Molchanova Y. Municipal regulation of the right of local community members to participate in local self-government.

The dissertation is concerned with the study of municipal regulation of the right of members of the territorial community to participate in local self-government, the correlation of this right with the right to local self-government, the analysis of modern practices of its implementation. The dissertation is the first comprehensive work in Ukraine, in which the main criteria for referring to forms of members of the territorial community participation to local issues are systematized and singled out. The issues of interdependence of the notions of the right to local self-government and the right of members of a territorial community to participate in local self-government are described in the paper. The domestic legislation on the regulation of direct involvement forms is characterized, the practice of the European Union and other states regarding the legal establishment in this area is studied. The peculiarities of the rulemaking of territorial communities in Ukraine, regarding the regulation of the mechanisms for implementing this right are marked out, analyzes and characteristics of collective and individual forms of participation of members of local communities, trends in the development of legislation in this area are given. The study of the peculiarities of local rulemaking in the Statutes and other regulatory documents of the local councils in Ukraine made it possible to distinguish the general approaches of municipal regulation of this right, to distinguish the general tendencies of local communities and their bodies rulemaking. There are general shortcomings in such regulation of public relations that influences directly on the implementation of the community members rights. The use of model legislation is one way to accomplish the current task, as evidenced by the current legislative work of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Some classifications of forms of a territorial community members direct participation are given in the work. The positive legislative regulation is one of criterion for separate form. Local referendums and local elections regulation purely by laws is due to their importance and influence on the development of local democracy. There is a causal link in the domestic state construction that led to a legal vacuum in the regulation of local referenda with the simultaneous dynamic development of electoral legislation. The current legislative acts that regulate the implementation of the right of local community members to participate in local self-government were analysed in dissertation. In order to improve the legal regulation, the author provides concrete proposals for the development of legislation. It should be based on the establishment of common national standards, the establishment of simple and clear principles and procedures for the implementation of the territorial community right to participate, and the reduction of the positive regulation of certain procedures by the state. Proposals for introduction of modern (innovative) forms of members of the local community participation in solving local issues, involvement in the process of adoption and control over the implementation of decisions by local self-government bodies were provided. Electronic petitions and public requests, participation in strategic and budget planning, and the work of consultative and advisory bodies involving citizens are examples of those positive practices of democratic countries that stimulate political activity of citizens at the local level. The scientific novelty of the obtained results of the dissertation is that a comprehensive analysis of the current state and prospects of the legal regulation development of a local community members right to participate in local self-government and mechanisms for its implementation was conducted for the first time in the domestic legal science. Some conceptual concepts and theoretical theses, practical recommendations on the improvement of the current legislation in the area of described right realization were substantiated. The practical value of the results is that they can be used:  for research purposes, as a basis for further study of the members of a local community right to participate in local self-government;  in law-making process  with the improvement of the constitutional legislation of Ukraine, as a doctrinal basis for constitutional reform in the implementation of the new mechanisms of participatory democracy;  in the educational process  in the process of educational materials on disciplines «Constitutional Law of Ukraine», «Municipal Law», «State Law of Foreign Countries», «State Construction and Local Self-Government in Ukraine» preparation.