ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPETENCES OF
MUNICIPALITIES AND STATE ADMINISTRATION IN SLOVENIAN
CONSTITUTIONAL JUDISIAL PRACTICE
The master’s thesis presents an analysis of constitutional jurisprudence in the field of
local self-government in connection with the European Charter of Local Self-
Government (Charter) and the relationship between the competences of municipalities
and the state. The purpose of the work was to investigate the compliance of the
regulations with the Constitution and the Charter, which was audited by the
Constitutional Court from 1996 to 2023. The aim was to determine whether the Charter
principles are implemented in national legislation and practice, and what are the
positions of the Constitutional Court in interpreting and understanding the concrete
cases analysed. From 1996 and 2023, the Constitutional Court dealt with 32
jurisdictional disputes between the state and the municipality. The main research
problem was to study the relationship between the competences of the state and the
municipalities and to investigate why and in which areas conflicts of competence arise.
For the purpose of the research, historical, normative, descriptive, deductive,
statistical, comparative, analysis of constitutional jurisprudence, method of analysis
and synthesis and case studies were used. On the basis of the survey on the
conformity of regulations with the Constitution and the Charter, a number of violations
were identified, the most frequent of which were in the area of municipal financing. It
was found that most disputes over jurisdiction between the state and the municipality
relate to inspections in the field of environmental and nature protection, but they are
the most numerous in the last decade.
The results of the survey and findings serve as a guide for decision-makers and
regulators in the field of local self-government, as well as for state and municipal
administration officials conducting administrative proceedings. We expect that the
findings will help to reduce conflicts of jurisdiction and prevent unconstitutional and
illegal regulations in the field of local self-government in the future.
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