Local government and its emergence date way back to history. The first forms of it can be discovered in the 12th century when kings and aristocrats granted legal status to the towns, i.e. the status of free towns. In the 19th century, it was first also legally regulated in Europe and also in the United States of America.
The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia determined constitutional foundations of the local government in 1991. The appropriate provisions regulate the local government more specifically and more thoroughly, especially the Local Self-Government Act. The Local Self-Government Act has the fundamental significance in the system of the local government. The municipalities were assigned the tasks which are essential for the life and work of their inhabitants. It is easier and more efficient to perform these tasks within the municipality as it would be under the national government. The right of an individual or a local community to the self-management is defined also in the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The European Charter of Local Self-Government, its principles mostly, are also an integral part of the legal order of the Republic of Slovenia. This is an international convention which construes the signatories to respect certain conditions, principles, and rules. Slovenia signed the charter and ratified it fully in 1997.
Inhabitants in certain areas have the right to decision-making and self-management. Every four years the elect the representatives of the municipality who help them in decision-making and in decision-making on their behalf. Elections are the only bond between the representative bodies and the voters by which the voters can influence the politics in the local community, i.e. the decisions of the politicians. The elections of the municipal bodies are regulated by the Local Self-Government Act. The local government is also regulated by the Financing of Municipalities Act. The financing of the municipalities is based on the principles of the local government, mostly on the principle of proportionality of the sources of financing with the tasks of municipalities and the principle of the autonomy of the municipalities in financing the municipality tasks.The local government means the autonomous processing and solving the life necessities of the inhabitants in narrower civil parishes. The local community is the institution of the local government. It is the social community of several connected settlements.
|
