Local Public Bodies Research Articles

On the question of determining the administrative and legal status of local public administration bodies

On the question of determining the administrative and legal status of local public administration bodies

Corruption as a crucial factor of human rights' violations

Corruption is a negative phenomenon present in several spheres of social life of the Republic of Moldova. Accor-ding to the statistical data presented by the National Anticorruption Center, the most affected areas include the activity of law enforcement bodies, central and local public bodies, as well as the sphere of education and public health. The systematic presence of acts of corruption directly affects respect for fundamental human rights, such as free access to justice, the right to health protection and the right to education. In this study we analyze the status of the subjects, who commit acts of corruption, the institution, in which this phenomenon is present, the citizens’ perception of the impact of acts of corruption on the respect for human rights. The purpose of the research is to establish the impact of the corruption on the respect for human rights in the Republic of Moldova, by analyzing the statistical data presented by the National Anticorruption Center, the Ombudsman Office, and the NGO.

Subjects of challenging normative legal acts in the court of first instance

The article examines the subjects of contestation of regulatory legal acts in the court of first instance in administrative proceedings. The problem of the subject of law is one of the central problems of the entire theory of law. The subject of law is a necessary element of legal relations, without them it is impossible to build an adequate idea of the functioning of administrative proceedings, since it is impossible to analyze any type of social relations without taking into account the people who carry out these relations. Administrative justice as a form of ensuring the functioning of the legal state considered from two sides: as an institution of judicial control over public administration, regulatory creativity and law enforcement activities; as a complex of legal measures and procedures aimed at protecting the rights of citizens during the resolution of administrative and legal disputes. Legislation determined by the competence of courts of first instance in administrative proceedings. The administrative-legal status of subjects of administrative proceedings realized in the corresponding administrative-legal relations. In the course of these relations, the bodies of the executive power are engaged in regulatory creativity; participate in the implementation of the rights, freedoms and duties of citizens, their protection and protection. The content of legal relations in the field of management is of a public nature. Administrative relations are the object of legal regulation, and administrative legal relations are their legal form. Administrative legal rights of individuals and legal entities in administrative proceedings are recognized and guaranteed by the state, enshrined in the sources of administrative law, the ability to perform actions or refrain from actions within the established limits, to demand from obliged subjects of state, local and other public bodies the implementation certain actions (abstention from implementation) regarding the creation of conditions for the realization of legal opportunities. The effectiveness of public administration activities directly depends on the degree of satisfaction of the legitimate needs of individuals and legal entities, which is determined during the consideration of administrative disputes in courts of first instance.

A GIS-Based Assessment of Flood Hazard through Track Records over the 1886–2022 Period in Greece

This paper addresses the riverine flood events that have occurred in Greece over the last 136 years (i.e., during the 1886–2022 period), focusing, amongst others, on the case of urban floods. The flood record of various sites of the country has been collected and analyzed to determine their spatial and temporal distribution. Greece is a country where flood data and records are very scarce. Therefore, as there is not an integrated catalog of Greek floods spanning from the 19th century to recently, this is the first attempt to create an integrated catalog for Greece. The sources used include published papers, local and regional newspapers and public bodies (mainly the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the official websites of Greek municipalities). Additionally, the main factors responsible for their occurrence have been issued, regarding the country’s climatic, geological and geomorphological setting, as well as human interventions. In addition, the atmospheric circulation driving factors of floods are assessed via an unsupervised neural network approach (i.e., Self-Organizing Maps). Based on the results of this research, an online GIS-based database has been created, depicting the areas that have been struck by riverine floods in Greece. By clicking a flood event in the online database, one can view several characteristics, depending on data availability, such as duration and height of the rainfall that caused them and number of fatalities. Long-term trends of mean and extremes seasonal precipitation also linked to the spatial distribution of floods. Our analysis shows that urban floods are a very large portion of the overall flood record, and they mainly occur in the two large urban centers, Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as near large rivers such as Pineios. Autumn months and mainly November are the periods with higher flood hazards, based on past records and cyclonic atmospheric circulation constitutes the principal driving factor. Our results indicate that a flood catalog at national level is of fundamental importance, as it can provide valuable statistical insights regarding seasonality, spatial distribution of floods, etc., while it can also be used by stakeholders and researchers for flood management and flood risk analysis and modelling.

