REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

LAW

ON LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

7 July 1994 No I-533

Vilnius

(Last amended on 25 May 2017 – No XIII-384)

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Objective of the Law

The purpose of this Law – to promote and develop local self-government as the foundations of the development of a democratic State.

Article 2. Purpose of the Law

1. This Law shall lay down the procedure of formation and activities of municipal institutions when implementing the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: ‘the Constitution’) and the European Charter of Local Self-government, define the principles of local self-government, municipal institutions and their competence, functions, the status of a municipal councillor, the grounds of economic and financial activities of municipalities.

2. The provisions of this Law have been harmonised with legal acts of the European Union, referred to in the Annex to this Law.

Article 3. Definitions

1. “Municipality” means an administrative unit of the territory of the State, defined by law, the community of which has the right to self-governance guaranteed by the Constitution and implemented through a municipal council elected by the permanent residents of that administrative unit of the territory of the State, where such council establishes executive and other institutions and establishments accountable to it with the aim of implementing directly laws and decisions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: ‘the Government’) and the municipal council. A municipality shall be a public legal person.

2. “Local self-government” means the self-regulation and self-action, in accordance with the competence determined by the Constitution and laws, of the permanent residents’ community of a law-defined administrative unit of the state territory, where the community enjoys the right to self-government guaranteed by the Constitution.

3. “Municipal institutions” means the following institutions responsible for the implementation of the right to self-government in the interests of the municipal community:

1) a representative institution of the municipality – the municipal council which possesses the rights and duties of local government and public administration and which is headed by a municipal councillor – mayor (hereinafter: a ‘mayor’) who is directly elected in a single-member constituency in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Elections to Municipal Councils (hereinafter: ‘the Law on Elections to Municipal Councils’). The mayor shall be the head of the municipality who exercise the powers provided for by this Law and other laws;

2) an executive institution of the municipality (executive institutions) – the director of the municipal administration, deputy director(s) of the municipal administration (if this/these position(s) is/are set up and if the powers of an executive institution are delegated to this/these position(s)), who possess the rights and duties of public administration.

4. “Municipal controller (municipal control and audit service)” means an entity who supervises whether the municipal property and by the right of trust managed state property is managed and used in a legal, effective, economical and efficient manner, as well as the implementation of a municipal budget and the use of other monetary resources.

5. “Centralised service of internal audit of a municipality” means a structural unit of the municipal administration, set up to perform an audit in the municipal administration, administrating entities of a municipality or other public legal persons of a municipality; the service shall be subordinate and accountable to the director of the municipal administration.

6. “Undertakings controlled by a municipality” means municipal undertakings operating pursuant to the Law on State and Municipal Undertakings, companies with share capital and private limited companies the shares of which, giving more than ½ of votes at a general meeting of shareholders, belong to a municipality by the right of ownership, as well as undertakings in which a municipality may appoint more than half of the members of the administration, management or supervisory services of the undertaking.

7. “Administrating entities of a municipality” means institutions and establishments of a municipality, other entities that have the powers delegated to them by legal acts, carry out the functions of administration and are responsible for the implementation of such functions.

8. “Functions of municipalities” means functions related to local government, public administration and provision of public services defined by the Constitution and attributed to municipalities by this and other laws.

9. “Exclusive competence of the municipal council’’ means the competence defined by the Constitution and laws, which may not be taken over, interfered in, implemented by any other municipal institution. The municipal council may not renounce its exclusive competence or transfer it to other municipal institutions.

10. “General competence of the municipal council’’ means the competence defined by law, which is implemented by the municipal council or may transfer it to an executive institution(s) of a municipality in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council.

11. “Municipal community” means permanent residents of a municipality related by common public needs, interests and local government legal relations to the municipal council and other municipal entities performing public administration functions.

12. ‘’Local community’’ means residents of a locality (part of it or several localities) linked by common needs and interests of life in the neighbourhood and acting through various forms of direct participation (assembly, public deliberation, survey, activities through their representatives, community-based organisations, etc.) with the aim of meeting these needs and interests.

13. ‘’Community-based organization’’ means an association the founders and members of which are residents (their representatives) of the community of a locality (part of it or several localities) and the purpose of which is to fulfil through initiatives public interests relating to life in the neighbourhood.

14. ‘’Elder’’ means a representative of the community of a residential zone or part thereof; the elder shall enjoy the rights and duties defined by this Law.

15. ‘’Meeting’’ means a meeting of elders where the issues defined by this Law are solved.

16. ‘’Faction of municipal councillors’’ means not less three municipal councillors which at the first or the next municipal council’s sitting declared by means of a public statement submitted to the presiding officer of the sitting that they continue activities in the municipal council as a faction.

17. “Group of municipal councillors” means municipal councillors who have not united into factions of municipal councillors.

18. “Majority of the municipal council’’ means a faction of the municipal councillors and/or a group of the municipal councillors which have/has delegated their/its candidates to an executive institution of the municipality or to the office of deputy mayor and which at the first or the next municipal council’s sitting have/has presented by a public statement submitted to the presiding officer of the sitting their/its activities programme, as well as a faction of the municipal councillors and/or a group of the municipal councillors which have not/has not declared by a public statement that it do not/does not participate in the formation of an executive institution of the municipality and have not/has not delegated their/its candidates to the office of deputy mayor.

19. ‘’Minority (opposition) of the municipal council’’ means a faction of municipal councillors and/or a group of municipal councillors which at the first or the next municipal council’s sittings declared by means of a public statement submitted to the presiding officer of the sitting that they/it do not/does not nominate their/its candidate to an executive institution of the municipality which is being formed and have not/has not delegated their/its candidates to the office of deputy mayor and have/has presented trends of their/its activities.

Article 4. Principles of local self-government

Local self-government shall be based on the following main principles:

1) representative democracy;

2) the freedom of independence and activity of municipalities in accordance with the competence denoted in the Constitution and laws;

3) supremacy of the municipal council over accountable executive institutions of a municipality. The municipal council shall have the powers to control executive institutions set up by it and accountable to it;

4) accountability of executive institutions of a municipality to the municipal council. Decisions of executive institutions of a municipality must be based on laws, decisions of the Government and/or the municipal council;

5) responsibility before the municipal community. Members of a municipal council (hereinafter: ‘councillors’) shall be responsible and accountable to voters and all municipal community for their activities;

6) lawfulness of the activities of a municipality and decisions taken by municipal institutions. Activities of municipal institutions and other public administration entities of a municipality, as well as decisions taken on all the issues related to their activities must meet the requirements of laws and other legal acts;

7) adjustment of municipal and State interests when managing public affairs of municipalities;

8) adjustment of interests of the community and individual residents of a municipality. Decisions taken by municipal institutions with respect to the interests of the community may not violate individual residents’ rights guaranteed by law;

9) participation of the residents of a municipality in the management of public affairs of the municipality. Municipal institutions shall provide conditions for the residents of a municipality to directly participate in preparing and debating draft decisions, organising surveys, assemblies, meetings, public consideration of petitions, as well as promote other forms of civic initiatives. Municipal institutions shall implement principles of self-governance in educational, cultural and other establishments, support initiatives of associations related to the management of public affairs of a municipality;

10) transparency of activities. Activities of municipal institutions and other public administration entities of a municipality must be transparent and easily understandable to the residents of the municipality who express interest in such activities; they shall be provided with possibilities to receive explanations what and why is done;

11) development and activity planning. The municipality shall act pursuant to mutually-coordinated, varying-duration spatial, strategic and financial planning documents the preparation, consideration and supervision of implementation (monitoring, consideration of reports) of which involve the population of the municipality;

12) publicity and responsiveness to the opinion of the residents of a municipality. The residents of a municipality or their representatives shall be entitled to get access to drafts of decisions of municipal institutions as well as the decisions taken by them, to receive public and justified replies to the expressed opinion on work done by municipal institutions and other public administration entities of the municipality or individual civil servants;

Version valid as of 1 July 2017:

12) responsiveness to the opinion of the residents of a municipality. The residents of a municipality or their representatives shall be entitled to get access to drafts of decisions of municipal institutions as well as the decisions taken by them, to receive public and justified replies to the expressed opinion on work done by municipal institutions and other public administration entities of the municipality or individual civil servants;

13) ensuring and respect for human rights and freedoms. Decisions taken by municipal institutions or civil servants must not infringe human dignity, human rights and freedoms, as well as equal opportunities;

14) subsidiarity. Decisions of municipal public administration entities of must be taken and implemented at the most effective level;

Version valid as of 1 July 2017:

15) publicity. A municipality shall, on its website, publish and constantly update the information set out in this Law as well as the information about the undertakings controlled by the municipality, their heads, members of the boards, submit economic overturn accounts and financial statements of such undertakings and other relevant information; also the information about the assistance received by the municipality (donor (donors), amount of assistance, purpose of assistance, period of assistance, etc.), funds allotted by the municipality to finance projects of non-governmental organizations and public establishments as well as criteria for financing and selecting projects, calls for organizations’ applications for assistance and other information related to activities of the municipality.

CHAPTER TWO

FUNCTIONS OF MUNICIPALITIES

Article 5. Functions of municipalities

1. According to discretion to take decisions, the functions of municipalities shall be divided as follows:

1) independent. Municipalities shall exercise these functions in accordance with the competence granted by the Constitution and laws, obligations to its community and for the interests thereof. When implementing the said functions, municipalities shall enjoy the freedom of initiative of decisions, their adoption and enforcement, and shall be responsible for the fulfilment of the said functions; When implementing these functions, activities of municipalities shall be bound by the requirements and order laid down by law, which, when this is provided for by law, shall be established in other legal acts as well;

2) State (delegated by the State to municipalities). These shall be State functions delegated to municipalities, taking into consideration interests of the population. When implementing the said functions, municipalities shall have the freedom of adoption of decisions, as prescribed by law. Activities of municipalities carried out when implementing the above-mentioned functions shall be restricted by decisions of state institutions and/or officials. In certain cases the state functions may be delegated for implementation to municipalities on the basis of contracts. A municipality may conclude such a contract only in the event that the municipal council gives its consent. Usually, such functions shall be short-term or seasonal.

2. Functions of municipalities shall, in regard to its business activities, be divided into local government, public administration and public service provision functions. Local government functions shall, in the manner prescribed by law, be exercised by the municipal council and the mayor when exercising the powers provided for by law. Public administration functions shall, in the manner prescribed by law, be exercised by the municipal council, the mayor, an executive institution (executive institutions) of a municipality, other heads of municipal establishments and services, civil servants who are granted the rights of public administration within the territory of the municipality by legal acts or decisions of the municipal council. Public services shall be provided by service providers established by municipalities or other legal and natural persons under contracts concluded with municipalities, who are chosen by means of an open tender.

3. In order to achieve general purposes a municipality may conclude joint activity contracts or public procurement contracts with State institutions and/or other municipalities.

4. A municipality may transfer implementation of functions of administrative and public services to another municipality by mutual consent of the municipal councils, on the basis of contracts, however, the municipality which delegates the functions shall bear responsibility for the implementation of these functions.

Article 6. Independent functions of municipalities

Independent functions of municipalities (set out (assigned) by the Constitution and laws):

1) drawing-up and approval of a municipal budget;

2) setting of local fees and charges;

3) management, use and disposal of the land and other property which belong to a municipality by the right of ownership;

4) incorporation and maintenance of municipal budgetary establishments, incorporation of municipal undertakings and other municipal legal persons;

5) ensuring of learning according to the programmes of compulsory education of children under 16 years of age who live on the territory of a municipality;

6) organisation and coordination of the provision of educational assistance to a pupil, teacher, family, school, the implementation of minimal child care arrangements;

7) organisation of free of charge transportation to schools and to places of residence of pupils of schools of general education, who live in rural localities;

8) organization of pre-school education, non-formal education of children and adults, organisation of occupation of children and youth;

9) formation of hunting-ground units and changing of their boundaries;

10) organization of meal services according to the procedure laid down by legal acts in educational establishments, which implement education according to pre-school, pre-primary and general education programmes;

11) organisation and carrying-out of geodetic and cartographic works assigned to municipalities by law;

12) planning and provision of social services, founding, maintaining of social services establishments and cooperation with non-governmental organizations;

13) cultivation of general culture and fostering of ethnoculture of the population (participation in culture development projects, establishment, reorganisation, transformation, liquidation of museums, theatres, culture centres and other cultural institutions as well as supervision of their activities, establishment, reorganisation, transformation of public municipal libraries as well as supervision of their activities);

14) provision of conditions for social integration of the disabled residing within the territory of a municipality;

15) setting-up of a social housing stock and its repairs, social housing rent;

16) participation in solving issues relating to employment of residents, acquiring of qualification and re-qualifying, organisation of public and seasonal works;

17) primary personal and public health care (founding, reorganization, liquidation and maintaining of establishments) with the exception of public health care of learners educated under pre-school, pre-primary, primary, basic and secondary education curricula at pre-school education, general education schools and vocational training schools located within the

18) planning and implementation of health promotion measures; support of health care of the municipal population;

19) territory planning, implementation of solutions of a general plan of a municipality and general plans and detailed plans of the parts of a municipality;

20) setting of special architectural requirements and issuing of documents permitting construction in accordance with the procedure laid down by law;

21) supervision of exploitation of construction works in accordance with the procedure laid down by law;

22) preparation and implementation of strategic development documents and planning documents implementing them;

23) participation in the preparation and implementation of regional development programmes;

24) implementation of information society development;

25) establishment, protection and management of the protected territories of a municipality;

26) maintenance and protection of the landscape, immovable cultural values and protected areas established by a municipality, protection, maintenance and development of green areas, vegetations, organisation and monitoring of inventory, accounting, cadastral measuring of land plots of separate green areas and their recording in the Real Property Register;

27) provision of addresses to land plots, on which the construction of buildings is permitted in accordance with the purpose (way) of use or spatial planning documents, to buildings, apartments and other premises, provision of names to streets, to buildings, construction works and other facilities situated within the territory of a municipality as well as change and cancelation of these addresses and names in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Government or an institution authorized by it;

28) improvement and protection of environment quality;

29) development of physical training and sports, organisation of recreation of the population;

30) organization of supply of heat and drinking water, and wastewater treatment;

31) development of municipal waste management, organisation of secondary raw materials collecting and processing, establishment and exploitation of landfills;

32) maintenance, repairing, surfacing of municipal roads and streets of local significance, as well as organisation of traffic safety;

33) organisation of transportation of passengers by local routes, calculation and payment of compensations for preferential transportation of passengers;

34) participation, cooperation in ensuring public order, creating and implementing crime prevention measures;

35) assigned to municipalities implementation of environmental noise prevention and state management of environmental noise;

36) approval of sanitary and hygiene rules and organisation of the control over compliance with the said rules, ensuring of cleanliness and tidiness in public places;

37) establishment of the procedure for providing trade and other services in marketplaces and public places administrated by municipalities or undertakings controlled by them;

38) creation of conditions for the development of business and tourism, and promotion of such activities;

39) issuance of permits (licences) in cases and manner prescribed by law;

40) control of compliance with the prohibition or restriction of alcohol and tobacco advertising on exterior means of advertising;

41) ensuring of rendering of burial services and organisation of maintenance of cemeteries;

42) supervision and control, pursuant to model rules approved by an institution authorized by the Government, of activities of the management bodies of associations of owners of apartments and other premises as well as of the persons authorized by the joint venture contract and of the administrators of common objects appointed by the executive institution of the municipality, where the abovementioned activities are related to the performance of the functions assigned to them by laws and other legal acts;

43) provision of the social allowance and compensations set out in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Cash Social Assistance to Poor Residents;

44) other functions that are not assigned to state institutions.

