Local self-government of Russia was formed both thanks to domestic experience and under the influence of international standards. Far from the last role in this process was played by the European Charter of Local Self-Government. This document was adopted in the form of a convention in 1985 and a few months later was open for signature. In subsequent years, its provisions were supported by most of the states that are members of the Council of Europe. Russia, the European Charter was signed in 1996. Thus, at the moment, local government in our country is being built on the legal basis of this document.
This Charter obliges each of the participants to comply with legal norms that guarantee the administrative, financial and political independence of local authorities. The European Charter of Local Self-Government, like most such documents, begins with the preamble and consists of 3 parts.
The preamble defines the goals of the Council of Europe and states that local self-government is an essential foundation of a democratic system. Like the
European Social Charter, this document emphasizes the importance of civil rights. The first part explains the essence of the democratic concept of local self-government, defines its area of competence, methods of legal protection,
sources of financing and mechanisms for monitoring its activities. In particular, according to her, the essence of local self-government is the ability and right of the population to manage public affairs within the framework of the law. The first part of the Charter also notes that true self-government is impossible without free elections.
In the second part, the amount of obligations that the participants assume is indicated. In the 3rd part, the European Charter of Local Self-Government contains provisions explaining the specifics of ratification, signing and entry into force of the said document.
The European Charter of Local Self-Government was the first multilateral legal act defining and protecting the principles of local autonomy. It is based on the
principle of subsidiarity. According to him, issues that are resolved at the lower levels of government should not be passed upstairs. Intervention by the central government is necessary only in exceptional cases. In this regard, most of the state powers should be vested in authorities located in close proximity to citizens. Despite the fact that the legal norms of the Charter are primarily advisory in nature, their observance is necessary for any country to join this agreement. Moreover, the described
document establishes some obligations of the participants. So, the country's domestic legislation should recognize the principle of local self-government. It is also worth mentioning that states that are current members of the Council of Europe should send to the Secretary General of the said body information on legislative provisions adopted to comply with their Charter.