Charter Of Local Self-Government Research Articles

From the Power of Local Authorities to Local Self- Government in Kosovo

Local self-government as democratic achievement takes emphasised place on the new legal system of the Republic of Kosovo, which is based on the principles contained in the European Charter of Local Self-Government and other relevant international Conventions, the Constitution and laws of Kosovo, UNMIK Regulations, the President’s Ahtisaari Comprehensive Plan and Agreement of Brussels. These are basic resources and legal basis for the organization and functioning of local self-government in Kosovo after the war until today organized at the municipal level. The system of local self-government during this period has passed through a continuous process of reform which is characterized by numerous challenges and major changes that have followed the general process of state-building in Kosovo. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n1s2p145

Decentralization and Recentralization of Local Governments in Turkey

Local governments in Turkey are based on a tripartite system: special provincial administrations, municipalities, and villages. In parallel to the extensive reforms in public administration since 2004, major laws have been changed to decrease the power of central government while empowering local governments. As stated in the Emergency Action Plan and the Public Administration Basic Law drafts of the newly elected government, (Justice and Development Party, which is still in power in Turkey) decentralization for the sake of democratization was one of the top priorities. The reforms were also in line with the European Charter of Local Self Government, as well as the dominant new public management paradigm. However, the latest law on metropolitan municipalities (Act No 6360) presents a different picture. With this law, the number of the metropolitan municipalities increased from 16 to 30, and the authority of the metropolitan municipalities expanded to include the province as a whole. The rationale of this expansion is explained as avoiding problems about planning and coordination among too many small size local government units, and benefiting economies of scale. As a result, 30 special provincial administrations, 1.591 smaller municipalities, and 16.082 villages will be closed. At this point, there emerges a controversial problem: is the local government system in Turkey becoming decentralized or is it becoming recentralized? In this paper, we discuss the consequences of expansion of the metropolitan municipalities on the basis of subsidiarity principle. We argue that the local government system is becoming recentralized around metropolitan cities for the sake of benefiting “scale economies”, and that this centralization conflicts with democratic principles on which the local governments are build upon.

Classification of the Tasks of Local Governmental Units in Poland in the Light of Fundamental Legal Acts — Discussion of Selected Aspects

The purpose of this article is the presentation of a summary of tasks which local governments in Poland perform and to illustrate their diversity and specificity. The article deals with local government and its specific tasks, which every level of self-government carries out. It is true that self–government is a very important institution operating in most democratic countries in the world. The proper structure of local governmental bodies, as well as the rules of their work and how they make decisions, support the performance of tasks by individual units. The issue of local government concerns its tasks. It is very extensive. These elements are regulated by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and laws, especially the Act on Commune Self-Government, the Act on County Government and the Act on Voivodship Government. Self-government is the most democratic form of government as an instrument of socialization in the exercise of public authority. Emphasing that local government is a fundamental cell in public administration is one of the aims of this article. Local government carries out tasks in appropriate forms, supported by the European Charter of Local Self Government and national legislation. Being fundamental, universal and compulsory, local government creates a community. Otherwise of an administrative nature, local government is a political phenomenon. The essential feature of the structure of local government in Poland is the fact that local government performs a substantial part of public administration at the level of commune as well as those of district and voivodship. Tasks of local government in Poland are dualistic. Local authorities have powers of their own while performing the tasks assigned to them by law and government. Moreover an important part of this article is about local government as a form of decentralization of public authority.

