Legislative sovereignty
In Germany, local self-government essentially comprises the right of the local authority to determine its own affairs by means of statutes , unless the laws regulate otherwise (cf., for example, Section 7, Paragraph 1 of North Rhine-Westphalia Municipal Code ). The municipalities can enact public law statutes in their own sphere of activity with an abstract general regulation.
A distinction is made between mandatory statutes, conditional mandatory statutes and voluntary statutes:
Mandatory statutes
The municipalities are obliged to issue statutory statutes. Examples are the main statute of a municipality , which supplements the regulations of the state municipal or district ordinances or the budget statute .
Conditional mandatory statutes
The municipalities are obliged to issue conditional statutory statutes if a certain decision is to be made. Example: Only if the municipality wants to pass a development plan does it have to do so in the form of a statute . If a house operation be established is necessarily an operating statutes to adopt for their own use. If a communal cemetery is operated within the municipality, a cemetery statute is required.
Voluntary statutes
In its sphere of activity, the municipality is free to decide whether it would like to regulate a certain area by statute. Example: The use of a public facility (swimming pool, theater) can be regulated under public law by statutes or under private law by general terms and conditions. The municipality is free in this regard. This freedom is restricted as soon as the municipality transfers a public task to a private company ( GmbH ). This can then no longer fall back on the instrument of the statutes.