Article 7. State (delegated by the State to municipalities) functions

State (delegated by the State to municipalities) functions shall be as follows:

1) registration of acts of civil status;

2) management of registers assigned by law and furnishing of data to State registers;

3) civil protection;

4) fire protection;

5) participation in the management of national parks;

6) repealed;

7) organisation of pre-primary education, general education, vocational training and vocational counselling, ensuring of studying of children under 16 years of age, residing within the territory of a municipality, in accordance with compulsory education programmes, maintenance of schools (classes) which implement general education programmes and are designated for pupils having exceptional talents or special needs;

8) administration of free-of-charge meal provision for pupils at schools established by a municipality and schools not belonging to the State which were established within the territory of a municipality, as well as administration of provision with pupil supplies for pupils from low-income families, who have declared the place of residence or reside within the territory of a municipality;

9) calculation and payment of social benefits and compensations, except the social allowance and compensations set out in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Cash Social Assistance to Poor Residents;

10) management, use and hold in trust of the State land and other State property assigned to a municipality;

11) consideration of citizens’ requests to restore ownership rights to the existing real property, as well as adoption of decisions on the restoration of ownership rights in the cases and according to the procedure laid down by law;

12) execution of State guarantees for tenants moving out from dwelling houses or their parts and flats, which are returned to owners;

13) control of use and accuracy of the State language;

14) management of archival documents assigned to municipalities in accordance with legal acts;

15) repealed as of 1 January 2011;

16) participation in preparing for and implementing mobilization, demobilization, support of the host country;

17) provision of statistical data;

18) participation in preparing and implementing labour market policy measures and employment programmes;

19) participation in organising elections and referendums provided for by law;

20) participation in holding surveys and other citizens’ (popular) initiatives provided for by law;

21) participation in the carrying-out of population and dwelling census as well as other total census;

22) protection of the rights of children and the youth;

23) administration of agricultural production quotas;

24) registration of agricultural holdings and farmers’ farms;

25) administration of activities related to declaration of agricultural land and crops;

26) implementation of programmes pertaining to the liquidation and monitoring of natural disasters, communicable diseases of animals, determining of losses and damage caused to the agriculture by hunted animals and wild animals of the strictly protected species;

27) management and use by the right of trust of land reclamation and hydrotechnical construction works which belong to the State by the right of ownership;

28) registration and technical maintenance of tractors, self-propelled and agricultural machines and their trailers;

29) administration of implementation of rural development measures;

30) provision of primary legal aid guaranteed by the State;

31) processing of data related to declaration of a place of residence and accountancy data of persons who do not have a place of residence;

32) ensuring of provision of social care to individuals with a severe disability;

33) gathering, storing and provision to the European Commission in the manner prescribed by the Government of the information about financial relations of municipal institutions and undertakings controlled by a municipality, which meet the criteria set by the Government, as well as about undertakings which must maintain separate accounts;

34) organization of the secondary health care in the cases and according to the procedure laid down by law;

35) public health care of learners educated under pre-school, pre-primary, primary, basic and secondary education curricula at pre-school education, general education schools and vocational training schools located within the municipal territory; public health improvement and public health monitoring;

36) radiation protection;

37) ensuring of the revision of the health status of legally incapable persons;

38) other functions delegated under laws.

CHAPTER THREE

RENDERING OF PUBLIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

Article 8. Rendering of public services

1. A municipality shall be responsible for rendering public services to residents. Municipal institutions and administration shall not render public services, with the exception of the cases provided for in this Article. They shall be rendered by budgetary and public establishments, municipal undertakings, companies with share capital and other entities.

2. In the absence of a provider of public services, a ward may, by the decision of the municipal council, render public services itself.

3. When rendering public services to residents of a municipality, their providers must act in compliance with laws, decisions of municipal institutions and other legal acts.

4. Public services shall be rendered to residents in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts for payment or free of charge.

5. A municipality must ensure that all residents of a municipality could make use of public services and that such services would be rendered constantly.

Article 9. Administration of the Provision of Public Services

1. A municipality shall administer and ensure rendering of public services to residents by determining the way, rules and regime of rendering of these services, setting up budgetary and public establishments, selecting providers of public services in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws and other legal acts, and implementing supervision and control over rendering of public services.

2. A municipality shall establish new providers of public services only in cases when other providers are not rendering public services or cannot render the said services to residents economically and of good quality.

Version valid as of 1 July 2017:

2. A municipality shall establish new providers of public services only in cases when other providers are not rendering public services or cannot render the said services to residents economically and of good quality. In the cases when provision of public services is related to the pursuit of an economic activity as defined in paragraph 16 of Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Competition, the requirement s laid down in Article 91 of this Law must be implemented.

3. If a ward shall, pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 8 of this Law, render public services itself, a unit of the municipal administration shall be assigned to administer such services.

Article 91 valid as of 1 July 2017:

Article 91. Pursuit of an economic activity

1. Legal persons managed by a municipality shall not engage in economic activities, with the exception of the cases where:

1) an economic activity is necessary in order to serve the common interest of the local community and

2) taking into consideration their commercial interests, other economic entities would not engage in such activity or would not engage in full which is necessary in order to serve the common interest of the local community and only

3) if this will not grant privileges or discriminate individual economic entities or their groups.

2. If the engagement in an economic activity is necessary in order to serve the common interest of the local community and the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are not violated, the municipality may establish a new legal person with the purpose of engaging in such economic activity or entrusting the engagement of a new economic activity to the existing legal persons managed by the municipality, only upon the receipt of a prior consent of the Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: 'the Competition Council').

3. In order to get consent of the Competition Council referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the municipality must, within six months before the request for consent, fulfil the competitive procedure concerning the selection of economic entities. The competitive procedure must be such that it would reveal whether or not other economic entities who are already operating in the market or are potential operators in the market may, taking into account their commercial interests, ensure the pursuit of a relevant activity.

4. When applying to the Competition Council for consent referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the municipality shall present evidence regarding the fulfilled competitive procedure, its results and other information indicated by the Competition Council.

5. Having received a request of the municipality referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, the Competition Council shall take a decision regarding the consent not later than within 30 days from the receipt of the request of the municipality which meets the requirements set out by the Competition Council.

6. The Competition Council shall issue a written consent referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, if the municipality has within six months before a request for issue of an authorisation fulfilled the competitive procedure and if the results of the said procedure show that other economic entities who are already operating in the market or are potential operators in the market, taking into account their commercial interests, may not ensure the pursuit of a relevant activity.

7. The Competition Council shall not issue a written consent referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, if the municipality, within six months before a request for issue of an authorisation, has not fulfilled the competitive procedure or if the results of the fulfilled procedure show that other economic entities who are already operating in the market or are potential operators in the market may, taking into account their commercial interests, ensure the pursuit of a relevant activity.

8. Legal entities managed by the municipality may not start pursuing a new economic activity on their own initiative. They may start pursuing a new economic activity only in the case where the pursuit of such activity is entrusted to them by the municipality in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law and other laws regulating activities of legal persons and only upon the receipt of the consent of the Competition Council pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article.

9. If the requirements of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Procurement are applied to the competitive procedure referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article and the competent authority establishes by the effective decision that the requirements of the said Law have been violated during the fulfilment of this competitive procedure, the Competition Council may withdraw the consent given pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article. If the Competition Council revokes the decision concerning the given consent, the municipality must apply anew to the Competition Council for consent in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Article.

10. The Competition Council shall lay down the procedure for submitting and considering requests referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article for the assessment of economic activities performed by municipalities as well as the model form of such requests.

11. Decisions of the Competition Council referred to in paragraphs 6, 7 and 9 of this Article may be appealed against to the court in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Administrative Proceedings.

Article 10. Provision of Administrative Services

Administrative services shall be provided to residents by the mayor, the secretariat of the municipal council and the mayor (should it be set up), the director of the municipal administration and the municipal administration, other public administration entities of a municipality in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Public Administration and other legal acts.

CHAPTER THREE1

PLANNING AND PLANS AT A MUNICIPALITY

Article 101. Planning at a Municipality

A municipality shall create and operate a planning system which consists of spatial, strategic and financial planning.

Article 102 . Spatial Planning at a Municipality

Spatial planning at a municipality shall be implemented and spatial planning documents shall be prepared and implemented in accordance with the procedure and under the conditions laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Spatial Planning and the legal acts enforcing it.

Article 103. Strategic Planning at a Municipality

1. A municipality shall prepare the following municipal strategic planning documents: a municipal strategic development plan, development programmes of individual industry types (sectors) of the municipality and a municipal strategic action plan. Development programmes of individual industry types (sectors) shall be prepared only in cases where such preparation of planning documents is provided for by law.

2. A municipal strategic development plan and development programmes of individual industry types (sectors) shall be planning documents of a longer term (more than three years) intended for forecasting the environmental, social and economic development in the municipality and prepared taking into account spatial planning and strategic planning documents of the national and regional levels and also spatial planning documents of the municipalities.

3. A municipal strategic action plan which is being prepared for a period of 3 years (making adjustments every year) shall elaborate on the implementation of the goals and objectives of the strategic development plan of the municipality and development programmes of individual industry types (sectors) of the municipality and is formed taking into consideration planned financial and human resources of the municipality.

4. Annual action plans of the municipal administration, a ward, a budgetary institution shall be documents elaborating on the implementation programmes of the municipal strategic action plans or parts thereof (goals and objectives, individual measures) which is the responsibility of the municipal administration, the ward, the budgetary institution, where such documents are prepared taking into consideration the appropriations planned in the municipal budget to be allocated to them. These plans shall specify concrete operations (actions) and/or projects of the municipal administration (its organisational units), the ward, the budgetary institution to be carried out during that year, appropriations to be allocated for such operations (actions), and the criteria of assessment ( and their meanings) of the results to be achieved by the said institution or its units.

5. The procedure of organisation of strategic planning at a municipality (preparation, review and approval of municipal strategic planning documents and planning documents elaborating on the implementation thereof, monitoring of the implementation, evaluation of the results to be achieved, preparation and consideration of reports on the implementation of planning documents, including of the municipal population in the preparation, consideration and supervision of the implementation thereof, publicity, etc.) shall be laid down by the municipal council, taking into account the recommendations for strategic planning in municipalities approved by a resolution of the Government.

6. Municipal strategic planning documents and planning documents elaborating on the implementation thereof as well as reports on the implementation of these documents shall be available to the public and published on the website of the municipality.

Article 104. Financial Planning at a Municipality

1. Financial planning of municipal activities shall be a process during which, taking into account the approved strategic planning documents of the municipality, a municipal budget and estimates of other funding sources are drawn up.

2. A municipal budget (a municipal annual financial plan) shall be drawn up in accordance with the approved strategic action plan of the municipality, as well as taking into account other approved strategic planning documents of the municipality, while appropriations being planned to implement programmes of the strategic action plan of the municipality and to achieve the planned results and distributed to appropriations managers.

CHAPTER FOUR

MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS, ESTABLISHMENT AND POWERS THEREOF

Article 11. The municipal council:

1. The municipal council shall be an institution, which implements the right of self-governance.

2. The municipal council shall consist of representatives of the municipal community – members of the municipal council (hereinafter: ‘councillors’) who have been democratically elected pursuant to the procedure laid down by law.

3. Procedure and form of the activities of the municipal council shall be established by this Law and the rules of conduct of the municipal council (hereinafter: ‘the rules of conduct’).

4. The powers of the municipal council shall start when the elected councillors gather to the first sitting, and shall expire when councillors elected for a new term of office gather to the first sitting.

5. A councillor shall acquire all the rights of a state politician and a representative of the municipal community only after having taken an oath in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law.

6. Within the period of two months after the convocation of the first sitting of a newly elected municipal council or from the taking of an oath of a directly elected mayor, a deputy mayor (deputy mayors) and director of the municipal administration must be appointed, committees of the municipal council must be set up and chairs of these committees must be appointed, commissions provided for in this Law must be set up and chairs of these commissions must be appointed, a municipal council board panel must be set up, if so decided. If the powers of a deputy mayor (deputy mayors) and/or the duties of the director of the municipal administration are terminated before the expiration of his/their term office, the municipal council must, within the period of two months from the termination of his/their powers or his duties, appoint a deputy mayor (deputy mayors) and/or a director of the municipal administration.

7. The provision of paragraph 6 of this Article (with the exception of the setting-up of the council’s committees and the commissions provided for in the Law) shall not apply if the elected mayor is temporarily removed from his office in accordance with the procedure laid down by other laws. After the expiration of the period of temporary removal of the mayor from his office a sitting of the municipal council must be convened not later than within five calendar days where the elected mayor takes an oath (in case he has not taken the oath). During the period of two months since the abovementioned sitting a deputy mayor (mayors) and a director of the municipal administration must be appointed, a municipal council’s board panel must be formed (should it be decided to form one).

8. If the election results of a newly elected municipal council are deemed invalid, the powers of the existing municipal council shall last until the first sitting of the municipal council which shall be elected during a run-off election, or until introduction of temporary direct rule into the territory of the municipality.

9. When temporary direct rule is introduced on the territory of a municipality, the municipal council shall lose its powers or the powers of the municipal council shall be suspend during temporary direct rule, if the municipal council is unable to exercise its powers due to the circumstances related to introduction of a state of emergency within the territory of the municipality.

10. In the extraordinary circumstances when neither the mayor, nor deputy mayor(s) are able to carry out their duties for the reasons beyond their control, sittings of the municipal council shall be convened and the duties of mayor shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct.

Article 12. Forms of activities of the municipal council

1. The municipal council shall exercise its powers collegially at sittings of the municipal council. Issues for sittings of the municipal council shall be prepared by the committees of the municipal council (hereinafter: ‘committees’) and commissions at their sittings, factions and groups of the councillors at meetings, councillors, municipal controller, mayor and the director of the municipal administration. The municipal council shall take decisions on the issues under consideration and control their implementation.

2. The municipal council at least once a year in the manner prescribed by the rules of conduct must present a public report on the work done to the municipal community. On behalf of the municipal council the mayor shall present the said report.

3. Activities of the municipal council between sittings of the municipal council shall proceed in the committees and commissions, as well as in the form of communication of the councillors with the voters.

Article 13. Sittings of the municipal council

1. Municipal council’s sittings shall be considered lawful if the majority of the elected councillors are present.

2. The first sitting of a newly elected municipal council shall be convened by the chair of the municipal election committee not earlier than on the last day of the term of office of the previous municipal council and not later than seven calendar days following the last day of the term of office of the previous municipal council, which is set in compliance with Article 119 of the Constitution, and if the election to a municipal council has been held in a newly established municipality or the municipality in which direct rule was introduced or run-off elections were held in the case provided for in Article 86 of the Law on Elections to Municipal Councils – not later than within two weeks of the proclamation of election results. This sitting shall be presided over by the chair of the municipal election committee or a member of the municipal election committee authorized by him. The time and venue of the first sitting shall, not later than 14 days in advance, be announced via the mass media by the chair of the municipal election committee. If the chair of the municipal election committee does not convene the first sitting of a newly elected municipal council before the expiry of the time limit fixed in this paragraph, the councillors of a newly elected municipal council shall gather on their own on the next day after the expiry of the said time limit. In this case, a sitting shall be presided over by the mayor or in his absence by the eldest councillor.

