Local Public Administration Authorities Research Articles

Social Assistance for the Elderly and Legislative Challenges during Covid 19

The proliferation of clandestine homes for elderly people is encouraged by the underfunding of the establishment of such centres by central or local public administration authorities and the small number of places available at already existing centres or the poor conditions that are provided. The elderly represent a vulnerable category, most of the people who live in such centres have precarious financial or family situations or various chronic diseases that require constant medical care. Through this study, we want to analyse the causes and possible legislative solutions that can lead to the improvement of the lives of these people.

THE ROLE OF THE PREFECT IN THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM IN ROMANIA

The Romanian state has established a local institution at the level of each county, to supervise the legality closer to the citizen with the role of permanently and authentically watching over the correct application of the law by the local public administration authorities in most of the specific fields of activity. In this article we propose to address the most important attributions of the prefect with the highlighting of their related role in the context of local public administration, as it results from the applicable legislative framework.

Sustainable rural development: an assessment of citizens' perception regarding the role of the planning framework within the Romanian local communities

The development of local rural communities implies the creation of conditions for long-term economic development, while protecting the environment, as well as the preservation of traditional local culture. In order to ensure sustainable development at the local level, local public administration authorities must develop planning documents that are an effective tool to respond to some of the challenges they face. In this context, the purpose of this article is to carry out an assessment of the perception of the inhabitants of the Greci Municipality, located in Tulcea County, regarding the implementation of the Integrated Sustainable Development Strategy of the Greci Municipality. The analysis was carried out from the perspective of economic, social and environmental factors that must ensure the local sustainable rural development. The Sustainable Local Development Strategy creates an environment dedicated to strengthening the capacity of local authorities to implement projects for the development of the socio-economic sector that meet the needs of citizens.

Are public administrations the only ones responsible for organizing the administration of green spaces within the localities? An assessment of the perception of the citizens of Constanta municipality in the context of sustainable development

The sustainable management of green spaces in urban localities is a major challenge for Romania's big cities. In terms of urban development, local public administrations are developing guidance and regulatory documents, one of the key elements of urban planning being the green urban infrastructure. Thus, the local public administration authorities have the obligation to keep track of the green spaces on the territory of administrative units by establishing local registers of the green spaces within the built-up areas of the localities, which must be correlated with the provisions of general urban plans and drafted urban planning regulations. The aim of this article is to capture the citizens’ perception of the manner in which the local public administration is preoccupied with the sustainable management of green spaces, in a context in which the legal provisions related to ensuring a green space area per capita are not complied with. Even though local public administration authorities are responsible for the sustainability measures in urban areas, given that the existence of green spaces is one of the important factors which define the quality of life, the involvement and participation of the community, of each citizen, as well as of all the entities present in this space is necessary.

IDENTIFICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF GOOD PRACTICES IN THE SAFEGUARDING AND VALORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE BY LOCAL PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

This study provides a complex analysis concerning the identification of good practices in the safeguarding and valorization of the national cultural heritage by the local public authorities. The sociological survey was conducted between August and September 2020, on a representative sample of 607 people from 12 localities of the Republic of Moldova. The analysis of the processed data shows that the local public authorities have insufficient budgets to conserve, maintain or promote the cultural heritage objects and that there is a major shortage of specialists in this field. As a result, according to the respondents’ opinion, the level of safeguarding and valorization by the local public administration authorities of cultural objects of historical or architectural value is 18.78%. The significance of the objects of the national cultural heritage in the respective localities, the historical value and the extent to which they are known by the citizens were investigated. The role of cultural heritage in the education of citizens was highlighted by systematizing the knowledge about the national and universal cultural heritage.

Provocările limbajului în Codul administrativ

Recently entered into force, the administrative code was adopted with the stated purpose of unifying the regulations in the field of public administration, in order to create a normative framework, coming to the aid of individuals, public administration, but also of practitioners. In this respect, a significant part of the provisions were taken identically from the normative acts that were repealed, while there are also new provisions, some of them leaving, unfortunately, the impression of a code adopted in haste. Without claiming a thorough analysis of the entire regulation, the present study aims to address some of the challenges brought by the language used in OUG: 57/2019. Between the two extremes among which the legislator oscillates (either an incomplete or ambiguous language, or an over-regulation), the most relevant problem, in terms of the consequences that it can produce, probably consists in using already legally established notions, with a totally different meaning (such as, for example, the question of competence - exclusive, delegated or shared, or of the capacity or legal personality of public authorities). In addition to altering some already established rules or legal institutions, the code identifies in some places an unnecessary duplication of terms or the use of phrases that can completely change the meaning envisaged by the legislator; furthermore, the new normative act remains in debt (if it does not complicate matters even more) to clarify some problems previously identified by the scholars and the judicial practice (such as, of course, the role of the secretary in assessing the legality of the acts of the local public administration authorities or the majority necessary regarding the decisions related to the patrimony of the administrative-territorial unit).

