Administration of the Autonomous Provinces

The status of the province administration is highly determined by its new sta-tus in the constitutional system of Serbia.²⁵ A province is a unit of territorial autonomy entrusted with less authority after the Republic of Serbia had

im-21 Instead of this one, in more colloquial use is the term “appointed personnel” for making the difference to “elected”or “employed personnel”.

22 At the fi rst place it understands the Law on employment relations in the public administra-tion. See, the documentation list of it at the end of this paper.

23 In last couple of decades it was the case that senior civil service corps has been heavily changed. Usually, just after the election, one of the fi rst decisions of each minister was to establish his/her own executive team. Inspite the claims of some academians (Rabrenovic, for example) that “this pattern cannot be applied to the main ministries” such as ministries of fi nance, internal affairs, education etc, recent developments talks for opposite. Naimely, minister of education and sport in the Government of the late Prime Minister Djindjic, has employed 200 servants (among them fi fteen of his advisers, assistants and deputies!). This was, in the time when occurred, 50% of the total ministry personal. More on this is avail-able at: http://www.politika.co.yu/cyr/default.asp.htm.

24 In a few rare cases a civil servant can be appointed as a “republican adviser” (in the sec-retariat of the Government or the secsec-retariat to the President of the Republic), which is hierarchically under the assistant minister position.

25 Taking into account the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija, we are going to ana-lyze here only issues related to the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. There is only one type of the administrative agencies envisaged by the Decision on Public Administration of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, which is the secretariat of the Province. The legal framework allows the establishment of administrative organizations in the Province, but the aforementioned Decision has not envisaged any. There are seven secretariats of the Province:

for economy; agriculture; culture and education; information; health, labor and social pol-icy; fi nance; realization of national minority rights, administration and general enactments (there are two special services within this secretariat: Service for the realization of minority rights and the Translation service).

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posed direct rule. The provinces are entrusted only with the rights explicitly provided in the Constitution (art. 109), which amounts to: regulating some matters (not all of them) in the areas of: culture; education; offi cial use of the language and alphabet of the national minority; public information; health and social welfare; child welfare; protection and advancement of environ-ment; urban and country planning; and in other areas established by law.²⁶ Also, the important feature that sheds light on the status of a province is that provinces enforce laws, other regulations and general enactments of the Republic of Serbia, whose enforcement has been entrusted to the agencies of the autonomous province, and pass regulations necessary for their implemen-tation if so provided by the law. The Republic of Serbia may entrust by a law an autonomous province with the performance of specifi c affairs within its own competencies.

The province has no legislature so it cannot promulgate laws. The Statute of the Province is the highest legal act of this territorial unit, while the Assembly of the Province has power to enact decisions. The agencies of the autonomous province are its assembly, executive council, and agencies of administration.

The Republic of Serbia has entrusted by means of law the autonomo-us province with the performance of specifi c affairs within its own compe-tencies, in accordance with the Constitution. In 1992 the Government of the Republic of Serbia delegated the performance of certain affairs within the competence of fi ve ministries to the administration of Province by the Decision on Delegating the Performance of Public administration Matters to the Administration of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Since this is the delegation of powers to the administration of the Province, the adminis-trative offi cers of the Province are accountable to the ministries. If there is a request coming from a ministry, the administration of the Province has duty to prepare information and reports, and furnish data and facts in connection with the performance of delegated powers.

3. Districts

Districts comprise several municipalities which are considered to be territo-rial divisions placed between central and local levels forming a link among

26 Law on determing certain competences of the Autonomous Provinces, Offi cial Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, 6/02.

them.²⁷ As a territorial units districts are bringing together the departmental bodies of certain administrative agencies (ministries and other state agencies and organizations) in a single administrative center for the particular area (so-called de-concentrated administrative agencies). In order to exercise their jurisdiction and perform certain activities in regions where their principal se-ats are not located, ministries can form organizational units in certain areas determined by the Government. These departmental bodies for a designated area taken together form the administrative center of the state administration for particular area, while these areas are called districts with seats determined by the Government.

Districts as a middle level government includes administrative territorial units of the state entrusted to conduct regional policy, the exercising of sta-te powers, the implementation of stasta-te policy on the local level and harmo-nization of national and local interest. Taken as territorial branches of the Republic administration, districts have neither autonomy nor elected bodies.²⁸ The district public offi cer²⁹ is appointed for a four-year term by the central government aimed to coordinate the work of government agencies within the region and their interaction with local authorities. In particular, he/she ensures the implementation of state policy, protects state property and state interests within the district, law and public order and exercises administrative control³⁰. The district public offi cer coordinates the work of government agencies within the region and their interaction with local authorities. The district head issues

27 By the Law on territorial organization and local self-government, adopted on July 24, 1991 the municipalities, cities and settlements make the bases of the territorial organization. Fur-ther more, by its Executive order on the conduct of affairs of ministries and special organi-zations in places other than their place of seat of January 29, 1992, the Government of the Republic of Serbia (hereafter: the Government) defi ned the state administration affairs that shall be run by the competent ministries out of their seats, within the districts as regional centers of state authority. The Government formed 29 districts as a new type of territorial divisions in which state authority is decentralized for the purpose of executing state power in legally defi ned areas and which pursues effective regional policy. These divisions do not possess original constitutional status, since the Constitution does not provide for their exist-ence. This is why they have derivative character in a constitutional sense. Since they are not expressly envisaged by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, they belong to some sort of non-constitutional category, although they are not unconstitutional.

28 Concerning intergovernmental relations, there is a strict division between the powers, re-sponsibilities and tasks of central government, district and local self-government according the law.

29 Similar to the function of the regional governor but not exactly the same.

30 The district public offi cer exercises control over the legality of the acts as well as actions of bodies of local self-government unit and may cease execution of unlawful acts of municipal councils and refer them to the appropriate court. In addition, there is a power of rescinding unlawful acts of municipal mayors and other bodies of the local self-government unit.

ordinances within the scope of powers conceded to him/her and is aided by the district administration.

District, like local self-government unit, can also have independent admi-nistrative offi cers. Choice between two options: independent admiadmi-nistrative offi cers and departmental agency will depend solely on the nature and cha-racter of tasks and activities thereof. There is also a possibility for two or more districts to perform some of the affairs together by providing the performance in the capitol of one of the districts.

Unless the ministries and special organizations are expressly authorized, they are not allowed to fully exercise their jurisdiction within the districts. The matters they are usually authorized for are the administrative procedure (fi rst and second instance) and the exercise of administrative control. They are as follows:

Administrative control;

Administrative procedure (fi rst instance);

Administrative procedure (second instance) when the fi rst instance admi-nistrative procedure is vested in municipalities, enterprises, institutions and other organizations by means of law;

Control over the public administrative activities when delegated to the local administrative agencies;

Professional supervisory control over the enterprises, institutions and other organizations;

Other matters that ministries and special organizations are competent for, except for the analytical and programming matters, and the advancement of certain matters which belong to ministries and special organizations.

Regulations on the organization and systematization of each ministry and special organization contain precise tasks and activities which are to be conducted within the district.

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