3. The first and other sittings of a newly elected municipal council shall be presided over by the persons referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, until the municipal councillors take an oath. After the municipal councillors (mayor) take an oath, the sitting shall be presided over by the mayor or in his absence by the eldest councillor. At the first sitting of the newly elected municipal council:

1) municipal councillors shall take an oath; if a mayor is not elected, a municipal councillor, who will perform the mayor’s duties, shall be elected;

2) public statements may be submitted to the officer presiding over the sitting concerning the uniting of municipal councillors into factions, the formation of the majority and the minority (opposition) of the municipal council;

3) a decision shall be taken regarding the dismissal of the director of the municipal administration (deputy director of the municipal administration) because of the expiration of his term of office, as well as regarding the assignment, on the proposal of the mayor (or if the mayor has not been elected, a municipal councillor temporarily performing the mayor’s duties) for the director of the municipal administration, a deputy director of the municipal administration or any other civil servant of the municipal administration to hold the office of the director of the municipal administration until a director of the municipal administration (deputy director of the municipal administration) is appointed for a new term of office;

4) a deputy mayor (mayors) and a director of the municipal administration may be appointed. A deputy mayor (mayors) and a director of the municipal administration may not be appointed if the mayor has not been elected or he did not take an oath during the first sitting. In the event of failure for the mayor to take an oath during the first sitting, the municipal council shall take a decision on the date of the next sitting. It must be convened not later than within five calendar days after the first sitting presided over by the persons specified in this paragraph. If the mayor does not take an oath at the said sitting or takes an oath but cannot temporarily perform his duties due to temporary incapacity for work or any other justified reasons, a municipal councillor shall be appointed in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 1 of Article 19 of this Law to temporarily perform the mayor’s duties.

4. Subsequent municipal council sittings shall, when necessary but at least every three months, be convened by the mayor and in case of his absence - the deputy mayor, and in the latter’s absence – by a municipal councillor who temporarily performs the mayor’s duties. Sittings of the municipal council shall be presided over by the mayor and in the event he is absent (in the cases laid down by the rules of conduct) – by a deputy mayor, and in the latter’s absence – by a municipal councillor who temporarily performs the mayor’s duties. The mayor, in case of his absence - a deputy mayor, and in the latter’s absence – by a municipal councillor who temporarily performs the mayor’s duties must convene a sitting of the municipal council on the written demand of at least one-third of the elected councillors who submit issues subject to consideration and drafts of their solutions, not later than within two weeks of the receipt of the demand of the councillors. If the mayor or his deputy, or a municipal councillor who temporarily performs the mayor’s duties does not convene a sitting of the municipal council within a fixed period of time, it may be convened by at least one-third of the elected councillors. If the mayor or his deputy, or a municipal councillor who temporarily performs the mayor’s duties does not attend a sitting, such a sitting shall be presided over and all the documents adopted during the sitting shall be signed by a councillor appointed by the municipal council.

5. Issues subject to consideration at a sitting of the municipal council, as well as draft solutions shall be submitted to the mayor by the committees, commissions, councillors, factions and groups of the councillors, municipal controller, director of the municipal administration. Only those issues shall be considered at municipal council sittings the draft decisions whereof are submitted in the manner prescribed by the rules of conduct. Submitted drafts of decisions shall be registered in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of procedure and shall be put on the website of the municipality not later than on the working day which follows their registration.

6. The mayor shall draw up an agenda of a sitting of the municipal council. The mayor must include in the agenda of a sitting the issues subject to consideration as well as the registered drafts of solutions not later than within four working days before the sitting of the municipal council. If the mayor fails to include the issues subject to consideration in the agenda of a sitting, the municipal council shall decide on their inclusion in the agenda according to the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct. An agenda of a sitting of the municipal council shall, not later than three working days prior to a sitting of the municipal council, be published on the municipal website.

7. The agenda of a sitting of the municipal council may be supplemented or amended by the decision of the municipal council on the proposal of the committee, commission, faction or one-third of the councillors attending the sitting, if drafts of solutions of these proposals are registered not later than 24 hours before the beginning of the sitting. This provision shall not apply to proposals related to the submission of drafts of solutions of regulative nature, proposals related to nomination of candidates for deputy mayor (deputy mayors), director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration (deputy directors of the municipal administration), chairs of the Control Committee and the commissions set out by this Law, as well as to proposal related to the expression of non-confidence in the mayor, deputy mayor (deputy mayors), director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration (deputy directors of the municipal administration), chairs of the Control Committee and the commissions set out in this Law. In the cases of extraordinary events, which meet the criteria approved by the Government, the mayor shall have the right to submit to the municipal council for consideration an issue and to propose to take a decision in the urgent procedure.

8. The mayor and in the event he is absent (in the cases laid down by the rules of conduct) – a deputy mayor or in the event the latter is absent – a councillor who temporarily holds the office of the mayor, or a councillor who has been authorised by the one-third of the councillors shall, not later than three working days preceding the beginning of a sitting and in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, notify about the time of the sitting of the municipal council, the issues and drafts of solutions prepared for consideration and registered pursuant to the rules of conduct all councillors, residents and the elder – when issues under consideration concern the local community represented by him, also the warden and a representative (representatives) of an initiative group for the local population opinion survey when the results of the local population opinion survey or matters concerning the issue (issues) proposed for the local population opinion survey are deliberated.

9. Decisions of the municipal council shall be adopted by a majority vote of all the councillors participating in the sitting. In the event of a tie, the mayor shall have a casting vote. If the mayor does not attend a sitting, in the event of a tie it shall be considered that the decision has not been taken. Issues considered at sittings of the municipal council shall be voted by open ballot, with the exception of the cases when a deputy mayor, a director of the municipal administration, deputy directors of the municipal administration are appointed, the issues regarding the loss of the powers by the mayor before the expiration of his term of office, the removal of the mayor from office, the non-confidence in the deputy mayors, the director of the municipal administration, or deputy directors of the municipal administration are solved. Secret voting in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct shall be possible also in the cases where a chair of the Control Committee, a deputy chair of the Control Committee, a chair of the Ethics Commission, a chair of the Anticorruption Commission are appointed, the issues regarding the non-confidence in the chair of the Control Committee, the deputy chair of the Control Committee, the chair of the Ethics Commission or the chair of the Anticorruption Commission are solved. Data on the voting of each councillor shall be accessible to the public, with the exception of the cases of secret voting. The results of voting of each councillor must be stored in the information medium and published on the website of the municipality.

10. A municipal councillor must, at a sitting of the municipal council, before the consideration of the issue which rises a conflict of interest, inform he municipal council about such conflict of interest, announce his opting out and, in the event the municipal council accepts the opting-out, must not further participate in any form in the consideration of the said issue. The municipal council may not, by a reasoned decision, in accordance with the criteria approved by the Chief Official Ethics Commission, accept the declared opting-out and obligate the municipal councillor to participate in the further consideration of the said issue. The data on the decision not to accept the declared opting-out, together with the results of the voting on the considered issue shall be published on the website of the municipality and shall, within five working days of the adoption of the decision, be transmitted electronically to the Chief Official Ethics Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down by it.

11. Council sittings shall be open to the public. The presiding officer of the sitting shall have the right to permit invited persons to take the floor in the sitting. If an issue which is being considered at a sitting of the municipal council is related to other persons attending the sitting, they shall be allowed to pose questions to the rapporteurs and to take the floor in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct. If technically possible, sittings of the municipal council shall be broadcast in the website in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council.

12. When an issue related to the State, official or commercial secret are being considered at the sitting, the municipal council may decide to consider it at a closed sitting.

13. Minutes shall be taken at municipal council sittings. Minutes of the sitting and decisions of the municipal council must be signed by the mayor, his deputy or any other councillor who presided over that sitting. The minutes of sittings of the municipal council must be also signed by the council secretary and in case of his absence – a civil servant of political (personal) confidence assigned by the mayor or a civil servant or an employee working in the municipal administration under the employment contract, who is assigned by the director of the municipal administration (with the mayor’s consent).

Article 14. Committees of the municipal council

1. Municipal council committees shall be set up to preliminary consider issues submitted to the municipal council and to present conclusions and proposals, to control the observance of laws and implementation of decisions of the municipal council and the mayor.

2. The committees shall be set up of at least three councillors by the decision of the municipal council. Each municipality must set up a control committee. The control committee shall comprise an equal number of representatives delegated by all the factions of municipal councillors and a group of municipal councillors, if it consists of at least three municipal councillors. When setting up other committees, a principle of proportional representation of the majority and minority shall be adhered to. The number of the committees as well as their members, the powers of the committees, except the Control Committee, shall be established by the municipal council. The powers of the Control Committee shall be established by the municipal council, taking into consideration paragraph 4 of this Article. Working arrangements of the committees shall be laid down in the rules of conduct.

3. Chairs and deputy chairs of the committees, except the Control Committee, shall be elected by the committees on the proposal of the mayor. The mayor may propose the same candidate twice. The municipal council shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, appoint a chair of the Control Committee on the proposal of the minority (opposition) of the municipal council, while a deputy chair of the Control Committee – on the proposal from the mayor. If the minority (opposition) of the municipal council does not nominate a candidate to the chair of the Control Committee or if the minority (opposition) of the municipal council is not proclaimed, a chair and a deputy chair of the Control Committee shall be appointed by the municipal council on the proposal of the mayor.

4. The control committee shall:

1) submit findings to municipal council regarding results of the activities of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service);

2) propose to the municipal council to dismiss the municipal controller, if there are grounds for dismissal from civil service, laid down in laws;

3) consider a draft action plan of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) for next year and submit proposals regarding supplements or amendments of the said draft plan, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct return this draft plan prior to November 5 of the current year for approval by the municipal controller;

4) assess appropriations necessary for the implementation of an action plan of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) for next year and submit the opinion regarding the said appropriations to the municipal council;

5) consider a report prepared by the municipal controller regarding the implementation of the action plan of the controller (municipal control and audit service), prepare on its basis and submit to the municipal council conclusions regarding the lawfulness, expediency and efficiency of the use of municipal property and funds, as well as activities of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service);

6) propose to the municipal council to carry out independent audit of the use of municipal property and funds, and the activities of a municipality, submit its conclusions regarding the audit results;

7) periodically (once every quarter) consider the execution of the action plan of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service), on the initiative of the municipal controller or on its own initiative hear out heads of institutions, establishments and undertakings concerning the elimination of deficiencies or violations of legal acts established by the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) during the financial and performance audit, when necessary address the director of the municipal administration or the municipal council regarding the implementation of requirements of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service);

8) work in accordance with the activities programme approved by the municipal council, and at the beginning of each year account for its activities to the municipal council in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct;

9) examine notifications and reports received from persons on activities of the municipal administration, undertakings, establishments and their heads, and submit proposals with regard to the said notifications and reports to the municipal administration and municipal council.

5. Committee sittings shall be legal if attended by more than half of all the committee members. The committees shall, within the limits of their competence, take recommendatory decisions. The municipal administration, its subdivisions, budgetary and public establishments as well as undertakings controlled by the municipality must consider committee decisions related to their activities and inform the committees about the consideration results.

6. Representatives of the population – elders, experts, civil servants and other interested persons may take part in an advisory capacity in the work of the committees in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct. When an issue related to the state, official or commercial secret is being considered at a committee meeting, the committee may decide to consider it at a closed sitting.

7. Agendas of sittings of the committees shall be published on the website of the municipality not later than two working days prior to the beginning of a committee sitting.

8. Sittings of the committees shall be audio recorded. Audio recordings of sittings of the committees shall be stored in the information medium.

Article 15. Commissions of the municipal council

1. For the duration of its term of office, the municipal council shall set up the Ethics Commission and the Anticorruption Commission. On the recommendation of the mayor, the municipal council shall appoint chairs of these Commissions from its councillors. If the minority (opposition) of the municipal council is announced, the candidatures of chairs of the Ethics Commission and the Anticorruption Commission shall be nominated by the mayor on the proposal from the minority (opposition) of the municipal council in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct. If the minority (opposition) of the municipal council does not nominate candidates to the chairs of the Ethics Commission and the Anticorruption Commission, chairs of the Ethics Commission and the Anticorruption Commission shall be appointed by the municipal council on the recommendation of the mayor. Civil servants appointed by the director of the municipal administration shall perform the duties of executive secretaries of the commissions; the said functions shall be entered in their job description.

2. Repealed.

3. The Ethics Commission shall:

1) oversee the compliance by the municipal councillors with the requirements of this Law, the Code of Ethics for State Politicians, the Law on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Public Service, the rules of conduct, other legal acts regulating activities and conduct of municipal councillors;

2) analyse the reasons of the municipal councillors’ failure to attend sittings of the municipal council, committees and commissions and to carry out the duties laid down by this Law;

3) examine and take decisions of the compliance of activities of the municipal councillors with the provisions of this Law, the Code of Ethics for State Politicians, the Law on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Public Service, the rules of conduct, other legal acts regulating activities and conduct of municipal councillors;

4) examine proposals and remarks concerning the transparency of activities of the municipal councillors, received from members of the municipal community, state institutions, local communities or community-based organisations;

5) submit a proposal to the Central Electoral Commission regarding the termination of the powers of a municipal councillor, if the said councillor has missed three sittings of the municipal council in a row without a justifiable reason;

6) on the initiative of the municipal councillors, the mayor or the Ethics Commission, submit recommendations to the municipal councillors on the implementation of the provisions of the Law on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Public Service.

4. The Anticorruption Commission shall:

1) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct on the initiative of the municipal council or the mayor, participate in the performance of anticorruption evaluation of legal acts drawn up by municipal institutions;

2) participate in the preparation of anticorruption programmes and submit conclusions to the municipal council concerning the implementation of the said programmes;

3) examine proposals and remarks concerning the enforcement of anticorruption measures, received from members of the municipal community, state institutions, local communities or community-based organisations;

4) inform the public about its activities, the enforced anticorruption measures at the municipality, as well as about the results in the fight against corruption;

5) perform other functions specified in other legal acts, related to the implementation of the state policy in the field of corruption prevention.

5. In cases specified by laws or by decision of the municipal council other standing commissions (for a term of office of a particular council) and ad hoc commissions (for consideration of particular issues) may be set up.

6. Municipal councillors, civil servants, experts, representatives of local communities -elders, representatives of the population (representatives authorised by public legal persons registered in the Republic of Lithuania, except state or municipal institutions or bodies), representatives of community-based organizations, other residents of the municipality may be members of the commissions which are set up by the municipal council. Elders or elders and representatives of the population must make up not less than one-third of the Ethics Commission and the Anticorruption Commission members.

7. The procedure for setting up the commissions of the municipal council shall be laid down in the rules of conduct. The municipal council shall approve the regulations of the commissions.

8. The Ethics Commission, acting in compliance with points 2 and 6 of paragraph 3 of this Article, hold sittings at least once a month.

