The totality of municipal legal relations is the most important area in the legal system of the Russian state. Such relations arise in the process of formation and functioning of local governments operating in a particular municipality. The concept of local self-government is dedicated to a separate chapter of the Russian Constitution, as well as many codes and federal laws. In this article, the content, methods and features of municipal legal relations will be analyzed in detail.
The concept of municipal law
What is a municipal legal relationship? An example of such an attitude can be found in any Russian region: this is the work of a local self-government body. The population of the Russian state has the right to independently organize in some public spheres. Such a right is enshrined in the basic law of the country - the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The education and work of local authorities are regulated by municipal law. In the presented form of law, there are relations of a municipal nature that may arise at the will of one or two parties. One side is the population of one body or another, and the other is the municipal body formed by this population.
Municipal legal relations are organizational in nature, as they contribute to the organization of certain social processes. Also, relations are associated with the implementation of the powers, functions and tasks of local self-government bodies.
The structure of municipal law
Like any other branch of law, the municipal sphere consists of objects, subjects and contents. The main element in the relationship is the subject. Different elements may appear in the form of a subject:
- civic groups;
- local government bodies;
- municipalities;
- unions, associations and other types of associations;
- the population of the Russian Federation;
- bodies of public self-government;
- government bodies, etc.
Thus, the subjects of municipal legal relations are endowed with a number of powers and responsibilities that make up the content of relations. There are also objects: this is what legal relations may arise about. It is worth highlighting municipal acts, the behavior of municipal employees, various territorial entities, etc.
Separately, it is necessary to talk about the methods of municipal legal relations. The area of law under consideration is based on a combination of imperative (binding or prohibitive) and dispositive (permissible) principles with a predominance of the latter. Still, in the organization of local self-government, Russian citizens are given some freedom of action.
Relationship system
This branch of law is divided into institutions and their constituent elements. At the same time, the municipal area of relations combines the norms of financial, land, civil and administrative law.
All municipal norms are divided into general and special. The general part includes norms that apply to parts of the industry. It also includes constitutional norms. They consolidate the principles, guarantees and goals of municipal legal relations. The special part includes the norms that govern certain groups of municipal relations. It is also worth noting that the group of special norms contains a number of public institutions. They will be described in detail below.
Institutions of Municipal Relations
The group of special municipal norms contains a number of institutions that include procedural and municipal elements. Such institutions regulate certain aspects of local self-government, consolidate the status of subjects of the considered branch of law. Which institutions should be highlighted here?
Firstly, it is the institute of municipal territorial structure, which includes sub-institutes of territorial division. The formed area must have a certain status. The institution of status and determination of the functions of representatives of municipalities is responsible for it. Here we are talking about officials, as well as deputies from representative, control, executive and other bodies.
No less important are special institutions - for example, those associated with municipal awards and honorary titles, symbols, property, management procedures, finances, etc.
Types of municipal relations
Specialists in the field of jurisprudence identify several main types of legal relations under consideration. All species are divided according to special classifications. The most common group is associated with the form of exercise of power. It includes the following groups of relationships:
- arising in the process of realization of state powers by self-governing bodies;
- arising in the process of resolving local issues by expressing the will of the people;
- related to the functioning of elected local governments.
Another group of legal relations is connected with the role of self-government in the system of federalism of the Russian Federation. Specialists distinguish three types:
- powers of self-government bodies delegated by federal bodies;
- implementation of certain powers delegated by Russian entities;
- relations associated with the independent activity of the population on issues of local importance.
There is also a classification related to public areas. The following types of relationships should be highlighted here:
- administrative and political life;
- area of local economy;
- socio-cultural life.
There are other classifications, however, only the most basic of them were named above.
Legal Facts
Legal relations in municipal law can be formed and dynamically develop only in the presence of certain legal facts. What is a legal fact? This is a specific social circumstance that causes the onset, occurrence, termination or change of legal relations. In municipal law, a legal fact is a real-life phenomenon that sets the municipal norm in motion. This is a special element of the mechanism of municipal regulation, performing the main function - ensuring the emergence, change or termination of legal relations.
Legal facts create a transition from a general behavioral model to a specific type of behavior, which is embodied in municipal legal relations. This is the main task of the legal fact. The most common classification divides legal facts into events and actions. An action is the result of a conscious activity, and an event is a fact independent of a person.
Sources of municipal law
The Russian municipal legal sphere is based on many different sources. All of them are divided into several types. So, it should highlight the legislative and by-laws, international and federal, subject and local. All of them regulate issues of local importance, as well as the activities of self-government bodies.
What are the international sources? In 1985, the European Charter on Local Self-Government was adopted in Strasbourg. It is this document that fixes state and municipal subjects of legal relations, an approximate structure of the system, etc. It is on the European Charter that all Russian documents on local self-government should be based.A similar rule is enshrined in article 15 of the Constitution, which proclaims the priority of international law over national law.
There are a number of federal sources in Russia. The most important is the Russian Constitution. Local government models (MCs) are enshrined in Articles 12 and 130-132. There are also a number of federal laws. This is Federal Law No. 131 “On the Principles of Organizing MS in the Russian Federation”, Federal Law of 2007 “On Municipal Service”, etc. According to Article 72 of the Constitution, the subjects of the Russian Federation have the right to independently organize local self-government.
Guarantee system
Like any other branch of law, the area of municipal relations has a certain amount of guarantees. The first group is called general guarantees. The activities of self-government bodies are implemented on political, economic and social principles. All this is the basis of human life.
Special warranties are also available. They represent the means by which the activities of local authorities are ensured. Special guarantees may include adopted charters, regulations, by-laws, etc. There are also judicial guarantees. Each municipal authority has the right to defend its rights in court.
Control
Municipal formation as a subject of legal relations in the considered area of law should be controlled by Russian citizens themselves. Any citizen residing in the territory of his territorial formation has the right to choose officials, to hear deputy reports, to supervise the holding of meetings, meetings, etc. This form of control is called public, that is, public.
A significant role in the control and supervision activities is played by the prosecutor's office. This body checks the documentation, studies regulatory acts and requires the elimination of identified violations. Thus, the prosecutor's office monitors the competent performance of local authorities by local authorities. Self-government bodies themselves can nominate individual officials who would monitor the compliance of the issued acts with the charter of the municipality.