Improvement of tools for the activity of local public administration bodies in the context of European integration

In the paper, a study of the definition of the concept of tools of local public administration bodies, their types and directions of improvement in the context of European integration was carried out. In particular, the author notes in the paper that the tools of public administration bodies are those actions they take with the purpose of legal regulation of legal relations with their participation, with the aim of regulating them or influencing the participants of such legal relations, ensuring compliance with the rights and interests of the participants of legal relations and the state ( or other public entity) as a whole (forms of public administration), legal means (techniques) that are used (methods of public administration); the concept of "tools of activity of public administration bodies" covers the regulation of administrative legal relations of an external nature. The instruments of activity of local bodies of public administration can be normative legal acts (in the form of orders of heads of local state administrations (including military administrations), orders of heads of territorial communities, decisions of local councils and their executive committees), acts of a programmatic nature (including social programs - economic and cultural development of the community, district, region, target programs on other issues), orders and decisions of an individual nature (including regarding the implementation of administrative-procedural and administrative-delict powers. On the basis of the conducted scientific research, the author came to the conclusion that in order to improve the tools of local public administration bodies in the context of European integration, the practice of concluding administrative contracts by them should be expanded, including regarding the cooperation of public administration subjects and public authority subjects, who, on the one hand, do not belong to the executive branch of state power, and on the other hand, can participate in the implementation of state programs at their own request.

Effective governance in local public administration bodies of Gagauzia: research results

Effective governance in local public administration bodies of Gagauzia: research results

Characterization of forms of management control in Beninese local governments: the case of Benin’s municipalities

The purpose of this study is to characterize the forms and hierarchy of management control in Beninese local authorities. It is thus positioned at the heart of reflections on the strong demands being made of local public bodies (Meyssonnier, 2019). Drawing on Malmi and Brown's (2008) framework, each dimension of the management control package is operationalized so as to consider the existence, importance and degree of use of management control tools and mechanisms. The results show that the dimensions of the management control package follow a "top-down" configuration. This generates practical managerial implications that provide a framework for reflection on "tailor-made management control" (Alcouffe et al., 2013), regarding both its configuration and its contribution to managerial action in the African setting (Livian, 2020).

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BODIES OF KOŠICE REGION AND PREŠOV REGION WITH PARTNERS IN UKRAINE

Despite the absence of a law on cross-border cooperation in the Slovak Republic, it can be concluded that the existing legal frameworks in Slovakia and Ukraine provide sufficient and diverse formal opportunities for cooperation between regional and local authorities on both sides of the border. At the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century, real self-governing structures, the business environment, and the non-governmental sector were just starting to take shape, and the relations between the then-new states of Slovakia (founded in 1993) and Ukraine (founded in 1991) were just being formed anew. The legislative environment was gradually formed. From this period, if we do not count legislative frameworks at national levels, almost the only formal evidence of cooperation between regional and local actors on both sides of the border is official documents on international partnerships of cities and municipalities. Of course, cooperation existed, especially in areas where it still works. In the field of culture, sports, tourism, education, and possibly also other, but practical matters, for example, related to transport connections or trade. We believe that, given the circumstances, the intensity of cooperation was at a lower level than at present. The paper deals with mapping international partnerships of local and regional public administration bodies in the Prešov and Košice regions with partners in Ukraine, from 1993 until now. The text deals with the legislative and institutional framework for the cooperation of local and regional actors across the border. Part of the article is also an overview of the contractual relations between the examined local and regional public administration bodies. The paper also offers political considerations and recommendations for the further development of the investigated relations. The paper also includes an interpretation of the results of the author‘s survey and the sociological survey carried out for the SIBSU project. Key words: public administration, international partnerships, local and regional authorities, Slovakia, Ukraine

THE ETHICS AND LEGISLATION OF COMMUNICATION IN THE ROMANIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

The public administration communication is a type of mass communication which involves the dissemination of public information to citizens and the receiving of an efficient feedback in the form of an active participation in decision-making processes that concerns that community. Citizens not only have access to information concerning drafted legislation to be debated by central and local public administrative bodies, but they are also invited to participate to the administrative decisions, getting actively involved in the process. Our paper aims to analyze how the communication of public administration is regulated by Romanian law and which difficulties occur on putting into practice legal provisions. We argue that the distance between the letter of the law and its spirit must be covered by the ethic liability of participants in the communication between public servants and citizens.