Considerations Regarding the New Legislative Modifications and Amendments in the Matter of Civil Status Acts

This paper aims at signaling the future legislative modifications and amendments in the matter of civil status acts, still at under discussions in the Bill for the modification and completion of Law no. 119/1996 regarding civil status acts, republished , as well as for the abrogation of the Government Ordinance no. 41/2003 pertaining to the administrative modification and assignment of individuals’ names . The Bill has been subject to public debate and later approved by the Superior Council of the Magistracy.The new normative act aims at creating the legal framework for the implementation of the project regarding the creation of the Integrated Computer System for the Issue of Civil Status Acts (SIIEASC), carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which will establish the electronic form for drawing up civil status acts, while ensuring the required computer network at a national level. The purpose of the new regulations is to harmonize the Romanian legislation in the field with the European legislation, given that Romania’s adhesion to the European Union in 2007 implicitly triggered an increase of the international private law legal relationships. The bill aims at decentralizing certain activities by the transfer of attributions from the competence of public central administration to the competence of local public administration authorities, which will result in a decrease of the time required to settle a petition regarding civil status acts. Furthermore, the new law will also include the provisions of Government Ordinance no. 41/2003 for the administrative assignment and change of individuals’ names, a normative act that it will also abrogate. To this purpose, the bill stipulates a simpler procedure for changing a name and, at the same time, a shorter time for this endeavor and, with regards to the first name, parents won’t be allowed to register more than three first names for their children.

Decentralization - the mainstay of increasing quality in delivering

The article deals with the issue of how the application of decentralization in public services leads to an increase in their quality. Although quality is more difficult to measure and quantify, it can be said that it is the extent to which the nature of public service performance meets the expectations of citizens in a particular community. Where service delivery is carried out in a decentralized manner, the local public administration authorities must first be concerned about how they respond to the expectations of the beneficiaries, and for this to describe quality standards, materialized by measuring some indicators. Measuring the quality of decentralized public services is the first step towards optimizing them. The article highlights the quality standards to be met by the local public administration authorities in the provision of a decentralized public service. With the provision of a decentralized public service, public authorities need to identify whether there is an improvement or a decline in the quality of services provided by decentralization and verify whether the increase in the quality of public services has led to a maximum degree of satisfaction that can be offered to the consumer. Thus, increasing the quality of public service provision must be a direct consequence of the application of the principle of decentralization by local public administration authorities.

The impact of the economic crisis and obstacles to investments at local level

The global economic crisis had a significant impact on the fiscal stance of local government units. The literature discusses this issue by explaining that financial crises change budget decisions of central state authorities towards the financing of those priorities which could improve the economic situation at national level. The impact of the change in national government’s decisions influences local government units differently depending on the level of their fiscal autonomy. Investments at the local level are below pre-crisis levels in most European Union countries. This article analyzes the impact of the financial crisis on the fiscal imbalance showing that there is a lack of financial resources for investments. Due to fiscal constraints and annual borrowing limits of regional and local public administration authorities, the affordability of projects and investments is limited. Furthermore, the article analyzes the obstacles to investments at local level in Croatia, a country belonging to the group of European Union Member States which was hit hardest by the crisis and experienced a larger drop in investments. The results of the survey conducted among members of regional assemblies have been analyzed with respect to the level of local development and other factors enabling to identify more precisely the obstacles to investment.

DEFINITORY COORDINATES REGARDING THE LOCAL COLLECTIVITIES AND THE REPRESENTATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AUTHORITIES. THE CASE OF THE COUNTIES FROM THE NORTH-EAST OF ROMANIA

For an efficient and operative management of the public issues, the state organizes its territory in administrative units, as intrinsic parts of the national space in which there are local human collectivities characterized by collective interests distinct from the state ones. From this point of view, in the space of this article we propose to analyze the configuration of the administrative decoupling of the Romanian national space to describe the territory, the population and the local public administration authorities - definitory coordinates of the local collectivities, with specialization at the level of the counties in the north-eastern part of the country. The research conducted in the pages of this paper shows that territory and population are essential constituents for the existence of local communities themselves. Also, the resolution of public affairs in counties, municipalities, towns and communes is the responsibility of the authorities designated for this purpose by the local collectivities themselves from their territory. The rationale for which local communities are organized and for which the state recognizes them administrative powers lies precisely in a better resolution of local affairs and the interests of citizens in the respective administrative-territorial unit.