Article 16. Competence of the municipal council

1. The competence of the municipal council shall be exclusive and simple.

2. The exclusive competence of the municipal council shall be as follows:

1) approval of the rules of conduct. The rules of conduct must, among other issues, provide for main forms and ways of communication with the population, which would guarantee the implementation of principles and rights to local self-governance for the interests of the community;

2) dismissal of the mayor prior to the expiration of the term of office, fixation of the mayor’s salary;

3) setting of the number of deputy mayors, appointment of a deputy mayor (deputy mayors) on the recommendation of the mayor, his dismissal prior to the expiration of the term of office, fixation of the salary of a deputy mayor (deputy mayors) in accordance with the procedure laid down by law;

4) repealed;

5) taking of a decision on the formation of a municipal council board and formation of a municipal council board on the recommendation of the mayor;

6) setting-up of municipal council’s committees, commissions, other units necessary for organization of the work of a municipality, other commissions provided for in laws, as well as approval of their regulations;

7) appointment of chair and deputy chairs of the Control Committee, approval of a work programme of the Control Committee;

8) setting-up of a commission for selection of candidates to the position of municipal controller, taking of decisions on employment and dismissal of the municipal controller, forming of the municipal control and audit service on the recommendation of the municipal controller, setting of the maximum number of the positions of civil servants and employees working under the employment contract in this service, consideration of an annual report of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) and taking of a decision concerning the report, fixation of the salary of the municipal controller, which is provided for by laws, approval of the regulations of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service);

9) employment and dismissal of director of the municipal administration (deputy director of the municipal administration); taking of decisions regarding establishment of the position(s) of deputy director of the municipal administration; taking of decisions on distribution of the functions, set in this Law, of the municipal executive institution to the director of the municipal administration and, if such a position (positions) is/are established – to a deputy director of the municipal administration; taking of decisions on the restriction of the right of the director of the municipal administration to delegate the implementation the functions; taking of decisions on deputizing for the director of the municipal administration, fixation of the salary of the director of the municipal administration and deputy director of the municipal administration;

10) approval of the structure of the municipal administration, regulations and salary fund, setting of the maximum possible of positions of civil servants and employees working under the employment contract in the municipal administration on the proposal from the director of the municipal administration on the recommendation of the mayor;

11) taking of decisions concerning determining of the number of positions of civil servants of political (personal) confidence of the mayor, establishment of the secretariat of the municipal council and the mayor as well as on the recommendation of the mayor;

12) taking of a decision to recover damages from the director of the municipal administration and other public administration entities of a municipality, which have been inflicted due to their (his) intentional unlawful decisions, non-performance of the duties or gross negligence while carrying out the duties, when these public administration entities of a municipality have had to compensate for the damage following the court’s decision, if the damage does not exceed the amount equal to their (his) average work pays for the last six months;

13) taking of decisions on the establishment, abolishment of wards and determination of their number, conferment of names to the wards and change thereof, assignment of territories to the wards, defining of the boundaries of the territories serviced by the wards as well as the change of the said boundaries, after having evaluated the opinion of the residents;

14) repealed;

15) approval of a set of municipal budget reports and municipal consolidated statements in accordance with the Law on the Budget Structure and the Law on Accountability of the Public Sector, when necessary, revision of the budget of the municipality;

16) taking of a decision on the formation of the mayor’s representation fund, the size of the mayor’s representation fund, the procedure for using of and accounting for the said fund;

17) taking of decisions on the allocation of additional and plan-exceeding budget revenue and other cash resources, as well as on the establishment and use of target and specialised funds;

18) taking of decisions on provision of tax, charges reliefs as well as other reliefs set by laws for account of the municipal budget, establishment of the procedure for provision of subsidies and compensations for all-type undertakings creating new jobs, by accordingly revising the municipal budget in the cases when no funds have been provided for this;

19) hearing in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct of the reports of the mayor, the director of the municipal administration, the municipal controller, heads of budgetary and public establishments (the owner of which is a municipality), establishments and organizations controlled by a municipality, as well as their replies to the inquiries of the municipal councillors; taking of decisions on these reports and replies;

20) submission of proposals to the state institutions regarding the improvement of activities of the units of these institutions located on the territory of a municipality, when necessary, hearing of the heads of these units in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct;

21) incorporation, reorganization, liquidation and supervision of budgetary and public establishments (the owner of which is a municipality), municipal undertakings, companies with share capital, private limited companies (hereinafter: ‘legal persons of the municipality’), employment and dismissal of heads of municipal teaching and training establishments(hereinafter: ‘educational’) in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts, as well as participation in the incorporation, reorganisation and liquidation of public and private legal persons; approval of regulations of wards – budgetary institutions;

22) taking of decisions regarding the incorporation, reorganization and liquidation of public and private legal persons (the company member of which is the municipality);

23) taking of decisions on the establishment of joint undertakings together with other municipalities;

24) taking of decisions on the performance of an independent audit of a certain activity at the municipal establishments or the undertakings controlled by the municipality;

25) approval of a description of the procedure for signing contracts, which are being concluded in the name of a municipality; this description must define which contracts may not be concluded without a prior consent of the municipal council;

26) taking of decisions concerning the disposal of the property belonging to a municipality by the right of ownership, establishment of rules for the procedure of management, use and disposal of the said property, with the exception of the cases when such a procedure has been defined in laws or in other legal acts adopted on the basis of the laws;

27) taking of decisions on the management, use and disposal of by the right of trust of the State land and other State property assigned to a municipality;

28) taking of decisions on taking out loans and providing guarantees for long-term loans; these loans are used only to finance investment projects, including energy efficiency projects implemented by municipalities according to the programmes approved by the Government, in compliance with the procedure laid down by the Government, confining to the limits on borrowing as set by law and upon the receipt of the conclusions of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service);

29) taking of decisions on the expediency of granting of concessions; upon having received the conclusions of the municipal controller before the announcement of tendering, approval of tendering conditions and the essential characteristics of the concession contract, setting of phases of tendering and, upon the receipt of the conclusions of the municipal controller, approval of the final project of the concession contract before the signing of the concession contract;

30) taking of decisions on designing and building of social and industrial facilities, instructing of the municipal administration and other entities to perform the functions of a contractor of the said works;

31) taking of decisions on a procedure for forming a social housing stock (building, purchase, etc.), a procedure for granting a dwelling and on a rate of rentals of municipal living quarters;

32) approval of a general plan of a municipality or general plans of the parts of a municipality in accordance with the procedure laid down by law;

33) establishment of protected territories of a municipality in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Protected Areas, declaration of objects of natural and cultural heritage of local importance, which are protected by the municipality;

34) submission to the Government of decisions on proposals to change the boundaries of a municipality, to grant a name to a municipality and to change its name, to establish localities, to define their names and territorial boundaries and to change them, as well as giving and changing, according to the criteria set by the Government or an institution authorised by it, of the names of streets, squares, buildings, construction works and other objects belonging to a municipality by the right of ownership;

35) defining of municipal noise prevention and reduction measures in municipal strategic planning documents, approval of indicators of noise within the territory of the municipality, strategic noise maps of agglomerations, strategic noise maps of main road sections, main railway sections and major airports located in the agglomerations as well as action plans of agglomerations for noise prevention which are subject to implementation by municipal strategic planning documents, territories of localities in which noise prevention and reduction measures (noise prevention areas) must be implemented and rules of noise prevention in public places; designation of silent zones of agglomerations, silent nature zones and silent public zones. Supervision of implementation of the functions of the municipal executive institution, other subordinate public administration entities in the field of noise management;

36) approval of the rules the violation of which incurs administrative responsibility, as well as approval of other rules;

37) fixing of prices and tariffs for repayable services provided by undertakings controlled by a municipality, budgetary and public establishments (the owner of which is the municipality), as well as for carriage of passengers on local routes, fixing (approval) in the manner prescribed by law of prices of district heat, cold and hot water supply, fixing of the rates of local fees and charges in the manner prescribed by law;

38) taking of decisions on the payment of compensations to specific groups of consumers, laying-down of the procedure for grating additional social support, social benefits and compensations from the municipal budget, fixing of the amount of a supplement to a natural person (guardian) for the guardianship of a child and the laying-down of the procedure for paying such supplement from the municipal budget;

39) laying-down of the rules of distribution of the support received in the name of a budgetary establishment;

40) approval of municipal strategic development and actions plans, development programmes of individual industry types (sectors) as well as hearing of reports on their implementation and the adoption of decisions thereon;

41) approval of a description of the procedure for organizing strategic planning in the municipality;

42) taking of decisions on joining municipality unions, co-operation with municipalities of foreign states or joining international self-government organisations;

43) delegating of municipal councillors to the regional councils, commissions defined by law, as well as conferring of the powers on them in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct;

44) approval of the description of the procedure of local population opinion surveys;

45) submission of proposals to approve in a prescribed manner the coats of arms of localities, approval of other symbols of a respective municipality and the procedure of the use thereof, the right to grant in a prescribed manner an honorary title of a resident of a municipality (its centre or another locality);

46) taking of decisions concerning the expediency of partnership with private entities; after the receipt of conclusions of the municipal controller before the publication of a contract notice necessary to implement partnership with private entities, the approval of terms and procedure of public procurement as well as principal conditions of a contract of partnership with private entities; after the receipt of the municipal controller, the assent to a final draft of the contract of partnership with private entities before the signing of such a contract.

3. The simple competence of the municipal council shall comprise the following:

1) repealed;

2) approval of a set of financial statements of budgetary establishments;

3) repealed;

4) setting-up of collegial bodies of public establishments (the owner of which is the municipality), when this is provided for in the statutes of a public establishment;

5) approval of a set of financial statements of public establishments (the owner of which is the municipality);

6) approval of a procedure of internal control of public establishments (the owner of which is the municipality);

7) taking of decisions on appropriation of target funds of state social and economic programmes and other funds of state foundations and other tangible property for budgetary establishments;

8) approval of special spatial planning documents of municipal or locality level, with the exception of the cases defined by laws;

9) implementation of the rights and fulfilment of the duties assigned under laws to the competence of a participant of the legal person;

10) repealed;

11) repealed;

12) repealed;

13) repealed;

14) repealed.

4. If legal acts establish additional powers for a municipality, the municipal council shall enjoy the initiative of taking decisions on the execution of such powers, without exceeding the defined powers.

5. The municipal council shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, supervise executive institutions and other entities of the municipality, which directly fulfil the state functions (delegated to the municipality). The mayor shall be responsible for the organization of the implementation of the said function.

6. The municipal council may not delegate the powers assigned to the exclusive competence of the municipal council to any other municipal institution or establishment.

7. The municipal council may delegate the concrete powers, referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, for fulfilment to the director of the municipal administration or the deputy director(s) of the municipal administration (should such position(s) is/are established). If an executive institution of the municipality may not fulfil (due to the conflict of the public and private interests) the powers set out in paragraph 3 of this Article and delegated to her by the municipal council, the said powers shall be fulfilled by the municipal council.

Article 17. Municipal council’s board panel

1. The municipal council may, for the term of its office, set up a municipal council’s board panel (hereinafter: ‘the board panel’) from the councillors.

2. The number of members of the board panel, working arrangements, procedure for organising its sittings shall be laid down in the rules of conduct.

3. The board panel shall be an advisory body of the municipal council.

4. The board panel shall usually consider the following issues:

1) analyses activities of units of the state institutions located in the territory of a municipality, submit proposals to the municipal council regarding the improvement of work of these units and hearing of their heads;

2) considers and submits proposals concerning the preparation of strategic planning documents of the municipality;

3) plans priorities of training of municipal councillors (each year);

4) considers issues on the setting-up of the secretariat of the municipal council and the mayor or on the establishment of positions of civil servants of political (personal) confidence of the mayor (if a secretariat is not established) as well as setting of their number.

Article 18. Provisions on suspension of, repeal of, appeal against legal acts

1. Legal acts adopted by the municipal council may be suspended, amended or repealed by the municipal council itself. Legal acts adopted by other public administration entities of a municipality may be suspended or repealed by the municipal council within its remit. The director of the municipal administration or other municipal public administration entities may suspend and amend or repeal legal acts which they adopt. Legal acts adopted by a deputy director of the municipal administration within the limits of his competence may be suspended or repealed by him or by the director of the municipal administration.

2. Any municipal institution specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, upon having repealed a statutory administrative legal act of another public administration entity of a municipality, shall, when necessary, refer the issue for a new consideration to the same administrating entity whose act has been repealed, or it shall consider such issue anew and adopt a statutory administrative legal act on this issue, or it shall recognise that adoption of such an act is not necessary.

3. Administrative legal acts adopted by municipal institutions and other public administration entities of a municipality may be appealed against in the court.

Article 19. Mayor, deputy mayor

1. The mayor shall be directly elected for the tenure of a municipal council. Where the mayor’s powers are terminated before their expiry in the cases and in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, the by-election of the mayor shall be held. The municipal council shall, for the duration of its powers, appoint from among the councillors one or several deputy mayors on the recommendation of the mayor. The maximum possible number of deputy mayors of a municipality shall be fixed taking into consideration the number of the municipal councillors. Not more than three positions of deputy mayor of a municipality may be established in the municipality the council of which consists of 41 and more councillors; not more than two positions of deputy mayors of a municipality may be established in the municipality the council of which consists of 27-31 councillors; and not more than one position of deputy mayor may be established in other municipalities. Only the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania may become mayors and deputy mayors. The municipal council may, on the recommendation of the mayor, decide that a deputy mayor carries out the duties on a voluntary basis. A deputy mayor shall be appointed by secret ballot. A deputy mayor shall be considered appointed if the majority of all the councillors have voted for his candidature. A councillor elected by a majority of votes of the councillors attending the sitting shall temporarily perform the mayor’s functions, where:

1) the mayor cannot, due to temporary incapacity for work or other justified reasons, but not longer than 120 calendar days, perform his duties and his deputy has not been appointed;

2) the election in a single-member constituency is declared invalid in accordance with the Law on Elections to Municipal Councils and a re-run election is announced;

3) the mayor loses the mandate of councillor in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law.

2. The deputy mayor’s powers shall be terminated before the expiry of the term of office of the deputy mayor by the decision of the municipal council, if the majority of all the municipal councillors vote for this:

1) on the proposal of the Government or the National Audit Office, for violations of laws or other legal acts which have inflicted essential damage to state or municipal interests and property;

2) if due to temporary incapacity to work, he does not work more than 120 calendar days in succession or more than 140 days within the last twelve months;

3) upon his request of resignation.

3. The powers of the deputy mayor shall be also terminated prior to the expiry of the term of office of the deputy mayor, if not less than 1/3 of all the municipal councillors express, giving reasons, the non-confidence in him, the municipal council adopts a decision to dismiss the deputy mayor and not less than ½ of all the municipal councillors vote for such decision. If a decision to dismiss the mayor, deputy mayor because of the non-confidence is not adopted, such issue may be considered no sooner than after half a year.

4. On the recommendation of the mayor, the powers of a deputy mayor shall be terminated before the expiry of the term of office, if the majority of all the councillors vote for the decision to dismiss the deputy mayor.

5. The powers of the deputy mayor shall be terminated if they lose the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania or a mandate of municipal councillor.

6. The powers of the mayor shall be terminated before the expiry of the term of office of the mayor and his mandate of councillor shall be revoked at the decision of the municipal council, if the majority of all the councillors vote for this, where the mayor does not perform his duties because of temporary incapacity to work more than 120 calendar days in succession or more than 140 days within the last twelve months.

7. The powers of the mayor shall be terminated and his mandate of councillor shall be revoked if he loses the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania or a mandate of municipal councillor

8. The mayor may be removed from office by a majority vote of all the councillors, if he is officially suspected of having committed a crime. The removal from office shall be effective until the court’s verdict, ruling or decision which closes the case comes into effect or until the pre-trial investigation is terminated. During the removal from office, all powers of the mayor shall be withdrawn from the mayor. During the removal from office, a deputy mayor shall perform the mayor’s duties and in his absence – any other councillor assigned by the municipal council.

9. Upon the expiry of the powers of the municipal council, the powers of the mayor and the powers of the deputy mayor shall terminate.

10. After the expiry of the term of office, the mayor and his deputy, if not elected mayor or appointed deputy mayor, or if he loses his powers before the expiry of the term of office (with the exception of the cases when the mayor, deputy mayor loses his powers in accordance with the procedure laid down in points 1 and 3 of paragraph 2 of this Article or he loses the powers of councillor by the decision of the municipal council according to Article 251 of this Law) shall have the right, in a manner prescribed by the Government, to return to the office held prior to being elected councillors, and if there is no such possibility - to another position of the same or lower category, if the position held is attributed, in accordance with legal acts, to the position of a civil servant (except the position of a civil servant of political (personal) confidence). Moreover, in the case laid down in this paragraph the mayor and deputy mayor shall have the right to return to the position they had before they have been elected as municipal councillors, provided that they held this position in a municipal or state budgetary or public establishment or an undertaking controlled by the municipality, and if there is no such possibility – to return to another position in a municipal or state budgetary or public establishment or an undertaking controlled by the municipality. If these persons did not hold such positions prior to being elected as municipal councillors or they have refused other proposed positions of a lower category which are under legal acts attributed to the positions of civil servants (with the exception of the positions of civil servants of political (personal) confidence), or another positions in a municipal or state budgetary or public establishment or an undertaking controlled by the municipality, they shall be paid a payment in the amount of their average salary of three months. It shall be paid within three months in equal parts every month. If a person begins holding a position in civil service prior to the expiry of a three-month period, an unpaid part of compensation shall not be paid. If the said persons have held the positions of mayor and deputy mayor for less than a year before the expiry of the term of office, they shall be paid compensation equal to their average salaries for one month. Upon the termination of the powers of mayor and deputy mayor before the expiry of the term of office in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 3 of this Article, they shall be paid compensation equal to their average salaries for two months.

