Legal regulation of the adoption of statutes of territorial communities

Abstract

Background. The urgency of the research topic is that at the present stage of the  municipal reform, much attention is paid to the practical implementation of the decentralization of public power, the principle of subsidiarity in the financial, comptetional, and other spheres of life. In accordance with the Concept for the Reform of Local Government and Territorial Organization of Power in Ukraine, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on April 1, 2014, approval of the territorial communities’ charters is one of the measures ensuring the creation of appropriate material, financial and organizational conditions for ensuring the implementation by local self-government bodies of their own and delegated authority.
Analysis of recent researches and publications. The experts on municipal law of Ukraine often do not pay attention to the normative regulation of the development and adoption of the territorial communities of Ukrainian cities’ charters. Therefore, during the study, the author used the general works about the territorial communities’ charters, includingthe articles of N. Mishyna («Municipal reform in Ukraine: state and prospects»,2018, «Constitutional regulation of local self-government in Ukraine: present and future», 2015), I. Idesis («Problematic Issues of the Acceptance and Registration of the Statutes of Territorial Communities in Ukraine», 2014), O. Batanov, I. Zaytseva («Directionsfor improving statutory rulemaking: the procedure for the elaboration and adoption of the charter of a territorial community», 2013, «Conceptual problems of statutory rulemaking in local self-government», 2013), other works by other researchers.
The aim of the article is to generalize the norms, which are currently regulating the development and adoption of the Ukrainian cities’ territorial communities’ charters, and, based on their analysis, to formulate proposals on how to further improve the regulatory framework in this area.
Materials and methods. The author uses the works of the Ukrainian scientists, which have researched the territorial communities’ charters, mostly specialists in the constitutional law and in the theory of state and law. The main methods for the study are: systemic, that allows to see the Constitution, the Law of Ukraine «On Local Self-Government»as a system, and modelling, that allows to formulate the proposals how to improve the legislation of the field.
Results. In the article the author substantiates that the current legislation of Ukraine regulates the issues of drafting and adopting the territorial communities’ charters of Ukrainian cities rather fragmentary; while the provisions on the development of the territorial communities’ charters of Ukrainian cities are separate legal norms, from the contents of which relevant conclusions can be made indirectly. Based on the results of the study, a number of amendments and additions to the Law «On Local Self-Government in Ukraine»were formulated and a proposal was made to supplement the Law of Ukraine «On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities»by one or severalarticles about the distinctive features of the united territorial communities’ charters.
Conclusion. Based on the results of the generalization and analysis of the norms that are currently regulating the drafting and adoption of the territorial communities’ charters of Ukrainian cities, such a proposals are made: a) it is not recommended to include norms about them in the Constitution of Ukraine despite the importance of the urban communities’ charters for further urban development; b) Part 1 of Article 19 of the Law «On Local Self-Government in Ukraine»about the essence of the territorial community’s charters shall be considered part 1-1 of Article 6«Territorial Communities»of the same Law; c) it is proposed to abolish the requirement for state registration of territorial communities' charters and, accordingly, to exclude from section 19 of the Law «On Local Self-Government in Ukraine»Part 2-3 and to abolish the relevant by-laws; d) it is proposed to set out paragraph 1 of part 1 of article 26 «Exclusive competence of village, settlement and city councils»in the following wording: «Only at plenary meetings of a village, settlement, city council the following issues are solved: 1) approval of the territorial community charter»and to supplement part 1 Article 26 of the Law «On Local Self-Government in Ukraine», with the paragraph 1-1 as follows: «1-1) approval of the rules of the council».