LOCAL GOVERNMENT AS A FORM OF PUBLIC AUTHORITY IN DECISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Abstract

Following the 2020 constitutional reform, the principle of a unified system of public authority was enshrined at the constitutional level. Now the RF Constitution ensures that local bodies and public authorities are included into a unified system of public authority and interact for the most efficient problem solving in the interests of the population of the respective territory. When assessing the new constitutional principle, it is important to consider the constitutional-legal nature of local government as the level of public authority, closest to the population. For this purpose, on the basis of the formal-legal method, the given article explores the formation and development of the local government concept percieved as a form of public authority in the practice of the RF Constitutional Court. It is concluded, that over the past twenty years, the concept has been consistently developed of the local government as of a public-territorial self-organization of the population, and at the same time, as of integral part of a unified mechanism of public affairs administration. At present, local government is understood primarily as the lower territorial level of public authority, integrated into the general institutional system of the welfare state functions implementation. According to the above-mentioned ideas, the 2020 constitutional reform, in terms of consolidating the principle of a unified system of public authority, is a natural continuation of the ongoing transformations of the constitutional-legal status of local government. In this connection it is worth noting that the federal legislator should consider in legal regulation all aspects of local government, which is such a multifaceted concept.