11. Salaries of the mayor and deputy mayor shall be approved by the municipal council in accordance with the ratios established by law.

12. The mayor and deputy mayor may not work in other institutions, establishments, undertakings and organisations and receive any other payment, with the exception of payment for scientific, pedagogical or creative activities. This provision shall not apply if a deputy mayor holds the position on a voluntary basis.

13. A deputy mayor shall preside over a sitting of the municipal council, when the mayor may not participate while adopting a decision.

14. The provisions of the Labour Code, with the exception of the provisions regulating work and rest time, leave specified in paragraph 12 of this Article, material liability, health and safety at work, shall not apply to the mayor, deputy mayor.

15. Leave shall be granted to the mayor, deputy mayor at the decision of the municipal council or a person authorized by it in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct. The mayor and deputy mayor shall be entitled to a minimum annual leave of 28 calendar days. The leave of the following types may be granted to the mayor and deputy mayor in compliance with the Labour Code: maternity, paternity, educational, for performance of official or public duties, unpaid. An unpaid leave to participate in the elections to the Seimas, presidential elections, elections to the European Parliament or elections to municipal councils shall be granted in accordance with the procedure prescribed by laws. During the leave the mayor and deputy mayor shall not carry out the duties of mayor or deputy mayor, however, they may carry out the duties of councillor.

16. The mayor and deputy mayor shall go on a business trip in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct.

17. A secretariat of the municipal council and the mayor (hereinafter: a ‘secretariat’) may, on the mayor’s proposal, be set up to provide services for sittings of the municipal council, for the committees and the mayor, as well as to prepare, consider drafts of decisions of the municipal council and to prepare drafts of conclusions regarding municipal council’s decisions. The municipal administration shall carry out financial, economic and material servicing to such secretariat. The municipal council shall fix a separate estimate of expenditure of a secretariat. A secretariat may be formed from civil servants of political (personal) confidence of the mayor, career civil servants and employees working under the employment contract. In the event a secretariat is not formed, the mayor may, for the duration of the term of office, have civil servants of political (personal) confidence. A municipal councillor may not be a civil servant of political (personal) civil servant.

18. Throughout his mandate, the mayor may have public consultants who, at the request

of the mayor, provide consultations to him as well as proposals, conclusions and other type of information. A person of full age may be a public consultant of the mayor. A person who, under law, is recognised guilty for having committed a serious or a grave crime and his prior conviction has not expired yet or has not been expunged, also a person who is a member of an organization which is prohibited under law may not be a public consultant of the mayor.

19. The size of the mayor’s representation fund designated to cover the expenses relating to representation in Lithuania and abroad shall be fixed without exceeding the general funds allocated to represent the municipality. The said size shall depend on the number of the municipal councillors: the municipal council consisting of 41 and more councillors may each month allocate the sum in the amount of up to three average monthly earnings in the national economy as most recently announced by the Department of Statistics (hereinafter: ‘AMEs’), the municipal council consisting of 27-31 councillors – up to two AMEs and other municipalities – up to one AME.

Article 20. Powers of the mayor, deputy mayor

1. The mayor shall be accountable to the municipal council and the community for his own activities as well as the activities of the municipality.

2. The mayor:

1) shall plan activities of the municipal council, set and draw up agendas of sittings of the municipal council and present drafts of decisions of the municipal council, convene municipal council sittings and preside over them, co-ordinate activities of municipal council’s committees and commissions, sign municipal council’s decisions and minutes of the sittings over which he has presided;

2) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, shall himself represent or authorise other persons to represent the municipality in court, in co-operation with other municipalities, state institutions, institutions of foreign states, as well as with other natural and legal persons;

3) shall represent a municipality in the Regional development council and have the right of casting vote when preparing and implementing a regional development programme;

4) shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, nominate to the municipal council, coordinate with it and submit to it the candidates for deputy mayor (deputy mayors), director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration (on the recommendation of the director of the municipal administration), a deputy chair of the Control Committee of the municipal council, a chair of the Control Committee in the cases provided for in this Law and chairs of the commissions of the municipal council set put by this Law; may, in accordance with procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, propose to dismiss them and propose to impose penalties on the director of the municipal administration;

5) shall define fields of activities of a deputy mayor (deputy mayors);

6) shall submit to the municipal council a proposal to set up a municipal council’s board panel;

7) shall submit to the municipal council proposals on the setting-up of a secretariat of the municipal council or on the determining of the number of positions therein or the determining of the number of positions of civil servants of political (personal) confidence of the mayor (if a secretariat is not established);

8) shall guide the work of the secretariat (if such is formed), approve regulations of the secretariat, employ and dismiss employees of the secretariat, civil servants of political (personal) confidence of the mayor in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Civil Service and the Labour Code;

9) shall nominate candidates for chairs and deputy chairs of the committees and submit the candidatures to the committees, except the Control Committee;

10) may, in the manner prescribed by the rules of conduct, propose to the municipal council to instruct the municipal controller (the municipal control and audit service) to carry out a financial and performance audit, not provided for in an action plan, of the municipal administration, administrating entities of the municipality or undertakings controlled by the municipality, accept from the municipal controller (the municipal control and audit service) audit reports and conclusions on the results of the carried-out financial and performance audit, when necessary, shall organise consideration of such reports and conclusions at sittings of the municipal council’s committees and the municipal council;

11) shall control and supervise activities of heads of municipal institutions, establishments and undertakings of public administration, how they implement laws, decisions of the Government and the municipal council;

12) upon having received the consent of the municipal council, shall conclude agreements relating to the co-operation of a municipality with State institutions, other municipalities or institutions of foreign countries;

13) shall co-ordinate preparation for a local population opinion survey;

14) shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council, use for representation purposes the resources of the mayor’s representation fund and account for the said resources;

15) shall, on the recommendation of the director of the municipal administration, approve the division (grouping) of residential localities or their parts into elderships;

16) shall appoint and dismiss heads of budgetary establishments, except educational establishments and wards – budgetary establishments, perform other functions relating to the employment relationship of the heads of all budgetary establishments himself in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Labour Code and other legal acts or the said functions shall be performed by a municipal councillor who temporarily holds the office of the mayor in the cases laid down by this Law;

17) shall appoint and dismiss heads of public establishments (whose owner the municipality is), except educational establishments; perform other functions relating to the employment relationship of the heads of all budgetary establishments himself in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Labour Code and other legal acts or the said functions shall be performed by a municipal councillor who temporarily holds the office of the mayor in the cases laid down by this Law;

18) shall restore the rights of ownership of the existing real estate, managed by the municipality, to religious communities and associations;

19) shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts, take decisions to issue permits to use areas intended for fishing in water bodies, approve plans for measures aimed at the use, restoration and protection of fish stock in water bodies designated for fisheries;

20) shall change the main designation and way of land use in accordance with the procedure and in the cases laid down by legal acts;

21) shall provide premises to Seimas members in compliance with the Statute of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania;

22) shall announce a local population opinion survey;

23) shall grant vacations to the director of the municipal administration, in the event the director of the municipal administration is absent – to his deputy, to the municipal controller, in the event the municipal controller is absent – to his deputy; shall assign the director of the municipal administration, in the event the director of the municipal administration is absent – his deputy, the municipal controller, in the event the municipal controller is absent – his deputy to business trips.

3. The mayor shall look to it that:

1) the municipality is adequately represented in the Regional Development Council and the decisions adopted by this Council are adequately implemented in the municipality;

2) strategic planning documents of the municipality are timely and properly prepared and the control of their implementation as well as the implementation of the results planned to be attained is ensured;

3) adequate conditions and opportunities are provided for inclusion of local community members in the management of local affairs;

4) even cooperation of the municipal councillors with all voters of the municipality (within the entire municipal territory);

5) adoption of decisions of the municipal council and activities of the committees of the municipal council are improved;

6) interests of the municipality are properly represented when cooperating and solving issues with state power and state administration entities, law enforcement institutions, non-governmental organizations, municipalities of foreign states.

4. Decisions of the mayor shall be executed as ordinances.

5. For the issues falling within the scope of his competence, the mayor may set up working groups from the municipal councillors with their consent, civil servants and employees working under the employment contract in the municipal administration and delegated to such working groups by the director of the municipal administration, as well as from other persons and public representatives operating within the municipal territory.

6. The mayor may not be a member of the committees set up by the municipal council.

7. The mayor shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct and at least once a year, report to the municipal council and the community about his activities; he shall also prepare and submit a report on the activities of the municipality to the voters and the whole municipal community.

8. A deputy mayor shall carry out functions and assignments established by the mayor. The mayor shall lay down the functions of the deputy mayor for the term of office of the deputy mayor and may alter them. In the event the mayor cannot carry out his duties, a deputy mayor or a municipal councillor temporarily holding the office of the mayor shall exercise all duties of the mayor, except for the powers provided for in points 4-8 and 15-22 of paragraph 2 of this Article. In this case, the powers of the mayor laid down in points 15-22 of paragraph 2 of this Article shall be exercised by the municipal council with the exception of the functions which, in the cases provided for by this Law, are performed by the municipal councillor temporarily holding the office of the mayor. Activities of the mayor and the procedure of deputizing for him shall be laid down in the rules of conduct.

9. If a mayor has not been elected in accordance with the procedure laid down by law or the elected mayor has been temporarily removed from his office in accordance with this Law and other laws, a municipal councillor who temporarily performs the duties of the mayor shall be paid the salary of the mayor.

10. When in the cases and according to the procedure laid down by this Law the powers of the mayor are terminated before the expiration of his term of office, a newly elected mayor shall have the right to propose to the municipal council to terminate the duties of the persons holding the office of deputy mayor (deputy mayors), director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration (deputy directors of the municipal administration) and to nominate new candidates to the said posts.

Article 21. Entry into force of legal acts of municipal representative and executive institutions, mayors

1. Regulations adopted by municipal representative and executive institutions as well as legal acts adopted by mayors which must be published in the Register of Legal Acts in accordance with legal acts shall be published in the Register of Legal Acts in compliance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Legislative Framework and on the websites of the municipalities. The procedure of entry into force of regulations shall be laid down by the Law on Legislative Framework.

2. Law-applying acts (individual legal acts) adopted by municipal representative and executive institutions, mayors shall enter into force on the day of their signing, unless a later date of their entry into force is set in those legal acts.

CHAPTER FIVE

COUNCILLORS

Article 22. Status of municipal councillor

1. The councillor shall be a representative of the municipal community elected by the permanent residents of the municipality in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on Elections to Municipal Councils. The powers of a member of the newly elected municipal council shall begin and the powers of a member of the municipal council of the previous term of office shall end on the day when the newly-elected council gathers to the first sitting and the member of this council takes an oath in it.

2. The municipal councillor shall be entitled to choose one of the following texts of the oath:

1) ‘’I (forename, surname) swear to respect and observe the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Lithuania, to conscientiously perform all duties of municipal councillor and to refrain from actions violating the rights of residents and public interests. So help me God.”;

2) ‘’I (forename, surname) swear to respect and observe the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Lithuania, to conscientiously perform all duties of municipal councillor and to refrain from actions violating the rights of residents and public interests.’’

3. The procedure for taking the oath of municipal councillor shall be as follows:

1) the oath of municipal councillor (mayor) shall be administered by the chair of the municipal election committee or a member of the municipal election committee authorized by him;

2) a municipal councillor shall take the oath while standing in front of the person who administers the oath, and reading the oath, holding his hand on the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania;

3) upon having read the oath, a municipal councillor shall sign the nominal oath sheet;

4) the text of the oath shall not be amended and changed; The municipal councillor who has not complied with this provision, who has refused to sign the nominal oath sheet or who has signed the sheet with a stipulation, shall not be considered to have taken the oath;

5) nominal oath sheets shall be handed over to the person who has administered the oath; the latter shall check them and read the surnames of the municipal councillors who have acquired all of the rights and duties of municipal councillor;

6) a municipal councillor must take the oath in the sitting in which he participates for the first time after the election to a municipal council. In the event that a municipal councillor takes the oath not in the first sitting of the municipal council, the oath shall be administered by the member of the Central Electoral Commission upon the instruction of the chair of the Central Electoral Commission.

4. The municipal councillor who fails to take the oath in compliance with the procedure laid down by this Law shall lose the mandate of municipal councillor. The person who administers the oath shall inform the Central Electoral Commission about this and the Commission shall take a decision. Such a decision of the Central Electoral Commission may be appealed against to the Supreme Administrative Court.

5. The councillor shall be entitled to get a certificate of municipal councillor. Following the taking of the oath, such a certificate shall be presented to him by the person who has administered the oath.

6. It shall be prohibited to persecute the municipal councillor for the voting or opinion expressed at sittings of the municipal council or its committees. The municipal councillor may be held liable in accordance with the procedure laid down by law for person’s insult or slander, dissemination of information, which is humiliating to person’s honour and dignity and not in keeping with the truth.

7. The rights and duties of the municipal councillor shall be defined by the Constitution, this and other laws, rules of conduct.

Article 23. Duties of the municipal councillor

The municipal councillor:

1) must attend sittings of the municipal council;

2) must be a member of one committee (besides the Control Committee);

3) must attend sittings of the committee a member of which he is;

4) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, must inform the mayor and/or the municipal councillors or other persons, who also take part in the preparation, consideration or taking of a decision, about the existing conflict of interest, must declare his opting-out and, in case the opting-out has been accepted, must not participate in any form in the further preparation, consideration or taking of the decision;

5) communicate with voters on a constant basis and report to voters at least once a year in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct.

Article 24. Rights of the municipal councillor

The councillor shall have the right:

1) in the manner prescribed by this Law to elect and be elected to a position in municipal institutions;

2) in the manner prescribed by the rules of conduct to propose to the municipal council to consider issues, prepare drafts of municipal council’s decisions, receive from the municipal administration or other municipal establishments, undertakings controlled by the municipality the information related to the issues considered or to be considered at the municipal council, participate in discussions on the issues under consideration, present remarks in writing or orally concerning drafts of municipal council’s decisions, work procedure of the municipal council, etc., during a sitting of the municipal council pose questions to rapporteurs, express opinion regarding the order of conducting a sitting, appeal with inquiries to heads and civil servants of municipal institutions, municipal administration, other municipal establishments, undertakings and organisations, as well as State institutions which function within the municipal territory;

3) to participate and speak at sittings of the committees and commissions in which the issues presented by him or related to his conduct are considered;

4) to unite into factions in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct;

5) to get from the municipal administration a place for a sitting, technical support and means to exercise the powers of the councillor;

6) throughout his mandate, to have public consultants who, at the request of the municipal councillor, provide consultations to him as well as proposals, conclusions and other type of information. A person of full age who is not a civil servant or an employee working under the employment contract at the administration of that municipality may be a public consultant of the municipal councillor. A person who, under law, is recognised guilty for having committed a serious or a grave crime and his prior conviction has not expired yet or has not been expunged, also a person who is a member of an organization which is prohibited under law may not be a public consultant of the municipal councillor. The number of public consultants of the municipal councillor may not exceed the number of the elderships established in the municipality, and where elderships have not been established – there may not be more than three public consultants.

Article 25. Suspension of the powers of the municipal councillor or discontinuation of them prior to their expiration

1. If the municipal council cannot exercise its powers due to the circumstances pertaining to the introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of a municipality, the powers of councillors shall be suspended for the period of temporary direct rule.

2. Discontinuation of the powers of the municipal councillor prior to their expiration shall be defined by law.

3. A municipal councillor may lose his powers before the expiry of his term of office by the decision of the municipal council in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law.

