Austria - Constitution - Part C Counties

Article 115 [Local Counties, Competence]
(1) In so far as in the following Articles the term County is used, the reference is to be taken as meaning Local County.
(2) Save as competence on the part of the Federation is expressly stipulated, State legislation shall prescribe laws of Counties in accordance with the principles of the Articles contained in this Part. Competence for the settlement of matters which, pursuant to Articles 118 and 119, are to be performed by the Counties, will be determined in accordance with the general provisions of this Federal Constitutional Law.

Article 116 [Self-Administration]
(1) Every State is divided into Counties. The County is a territorial corporate body entitled to self-administration while being at the same time an administrative local district. Every piece of State must form part of a County.
(2) The County is an independent economic entity. It is entitled, within the limits of the laws of the Federation and the States, to possess assets of all kinds, to acquire and to dispose of such at will, to operate economic enterprises as well as to manage its budget independently within the framework of the constitutional finance provisions and to levy taxation.
(3) A County with at least 20,000 inhabitants shall, at its own request, if State interests are not thereby jeopardized, be awarded its own charter by way of State legislation. Such an enactment may only be published with Federal Government approval. This shall be deemed given if the Federal Government, within eight weeks from the day of the enactment's arrival at the competent Federal Ministry, has not informed the State-Governor that the approval is refused. A town with its own charter shall perform besides its local administrative duties also those of the District administration.
(4) The formation of County Associations for specific purposes can be planned on the basis of the competent legislation (Articles 10 to 15). In so far as such County Associations are to undertake matters within the County's own sphere of competence, the members of the County Association shall be accorded decisive influence upon the performance of the association's functions. The Counties concerned shall be given a hearing prior to the formation of County Associations by way of an executive measure.

Article 117 [Authorities, Elections]
(1) The authorities of the County shall in every instance include:
a) the County Parliament, being a popular representative body to be elected by those entitled to vote in the County
b) the County Board, also known as the Town Council or, in towns with their own charter, the Town Senate, and
c) the Mayor.
(2) Elections to the County Parliament take place on the basis of proportional representation by equal, direct, secret, and personal suffrage of all Federal nationals who have their domicile in the County. In the electoral regulations the conditions for suffrage and electoral eligibility may not be more restrictive than in the electoral regulations for the State Parliament. It can be provided, however, that individuals who have not yet been residents in the County for at least one year shall not be entitled to vote or to stand for election to the County Parliament if their residence in the County is manifestly temporary. The provisions about compulsory voting in the elections to the State Parliament (Article 95 (1) last sentence) apply analogously to elections to the County Parliament. The electoral regulations can provide that the voters exercise their suffrage in constituencies each of which must comprise a territorial unit. A division of the electorate into other electoral bodies is not admissible.
(3) A simple majority by members present in sufficient numbers to form a quorum is requisite to a vote by the County Parliament; for certain matters, though, other requirements for the adoption of resolutions can be provided.
(4) Meetings of the County Parliament are public, but provision can be made for exceptions. The public may not be excluded when the County Budget or the County's final accounts are on the agenda.
(5) Electoral parties represented in the County Parliament have a claim to representation on the County Board in accordance with their strength.
(6) The business of the Counties will be performed by the County Administration or Town Administration, that of towns with their own charter by the Magistrate. A civil servant with legal training shall be appointed to take charge as Magistrate Director of the Magistrate's internal services.

Article 118 [Competencies]
(1) A County has its own sphere of competence and one assigned to it either by the Federation or the State.
(2) Its own sphere of competence comprises, apart from the matters mentioned in Article 116 (2), all matters exclusively or preponderantly concerning the local community as personified by a County, and suited to performance by the community within its local boundaries. Legislation shall expressly specify matters of that kind as being such falling within the County's own sphere of competence.
(3) A County is guaranteed official responsibility in its own sphere of competence particularly for performance of the following matters:
1. appointment of the local authorities, notwithstanding the competence of selection boards at a higher level; settlement of the internal arrangements for performance of the County functions;
2. appointment of the County staff and exercise of the official responsibility over them, notwithstanding the competence of disciplinary, eligibility, and investigatory commissions at a higher level;
3. local public safety administration (Article 15 (2)), local events control;
4. administration of County traffic areas, local traffic police;
5. crops protection police;
6. local market police;
7. local sanitary police, especially in the field of emergency and first aid services as well as matters of deaths and interment;
8. public decency;
9. local building police excluding federally owned buildings which serve public purposes (Article 15 (5)); local fire control; local environment planning;
10. public services for extra-judicial settlement of disputes; and
11. debtors' sale of goods.
(4) The County shall perform the business for which it is competent within the framework of the laws and ordinances of the Federation and the State on its own responsibility free from instructions and -- subject to the provisos of Article 119a (5) -- to the exclusion of legal redress to administrative authorities outside the County. A right of supervision (Article 119a) pertains to the Federation and to the State over the County with respect to its performance in its own sphere of competence. The provisions of Article 12 (2) remain unaffected.
(5) The Mayor, the members of the County Board, and, if appointed, other County officials are responsible to the County Parliament for the performance of their functions relating to the County's own sphere of competence.
(6) The County is entitled in matters of its own sphere of competence to issue on its own initiative local police ordinances for the prevention or elimination of nuisances interfering with local community life as well as to declare non-compliance with them an administrative contravention. Such ordinances may not violate existent laws and ordinances of the Federation and State.
(7) On application by a County, the performance of certain matters in its own sphere of competence can, in accordance with Article 119a (3), be assigned by ordinance of the State Government or by ordinance of the State-Governor to a state authority. In so far as such an ordinance is meant to assign competence to a Federal authority, it requires the approval of the Federal Government. In so far as such an ordinance by the State-Governor is meant to assign competence to a State authority, it requires the approval of the State Government. Such an ordinance shall be rescinded as soon as the reason for its issue has ceased. Assignment does not extend to the right to issue ordinances in accordance with Paragraph (6).

