GUARANTEES FOR LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONS
Abstract
Constitutional and legal regularisation of local self-government is currently the subject of heated debate in Georgia in the framework of constitutional reforms. We believe that this paper, which analyses the appropriate constitutional norms of European states, will add to the debate.
It is interesting to learn about the experience of states where local self-governance has a longstanding tradition, as well as of those where it emerged not long ago. Before we begin to address several specific issues, we would like to note that securing constitutional guarantees for local self-government should not be a mere formality. Constitutional guarantees should actually force the state power to respect and to protect the rights of local self-government.
We can isolate a group of European states in which constitutions do not pay sufficient attention to, or even ignore outright, issues related to self-government. This means that the constitutional controls exercised by the state power over self-government are relaxed and the possibilities of implementing restrictions in this sphere are reduced.
A fundamental law of Sweden, namely the Instrument of the Government, states in Article that decision-making power is exercised by elected assemblies and that local authorities may levy taxes. There are no other provisions in the act concerning local government. In the same vein, the constitutions of Denmark, Finland and Switzerland pay scanty attention to local government. The Constitution of the Swiss Confederation delegates the power of ensuring autonomy for municipalities to cantonal legislation. There are also cases where constitutions do not contain any single article about local government, namely the constitutions of Norway and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The danger of the liquidation or the exhaustion of local government under conditions of a full or partial vacuum do not exist in developed democratic states due to their regularisation by constitutions. Meanwhile, in countries where democratic institutions are weak and traditions of local government are only making their first steps, the absence of constitutional guarantees poses a genuine threat. However, an analysis of constitutions shows that even the extensive regulation of local government does not mean that this important institution is thoroughly protected.
