Criteria for Selecting Members of Municipal Public Chambers and Councils in Russia and Economic, Social and Environmental Councils in France

Abstract

he paper considers the goals implemented in the legal regulation of the formation of public chambers (councils) inArkhangelsk, Barnaul, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Surgut (Russia) and social, economic and environmental councils of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, Hauts-de-France, New Aquitaine, Brittany, Normandy regions (France). It is suggested that the main possible goals are to ensure that citizens represent their interests and the city authorities receive assistance from citizens when solving their tasks. There is a similarity between the requirements for candidates for membership in Russian public chambers and French social, economic and environmental councils (the need for representation of those whose lives depend on the level of development of the territorial unit in which the Advisory body operates; the ban on membership for those having been involved in offenses; the need for representation of public organizations). The requirements, both identical and different, are primarily aimed at ensuring the representation of the local population. At the same time, the French legislature sets a requirement for mandatory representation not of any local resident, but of particular groups defined for various reasons and a certain numerical ratio of representatives of these groups. As for the formation procedure, the composition of the considered Russian Advisory bodies is determined by local self-government bodies, while the French ones are determined by state authorities, besides local organizations are involved both in Russia and France. This procedure (as well as part of the requirements for candidates) is aimed at selecting individuals who are qualified enough to help local governments in the implementation of their functions, in case there are guarantees that these individuals will be representatives of the local community. At the same time, it is stipulated that elections are not the only way to ensure the representation of citizens; alternative methods include, in particular, the division of members of the Advisory body into groups based on the categories of the population they represent, provided for in the French law.