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OSCE Mission in Kosovo supports standardization of municipal regulations

1 March 2011
Besnik Osmani (r) and Agron Maxhuni (c) from the Ministry of Local Government Administration, together with Jan Lueneberg, the chief of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo's local governance section, at a workshop on improving the quality of municipal acts in Ohrid, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 1 March 2011. (OSCE/Arian Dragacina) Photo details

A workshop organized by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo on improving the quality of municipal acts concluded on 1 March 2011 in Ohrid, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The two-day workshop gathered over 40 participants representing the Ministry of Local Government Administration, as well as chairpersons of Kosovo municipalities who discussed how to improve draft municipal acts before they get submitted to municipal assemblies for adoption.

The participants agreed on the need to strengthen ties between the central and local levels of administration, to build and consolidate capacities of various municipalities in the field of local governance and oversight, and to involve general public as the key stakeholder in the decision-making process.

“Sound and comprehensible municipal acts are the basis of the administrative decisions being made vis-à-vis residents of municipalities,” said Jan Lueneburg, the Head of the Mission's Local Governance Section. “The people are entitled by the law to take remedial action against administrative decisions.”

The workshop participants also worked on an administrative instruction guiding municipalities in the preparation of bylaws, submission and revision of municipal acts.

Nijazi Kryeziu, the Chairperson of the Prizren Municipal Assembly welcomes the initiative and the “focus of discussions which was on drafting municipal legislation from the viewpoint of legislators, rather than municipal executives”.

The workshop is the first in the series of 2011 project activities, aimed to improve the quality of municipal acts issued by municipal bodies. The Mission's activities at the central level are accompanied and followed-up by local initiatives on regional and municipal level.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo monitors the local government reform to help ensure the preservation of municipal autonomy and compliance with internationally recognized instruments. Special focus is put on improving good governance, oversight and rule of law at the local level.