On the eve of the centenary of the birth of Professor E. I. Kozlova, who devoted her scientific life to the study of the problems of democracy and the forms of its implementation, attention should be paid to the problem of improving the mechanisms of parliamentary activity, which she repeatedly raised in her writings of the soviet period. Revealing the legal nature and essence of the representative bodies of the soviet period — the soviets of workers’ deputies, later — the Soviets of People’s deputies, in the post-Soviet period — parliaments, E.I. Kozlova emphasized the enduring importance of the procedures of the representative bodies. Analyzing the scientific heritage of Professor E. I. Kozlova, the author substantiates the relevance of the scientist’s conclusions and proposals for modern representative bodies, defines some directions for the development of the scientist’s ideas.