Corruption risk analysis in local public procurement: a look at the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona

Over the past years, the anti-corruption strategy in public administrations has been shifting from a formal way of control towards a risk management and assessment one. However, it is not clear whether these legal reforms at EU and at national level are reaching local institutions. The study evaluates the degree of compliance of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Barcelona by analysing a set of indicators divided into five main areas: codes of ethics, oversight bodies, transparency, conflicts of interests, and whistleblowing channels and protection. The results show that, even if there are also positive outcomes, the process of transforming the public administration and its contracting bodies towards a culture of integrity or risk management is still far from complete at local levels, and there are still institutional and normative shortcomings in terms of anti-corruption strategy and planning that should be promptly addressed. Points for practitioners This article explores the impact of the current anti-corruption legislation on local governments and public bodies. It analyses the state of development of four key public procurement areas of action within the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, gathering 170 entities of different legal nature and size. The results show that the impact of European and national legislations seems to be still weak in local administrative structures, although the degree of development varies significantly among different types of entities.

Organizational and legal issues in streamlining the horizontal structural connection between central and local public bodies

The article reveals the reasons for the lack of coordination functions and horizontal links in the apparatus of public authorities in the Republic of Moldova. The object of the research is a complex of legal and non-legal relations, multiparty, which arise in the initial stages of the formation of unstable organizational structures, linear-functional, of the central public administration bodies. The aim of this paper is to develop methods for streamlining the relationships and structures of the functional matrix at all levels of governance and self-government. Ways to weaken the multiparty factor are proposed by developing self-regulatory organizations of entrepreneurs and delegating them to state functions. The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that the lack of flexible links and coordination structures between the governing bodies, in the conditions of constant conflicts between party leaders, can lead to problems that call into question the very existence of the state. The author also argues that concrete measures need to be taken in order to combat imperfect legal rules in the form of tightening control over departmental regulation and establishing a permanent review of legislation. Based on the author’s experience in using the various questionnaires and surveys in his monographs, it is proposed, in drafting each new bill, to conduct a content analysis of current regulatory acts in the relevant field or industry and, from a scientific point of view, reach a final decision on whether such a regulatory act can be adopted. It is proposed to formulate at the state level and include in the legislation the various strategic objectives of promoting cooperation in the field of scientific and technological progress and small business.

Current status and issues of the war heritage sites in Japan

There are many heritage sites related to modern wars (hereinafter referred to as "war heritage sites") in many regions of Japan that are in danger of disappearing. War heritage sites are valuable actual objects and places that tell the history of a special past that will never happen again. However, they are difficult to evaluate from both historic and cultural aspects, and there are concerns that their disappearance will be accelerated the fading away of their history. In this study, we first organized the debate on the definition and scope of “war heritage sites” through the document investigation and described changes in protection. Next, we acquired data from local public bodies with “war heritage sites” via questionnaire, to understand the scope of the term and the trend of conservation. As a result, we clarified the diversity of “war heritage sites", thus allowing us to take a broad view of the target scope, and the "diversity of evaluation perspectives" to overcome the difficulty of evaluation, which is a bottleneck in preservation. In addition we made proposals to overcome difficulties of preservation and succession that are due to regional and financial circumstances.

Public administration in Russia as a subject of administrative procedure

The subject. Doctrinal approaches that reveal the place and role of public authorities, as well as organizations performing the functions of these authorities in the administrative process carried out in the Russian Federation, the principles and norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, administrative procedural legislation that form the legal basis of the administrative process in Russia.The purpose of the article is scientific substantiation of the integration of non-judicial bodies carrying out the administrative procedure into a special subsystem of public power, called public administration in the Russian Federation.The methodology. Formal logical and dialectical methods as well as private scientific methods such as method of interpretation of legal norms, method of comparative jurisprudence were used.The main results, scope of application. The article reveals the scientifically based content of the integrative approach to understanding the administrative process in contemporary Russia, taking into account the norms of the Russian Constitution and the analysis of existing doctrinal developments of administrative scientists. The article substantiates the structure of the administrative procedural legislation of the Russian Federation ant it’s constituent entities, which includes the judicial administrative process and the executive (non-judicial) administrative process implemented by the public administration (executive authorities, local self-government bodies, other administrative and public bodies). Administrativeindicating legal norms are distinguished, the analysis of which allows us to reveal the content, form, structure of the judicial administrative process and the executive (extra-judicial) administrative process, as well as to establish an integrative relationship between them with the help of such special categories as “judicial administrative case”, “extra-judicial administrative case”, “administrative proceedings”, “administrative proceedings”. A number of key proposals are put forward to systematize the judicial administrative process and the executive (extrajudicial) administrative process in Russia on the basis of developed scientific positions. The article reveals the question of a scientifically based theory for understanding the administrative and public functions of public administration, as well as the system and structure of public administration in modern Russia.Conclusions. The presented integrative approach to understanding the administrative process and its differentiated systematization for the judicial administrative process and the executive (non-judicial) administrative process are the only true way to develop the Russian model of administrative process. The question of the need to systematize the administrative and public functions implemented by the public administration is raised. It is proposed to develop and adopt a federal law “On Public Administration in the Russian Federation”, the authors substantiate the content of the structure of this law.