Article 251. Loss of the Powers of a Municipal Councillor or a Municipal Councillor – Mayor at the Decision of the Municipal Council

1. A procedure of the loss of the powers of a municipal councillor or a municipal councillor – mayor at the decision of the municipal council shall be applied by the municipal council to the municipal councillors or to the municipal councillor – mayor because of his actions which are contradictory to the Constitution and laws and carried out during his office of municipal councillor or municipal councillor – mayor, where the municipal council seeks in this way to solve the issue of responsibility of such persons.

2. The right to propose to the municipal council to initiate a procedure of the loss of the powers of a municipal councillor or a municipal councillor – mayor shall be enjoyed by a group consisting of not less than one-third of the municipal councillors.

3. The motion to initiate a procedure of the loss of the powers of a municipal councillor or a municipal councillor – mayor shall be possible on at least one of the following grounds:

1) he has breached the oath;

2) he has failed to perform the powers granted to him by this Law or other laws.

4. The motion to initiate the procedure of the loss of the powers of the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor must be written down and signed by all the persons comprising the group of at least one-third of the municipal councillors. The motion must be submitted to the municipal council not later than within one month of the emergence of at least one of the grounds specified in paragraph 3 of this Article.

5. The motion to initiate the procedure of the loss of the powers of the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor shall specify a concrete person, proposals to initiate the procedure on at least one of the grounds referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, arguments and evidence in support of such proposals as well as the sources thereof.

6. Having received the abovementioned motion, the municipal council shall, not later than at the next sitting of the municipal council, take a decision to set up a commission to investigate the submitted facts and shall set a time limit for the commission to present findings. The commission shall consist of representatives of all factions in compliance with the principle of proportionality.

7. Having considered the findings presented by the commission, the municipal council shall take one of the following decisions:

1) to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania with a request to present findings whether or not the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor has breached the oath and/or has failed to perform the powers (specified in the request) granted to him by this Law or other laws;

2) there are no grounds for applying the procedure of the loss of the powers of the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor.

8. Having decided to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania, the municipal council shall apply a request to the said court not later than within six months from the emergence of at least one of the grounds specified in paragraph 3 of this Article and shall appoint a municipal councillor (councillors) who will represent the municipal council at the court during the consideration of the council’s request.

9. If the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania presents the findings that the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor has not breached the oath and/or has properly performed the powers granted to him by this Law or other laws, the procedure of the loss of the powers of the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor shall terminate.

10. If the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania presents the findings that the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor has breached the oath and/or has failed to perform the powers granted to him by this Law or other laws, the municipal council shall, by a majority vote of three-fifths of all the municipal councillors, take a decision that the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor has lost his powers. If the voting in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Article does not result in the adoption of a decision that the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor has lost his powers, it shall be considered that the municipal council has not consented to the loss of the powers of the municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor. The municipal councillor or the municipal councillor – mayor may continue carrying out his powers.

Article 26. Remuneration of the municipal councillor

1. Councillors, with the exception of the mayor and deputy mayor, shall be remunerated (paid) for the working time while performing the duties of the municipal councillor. Such remuneration shall be calculated in accordance with the published amount of the AME, taking into consideration the actual length of work, the duration of which is confirmed pursuant to the procedure laid down in the rules of conduct. The amount of the remuneration for the performance of the duties of the municipal councillor shall be fixed by the municipal council. A municipal councillor shall have the right to refuse this remuneration by submitting in accordance with the procedure laid down in the rules of conduct a request concerning the performance of the duties of the municipal councillor free of charge (i.e. on a voluntary basis). The remuneration specified in this paragraph shall not be calculated and paid to the municipal councillor who submitted such a request; mandatory taxes, state social insurance and mandatory health insurance contributions due under legal acts shall not be calculated and paid, too.

2. Each month an allowance may be granted, subject to accountability at least once in three months, to a councillor to pay for the stationery, post, telephone, internet link, transport expenses related to his activities as the councillor, to the extent they are not rendered or paid for directly by the municipal administration. The amount of this allowance and the procedure for accounting shall be set in the rules of conduct.

Version valid as of 1 July 2017:

2. Each month an allowance may be granted, subject to accountability at least once in three months, to a councillor to cover the stationery, post, telephone, internet link, transport, office rental costs incurred in the course of his activities as the councillor, to the extent such costs are not rendered or paid for directly by the municipal administration. The amount of this allowance and the procedure for accounting shall be set in the rules of conduct.

3. If according to the mayor’s ordinance a councillor represents the municipality outside its boundaries, the municipal administration shall, in the manner prescribed by the Government, cover his expenses related to the business trip.

4. The councillor shall be released from his direct job or duties in any institution, establishment, undertaking or organisation for the duration of sittings of the municipal council, committees, as well as in other cases provided for in the rules of conduct.

CHAPTER SIX

MUNICIPAL CONTROL AND AUDIT

Article 27. Municipal controller (municipal control and audit service)

1. When supervising whether the municipal property and by the right of trust managed state property is managed and used in a legal, effective, economical and efficient manner, as well as the implementation of a municipal budget and the use of other monetary resources, the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) shall:

1) carry out the financial and performance audit in the municipal administration, entities administrated by the municipality and undertakings controlled by the municipality;

2) annually, by 15 July, prepare and submit to the municipal council in accordance with the regulations an opinion on the set of consolidated statements of the municipality which has been presented for approval;

3) prepare and submit to the municipal council the findings necessary to take decisions, regarding the use by the municipality of bank credits, taking-out and granting of loans, provision of guarantees and suretyship to creditors for loans taken out by undertakings controlled by municipalities;

4) prepare and submit to the municipal council the findings necessary to take decisions, providing the grounds to the municipal council for approval of conditions of tendering for the award of the concession and the principal terms and conditions of the concession contract; draw up an opinion for the final draft of the concession contract, if the municipal council has set out the phases of tendering before the signing of the concession contract;

5) prepare and submit to the municipal council the conclusions necessary to take decisions; such conclusions provide the basis for the municipal council to approve terms and procedures of public procurement as well as principal conditions of a contract of partnership with private entities; after the municipal council defines the terms and procedure of public procurement as well as the principal conditions of the contract of partnership with private entities, prepare conclusions regarding a final draft of the contract of partnership with private entities before the signing of such a contract;

6) prepare and submit to the municipal council the findings necessary to take decisions, regarding the economic and financial position of debtors and the debtors the fulfilment of whose commitments are guaranteed by the State, as well as regarding the funds borrowed in the name of the State, the granted loans and the provision of state guarantees, use of loans according to the target purpose, and the repayment of loans;

7) at the request of the National Audit Office of Lithuania, submit the reports on the audits conducted by the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) and working documents for conducting external supervision;

8) perform other functions provided for in laws and other legal acts.

2. For the implementation of the functions of the municipal control and audit, the municipal council shall, on the advice of the municipal controller, establish (and when the number of residents of a municipality is less than 30 thousand, may establish) a municipal control and audit service. The municipal controller shall direct this service and shall be responsible for its activities. If a municipal control and audit service is not established, controllers of other municipalities (civil servants of the control and audit service) may be invoked to conduct an external audit provided for in the plan.

3. The municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) shall have his own seal with the business name and the coat of arms of the municipality on it. The municipal controller shall be accountable to the municipal council. The municipal council shall set in the municipal budget the amount of appropriations allocated for the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service). The municipal administration shall render financial, economic, material services to the municipal controller, if a legal person is not established; the provision of services must not exceed the estimate of expenditure of the municipal controller.

4. The activities of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) shall be based on the principles of independence, legality, openness, objectivity and professionalism.

5. In his activities the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) shall observe this and other laws, State audit requirements, methodologies prepared by the National Audit Office, and other legal acts.

6. The legal basis of employment relations of the municipal controller, civil servants of the office of the municipal control and audit service shall be established by the Law on Civil Service and the present Law.

7. The municipal controller, civil servants of the municipal control and audit service may not be members of the municipal council and, during their work, may not participate in activities of political parties. Moreover, the position of the municipal controller and civil servants of the municipal control and audit service shall not be compatible with any other elective office in state and municipal institutions, establishments and undertakings.

8. The municipal controller shall be appointed to his position by competition and shall be dismissed in the manner prescribed by the Law on Civil Service. The municipal controller must have a higher university education and the working experience of at least three years in the spheres of finance, economics, law, audit, control or public administration.

9. The municipal controller shall:

1) if a municipal control and audit service is established, approve the structure of this service, the list of positions, job descriptions and staff regulations. in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Civil Service, employ and dismiss civil servants; in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Labour Code, employ and dismiss employees working under the employment contract; fulfil other functions of management of the personnel of the municipal control and audit service;

2) issue orders, organise the work of the municipal control and audit service, training of civil servants and improvement of their qualification;

3) draw up a draft plan of activities of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service), with the consent of the Control Committee of the municipal council, submit this draft plan to the National Audit Office and municipal centralized internal audit service. He shall, annually before the 15th of November of the current year, approve a plan of activities of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service), organize its implementation and be responsible for that. when necessary, revise the approved plan in accordance with the general procedure for approving the plan;

4) submit a plan of activities of the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) annually to the National Audit Office within 10 days after its approval;

5) have the right to attend sittings of the municipal council, committees, council board (if it is set up), commissions and to express his opinion on the issues within his remit;

6) upon the written request of the Auditor General, may participate or instruct civil servants of the municipal control and audit service to take part within their remit in financial and performance audits of the administrating entities of the municipality, carried out by the National Audit Office officers;

7) carry out himself and/or assign civil servants of the municipal control and audit service to carry out external financial and performance audit, fulfil the functions assigned to him in laws and other legal acts;

8) make decisions pursuant to financial and performance audit reports, indicate to the director of the municipal administration, heads of the audited entities the shortcomings in their activities and fix a time limit for the elimination of the determined violations of legal acts. The director of the municipal administration heads of the audited must, within the time limit fixed by the municipal controller (which must not be shorter than 30 days), eliminate the shortcomings and violations determined during the audit, and inform in writing the municipal controller about the elimination thereof;

9) present to the mayor, municipal executive institution, heads of the audited entities the findings, reports and decisions made on the violations of legal acts determined during the financial and performance audit, but which have not been eliminated. Audit reports and findings shall be published on the website of the municipality and, where possible, through other means of the mass media;

10) annually, by 15 July, submit to the municipal council in accordance with the regulations an opinion on the set of consolidated statements of the municipality, which has been submitted for approval, as well as on the use of the budget and assets of the municipality;

11) upon having established during the financial and performance audit evidences of criminal actions, inform law enforcement institutions about such facts;

12) take preventive measures so that the established violations of legal acts would be eliminated and would not repeat;

13) consider residents’ requests, notifications, complaints and applications regarding municipal funds and property, use, management and disposal of the state property managed by the right of trust, and submit conclusions on the results of such investigation;

14) in accordance with the procedure established by laws and other legal acts, furnish information to State and municipal institutions;

15) submit a report on the activities of the municipal control and audit service in compliance with the procedure and within the time limits set out in the rules of conduct. He shall publish the report on the activities of the municipal control and audit service or its summary in the local press, the website of the municipality, and, if possible, through other means of the mass media as well;

16) upon the request of the municipal council or the Control Committee of the municipal council, furnish information within the limits of his competence;

17) carry out the audit of the execution of the municipal budget and the use of other monetary resources;

18) be responsible for the discharge of the powers provided for the municipal controller by laws and other legal acts, as well as for the submission of the unfounded and incorrect audit findings;

19) repealed;

20) furnish information to the representative of the Government about the opinion and recommendations submitted by the municipal controller;

21) create conditions for officers of the National Audit Office to participate in the audit of the set of consolidated statements of the municipality to such an extent that officers of the National Audit Office would collect adequate and sufficient evidence for the preparation of a national set of financial statements, and submit data to the National Audit Office concerning the results of the audit of the set of consolidated statements of the municipality.

10. Civil servants of the municipal control and audit service shall:

1) on the instruction of the municipal controller, carry out regular financial and performance audits of auditees as well as the financial and performance audits, which are not provided for in the operational plan;

2) during the financial and performance audit, have the right to get access to the facilities, obtain all the documents necessary for the financial and performance audit, receive written explanations from employees of the auditee, invoke experts (specialists) who have the necessary knowledge to solve the issues arising during the audit;

3) in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, be responsible for inadequate performance of the functions designated for them, for the submission of an unsubstantiated or incorrect opinion;

4) repealed.

11. When conducting an audit, the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) shall have the right to make use of the audit reports and work documents of the municipal centralized internal audit service, which are necessary to carry out internal control evaluation, if the auditee and the purposes coincide; he (it) shall also have the right to get access to the documents of other external audits conducted in municipal establishments and undertakings.

Article 28. Municipal centralised internal audit service

1. A municipal centralized internal audit service (hereinafter: the ‘internal audit service’) shall be set up by the municipal council when approving the structure of the municipal administration.

2. The head of the internal audit service and internal auditors shall be career civil servants. The director of the municipal administration shall set up a commission for the competition of candidates to the position of head of the internal audit service. A representative of the Ministry of Finance must be invited to be a member of the said commission.

3. The head of the internal audit service shall direct the service and be responsible for its activities. The service shall be accountable to the director of the municipal administration. He shall ensure the independence of activities of as well as organisational independence of the internal audit service; he may not transfer the said function to other civil servants or employees of a public legal person.

4. The internal audit service shall operate in compliance with an annual action plan of the internal audit service, which is co-ordinated with the director of the municipal administration. The director of the municipal administration may instruct the internal audit service to conduct an internal audit, which has not been provided for in the annual action plan of the internal audit service. An internal audit which has not been provided for in the annual action plan of the internal audit service may be conducted at the decision of the head of the internal audit service; such decision must be coordinated in writing with the director of the municipal administration.

5. Having drawn up a draft of the action plan of the internal audit service by the first of November of a current year, the service shall submit it to the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) with the purpose of mutual coordination of activities. After the municipal controller (municipal control and audit service) familiarizes himself/itself with a draft of the action plan of the internal audit service, the said draft shall, by the 15th of November of a current year, be submitted to the National Audit Office of Lithuania. An action plan of the internal audit service of a coming year must be coordinated with the head of the municipal executive institution by the 31st of December of a current year. The approved plan shall be revised in accordance with the general procedure for approving the plan.

6. The internal audit service shall perform its function by conducting internal audits and formulating recommendations on the basis of the audit results. Internal auditors shall present reports of the carried-out audits to the director of the municipal administration and the heads of the auditees. The latter must make decisions regarding the implementation of internal audit recommendations. Moreover, reports of the carried-out internal audits may be submitted to the municipal council, the control committee of the municipal council, the mayor and the municipal controller, if they request this in writing.

7. In order to keep objectivity and independence, the head of the internal audit service and internal auditors may not participate in the management bodies of administrating entities of the municipality, undertakings controlled by the municipality and public legal persons of the municipality, may not participate in drafting of documents improving the internal control system or creating, defining and implementing of the internal control, including financial control of the municipal administration and its units, undertakings controlled by the municipality and municipal public legal persons, as well as the procedures of such control.

8. The internal audit service shall act in compliance with the Law on Internal Control and Internal Audit, and other legal acts, which regulate internal audit.

CHAPTER SEVEN

MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVE INSTITUTION, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ESTABLISHMENTS, THEIR FORMATION AND POWERS

Article 29. The municipal executive institution

1. The executive institution of the municipality (executive institutions) – the director of the municipal administration, deputy director(s) of the municipal administration (if this/these position(s) is/are set up and if the powers of the executive institution are vested in this/these position(s)), who possess the rights and duties of public administration. The director of the municipal administration shall be subordinate to the municipal council, accountable to the municipal council and the mayor.

2. The director of the municipal administration shall head the municipal administration. He shall be the head of the establishment. The procedure of appointment and dismissal of the director of the municipal administration shall be laid down by this Law and the Law on Civil Service.

