Issue: № 6, 2026
Doi: https://doi.org/10.37634/efp.2026.6.4p
In the paper, the author conducts a comprehensive comparative legal analysis of the institution of local self-government and the legal status of deputies of local councils in Ukraine and the countries of the European Union. The paper is based on the consideration of local self-government as a multifaceted phenomenon, which is interpreted through the prism of communal, statist and dualistic concepts. The theoretical and methodological approaches to determining the sources of municipal power, where special attention is paid to the theory of natural rights of a free community and its influence on the formation of modern municipal systems, are analyzed in detail. The paper typifies the main models of local self-government: Anglo-American, where there is no direct state supervision; continental, characterized by the combination of self-government with public administration through the institution of prefects (France, Poland); mixed, which gives communities wide economic autonomy (Germany); and Scandinavian, which is characterized by the highest level of financial capacity of territorial communities. The author places a key emphasis on the fundamental difference in the nature of the deputy's mandate. The advantages of the free mandate established by the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which ensures the independence of the elected official from the orders of voters, are substantiated, as opposed to the imperative mandate preserved in Ukraine and provides for a mechanism for recalling a deputy. The specifics of the competence of local councils are highlighted, in particular, the tendency to expand one's own powers in the EU compared to the predominance of delegated functions in Ukraine. The need to implement the principles of subsidiarity and decentralization to harmonize legislation with European standards of "good governance" is substantiated. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of the status of a deputy in Ukraine under martial law, which caused the emergence of legal conflicts in cooperation with military administrations and problems with ensuring the quorum.
Keywords : local self-government, deputy of the local council, territorial community, free mandate, imperative mandate, decentralization, subsidiarity, models of local self-government, competence and powers, municipal dualism, martial law
References:
1. European Charter of Local Self-Government. Legislation of Ukraine. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/994_036#Text (In Ukrainian).
2. About local self-government in Ukraine: Law of Ukraine of 21.05.1997. №280/97-VR. Legislation of Ukraine. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/280/97-вр#Text (In Ukrainian).
3. On the status of deputies of local councils: Law of Ukraine of July 11, 2002 (with subsequent amendments and additions). Legislation of Ukraine. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/93-15#Text (In Ukrainian).
4. Constitutional models of local self-government: monograph / B.L. Fedorenko et al. Kyiv, 2017. 288 p. (In Ukrainian).
5. Batanov O.V. Local self-government in Ukraine and foreign countries: comparative legal aspects: monograph / eds. O.V. Batanov et al. Kyiv, 2020. 672 p. (In Ukrainian).