Local Self-Government; Information

Part of this right to self-government is that the bodies acting on behalf of the municipality (mayor, municipal council) are elected by the citizens themselves in general, equal, direct, free, and secret elections. Above all, the right to self-government also means that the municipality fulfills its duties independently and on its own responsibility within the scope of its own jurisdiction, without instructions from higher authorities.

The manifestations of the municipality’s right to local self-government are

• territorial sovereignty, i.e., sovereign authority over the municipal territory,
• statutory sovereignty, i.e., the municipality’s authority to regulate its own affairs by independently enacting statutes,
• organizational autonomy, i.e., the municipality’s right to structure its own internal organization at its discretion,
• administrative sovereignty, i.e., the municipality’s right, within the framework of statutory regulations, to issue the administrative acts necessary for the implementation of laws, ordinances, and statutes and, if necessary, to enforce them compulsorily,
• personnel autonomy, i.e., the authority to select, hire, promote, and dismiss its own staff,
• financial and tax sovereignty, i.e., the municipality’s right to regulate its own finances within the framework of the law,
• as well as planning authority, i.e., the power to regulate construction development within the municipality.

As part of the state structure, municipalities are subject to state supervision. The purpose of state supervision is to monitor the legality of municipal administrative activities and, with regard to tasks delegated to municipalities by the state (delegated sphere of authority), also their appropriateness. The purpose of state supervision is to provide municipalities with understanding advice, support, and protection in fulfilling their duties, as well as to strengthen the decision-making capacity and personal responsibility of municipal bodies. Supervisory intervention is at the discretion of the state supervisory authority.

As public-law corporations, municipalities are legal entities and thus have legal capacity and the capacity to be a party to legal proceedings. A municipality can therefore, for example, acquire property, be named as an heir, act as a contracting party under private law, and be a debtor with respect to obligations.