Professional paper
Self-government jurisdiction of the self-government units (The Township of Opatija)
Helena Mesarić
; City Council of Opatija, Opatija, Croatia
Vjera Ljubanović
; Administrative Department for municipal system of Opatija, Opatija, Croatia
Abstract
In the functioning of the locai self-government the township of Opatija faces the Problems common to the locai self-government units, which arisc fwm the incomplete and contradictory legal solutions. The self-government jurisdiction o f the townships and municipalities has been generally defined by the Articles 13 and 14 o f the Locai Self-government and Administration Act. It has been clear from the provisions o f the legislation by wkich the local services are delivered in the townships and municipalities, regardlcss o f their economic strength, that only in the less mimerons instances the right o f locai self-government unite for regulate and administer the substantial part ot the public business witht heir authority complete and encircled is at stake ( tasks from the area of communal services and a part o f social services), yvhile the other tasks appear sporadically and have no special significarne forfulfillment o f the needs of the locai citizenship. In the relatively small units o f locai self-government, taking into account a size, a population and the economie strength, which are notable even to collect the necessary revenues to ensure a delivery o f even this narmved self-government competencies and do not have the skilled and trained cadres, an accomplishment o f the tasks of the locai self-government units o f a required quality is made very difficult. The model of enumeration in defining the locai tasks and the tied principle o f a presumptive competence in favor o f the centrai authorities have left to the locai self- -govemment a negligible scope oftruly essential locai tasks and often even witbout the resources needed to perform the tasks and without the mechanisms o f an efficient control over the application o f the rules and regulations which regulate the defined questions from the self-government jurisdiction. The experiences in functioning o f locai self-government demonstrated a distrust of the central govemment towards locai self-government, which has often been treated as “an alien body" which must be kepi under the constant surveillance, but not as a fundament o f the democratie System, on whose levai the local; needs o f citizens are being fulfilled in the most immediate manner, as well as their participation in a regulation and administration ofthe substantial public business o f a local significance. Incompleteness and contradictions o f the particular legal solutions are not a resuit o f accidents, but make an undesired tendency. Tbere is no doubt that the certain normative solutions o f the local self-government depart from the acceptance o f the fundamental and necessarily bounding principies and institutions o f the European Charter on Self-government and Administration, but in order to fully implement the constitutional right ofcitizens on local self-government, it would be needed to accommodate the legislation to the provisions of the European Charter, which prefer that the public authority belong to the authorities which are the closest to citizens, and that the competencies given to the local self-government unit be complete and full, while their performance must not be disabled or restricted by some other central or regional authority. Such an approach would adivate the local initiative and increase the efficiency inperforming the tasks, while strengthening a confidence o f citizens into the strength of local self-government. In any case, if devolving a new competencies to the units of local self-government the sources o f financing should be provided for, which would in tum fully fulfill the repuirements o f the Section 2 o f the Article 9 of the European Charter on Local Self-government. The changes of the legislation regulating local self-government should be approached entirely, thus in the parts related to the organization, jurisdiction, financing and the rights o f the employees, since the fragmented approach would lead to a nerv disharmonies.
Keywords
local self-government; self-government jurisdiction; local self-government financing; administrative control
Hrčak ID:
197757
URI
Publication date:
7.6.2000.
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