Article 119 [Assignment]
(1) The assigned sphere of competence comprises those matters which the County, in accordance with federal laws, must undertake at the order and in accordance with the instructions of the Federation or in accordance with State laws at the order and in accordance with instructions of the State.
(2) The business of the assigned sphere of competence is performed by the Mayor. In doing so, he is in matters of Federal execution bound by instructions from the competent Federal authorities, in matters of State execution by instructions from the competent State authorities, he is responsible in accordance with Paragraph (4).
(3) The Mayor can, without deviation from his responsibility, on account of their factual connection with matters of the County's own sphere of competence transfer individual categories of matters of the assigned sphere of competence to members of the County Board other authorities created in accordance with Article 117 (1), or members of official bodies for performance in his name. In these matters the authorities concerned or their members are bound by the instructions of the Mayor and responsible in accordance with Paragraph (4).
(4) In so far as malice or gross negligence can be laid to their charge, the authorities named in Paragraphs (2) and (3) can on account of breach of law as well as on account of non-compliance with an ordinance or instruction be declared to have forfeited their office, by the State-Governor if they were acting in the field of Federal execution, by the State Government if they were acting in the field of State execution. Should such a person belong to the County Parliament, the membership is not affected.

Article 119a [Supervision]
(1) The Federation and the State exercise the right of supervision over a County to the purpose that it does not infringe laws and ordinances in dealing with its own sphere of competence, in particular does not overstep its sphere of competence, and fulfills the duties legally devolving upon it.
(2) The State has the right to examine the financial administration of a County with respect to its thrift, efficiency, and expediency. The result of the examination shall be conveyed to the Mayor for submission to the County Parliament. The Mayor shall within three months inform the supervisory authority of the measures taken by reason of the result of the check.
(3) In so far as a County's own sphere of competence comprises matters deriving from the sphere of Federal execution, the right of supervision and its legislative regulation lie with the Federation, in other respects with the States, the right of supervision shall be exercised by the authorities of the ordinary public administration.
(4) The supervisory authority is entitled to inform itself about every kind of County business. The County is bound to give the information demanded in individual cases by the supervisory authority and to allow examination to be conducted on the spot.
(5) Whoever alleges infringement of his rights through the ruling of a local authority in matters belonging to its own sphere of competence can, after exhausting all channels of appeal (Article 118 (4)), within two weeks after issuing of the ruling make representations against it to the supervisory authority. The latter shall rescind the ruling if the right of the intervener has been infringed and remand the matter to the County. For towns with their own charter, the competent legislature (Paragraph (3)) can direct that representation to the supervisory authority.
(6) The County shall without delay advise the supervisory authority of ordinances issued in its own sphere of competence. The supervisory authority shall, after a hearing of the County, rescind ordinances which are contrary to law and advise the County of the reasons.
(7) In so far as the competent legislature (Paragraph (3)) contemplates the dissolution of the County Parliament as a supervisory expedient, this measure rests with the State Government in exercise of the State's right of supervision, with the State-Governor in exercise of the Federation's right of supervision. The admissibility of effecting a substitution shall be restricted to cases of absolute necessity. Supervisory expedients shall be applied with greatest possible consideration for third parties' acquired rights.
(8) Individual measures to be taken by a County in its own sphere of competence, but which to a certain degree affect extra-local interests particularly such having a distinct financial bearing, can be tied by the competent legislature (Paragraph (3)) to a sanction on the part of the supervisory authority. Only a state of affairs which unequivocally justifies the preference of extra-local interests may come into consideration as a reason for withholding the sanction.
(9) The County has the status of a party to supervisory authority proceedings; it is entitled to lodge complaints with the Administrative Court (Articles 131 and 132) and with the Constitutional Court (Article 144) against the supervisory authority.
(10) This Article applies analogously to supervision of County Associations in so far as these perform matters pertaining to a County's own sphere of competence (Article 116 (4)).

Article 120 [Local and Regional Counties]
The combination of Local Counties into Regional Counties, their establishment in line with the pattern of self-administration, and the determination of other principles for the organization of the ordinary public administration in the States is the business of Federal constitutional legislation; its implementation devolves upon the State legislatures. Settlement of the competence in matters pertaining to the service code for and staff representation rights of the employees of Regional Counties is the business of Federal constitutional legislation.