Municipal council

In Belgium

Name use in French is Town council. The communal advisers are elected by the direct suffrage every six years. The burgomaster and the aldermen are selected in his center and form the College of the Burgomaster and Echevins.

In Wallonia

Since the transformation of Belgium into Federal state, the supervision on the common ones was transferred to the federate entities. In Walloon region, important modifications of the communal law took place. The burgomaster (mayor), is not named any more by the Executive power on a proposal from the Town council, it is indicated by the voters: it is the candidate who preferably obtains the most votes on the most important list of the coalition which will be set up (or of the list which carries the absolute majority of the seats). The coalition installation can be reversed by a vote known as of constructive mistrust after 18 months of operation: the opponents must propose in the place Collège of the Burgomaster and Echevins (mayor and assistant), with the capacity another college. If the proposal collects the majority, it is this new exécutif' which takes the direction of the commune. It cannot be any more proceeded to a new vote of this type before one year. Moreover, the Walloon Gouvernement wants to set up a Court of Auditors, charged to control the way in which the communes are managed, project born following very many embezzlements made in the management of the town of Charleroi during the last mandature (2000-2006). All this tends to transform the Town council into Wallonia in a kind of Local parliament.

In France

The municipal council is the elected deliberating assembly common , and is “charged to manage, by its deliberations, the businesses of the Commune”.
The municipal council must meet at least once by Trimestre, but meets generally once a month.

The municipal council manages the smallest French territorial collectivity having a legal and financial autonomy, the commune.

Election

The electoral system differs according to the size from the commune.

Communes of less than 3500 inhabitants

The members of the municipal council are elected with the majority poll of list two turns, each voter having the right to stripe the name of one or more candidates of its choice in a list. The candidates having collected with the first tower the absolute majority of the votes cast and at least a quarter of the voices of the registered voters are elected as of this first turn.

Communes of more than 3500 inhabitants

The members of the municipal council are elected with the poll proportional of list to two turns, with premium granted to the list arrived at the head. The victorious list (absolute majority with the first turn, relative majority to the second) is initially seen allotting half of the seats to be provided. Other half is distributed with proportional between the whole of the lists having obtained a minimum of 5% of the votes cast (with the first or the second turn, following the case).

The lists are blocked. No erasure is allowed on ballot paper. Each list must as many comprise names as of seats to be provided. A municipal council can be made up representatives of only one list:

so only a list was presented to the first or to the second turn,
if, in spite of the presence of several lists, only one exceeded the threshold of the 5% required to take part in the distribution of the seats,
if, between the two turns, one or more lists amalgamated.

Particular cases of Paris, Lyon and Marseilles

Capacities

The municipal council is chaired by the mayor, collectively has the capacity deliberating on the territory on the commune.

The mayor, in particular charged to carry out the decisions of the municipal council, is elected, like his assistants, by the council with the uninominal majority poll.

The council with a general competence of attribution to manage the businesses of the Commune, i.e. it is qualified to take all the decisions concerning communal management, except when a text in load specifically the Mayor or another administrative authority.

He votes in particular the communal budget, and the rates of local imposition, create and remove the jobs of the communal agents, authorize acquisitions and the disposals of the communal goods, approves the loans of the commune and grants the subsidies, fixes the tariffs of the communal services and the parking on the public highway…

The council adopts the Local plan of town planning, determines the establishment of the elementary schools and public nursery schools…

Operation and Attributions of the municipal council

Operation: The municipal council must meet at least once per quarter, but meets generally once a month, it is the municipal council which fixes his rules of procedure in the respect of the law. It is the mayor who will join together the municipal council with each time he considers it useful and also to be based on the democratic legitimacy of this assembly elected by the universal direct suffrage.

The members of the council are convened according to relatively constraining rules because the general code of the territorial collectivities imposes deadlines minimum sufficiently to convene in advance the members of the council so as to be able to prepare the municipal council. From the glance of this convocation the members of the council will be able to request additional documents (often cancellation of deliberation of the municipal council causes).

In the same way there are rules of quorum: it is necessary for a minimum number individuals of the municipal council so that a deliberation is adopted, if the quorum is not obtained the mayor must defer the deliberation and convene a new council without this time one forcing a number of elected officials (nonobligatory quorum) not to block the work of the institution.

Any citizen can dispute and tackle the deliberation of the council. In the event of serious dysfunction, the council can ask for a dissolution by decree in the Council of Ministers.

Attributions: The municipal council regulates by these deliberations the businesses of the commune. He has also a role of administrator of the goods of the commune, the commune will be owner of private goods.

The commune is manager of a public domain (littoral, gardens…) and will have a private field. There are rules of inalienability of the public domain, and rules very strict in order to protect the public domain.

Concerning competences of the municipal council, there is also the budget.

The council votes the budget but actually it is the mayor who prepares the budget.

The mayor

Municipal councils of the young people

There exists in certain communes of the municipal councils of young people , bodies abstract having no legal mode, often organized by abstract elections or co-optations within schools and of representative associations (since the minor candidates are not citizens voters), in only advisory matter (its deliberations do not have lawful force if they are not approved by deliberation of the elected municipal council or the mayor), and often chaired or assisted by an elected city council man.

Each community which wishes to obtain a municipal council of the young people freely determines of them the rules of constitution and operation, in the respect of the basic principles of the Republic, such as the principle of non-discrimination. Generally these associative municipal councils meet with more one or twice in the year, and do not have budget allowing them to finance another thing only their own associative operation. Their lifespan is short and often does not exceed a year.

External bonds

life-publique.fr
juristudiant.com

With the Canada

According to the distribution of competences in the Canadian federal system, the municipalities are of exclusively provincial jurisdiction. The role and the operation of the municipal council are thus different from one province to another.

With the Quebec

To the Quebec, each municipality is directed by a municipal council, which is composed of a mayor and at least six city council men. The municipal council makes the decisions on the orientations and the priorities of the municipality and manages the businesses of them. In the municipalities of certain importance, and obligatorily for those of 20.000 inhabitants or more, each adviser represents an electoral district.

The municipal elections take place on date fixes every four years. The mayor is elected by the vote for all, and the advisers are elected by the citizens of their district when the municipality is thus divided, or if not by the vote for all.

In more the big cities, the territory is divided into Arrondissement S and there exist councils of district for which certain responsibilities of the municipal council are reserved.

External bonds

municipal Authorities in Quebec

In Swiss

August 1st

Notes and references of the article

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