Introduction

The Constitution of Azerbaijan states that it is a presidential republic with three branches of power – executive, legislative and judicial. The President of Azerbaijan is the head of executive power of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The President appoints the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet of Ministers, with further approval from the parliament. The President also appoints heads of Local Executive Authorities. The President submits the budget of the country to parliament for approval. The President also submits candidacies for the Head of Courts (Constitutional; Appeal and Supreme), the Head of the Central Bank and the Ombudsman, to parliament. The President appoints the judges of the local court without the approval of parliament. The President is elected for a 5-year period without term limitations (Constitution of Azerbaijan Republic, Article 109). The Parliament of Azerbaijan, called Milli Majlis, consists of 125 deputies. It is elected based on a majority voting system, with a term of 5 years for each elected member. Responsibilities of the parliament include, but are not limited to, the adoption of laws, budget and other initiatives. The Parliament is not responsible for the formation of government, but the Constitution stipulates that the Cabinet of Ministers is to be approved by the Milli Majlis (Constitution of Azerbaijan Republic, Articles 104-107).

The Law on Municipal Elections and the Law on the Status of Municipalities were the first local government laws to be adopted (July 2, 1999). The Law on Municipal Elections sets forth general principles, the rules governing electoral commissions, procedures for drawing up voter lists and eligibility requirements for candidates. The Law on the Status of Municipalities regulates the role and structure of municipal bodies and outlines state guarantees of legal and financial autonomy. The law pays special attention to the adoption and execution of municipal programs concerning social protection, social and economic development and the local environment. It also contains articles pertaining to municipal bodies and officials, forms of citizen participation, economic foundations of municipalities, municipal property and the local budget. The other normative legal document pertaining to municipal government is the Model Municipal Charter (October 15, 1999). This document specifies common issues to be incorporated into all municipal charters, such as territorial boundaries, municipal assemblies, standing and temporary council commissions, executive bodies and administrative procedures. The Law on Municipal Service regulates the activities of municipal employees, their rights, duties, labour conditions and social benefits, and outlines the structure of the executive apparatus and the organization of municipal service (November 30, 1999). The Law on Local Referenda defines the issues that may be decided by local referendum and establishes procedures for organizing referenda, publishing the results and enacting them into law (November 30, 1999). The foundations of municipal finance are established by a triad of laws: the Law on the Transfer of Assets to Municipalities, the Law on Municipal Finance and the Law on Municipal Territory and Lands. (December 7, 1999) The Law on the Transfer of Assets establishes standards for determining municipal property and transferring it to municipal ownership. The Law on Municipal Finance defines principles of local finance, the basis for the local budget and the division of powers between the local council and local executive bodies. This law also regulates legal issues concerning the adoption, implementation and monitoring of local budgets. The Law on Municipal Territory and Lands, together with the list of all municipalities in Azerbaijan and their territories, defines municipal boundaries (June 13, 2000). According to this law, the State Land Committee and the local branch of state administration draw up documents for urban planning and construction which clearly indicate municipal territories and land to be transferred to municipalities. These documents are then made available to local governments. Other laws also regulate issues of municipal property, such as the Law on Land Reform, in which article 7 is wholly devoted to the issue of municipal lands. This law was adopted in 1996, prior to the establishment of municipal governments. Other laws have been adopted over the last 6 years outlining municipal functions, including the Law on the Management of Municipal Lands (June 29, 2001); on Municipal Taxes (December 27, 2001); and the Law on the Merging of Municipalities (May 29, 2009). Beyond the above-mentioned laws and a number of other documents, numerous changes have been made to the existing legislation that took into consideration the existence of the municipal level of authority.

As a member of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan signed the European Charter of Local Self-Government on 21 December 2001 and ratified it on 15 April 2002. The charter entered into force in Azerbaijan on 1 August 2002. Within that framework, CE made several recommendations on the status of municipalities. The most recent one was issued on October 16-18, 2012.

General division of powers

Azerbaijan’s system of governance nominally can be called two-tiered. The top or highest tier of the government is the executive power headed by the President. The President appoints the Cabinet of Ministers and other high-ranking officials. The Local Executive Authority, is an extension of executive power. The legal status of local state administration in Azerbaijan is determined by the Provision on Local Executive Authority, adopted on 16 June 1999. In June 2012, the President approved the new Regulation, which granted additional powers to Local Executive Authorities, strengthening their dominant position in Azerbaijan’s local affairs. According to the legislation, the president of Azerbaijan establishes territorial branches of state administration in regions, cities and city districts and appoints a head to manage their operations. These heads in turn appoint local administrations in the villages and settlements situated within their territory. Heads of local state administration carry out executive duties in regions, cities and city districts; ensure rights and freedoms of citizens; further the economic, social and cultural development of a given territory; and coordinate the activities of municipalities and territorial divisions of state administration. The Local Executive Authorities only nominally can be referred to as a local tier of government as they do not have independence and simply implement decisions of the central government. The third nominal tier of governance is municipalities (Bələdiyə). According to the report of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the regulation ‘provides local authorities with almost all the functions of local government, including those that would fall within the scope of the powers of municipalities’.

