Legal Aspects of Local Self-Government Financing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Od financiranja lokalne samouprave zavisi provođenje njenih nadležnosti. Bez adekvatnog financiranja ne možemo očekivati kvalitetnu lokalnu samoupravu za građane kao krajnje korisnike usluga. Financiranje lokalne samouprave predstavlja važan princip koji je zajamčen i Europskom poveljom o lokalnoj samoupravi. Bez značajnije financijske i materijalne autonomije, cjelokupan koncept i funkcioniranje lokalne samouprave gube na značaju. Cilj ovog članka jest predstavljanje osnovnih pitanja o financiranju lokalne samouprave u Bosni i Hercegovini, odnosno njenim entitetima Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine i Republici Srpskoj. Analiza predstavlja međunarodnopravne odredbe o financiranju lokalne samouprave sadržane u Europskoj povelji o lokalnoj samoupravi i pravne odredbe iz nacionalnog zakonodavstva Bosne i Hercegovine i njezinih entiteta.The financing of local self-government influences the capacities of local units to perform their tasks. One cannot expect to receive high quality local services unless local units have sufficient financial means and are able to provide a wide range of services. The principle of local self-government financing is a basic principle guaranteed by the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The whole concept of local self-government and its functioning lose on their importance if there is not sufficient financial autonomy. The paper aims at presenting the basic issues of local self-government financing in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republic of Srpska. Some of the main international legal norms related to the financing of local self-government from the European Charter and national legal regulation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its entities are analysed in the paper. The analysis has shown that the funds allocated to Bosnian local self-government are far from sufficient. Furthermore, there is a significant difference in local self-government funding between the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which spends 8.42 per cent of its budget on local finances, and the Republic of Srpska, which spends 24 per cent