The referendum - between freedom and constitutionality

The study aims to analyze the legal status of the referendum in general and, in particular, of the one organized by the President under Art. 90 of the Constitution and by the local public administration authorities, according to the principle of consulting the population in solving particular problems of local interest. The central issue, which goes as a “red thread”, our approach, reffers to the issues that can be the subject of the two types of referendum and how “free” are the subjects of law that initiate them in determining the sphere of issues that are the subject of this sphere. The conclusion we have reached is that such freedom is not unlimited, that it stops where the Constitution says, and the fundamental principles it enshrines, being unable to be the subject of a referendum, national or local, issues forbidden by the Basic Law.

Cooperation relations between local governments. The case of the administrative-territorial units Câmpulung Moldovenesc municipality of Romania and avezzano municipality of Italy

In order to develop collaborative relations based on mutual respect, support and trust, to solve problems of common interest, the communities understand to get twinned. From this point of view, in the present article we propose to analyze the collaboration model established between two administrative-territorial units, one in Romania and the other in Italy, namely CA¢mpulung Moldovenesc Municipality and Avezzano Municipality to highlight the benefits of a such an association for both parties. The study carried out in the pages of this paper shows that, by signing and assuming the Cooperation Agreement, the local public administration authorities in the two localities established friendship ties and made experience exchanges, convinced that the twinning is an incentive for the development of social, cultural, economic, sport and tourism relations between twinned communities. How to cite: Scutariu, P., & Ignat, P. (2017). Cooperation Relations between Local Governments. the Case of the Administrative-Territorial Units CA¢mpulung Moldovenesc Municipality of Romania and Avezzano Municipality of Italy. European Journal of Law and Public Administration , 4(2), 93-103. https://doi.org/10.18662/eljpa/18

Constitutional and Legal Foundations of Local Public Administration in Romania

The article analyzes the constitutional and legal foundations of local public administration in Romania. It appears, therefore, that the local public administration built on the principle of local autonomy benefits from a general regulation starting from its explicit recognition by the constitutional text and continuing with the development of its legal status in different regulations of organic or ordinary character. The Constitution of Romania, adopted in 1991 and revised in 2003, established the constitutional foundation of local public administration, establishing the principles under which the administration of local communities is organized and functions, how the territory of the state is divided, the authorities exercising local autonomy, as well as the body exercising the control of administrative tutelage over the acts of local public administration authorities. The constitutional norms valued as principles allowed the subsequent adoption of regulations that develop and strengthen the status of existing local communities within the administrative-territorial units in Romania.

The Future of the Administrative-Territorial Unit's Development: A Better Administration of the Public and Private Domain. A Legal Approach of Romanian Law

Although local public administration authorities have a territorial jurisdiction which is limited to the territorial administrative units in which they were elected and where they function, the difficult period transited by the state on the background of the existing international economic crisis, puts in real difficulty the smooth running of the local government. The created dysfunctions are more obvious because, although in the decentralization process, local public administration authorities are obliged to exercise their powers responsibly, respecting the quality standards in the provision of public services, they are actually put in the situation to identify their own solutions to local development. In the context where a real obstacle in the way of this goal is represented by insufficient financial resources from local budgets, needed to ensure their own contribution required by the funding authorities, this study will analyze the possible solutions conferred by the Romanian low to local public administration authorities for the purpose of raising funds to the local budget with reference to the efficient management of the administrative-territorial unit through a better management of the public and private domain. In this respect, of reference is the possibility of management of the forest fund owned by the administrative-territorial units through private forest ranges, founded by them, respectively the lease or rental of pastures property of the administrative-territorial units by public action.

The Link between Financial Autonomy and Local Development. The Case of Romania

Abstract In recent years, in the European Union, community in which Romania is part, there is a tendency towards regionalization, part of the state powers being transferred to local communities. It is accredited the idea that local and regional development policies can be run more efficiently at the local level. Local public administration authorities, under the autonomy they have, hold an important position in the local development process. In this context, in our article we intend to analyze the link between the degree of local financial autonomy and the local development level, by considering the experiences of the Romanian local communities. The research made on the facts existing at the local communities level in our country has shown that with increasing degree of local financial autonomy, tends to increase the level of local development. A strong argument in support of this result is that greater financial autonomy to local government means greater ability of local public authorities to serve the needs of local communities, leading, consequently, to local development.

Možnosti městského a venkovského cestovního ruchu v České republice

The first part of the paper is devoted to the problems of city tourism in the Czech Republic. As an example of the possibilities of city tourism is mentioned own marketing research of Brno citizens about their recreation and sport activities in the town and nearest surroudings. The marketing research was conducted for the first time in 1997 and repeated once again at the end of 2001.The second part is oriented to the problems of the country tourism. As a practical case is used Southern Moravia project called Moravian Wine Trails. Empirical own experiences, especially personal interviews with local public administration authorities in 2003 and 2004 are compared with theory of local tourism marketing.