An Analysis of the Applicable System of Financing the Municipalities in Slovenia

This paper examines the compliance of the system of financing the local self-government in Slovenia with the basic principles of the theory of decentralisation, and with the guidelines of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, thereby focusing primarily on the level of coverage of costs within the municipal competence by using the allocated appropriate expenditure resources. We ascertained that, overall, during the observed period from 2007 to 2009, the Slovenian municipalities were adequately supported financially because average expenditures were around 9% lower than the appropriate expenditure resources. Major system anomalies were detected in a micro-analysis of selected groups of municipalities, especially through a relatively large range between the lowest and highest costs. The range was between €319 and €1,167 per capita (an average of €527). A similarly great range was perceived also in the appropriate expenditure amount (between €416 and €1,196 with an average of €558), and in the index of resource coverage with expenditures where the range was between 0.50 and 1.75 (an average is 1.09). In spite of the fact that there were fewer than 15% of the municipalities that fell under the threshold categories, the sustainability of the entire system worsened due to the cross-impact effect when a relatively small amount of appropriate expenditure belonged to some municipalities with high costs. This was especially evident in the case of urban municipalities. Thus, urban municipalities recoded, on average, up to +13% more costs with an average of 26-percent smaller value of the appropriate expenditure amount.

Treaty-Making for Standards of Local Government: The European Charter of Local Self-Government and its Possible Application Beyond Europe

The paper takes a critical look at the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government 1985 and considers the question whether its terms and mode of implementation have the potential for application beyond (the countries of the Council of) Europe.

CONTEMPORARY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN POLAND AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

This work presents modern local governments in Poland and selected European countries. This paper shows the local power structure, organizations and their competences as well as tasks and Government control. There are also indicated values of local democracy of the European Charter of local self government and legal problems of territorial self – government in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.

Regionale Selbstverwaltung beim Europarat: Der neue "Bezugsrahmen für regionale Demokratie"

Whereas the European Charter of Local Self-Government has been adopted as early as 1985 and has entered into force in 1988, the project of a European Charter of Regional Self-Government, recently labelled "European Charter of Regional Democracy", has not proved to be successful to date. The first draft of such a Charter drawn up by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRAE) in 1997 was not accepted by the the Committee of Ministers (the decisive organ of the Council of Europe). At the 13th session of the Conference of European Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government held in Helsinki, Finland, in 2002, the said Ministers formulated a catalogue of "principles of regional-self-government" (the so-called Helsinki Principles) as guidelines for the further work on a respective Charter. In 2008, the CLRAE once more drafted a convention called "European Charter of Regional Democracy" – but it has so far not been possible to reach a consensus even on this new document. One of the reasons for the difficulties in realizing a "Charter of Regional Democracy" might be that there is still quite a sceptic attitude towards regionalism and federalism in some European states. In these cases, regionalism might be associated with secessionism or a threat to the sovereignty or territorial integrity of the respective state or at least with a certain loss of its power. Against this background and on the occasion of the 16th session of the Conference of European Ministers responsible for Local and Regional Government held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in 2009, the said Ministers formulated a so-called "Reference Framework for Regional Democracy" and included in it the so-called "Utrecht Declaration", which is, in excerpts, reprinted here. The "Reference Framework" can be assessed with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it stands – so far – for the failure of the project aiming at a legally binding convention on regional self-government. It just offers a non-binding checklist for "those considering institutional reforms and governance at the regional level". On the other hand, the "Reference Framework", systematically bringing together the relevant parts of the Helsinki Principles and the CLRAE draft of 2008, represents yet another important step towards the much-needed standardization of the subject of regional self-government (or regional democracy) in Europe. Seen from this angle, it might one day turn out to be the nucleus of a binding convention on regional self-government. Although the subject of regional self-government is not a minority-specific one, it offers many chances especially for the compact settling national minorities as it can help to avoid them being outvoted in questions regarding their cultural and linguistic identity. The question of a convention on regional self-government according to international law is thus, for quite a lot of minorities in Europe, linked with the question of their cultural and linguistic survival.

More Tinkering with Local Government Finance

This article provides a critical appraisal of the recent consultation papers on local government finance for England and Scotland. Neither consultation paper considers how the need for the provision of public finance from central to local governments can be minimised. Adopting a strategic approach to local government structure, functions and finance, this article demonstrates how the need for intergovernmental transfers can be minimised and financial autonomy restored to local governments. It argues that central government pays unnecessarily large transfers to local authorities, with the result that the various revenue sources are 'back to front' and contrary to the Council of Europe's European Charter of Local Self-Government.