The paper is dedicated to the memory of Honored Lawyer of the RSFSR, Doctor of Law, Professor Maria S. Shakaryan. The paper highlights some historical aspects of the development of the doctrine of civil procedural legal capacity and legal capacity, highlights the contribution that Professor Maria S. Shakaryan made to the study of these categories. It is noted that many of the issues that Professor Shakaryan raised in her works remain controversial in the science of civil procedural law to this day. Special attention is paid to dissemination of the concepts of procedural capacity and legal capacity to all participants in procedural relations, as well as to the court. The author argues that this approach destroys the integrity of the concept of not only procedural capacity, but also procedural legal capacity. Separately, the author examines the issue of the need to involve citizens recognized by the court as legally incompetent to participate in person in court proceedings. Attention is drawn to the problem of ensuring adequate protection of the rights of citizens recognized by the court as legally incompetent, which is relevant in practice and unresolved in civil procedural legislation.