3. The director of the municipal administration shall be appointed to the position on the mayor’s recommendation, at the municipal council’s decision for a period of the powers of the municipal council, on the basis of political (personal) confidence. The number of terms of office of the director of the municipal administration shall not be limited for the same person. Until the appointment of the director of the municipal administration and deputy director of the municipal administration, position of the director may, on the proposal of the mayor or a councillor who temporarily performs the mayor’s duties, be held by a civil servant of the municipal administration appointed by the municipal council. A deputy director (deputy directors) of the municipal administration shall be appointed to the office on the proposal of the director of the municipal administration, upon the recommendation of the mayor, by the decision of the municipal council, on the basis of political (personal) confidence. The municipal council shall impose disciplinary penalties on the director of the municipal administration (deputy director (deputy directors) of the municipal administration) for misconducts in office. The procedure for terminating the duties in the event of non-confidence or the procedure for imposing disciplinary penalties shall start on the initiative of the mayor or on the grounds of the written information received by him regarding misconducts in office done by the director of the municipal administration (deputy director (deputy directors) s) of the municipal administration) or regarding the arguments presented by the municipal council in favour of non-confidence in the director of the municipal administration.

4. The municipal council shall decide on the establishment of the position of deputy director(s) of the municipal administration and on deputizing for the director of the municipal administration. The maximum possible number of deputy directors of the municipal administration shall be set taking into consideration the number of the municipal councillors. Not more than three positions of deputy mayor of a municipality may be established in the municipality the council of which consists of 41 and more councillors; not more than two positions of deputy mayors of a municipality may be established in the municipality the council of which consists of 27-31 councillors; and not more than one position of deputy mayor may be established in other municipalities.

5. During the holidays of the director of the municipal director or during his illness, or when he is temporarily unable to perform his duties because of other reasons, a deputy director of the municipal administration shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, perform the duties of the director of the municipal administration, defined in this Law and other laws as well as in other legal acts. If the position of deputy director of the municipal administration is not established, during the holidays of the director of the municipal administration or during his illness, or when he is temporarily unable to perform his duties because of other reasons, any other civil servant of the municipal administration shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts, be instructed to perform the functions defined in the job description of the director of the municipal administration.

6. Upon the expiry of the term of office of the municipal council which appointed the director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration, the director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration shall, if they are not appointed to these positions for a new term of office or if the director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration resigns or is dismissed from office, with the exception of dismissal for misconducts in office, have the right to return in the manner prescribed by the Government to the position held before the appointment as director of the administration, deputy director of the administration or in the absence of such possibility – to a position of the same or lower category, if the position held is under legal acts attributed to civil service (with the exception of positions of civil servants of political (personal) confidence). Moreover, in the case laid down in this paragraph the director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration shall have the right to return to the position they held before they were elected as municipal councillors, provided that they held this position in a municipal or state budgetary agency or a public establishment, or an undertaking controlled by the municipality, and where there is no such possibility – to return to another position in the municipal or state budgetary agency or the public establishment, or the undertaking controlled by the municipality. If these persons did not hold such positions prior to being appointed as the director of the municipal administration, deputy director of the municipal administration, or they have refused other proposed positions of a lower category which under legal acts are attributed to the positions of civil servants (with the exception of the positions of civil servants of political (personal) confidence), or other positions in the municipal or state budgetary agency or the public establishment, or the undertaking controlled by the municipality, they shall be paid a severance payment in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Civil Service.

7. The director of the municipal administration shall have the right, to the extent it is not limited by the decision of the municipal council, to instruct a deputy director of the municipal administration (deputy directors of the municipal administration) to carry out the powers set out for him by laws and transferred to him by the municipal council, with the exception of the powers set out in points 4 and 5 of paragraph 8 of this Article. A deputy director of the municipal administration shall account to the director of the municipal administration, and, if necessary, to the municipal council.

8. The director of the municipal administration:

1) shall be directly and personally responsible for the implementation within the territory of the municipality of the laws, decisions of the Government and the municipal council regarding the issues assigned to his competence;

2) when directly implementing the laws, decisions of the Government and the municipal council, may address administrating entities of the State, issue ordinances mandatory for structural units of the municipal administration, wards, and for civil servants who do not work for the structural units, as well as, on the issues assigned to his competence, for residents of the municipality and other entities existing within the municipal territory;

3) shall organise the work of the municipal administration, approve rules of conduct of structural units of the municipal administration and branches of the municipal administration – wards, shall approve annual action plans of the wards, the municipal administration as well as other documents elaborating on the implementation of strategic planning documents and shall control the implementation thereof, shall be responsible for internal administration of the municipal administration;

4) administer allocations, which are designated by the municipal council for the municipal administration;

5) in the manner prescribed by the municipal council shall administrate appropriations from the municipal budget and other monetary resources, organise the execution of the municipal budget and be responsible for economic and financial activities of the municipality, administrate the municipal property;

6) shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws, appoint and dismiss the municipal administration’s civil servants and employees working under the employment contract, heads – wardens of wards – budgetary establishments; shall fulfil other functions of personnel management, assigned to him by the Law on Civil Service and by the municipal council;

7) shall coordinate and control the work of entities providing public services, fulfil other functions of the management of municipal legal persons, assigned to him under laws and by the decisions of the municipal council;

8) shall organise training of municipal councillors, civil servants and employees working under the employment contract;

9) shall, in the manner prescribed by the rules of conduct, account for his own activities as well as for activities of the municipal administration, by presenting a report on the activities to the municipal council and the mayor;

10) shall, in the manner and within the time limits prescribed by the rules of conduct, but at least once a year, inform the residents of the municipality about his activities;

11) shall submit to the mayor proposals on the maximum allowed number of positions of civil servants and employees working under the employment contract in the municipal administration;

12) shall approve detailed plans as well as special spatial planning documents of locality level assigned to the competence of the director of the municipal administration;

13) shall submit to the municipal council for approval a general plan of the municipality or general plans of the parts of the municipality;

14) shall, in the cases defined by laws, organize preparation of a general plan of the municipality or general plans and detail plans of the parts of the municipality, special spatial planning documents of locality level assigned to the competence of the director of the municipal administration;

16) shall organize a process of strategic planning of the municipality, shall be responsible for making the approved municipal planning documents and reports on their implementation available to the public.

9. When temporary direct rule is introduced on the territory of a municipality, the director of the municipal administration and his deputy (deputies) shall be subordinate and accountable to the representative of the Government.

Article 30. The municipal administration

1. Municipal administration shall be a municipal establishment, which consists of organizational units, civil servants who do not belong to organizational units and branches of the municipal administration. - wardens (organizational territorial units of the municipal administration). The structure of the municipal administration, its regulations of activities and wage fund, the biggest allowed number of positions of civil servants and employees working under the employment contract and receiving payment from the municipal budget shall, on the proposal of the director of the municipal administration and the recommendation of the mayor, be approved and changed by the municipal council, and the staff positions shall be approved by the director of the municipal administration. The powers of the municipal administration shall not be related to the expiration of the powers of the municipal council. The municipal administration shall have its own seal with the coat of arms and bank accounts.

2. The municipal administration shall:

1) in the municipal territory organise and control the implementation of decisions of municipal institutions or implement them itself;

2) implement laws and resolutions of the Government, which do not require decisions of the municipal council;

3) in the manner prescribed by law organise the management of accounting of municipal budget income, expenditure and other monetary resources, organise and control the disposal and use of municipal property;

4) administer provision of public services;

5) through the authorised civil servants, represent the municipality in the management bodies of municipal undertakings and stock companies;

6) draw up drafts of decisions and ordinances of municipal institutions;

7) provide financial, economic and material services to the secretariat, the mayor, councillors and the municipal controller.

3. Conditions and procedure of the service of civil servants of the municipal administration shall be laid down in the Law on Civil Service. Civil servants of the municipal administration shall account to the director of the municipal administration.

4. Civil servants of the municipal administration and employees working under the employment contract may not be councillors of the municipality in which they work.

Article 31. The ward and the warden

1. Wards may be of the following forms:

1) branches of the municipal administration;

2) budgetary establishments.

2. A ward – budgetary establishment may be formed if it satisfies the following criteria:

1) the ward provides public services to the inhabitants of the serviced area;

2) the number of inhabitants of the serviced area is not less than 1500 persons;

3) it is necessary to approve not less than seven positions of civil servants or employees working under the employment contract in order to perform the functions laid down in the ward.

3. When taking a decision regarding the formation of a ward – budgetary establishment, the municipal council must evaluate:

1) the recommendation of the centralised service of internal audit the municipality regarding the expediency of the formation of the ward – budgetary establishment, upon the assessment of the quantity, scope and quality of public services provided or planned to be provided by the ward, as well as the extent to which the public interests of the local communities will be met;

2) the decision of the meeting of elders regarding the formation of the ward – budgetary establishment.

4. Upon the change in at least one of the criteria referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the municipal council shall decide on advisability of changing the form of the ward.

5. Activities of a ward – branch of the municipal administration shall be governed by the regulations of the ward approved by the director of the municipal administration. Activities of a ward – budgetary establishment shall be governed by the regulations of the ward approved by the municipal council.

6. Activities of a ward shall be organized in accordance with an annual action plan of the ward.

7. Activities of a ward shall be financed with the funds of the municipal budget and other funds provided for in other laws. A ward shall have a bank account.

8. A warden shall be the head of a ward; he shall be a manager of the appropriations allocated for the ward. A ward shall be a civil servant: a warden of a ward – branch of the municipal administration shall be a career civil servant, and a warden of a ward – budgetary establishment shall be a civil servant – head of the body.

9. A warden – head of a ward – branch of the municipal administration and a warden – head of a ward – budgetary establishment shall be employed and dismissed by the director of the municipal administration in compliance with this Law and the Law on Civil Service. A candidate to the office of the warden shall be employed only by competition, with the exception of the case where a person who voluntarily steps down from the office of the warden is conferred upon with the status of civil servant through applying the guarantees provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 16 of the Law on Civil Service or where the form of the ward is being changed and a person holding the office of the ward meets the requirements applied to the head of a ward of the other form. It shall be allowed to transfer without competition a warden in the same ward to the vacant office of the warden of another ward, if the person meets the requirements specified in the job description. A person may not be employed to hold the office of the warden by applying the guarantee provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 43 of the Law on Civil Service. When employing to hold the office of the warden the provisions of the Law on Civil Service regarding the transfer to the office of the warden after the evaluation and mobility of posts of career civil servants, except temporarily transfer to another post in the event of service necessity shall not apply. A commission concerning the competition for candidates to the office of the warden shall consist of seven members; not less than three and not more than four members of the said Commission must be elders – representatives of the local communities of the services area of this municipality.

10. When the form of a ward is changed, a warden shall have the right to be appointed without competition to the office of the warden of the ward of the other form, with the exception of the cases where a person holding the office of the warden does not meet the requirements applied to the head of the ward of the other form.

11. A warden shall be directly subordinate and accountable to the director of the municipal administration; a warden – head of a budgetary establishment shall also be accountable to the municipal council.

12. .A warden shall have the seals with the state emblem and with the coat of arms of the locality in which the headquarters of the warden is situated, or with the coat of arms of the municipality and shall use the said seals in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.

13. Decisions of a warden shall be executed as orders.

14. The Association of Wardens of Municipalities in Lithuanian may be set up for the representation of wardens’ interests at state institutions and the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania.

Article 32. Functions of the warden

A warden shall:

1) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on the Notary’s Office, carry out free of charge notarial acts for the inhabitants of the territory assigned to the relevant ward, as well as in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Civil Code verify free of charge the wills of the inhabitants of the territory assigned to the said ward, which are equated to official wills. The warden shall carry out notarial acts on the premises of the ward. The warden may carry out notarial acts outside the premises of the ward only when an interested person cannot arrive to the premises of the ward because of a valid reason and invites the warden to his place of residence;

2) in accordance with the procedure, on the instruction of the director of the municipal administration assign and change the numbers for buildings, premises, apartments and land parcels where construction of buildings is permitted according to the purpose (way) of use of such land parcels or according to territorial planning documents;

3) submit proposals to the director of the municipal administration regarding drafts of a strategic development plan, development programme of individual economic branches (sectors) and action plan of the municipality, prepare a draft annual action plan of the ward and a report of the implementation thereof and submit them to the meeting of elders of the ward for consideration. He shall introduce the approved annual action plan of the ward to the elders and local population and discuss the results of the implementation of the annual action plan of the ward;

4) convene assemblies of elders and the population of the territory assigned to the ward, draw up agendas of such assemblies, summarize the decisions taken at the said assemblies and transfer them to the responsible institutions for consideration, inform the assemblies about the responsible institutions’ decisions related to the decisions taken by such assemblies; where necessary, organise meetings of the population with officials of municipal institutions and state institutions, summarize the expressed remarks and proposals and submit them to the director of the municipal administration;

5) issue to the residents of the territory assigned to the ward the information about activities of municipal institutions, the municipal administration and state institutions within the municipal territory;

6) at least once a year, submit a report on the activities of the ward to the meeting of elders and the director of the municipal administration, while the warden – head of the budgetary establishment shall submit such a report to the municipal council;

7) participate in sittings of municipal institutions when issues related to life of the residents living within the territory assigned to the ward are being considered, or authorize any other civil servant or employee of the ward who works under the employment contract to participate in the said sittings;

8) organize activities of the ward in accordance with the procedure laid down in the ward’s rules of conduct.

Article 321. Functions of the ward

The ward shall:

1) keep the records of data on the declaration of a place of residence and data on persons not having a place of residence, issue to the residents of the territory assigned to the ward other documents confirming an actual situation, as established in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Declaration of a Place of Residence and provided for in other laws;

2) register information of owners, managers and users of land, water bodies or forest tracts about the damage caused by game and by wild-life species which are strictly protected and furnish the data to the director of the municipal administration;

3) issue permissions to bury in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Government, if he carries out supervision of cemeteries within the territory serviced by the ward.

2. The ward shall, in accordance with the procedure and to the extent specified in the regulations of activities of the ward:

1) participate in the organization of the provision of public services and/or supervision of the provision of public services, submit proposals to the municipal administration regarding the improvement of provision of public services and, in the cases specified in paragraph 2 of Article 8 of this Law, itself provide such services;

2) participate in the preparation and implementation of employment programmes;

3) participate in the organization of public works and socially useful activities;

4) organise in the organization of the provision of social support and payment and control over the payment of social benefits;

5) participate in the evaluation of living conditions and needs of particular families (persons) and the drawing-up of an act of inspection of household and living conditions, submit to the municipal administration proposals concerning the necessity of social support to such families (persons), as well as the types of such support;

6) participate in the implementation of the protection of the rights of the child and the carrying-out of the work with families at social risk;

7) gather and furnish to the director of the municipal administration the data necessary for the records of children residing within the territory of the municipality;

8) participate in the organization of presidential elections, elections to the Seimas, to the European parliament, to municipal councils, elections of the mayor or referendums;

9) participate in the organization of local population opinion surveys, the taking of censuses of residents and dwellings, as well as other public censuses;

10) participate in the organisation and implementation of civil protection;

11) participate in the fulfilment of the functions transferred by the State in the sphere of agriculture;

12) participate in the preparation and implementation of programmes of local actions groups and local development strategies;

13) participate in the organization of sporting and cultural events for residents;

14) participate in the creation and implementation of a programme for the development of information society;

15) perform other functions laid down by this Law and other legal acts.

3. The function referred to in point 1 of paragraph 1 of this Article may, at the decision of the municipal executive institution, be assigned to be performed by the ward and any other organisational unit of the municipal administration.

CHAPTER EIGHT

REPRESENTATION OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Article 33. Status of the elder

1. Elderships shall be established from the localities or parts thereof. Elderships shall be established irrespective of whether the wards are established or not. The project of formation of elderships shall be approved by the mayor on the recommendation of the director of the municipal administration.

