edward Terry Sanford,
Endicott-Johnson Corporation v…
“ The words 'due process of law,' when applied to judicial proceedings, 'mean a course of legal proceedings according to those rules and principles which have been established in our systems of jurisprudence for the protection and enforcement of private rights.' Pennoyer v. ”
