Most Russians are quite familiar with the power structure. However, not everyone knows about the concept of local self-government. But this is an extremely important system on which the solution of most of the social problems depends. In our article we will try to recall what constitutes a municipal governance structure, how it differs from classical state power.
The concept of local government
In all Russian regions there are communities that directly or through representative bodies carry out activities on issues of local importance. The general group of such communities is called local government. The concept of self-government is given in the Russian Constitution. The basic law of the country says that the work of local authorities that are not related to state power forms the constitutional system of the Russian Federation.
Local government is characterized by the presence of a certain territory. Since it is assigned to the municipality, local ownership and the budget will play an important role in organizing the system. It should be understood that the structure of local self-government is separate from state authorities.
The independent nature of the municipality presupposes the existence of its economic basis and complete independence from regional authorities. At the same time, representatives of local self-government have a huge responsibility for all actions taken. The municipality is obliged to have its own charter, which should spell out the basic principles and directions of activity.
Principles of Local Government
The Russian legislation on the organization of activities of municipalities has a number of important rules. So, in chapter 2 of the regulatory act describes the basic ideas, principles and principles that should be followed by representatives of local governments in the formation of their activities.
First, general principles should be highlighted. This is the rule of law, humanity, focus on the protection of freedoms, rights and interests of man, as well as much more. Article 10 of the Law "On Local Self-Government" describes the territories of municipalities. It is known that self-government is allowed in cities, villages, districts and urban districts. Borders of territories are established and changed by regional laws. So, in article 11 of the Law, the methods of organizing territorial entities are described in detail. The status of a place will depend on the number of people living in it, as well as on the level of infrastructure development.
The boundaries of a territorial entity may be changed either at the request of the population living in it, or at the initiative of a government. For example, due to population decline, an urban-type settlement acquired the status of a simple settlement. Moreover, settlements in general can be abolished. There are several ways to eliminate a territorial entity:
- Merging with another entity.
- Loss of current status.
- Change of state borders.
At the initiative of local residents in the settled territories, a new settlement can be formed. The law allows the creation of a local government structure in a newly emerged municipality.
Local issues
Chapter 3 of the Law describes local issues to which the municipality should pay special attention. So, cities and towns are obliged to solve the following problems:
- Formation and analysis of the draft budget of the settlement, its further approval and implementation.
- Formation, modification and cancellation of the procedure for the collection of local fees and taxes.
- Ownership and disposal of property of a municipal settlement.
- Organization within the boundaries of the settlement of all necessary infrastructure.
- Providing the population with housing.
- Implementation of work on the prevention of terrorism and extremism.
- Prevention and liquidation of consequences caused by emergency situations.
- Creating conditions for organizing leisure activities and providing local people with entertainment services.
- Formation of archival funds of the population.
- Approval of land improvement plans and much more.
Thus, the functions of local government are incredibly many.
For their implementation, each municipality must have a number of important rights, such as:
- Cooperation with state authorities.
- Request from government authorities for the necessary documents.
- Interaction with public meetings and unions.
- Support for various organizations and their financing.
- The adoption of various measures to modernize their own activities, etc.
It should be noted that the number of functions of local self-government directly depends on the form of a municipality. So, district authorities will have a smaller set of powers than, for example, city or regional authorities.
Tasks of the municipality
Despite the complete independence of local self-government organizations from state authorities, municipalities are still vested with some large powers that can be equated with state ones. The endowment is realized in advance. All necessary norms are prescribed in regional laws.
It is possible to give local authorities with powers for a specified period or for unlimited. Financial support for municipalities is possible only through subventions provided to local budgets.
So, what should be taken into account when vesting local governments with state functions? Firstly, this is a list of existing rights and obligations of the municipality. It is necessary to correctly analyze how successfully the authority copes with its functions. Secondly, this is a methodology for calculating standards for determining the amount of subventions that can be provided to local budgets from the federal budget. Finally, the list of transferred functions should suit both state bodies and local self-government.
Despite the complete independence of the municipalities, some control over their activities has been established. State power cannot ignore everything that local government does. The authorities exercise all the powers on their own, but if violations are detected, the municipality will be held responsible.
People and local government
Having dealt with the ways of interaction between municipalities and the state, you should pay attention to the relationship of local government with ordinary citizens. In fact, representatives of municipalities - this is the people. They only grouped to solve pressing issues that the government cannot or does not want to solve.
The first form of people's participation in the implementation of self-government is called a referendum. It is carried out at the initiative of the citizens themselves or at the request of representatives of the municipality. The issue discussed in a referendum can be absolutely anything. It can relate to the economic, social, cultural sphere and much more. A referendum is held very simply: through a poll, citizens find out an opinion on a particular problem.
The next form of interaction with the people is called municipal elections. Polling stations are being created where citizens choose representatives from each district to the municipality. Voting can also be held on recalling deputies, on issues of changing the powers of local authorities, etc.
Citizens' meetings allowed by law are also a form of interaction between the municipality and the people. For example, in a separate yard, citizens want to solve the problem of improvement. People are convening, representatives from the local government system are invited. A meeting or gathering may take the form of a survey, public hearing, conference, etc.
Officials
It is worth explaining in more detail who such subjects of local self-government are. These are bodies and officials. The structure of bodies includes the following authorities:
- Representative instance in the system of municipal formation.