It's our museum too: co-producing research in a university museum through a nursery residency programme

PurposeThe authors draw on Howard and Thomas-Hughes' (2020) framework for quality assessment of co-produced research, to interrogate our assumptions and processes and to reflect on our project. They consider if they achieved our planned outcomes around developing practice, enabling a range of voices and perspectives within their research, and enacting change within the university museum.Design/methodology/approachThe authors’ early years residency programme explores the potential of collaborations with community groups to transform knowledge and practice through action research. As museum educators, the authors find synergy between the participatory pedagogies underpinning their practice and the co-construction of knowledge within action research. Both are committed to enabling diverse interpretations within a collective and supportive framework. Within their project, practitioners from the museum and playgroup worked collaboratively to collect video footage, photos, children's artwork and reflective journals and memos.FindingsThe process of action, observation and reflection revealed much about the authors’ different perspectives and they found variations in both pedagogy and practice. Although the authors had a shared commitment to providing high quality, memorable, exciting opportunities for the children, the exploratory nature of the project meant that they did not agree what these experiences might look like in advance, and so they had different understandings of what they saw.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the authors’ methodological framework was designed to make their research collaborative, structural challenges and the contexts of the art museum and university reinforced long established hierarchies. While some felt supported by the research process and the prestige of working with a university museum to gain legitimacy for their practice, others were disempowered by these same structures. The authors consider their obligations as practitioner-researchers to become aware of the role they play in maintaining, as well as challenging, hierarchies and assumptions.Originality/valueYoung children in museums is a growing area of study and this practitioner-led action research project develop a new strand of enquiry within this field. Through this research the authors can collaborate with community partners to record, analyse and make visible the many different ways in which young children experience the museum. As research led institutions, university museums are ideally placed to develop research in partnership with local public bodies and community groups. However, future work in this area would benefit from a more explicit consideration of the constraints implicit within the institutions within which they all operate.

Brain Drain in the EU: Local and Regional Public Policies and Good Practices

The processes of brain drain and brain gain are in public debate today, just as they were more than 2,000 years ago or when the first European universities were established. The debate is far from over and the issue is debated both at the academic and political level. There are several interconnected levels at which the issue needs to be addressed and solutions found: local, regional, national, and supranational (EU). Coordination of different funding sources should be improved at the EU level in the governance of post-2020 cohesion policy and programs. The local and regional authorities can best analyze the specific needs of communities and find answers to them and thus play an important role in reducing the potential negative effects of brain drain processes and can support brain gain, brain regain and brain circulation processes. There are many examples of public policies and practices implemented by local and regional authorities - from supporting the relocation of talented individuals to those regions/cities to more sophisticated measures involving the development of transnational networks of entrepreneurs. The EU needs to support programs or initiatives that aim to enhance learning between different European local and regional authorities and the efforts of local and regional public bodies in addressing brain drain.

Gagauzia Autonomous Administrative-Territorial Unit From Moldova Republic. Particularities in Organization in the Administration of the Comrat Municipality

In the pages of the present paper we propose the analysis of the administration organization of the Gagauziа Autonomous Administrative- Territorial Unit of the in Rерubliса Mоldоvа, with particularity at the City Hall of Comrat Municipality, in order to highlight its self-determination right. The research carried out shows that their own national emblems - flag, coat of arms, but also the establishment by referendum of their own capital, are prerequisites for the Gagauz autonomy. We found that, from the point of view of the administrative-territorial division, the autonomous territory of Gagauzia is divided into rayons, cities and villages, the Comrat Municipality representing the administrative center of the Gagauz autonomy. In Gagauzia, the local public administration bodies are the Gagauz Bascan, the People's Assembly and the Executive Committee. At the level of Comrat Municipality, the authorities exercising attributions in matters of local interest are the Municipal Council and the Mayor, the latter being assisted by three deputy mayors. From the analysis of the administration organization of the Gagauzia Autonomous Administrative-Territorial Unit, we noticed that it has a special legal status consisting of the right of the gagauz people to self-determination.

