Author: Oleksandr Vrublevskyi, DESPRO expert adviser on the issues of starostas’ activity and cooperation of hromadas

The Fundamental Law defines local self-governance as the right of a hromada to independently resolve issues of local significance within the Constitution of Ukraine and the laws of the state, as well as enshrines a provision according to which local self-government bodies, within the limits of powers determined by the law, make decisions mandatory for execution on the respective territory.

Local self-governance, guaranteed by the state, is carried out by the hromada through the village, rural settlement, town councils and their executive bodies, and provides for legal, organisational, material and financial independence within the boundaries established by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

Local self-government bodies have a number of powers in various sectors and spheres of public life, in particular in the area of ​​budget and finance, socio-economic and cultural development, in the area of ​​communal property management, in the field of construction, housing and communal services, in the domains of regulation of land relations and social protection of the population, etc. In order to exercise these powers, local self-government bodies have the right to make the necessary decisions. Since decisions of local self-governments may violate the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and legal entities (enterprises, institutions and organisations), or eventually lose their relevance, the current legislation provides legal tools to influence such decisions by means of their termination, change and abolishment.

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