- Local administration.
- Control municipal authority.
- Head of the municipality.
- Other bodies and officials, if permitted by the charter.
The way in which the system of local self-government will be built is not enshrined in any law. In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, there are three options for organizing a municipality. In all three methods, a representative body is formed by the population. Only the status of officials is changing:
- The head of the municipality is elected by the people and leads the representative body, and the head of the local administration is appointed by contract.
- The head of the municipality is elected and subsequently leads the local administration.
- The head of the municipality is elected by the members of the representative body and heads this body, and the head of the local administration is hired by the contract.
The above organization methods are typical for urban settlements. In a slightly different way, everything can be in the countryside. Here, a fairly common option for organizing a municipality is to recruit delegates from various settlements and to concentrate them in the main representative body. A head is elected from among the delegates.
There is one more option. It is typical for settlements with a population of less than 100 people. The representative who heads the local administration is elected. The functions of the representative body are performed by a gathering of citizens.
Thus, the organization of the municipality is largely dependent on the territory. Local government is closely related to the size of the population and the size of the designated place.
Municipal legal acts
The system of municipal documentation includes three groups of acts:
- Those that were adopted at a local meeting, referendum, gathering, etc. This, for example, the Charter of the municipality.
- Normative acts of the representative body of the local territorial entity.
- Legal acts of officials from the municipality: representative of the municipality, head of the local administration, etc.
Each authority or official has the opportunity to issue the act that is required. It is important that it ensures the rights of citizens and does not contradict the law.
On issues of local government, the following documents are prepared:
- The Russian Constitution.
- European Charter of Local Self-Government.
- Generally recognized norms and principles of international law, interstate treaties of Russia.
- Federal Law "On the Basics of Local Self-Government" of 2003.
- Regional constitutions or charters.
- Other regulatory acts.
Thus, the regulatory framework on the basis of which local self-government is implemented seems quite broad.
Various instances in the system of local self-government issue only those acts that are within the scope of their authority. For example, the head of a representative body issues decisions on the work of his unit. The chairman of the local administration issues acts within the framework of his authority, etc. Each official is able to make proposals on various issues.
It is norm-setting activity that is the main element in the development of local self-government. This must be considered by each representative of the municipality.
The economic base of municipalities
All property owned by the municipality, as well as all means of local budgets and property rights of municipalities constitute the financial and economic base of local self-government. This form of ownership is recognized by the state and carefully protected by it.
How is the economic base of municipal bodies formed? Here are just a few sources:
- Revenues from local fees and taxes (both federal and regional).
- Revenues from property owned by the municipality.
- Penalties, the establishment of which are within the competence of the municipality.
- Voluntary donations and legal proceeds.
- Subventions of an inter-municipal or state nature.
On the last point you need to dwell a little more. Subventions are the type of cash allowance to municipal authorities from the state. Unlike subsidies, the subvention is refundable in case of misuse.
There are several forms of subventive financing. This is “from the center to the places”, “from the regional authority to the local municipality”, as well as “from the municipality to the municipality”. In all these cases, strict state control over the activities of local authorities is maintained. It is conducted by the prosecution authorities of the Russian Federation and other organizations authorized by the laws of the Russian Federation.
Features of the organization of local government
All activities of municipal authorities must obey the laws of the Russian Federation. They regulate the ways of organizing forms of municipalities and options for the implementation of local self-government. First, a congress of the council of municipalities from one Russian entity must go through. The Council is composed of both people's delegates and representatives of the authorities - this is not prohibited. At a meeting of members the following issues are resolved:
- On approval of the charter of the council.
- On determining the size and procedure for paying membership dues.
- On the election of the council of municipalities.
In the future, the council is prohibited from interfering in the activities of municipalities or in any way restricting them.
Of great importance is the concept of inter-municipal cooperation. Several self-government bodies unite in order to resolve some pressing issues or problems. In the country, there is even an association, "The All-Russian Association of Municipalities."
In an inter-municipal association, a variety of issues can be resolved. As a rule, they relate to ways to modernize local government. The concept of inter-municipal cooperation, therefore, occupies an important place in the Russian legal system.
Municipal Responsibility
The responsibility of local self-government for illegal acts is described in Chapter 10 of the Federal Law. The normative act says that municipalities are responsible to the state, as well as to the population in the person of citizens and organizations. The population has the right to recall their deputies and delegates if there are any problems or conflicts.
How exactly and by whom are violations detected? Everything is quite simple here. Anyone who does not comply with the law can be identified by anyone, it is enough to file a lawsuit with the nearest court. The violations themselves constitute illegal actions or omissions of representatives of municipalities. For example, the Constitution states that local governments are formed and operate on an independent basis. But suddenly it turns out that someone is “crushing” the municipal representatives. In this case, the local government will be the victim, and the perpetrator will be the defendant. But it could be the other way around. For example, the head of the local administration put pressure on the representative body. In this case, the culprit will be removed from office and liable.
Complaints submitted to the court must be examined within 10 days. As a result of the court session, a decision is made to impose restrictions, prohibitions or other methods of influence on the self-government body.
The most common reasons for imposing sanctions on the municipality are actions or inaction of the head of the representative body, failure to perform functions on issues of territorial importance and an unsatisfactory assessment of the work of local self-government. Russians should carefully monitor how exactly the municipality exercises its functions.