Підвищення ефективності роботи та кар’єрного потенціалу державних службовців в Україні

The article examines the mechanisms and possibilities for increasing the labour efficiency and career potential of civil servants and specialists of local public administration bodies in the conditions of building up the innovative-investment model of Ukraine’s development. In fact, the political and socio-economic transformation of Ukrainian society strengthens the requirements to the activities of local public administration bodies, requires the increase of efficiency and effectiveness of activity of institute of government service. The task of strengthening the Ukrainian state system and development of democratic society, the management of economic, administrative-political, and social-cultural spheres, carrying out reforms in the country are charged exactly to this institute. The author determines the factors, which influence the efficiency of civil servants’ activities, and the basic indices for the estimation of the efficiency of civil servant’s activities. Political and economic tension in the state strengthens the requirements to modern state administration, the efficiency of which depends, foremost, on the effective government service. The high instability of personnel, especially young and highly skilled specialists, the low productivity and quality of making decisions in local public administration bodies is the consequences of ineffective civil servants’ activity that negatively influences the effectiveness of government service activities on the whole. Therefore, one of the ways of achievement of high efficiency of functioning the public administration bodies is the use of motivation function, which will allow to promote the personal interest of civil servants to work actively and full of initiative, to expose and realize their labour potential for the sake of the state and service the people of Ukraine. Therefore, planning the career of a civil servant requires the determination of facilities for the achievement of the desirable results. The responsibility for the implementation of the planned measures is trusted both to an organization and to a worker. Thus, the leaders of the subdivisions must provide the workers with the information about the requirements and possibilities of public institution (public administration body) concerning personnel providing not only within the limits of their subdivision, but also within the public institution on the whole.

Communication and Data Processing in Local Public Group: Transparency and Accountability

The purpose of this story is to identify the role of information in the municipal public group with a view to New Public Governance and the need for mutual exchange between citizens and public bodies. The conducted analysis is quantitative subjective; the theory is demonstrated through the focus of a real case to increase the understanding of theoretical assumptions. The carried-out elaboration, after having identified the variables considered and the possible mathematical relationship between variables. The New Public Governance (NPG) sees public affection closely related to the need for information, this leads to study the real effects towards a new theory of citizen choice. The study shows that the use and dissemination of communication and processing tools in local authorities can have a positive impact on responsibility and transparency, improving trust in local governments and citizen participation in civic or political life. The information provided through open organic data on all sectors ensures greater trust in local public bodies and civic participation. The use of social indicators is a useful tool for assessing population satisfaction and understanding of the information provided to better plan and plan public services and municipal group interventions. The identified tools can be used to analyse the relapse and the involvement of both information and processing tools in the process of communicating the outputs to the stakeholders. All municipal groups have new tools for assessing planning and control. New analysis of the role of information in NPG.

Conflictos por la valoración de humedales en ámbitos urbanos. La cuenca Matanza Riachuelo, Argentina

En el marco del despliegue de emprendimientos productivos, inmobiliarios, de infraestructura y servicios sobre territorios de extrema fragilidad ambiental ha comenzado a demandarse y promoverse la creación de áreas protegidas en ámbitos urbanos. La Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo (CMR), uno de los territorios más densamente urbanizados e históricamente contaminados en Argentina, cuenta con una serie de reservas naturales, declaradas como tal en respuesta a demandas impulsadas por organizaciones locales, organizaciones no gubernamentales y organismos estatales. A partir de la realización de entrevistas a profundidad, y del análisis de informes producidos por organismos estatales y organizaciones locales, legislación y otras fuentes documentales, este artículo se detiene en los conflictos y controversias acerca de los modos diferenciales de valoración, y usufructo de los bienes y servicios provistos por estos ecosistemas en la Región Metropolitana de Buenos Aires.

The Earthquake in Ōsaka-Fu Hokubu on 18 June 2018 and its Ensuing Disaster

An M6.1 earthquake occurred in the northern part of Ōsaka-fu (Osaka Prefecture) on June 18, 2018, with many areas in the Kinki region experiencing intense shaking. In Ōsaka City and Takatsuki City seismic intensity 6 lower was observed, resulting in 4 deaths, 15 people sustaining serious injuries, 419 people sustaining minor injuries, 10 completely destroyed residence, 181 partially destroyed residences, and 32,989 residences partially damaged (as of July 17, 2018). There were 339 cases of people being trapped in elevators. At most, approximately 1700 people were evacuated. While there were no derailment incidents on the Shinkansen or local train lines, service was suspended on most railways. Following this earthquake, Ōsaka-fu took the decision to apply The Disaster Relief Act. Response was then enacted by the government local public bodies, and the private sector.