According to Article 124 of the Constitution and the Law on Local Executive Authority adopted on June 16, 1999 and later amended by new regulations, the head of these authorities should perform the following functions:

• carry out orders of the president of Azerbaijan;
• implement state programs authorized by the president of Azerbaijan as well as local programs;
• establish and dissolve local state administration departments, services, enterprises and organizations; appoint and dismiss their heads;
• annul any documents that run counter to existing legislation;
• organize elections, national referenda and public discussions as established by legislation;
• submit issues and proposals concerning local development to the appropriate executive bodies;
• execute other duties as established by the legislation.
  
  Chapter 9 of the Constitution addresses major issues of local self-government, such as the legal status of municipalities, types of local self-government bodies, their basic powers and their relationships with other official entities. The following functions are assigned to municipalities as per the Constitution:

•  Recognition of authority of municipality members, loss of their authority and termination of their authority according to legislation;
• Approval of in-house regulations of municipality;
• Elections of the chairman of municipality, his/her deputies, permanent and other commissions;
• Establishment of local taxes and duties;
• Approval of local budget and reports on its implementation;
• Possession of municipal property, use and disposal thereof;
• Acceptance and implementation of local programs of social protection and social development;
• Acceptance and implementation of local programs of economic development;
• Acceptance and implementation of local ecological programs. (Constitution, Articles 142-146).

Municipalities also may be endowed with additional legislative and executive powers. However, implementation of such authority/competences will be controlled by the Local Executive Authority (LEA).

Articles 142-145 of the Constitution define the key principles of local self-government, including those related to municipalities and their competences. Moreover, the European Charter on Local Self-Government (ratified by Azerbaijan in 2002) requires Azerbaijan to guarantee autonomy and exclusivity of powers held by municipalities. This clause is not reflected in the Law on Municipalities. Meanwhile, Article 124 of the Constitution states that the head of the LEA is responsible for implementation of central government decisions and policies. The same clause allows the President to define the limits of competences of LEAs. That means that the setting of boundaries and limits of municipal powers is subject to Presidential discretion. (Constitution, Articles 124; 142-145).

In Azerbaijan, the majority of socio-economic functions fall within the scope of the authority of the LEAs. On some issues, the LEAs are required to take into consideration the views and suggestions of municipalities. However, due to the fact that funding from state budget directly goes to the LEA, and this branch of power rather than municipalities is responsible for submitting proposals to the state, the role of municipalities is limited. (Quliyev, 2015) Again, the biggest problem in this case is ill-defined roles, responsibilities and competences of the LEA and municipalities. Thus, the current framework leaves municipalities little discretion over a significant portion of the responsibilities granted to them by the Law on the Status of Municipalities (Yusifli, 2013).

According to the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic “On the Status of Municipalities”, municipalities are endowed with powers to take decisions, including via the holding of referenda. The municipal scope of competences in the implementation of public matters is limited and most public services and their implementation or regulation fall within the scope of the direct responsibility of state bodies. No substantial public administration reforms have taken place over the 24 years since Azerbaijan has gained its independence. Neither municipalities nor Local Executive Authorities possess independence in decision making. Due to the lack of finances as well as political and administrative powers, municipalities cannot decide on local issues. The LEAs cannot take independent decisions and usually consult the central government prior to taking decisions.
 
Central level

• Registration of Citizens’ legal documents and acts
• Sanitation and epidemiology
• Standardisation and metrology
• Geodesy and cartography
• Police
• Fire protection
• Communication regulation (telephones, postal and telegraph)
• Public traffic management
• Education (primary and secondary)
• Universities
• Health care
• Housing management and regulation
• Public utilities
• Employment
• Melioration
• Roads maintenance
• Renovation activities or regeneration
• Environmental protection
• Allocation of land plots for individual house building
• Museums
• Parks and vegetation

Regional level

N/A. There are 9 economic regions but these are not administrative units.

Local level

At the local level there are two levels of authority, the district (rayon) and the municipalities beneath it.

Exclusive competences: Maintenance of cemeteries (only rural ones; urban cemeteries are still under the control of LEAs). The law on the status of municipalities enumerates dozens of functions that fall under the competence of municipalities including those shared with regional authorities such as local road maintenance, renovations, parking and others. However, in reality only a few (namely maintenance of rural cemeteries) of them are solely implemented by local governments.

Shared competences:

• Road maintenance
• Renovation activities and gentrification
• Allocation of land plots for individual house building
• Parks and vegetation