Local self-government powers: on content and correlation with related concepts

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the concepts of “competency”, “competence”, “powers”, and their correlation in the formulation of powers of local self-government bodies. The study focuses on the understanding that local self-government and local self-government bodies are a product of civil society and are called upon to regulate, promote and implement the interests of civil society, associations of citizens, in particular, on the territorial principle, as well as individuals. Since local self-government is the right of residents of certain settlements to associate, local governments must provide relevant services to the community and its residents. The provision of relevant services by local self-government bodies, which are public services by their nature, involves the exercise of their powers granted to them as a result of decentralisation of power to fulfil their functions and tasks. The exercise of powers by local self-government bodies is impossible without understanding the essence and content of powers, their correlation with the subjects of exercise – the relevant officials of local self-government bodies. Thus, understanding of the holistic doctrine of powers of local self-government bodies, their functionality and hierarchy is impossible without studying the concepts of “competency” and “competence” of a local self-government official. Based on the results of the study, the author formulates the author’s own definitions of the concepts of “competency”, “competence” and “powers” of local self-government bodies.

Competence is considered as an integral system that includes subsystems of knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform a certain function and implement a relevant task, which by its purpose meets the requirements for holding a position in local self-government bodies, as well as the rights and obligations resulting from the implementation of the functions and tasks of local self-government. Competency is the ability of a person to exercise the rights and duties of a local self-government official, taking into account the availability of relevant knowledge, skills and abilities, the ability of the official to independently form the specified necessary set of rights and duties for the exercise of the powers of the local self-government body, taking into account the available administrative discretion.

At the same time, it is substantiated that the powers of local self-government bodies are a system of rights and obligations of local self-government officials enshrined in legal documents which ensures the realisation of the interests of the territorial community by providing relevant services within the framework of certain functions for these bodies and is based on the competence and competence of officials, employees of local self-government bodies and institutions and organisations established by them aimed at achieving the tasks set by these bodies.