Legal provisions for direct democracy at the local level

Structure and Operation of Local and Regional Democracy

4.1. Local referendums

Under Article 104 of the Local Government Act, a local authority may hold a referendum on particular issues.

According to Section 5 of Article 54, the local authority may hold a referendum in the municipality, or part of it, in order to determine the wishes of inhabitants of voting age with regard to some particular issue. The result of the referendum is not binding upon the local authority, unless the authority has decided otherwise in advance.

In large municipalities, public meetings cannot easily be arranged, so the views of the residents on particular issues must be obtained by other means. Some parliamentary acts prescribe the holding of a referendum in the municipality.

According to Article 90 of the Local Government Act a referendum must be held if a proposal for a merger is presented in accordance with the same said Article. Under Article 91 the merger can only take effect if a majority of voters in each municipality approves it.