State Liability of a Local Council: Conceptual Approach

The status of municipal power as a special kind of public power actualizes the issue of the formation of a scientific concept of municipal legal liability. Such a concept should be comprehensive: take into account the peculiarities of municipal legal relations, the dynamics of legislative regulation of the institution of local self-government, law enforcement practice, the status and functions of local self-government bodies. This article is devoted to the consideration of these issues.The methodological basis of the research comprises a wide range of general scientific and special methods with the prevalence of a systematic approach, a formal legal method and methods of interpreting legal norms. The author formulates the essential characteristics of municipal legal liability, which enables to more clearly distinguish it from constitutional legal liability not only in terms of the form, but also the content. From a practical point of view, the article focuses on the analysis of the current legislation, the proposed regulatory changes, as well as the relevant judicial practice. As a result of the study, the author determines legal nature and significance of some elements of the mechanism for bringing local councils to liability, identifies positive aspects and disadvantages of the proposed legal changes and formulates proposals to change certain provisions aimed at improving the guarantees for the activities of local councils. The proposed amendments to the legislation correspond to the concept of municipal legal liability and at the same time they are designed to help maintain a balance between centralization and decentralization of public power. The results obtained are relevant in the context of the ongoing municipal reform, as well as in the context of reforming the legislation on public power in general. The results can be used in further scientific research, lawmaking and law enforcement. 

Keywords: local self-government, local council, liability, municipal legal liability, dissolution, municipal reform, guarantees of local self-government