Vydrin Igor
Abstract: The article analyses reflection of the principle of subsidiarity in Russian and Polish legal systems of local self-government. On the base of comparative analysis, the authors consider the following issues: formation of the integrated subsidiarity conception in Catholic social teaching; historical and legal bases of subsidiarity in the systems of local selfgovernment; principle of subsidiarity in territorial organization of local self-government; correlation of subsidiarity and decentralization of power; delamination of public tasks between different levels of the public power according to the principle of subsidiarity; autonomy and independency of municipality as a marker of subsidiarity; principle of subsidiarity in organization of the system of local bodies of power and in financial sphere; reflection of subsidiarity in the institutions of democracy in Russia and Poland. According to the authors, the principle of subsidiarity has two aspects – internal and external ones. Both aspects are reflected in the legislation of Poland, as well as in the legislation of the RF. Nevertheless, in Russia, there is no formalization of this principle in legislation, and the attention is centered on the internal aspect of subsidiarity – relations between the state and local self-government, as well as relations between different levels of local self-government. As for Poland, there is constitutional legal regulation of this principle in respect of relations between public power and civil society. In both countries, the substantial scope of the subsidiarity conception depends on the discretion of legislator. However, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland has formulated criteria of subsidiarity that should be used in the law-making process. Because of the absence of such criteria in Russia, the discretion of legislator is too wide. In spite of proclamation of separation of self-government from the state, principles of autonomy and independency of the bodies of local self-government are violated, especially in financial sphere. The principles of subsidiarity and decentralization of power are important for social and political life in Russia. Nevertheless, the authors outlines the tendencies of their formalization and even violation.
Keywords: subsidiarity; principle; local self-government; decentralization; democracy; civil society; European Charter of the Local Self-government; catholic social teaching.