2. Residents of elderships who have the right to elect a council of this municipality shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law and the municipal council, elect representatives of the local community – elders. An elder shall be elected for a three-year term. An elder shall work on a voluntary basis.

3. The date of an election of an elder shall be announced by the warden after consultation with the director of the municipal administration. In the event wards are not established, the date of an election of an elder shall be announced by the director of the municipal administration. The date of election of an elder shall be announced not later than 15 days prior to an election. The date of an election of an elder, the type of an election and other relevant information about an election of an elder shall be published on the website of the municipality, made publicly accessible in the premises of the municipality and the ward, notice boards (should such boards be officially erected) as well as in the local or regional mass media.

4. Candidates to elders may be nominated only by residents and community-based organizations of that eldership in which an elder is elected.

5. An adult resident of the eldership who has declared his place of residence in the eldership where he is nominated to the position of elder may be a candidate to the elder.

6. The following persons may not be elected to the office of elder:

1) a person who has been found guilty, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law, of a serious or grave crime, and his conviction has not been spent or expunged;

2) a member of the organization which is banned in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.

7. A councillor, the director of the administration, the controller, a civil servant of the administration of that municipality may not be elected to the office of elder.

8. A person recognised by the court as legally incapable in a certain field may not be elected to the office of elder.

9. In elderships with not more than 500 residents elders shall be usually elected at a meeting of the residents which is organized by the warden in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council. If a ward is not established, a meeting of the residents shall be organized by a civil servant assigned by the director of the municipal administration. An elder shall be elected by voting. A candidate who has got the most votes of the residents attending the meeting shall be deemed to be elected as an elder.

10. In elderships with more than 500 residents elders shall be usually elected by polling the residents in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council. A candidate who has received the most votes during the surveys shall be deemed to be elected as an elder.

11. The election shall be considered to have taken place, if the election is attended by not less than five per cent of the residents of the eldership who have the right to elect an elder. In case of the election which failed, a rerun election shall be organized not later than two months after the failed election. The rerun election shall not be applied the requirement laid down in this paragraph, regarding the number of the residents participating in the election.

12. An elected elder shall, not later than within ten working days after the election, be issued the elder’s certificate of the form set by the director of the municipal administration, containing the following particulars:

1) the name and surname of the elder;

2) the name of the municipality, the ward (should such be established) and the eldership the representative of the residents of which the said person has been elected;

3) the date of his election as the elder.

13. The portrait (photograph) of the elder must appear on the elder’s certificate. The elder’s certificate must be signed by the mayor. The elder’s certificate shall not be the document confirming his identity.

14. The director of the municipal administration shall remove an elder from his duties, if non-confidence in the elder is expressed by not less than five per cent of the residents having the right to elect an elder. The procedure for removing an elder from his duties shall be laid down by the municipal council.

15. If an elder declines his powers, is removed from his duties or is not able to carry out his duties due to the illness or other reasons, a new election of an elder shall be organised.

16. An allowance may be granted, subject to accountability at least once a year, to an elder to pay for the stationery, post, telephone, internet link, transport expenses related to his activities as the elder, to the extent they are not rendered or paid for directly by the municipal administration. The amount of this allowance and the procedure for accounting shall be set out by the council of that municipality.

Version of Article 33 shall apply to municipalities in which the municipal councils elected in 2019 hold the first sitting:

Article 33. Establishing of elderships and the status of the elder

1. Elderships shall be established from the localities or parts thereof (from one or several localities having the common boundaries or one or several parts of the locality, having the common limits). When establishing elderships, the number of residents of an eldership who are linked by neighbourhood ties and needs must not normally exceed 500. When establishing elderships in cities consisting of one or several areas having the common boundaries and being built-up in a compact manner where the population density is not less than 100 residents per hectare, the number of residents linked by neighbourhood ties and needs must not normally exceed 3 000. Elderships shall be established irrespective of whether the wards are established or not. The division (grouping) of localities or parts thereof into elderships (a project of establishing of elderships) shall be approved by the mayor on the recommendation of the director of the municipal administration.

2. Residents of elderships having the right to elect a council of this municipality shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law and the municipal council, elect representatives of local community – elders. An elder shall be elected for four-year term, but not longer than until the election of an elder at the election held by the elected municipal council. An elder shall work on a voluntary basis.

3. Elections of elders shall be organized not later than within six months from the day when the elected municipal councillors meet for the first sitting of the municipal council and the municipal councillors take an oath. The date of an election of an elder shall be announced by the director of the municipal administration or the warden on the instructions of the director of the municipal administration. In case wards are not established, the date of elections of elders shall be announced by the director of the municipal administration or a civil servant assigned on the instructions of the director of the municipal administration. The date of elections of elders shall be announced not later than 15 days remaining until the polling day. The date of elections of elders, manner (manners) of such elections and other relevant information concerning elections of elders shall be published on the website of the municipality, made publicly accessible in the premises of the municipality and the ward, notice boards (should such boards be officially erected) as well as in the local or regional mass media.

4. Candidates to elders may be nominated only by residents and community-based organizations of that eldership in which an elder is elected.

5. An adult resident of the eldership who has declared his place of residence in the eldership where he is nominated to the position of elder may be a candidate to the elder.

6. The following persons may not be elected to the office of elder:

1) a person who has been found guilty, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law, of a serious or grave crime, and his conviction has not been spent or expunged;

2) a member of the organization which is banned in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.

7. A councillor, the director of the administration, the controller, a civil servant of the administration of that municipality may not be elected to the office of elder.

8. A person recognised by the court as legally incapable in a certain field may not be elected to the office of elder.

9. In elderships with not more than 500 residents elders shall be usually elected at a meeting of the residents which is organized by the warden in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council. If a ward is not established, a meeting of the residents shall be organized by a civil servant assigned by the director of the municipal administration. An elder shall be elected by voting. A candidate who has got the most votes of the residents attending the meeting shall be deemed to be elected as an elder.

10. In elderships with more than 500 residents elders shall be usually elected by organizing a meeting of the residents in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council or by voting in writing or electronically. A candidate who has received the most votes shall be deemed to be elected as an elder.

11. The election shall be considered to have taken place, if the election is attended by not less than five per cent of the residents of the eldership who have the right to elect an elder. In case of the election which failed, a rerun election shall be organized not later than two months after the failed election. The rerun election shall not be applied the requirement laid down in this paragraph, regarding the number of the residents participating in the election.

12. An elected elder shall, not later than within ten working days after the election, be issued the elder’s certificate of the form set by the director of the municipal administration, containing the following particulars:

1) the name and surname of the elder;

2) the name of the municipality, the ward (should such be established) and the eldership the representative of the residents of which the said person has been elected;

3) the date of his election as the elder.

13. The portrait (photograph) of the elder must appear on the elder’s certificate. The elder’s certificate must be signed by the mayor. The elder’s certificate shall not be the document confirming his identity.

14. The director of the municipal administration shall remove an elder from his duties, if non-confidence in the elder is expressed by not less than five per cent of the residents having the right to elect an elder. The procedure for removing an elder from his duties shall be laid down by the municipal council.

15. If an elder declines his powers, loses the status of elder because of the non-confidence, is removed from his duties or is not able to perform his functions due to the illness (temporary incapacity for work lasts more than 120 calendar days in succession or more than 140 days within the last 12 months), a new election of an elder shall be organised.

16. An allowance may be granted, subject to accountability at least once a year, to an elder to pay for the stationery, post, telephone, internet link, transport expenses related to his activities as the elder, to the extent they are not rendered or paid for directly by the municipal administration. The amount of this allowance and the procedure for accounting shall be set out by the council of that municipality.

17. Training for the elected elders with the purpose of acquiring competences necessary to properly perform the statutory functions of the elder shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the director of the municipal administration, be organized within three months from the election of the elders.

Article 34. Rights and duties of the elder

When representing the interests of the population of an eldership in the ward, at the municipal institutions and state bodies functioning within the territory of the municipality, the elder shall:

1) have the right to directly participate in the preparation and consideration of draft decisions of municipal institutions where the issues subject to resolution are related to the public matters of the local community represented by him;

2) participate in the consideration of issues concerning the granting of cash social assistance in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council;

3) participate in the commission for the competition for the post of elder;

4) participate in organization of local population opinion surveys and meetings of the local population with municipal councillors, the warden, the director of the municipal administration or a representative authorised by him, other representatives of municipal and state institutions and bodies;

5) attend meetings of the elders;

6) at the end of a calendar year, within two months present to the population of the eldership an activity report for the last calendar year as well as operational activities for the coming year.

2. The elder shall encourage the residents:

1) to maintain the territory of the locality, to protect the environment;

2) to take care of the most vulnerable members of the local community (families at social risk, minors, single residents, the disabled, etc.);

3) to organise health promotion, cultural and sports events and to participate in them;

4) to organise measures for ensuring safety of the local community and to participate in them;

5) to promote material and immaterial heritage of the locality.

3. Where necessary, an elder shall furnish information to the residents of the eldership about the functions and working hours of municipal institutions and bodies or the representative of the Government.

Article 35. The meeting of the elders

1. At the meeting of the elders the elders shall consider and take decisions on the issues that are of interest for the communities of the localities or their parts within the territory serviced by the ward. At the said meeting, the elders shall also discuss and take decisions with regard to a draft of an annual action plan of the ward as well as a report on the implementation of such plan. In the cases where wards are not established, the mayor, on the recommendation of the director of the municipal administration, shall, taking into consideration the interests of the communities of the localities or their parts, name the localities or their parts the elders of which form a meeting of the elders.

2. Regulations of the meeting of the elders shall be approved by the municipal council.

3. The municipality shall provide for free the facilities for organising the meeting of the elders. The elders shall gather to the meeting on their own initiative or at the ward’s invitation. The meeting of the elders shall be valid if more than half of the elders attend it. The meeting shall be presided over by the chair of the meeting who is elected by the elders attending the meeting. When the elders gather to the meeting on their own, the warden shall be also invited to attend.

4. The meeting of the elders shall be open to the public. A person who presides over the meeting shall have the right to allow the invited and other interested persons to express themselves at the meeting.

5. At the meeting of the elders decisions shall be taken by open ballot by the simple majority of votes of the elders attending the meeting. In the event of a tie, the chair of the meeting shall have a casting vote. Decisions of the meeting of the elders shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

6. Decisions of the meeting of the elders shall be recommendatory. However, the relevant municipal institution must evaluate the said decisions in accordance with the procedure laid down in the regulations. If the evaluation of the decisions of the meeting of the elders is assigned to the remit of the municipal council, such decisions shall be evaluated and a decision shall be taken at the next meeting of the municipal council; if the evaluation of the decisions of the meeting of the elders is assigned to the remit of the director of the municipal administration, the director shall take a decision in respect of the said decisions not later than within 20 working days from the receipt of the decision of the meeting of the elders. Municipal institutions must specify the grounds for taking their decisions. Relevant decisions of the municipal institutions regarding the decisions of the meeting of the elders must be published on the website of the municipality and on the notice boards of those wards.

7. When solving issues related to the feasibility of funding of public needs and initiatives of the local communities of localities or parts thereof (elderships) of the territories serviced by the ward as well as to other matters important to all the residents of that territory, an expanded meeting of the elders shall be organized. Such meeting shall be attended by the elders of the ward and representatives delegated by the community-based organizations operating within the territory serviced by that ward. The said elders and representatives shall enjoy the right of decision-making. The number of representatives delegated by the community-based organizations, the procedure for delegating them to expanded meetings of the elders and, where necessary, for rotating or recalling them as well as the procedure for organizing an expanded meeting of the elders, preparing, considering and taking decisions shall be laid down in the regulations of the meeting of the elders approved by the decision of the municipal council. Taking into account the local conditions and circumstances, an expanded meeting of the elders may, in an advisory capacity, be attended by the representatives of non-governmental organizations and traditional religious communities functioning in that ward.

CHAPTER NINE

LOCAL POPULATION OPINION SURVEY

Article 36. General principles of a local population opinion survey

1. Residents may express their opinion about the issues of management of public municipal affairs by taking part in a local population opinion survey (hereinafter: a ‘survey’).

2. Survey results shall be of an advisory character.

3. Participation in a survey shall be free (voluntary) and based on the universal, equal right to voice opinion directly.

4. Municipal residents who have the right to elect a council of an appropriate municipality may take part in a survey.

5. During a sample survey residents who are interviewed must be selected in such a way that each resident who might be surveyed would have the same opportunities to become a respondent. When evaluating results of sample surveys, data of their reliance must be indicated.

6. A survey shall be direct. Residents shall personally participate in a survey; it shall be prohibited to control their will.

7. It shall be prohibited to restrict the resident’s right to participate in a survey on the account of his sex, race, nationality, language, origin, social position, religious belief, convictions or views.

Article 37. Issues submitted to the survey

1. Issues that are solved by a municipality in the course of discharging independent functions may be submitted for a survey. The municipal council may, by taking a decision, set out criteria on the basis of which it is necessary to conduct a survey before taking decisions.

2. Surveys concerning establishment of municipalities, liquidation of the existing municipalities, as well as setting and changing of their territorial boundaries and centres shall be conducted in compliance with the Law on Administrative Territorial Units and their Boundaries.

Article 38. Types of surveys

1. Types of surveys shall be as follows:

1) direct entry of population opinion into the respondent list sheets;

2) population opinion expressed by voting during a meeting;

3) sample survey carried out by interviewing the respondents at their homes;

4) interviews of the respondents at homes.

2. A survey initiator shall propose a survey type, and a decision on a survey type shall, by taking into consideration local conditions and circumstances, be made by the municipal council or the director of the administration of the municipality.

Article 39. Territory covered by a survey

A survey may be conducted on the whole territory of a municipality, the territory (territories) or its (their) part serviced by a ward (several wards) or the territory of a locality or its part. Survey territory shall be chosen by taking into account the topicality of the issues submitted for a survey to the population of a concrete territory.

Article 40. The right of initiative to announce a survey

1. The right of initiative to announce a survey shall be enjoyed by the municipal population, the municipal council, the mayor and the warden.

2. The residents shall implement the right of initiative to announce a survey at the request of at least 5 per cent of the population who reside within the territory of a survey and who are entitled to elect a municipal council of an appropriate municipality.

3. The municipal council shall implement the right of initiative to announce a survey at the request of a group of at least one-fourth of the councillors in accordance with the procedure laid down in the rules of conduct.

4. With the consent of the meeting of elders the warden may initiate a survey with regard to the issues within his remit on the territory served by him. The warden shall implement the right to initiate a survey in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct.

Article 41. Implementation of the right of initiative to announce a survey

1. The residents shall implement the right of initiative to announce a survey directly. For this purpose an initiative group shall be set up from at least 10 residents who are entitled to elect a municipal council. A representative of a group shall personally submit to the director of the municipal administration an application to register an initiative group.

2. An application of an initiative group must indicate: a preliminary or final text of a question(s) submitted to a survey, a proposed survey type, and a representative(s) of the initiative group. Moreover, the application of the initiative group may propose the territory covered by a survey. All members of an initiative group shall sign an application.

3. If an application of an initiative group indicates that the text of a question(s) submitted for a survey is preliminary, at the request of representatives of a group the municipal administration shall provide necessary assistance in preparation of the final text of a question(s) submitted for a survey. All members of an initiative group shall sign the final text of a question(s) and it shall be submitted to the director of the municipal administration.

4. After having received an application of an initiative group, the director of the municipal administration shall, not later than within three working days, register an initiative group and shall, not later than within two working days after its registration, issue lists for collecting residents’ signatures with regard to a request to announce a survey. Lists shall have a form approved by the Minister of the Interior.

5. A time limit of two months shall be set for the implementation of the right of initiative of residents to announce a survey. It shall be calculated from the day of issuing of lists for collecting residents’ signatures concerning a request to announce a survey.

6. If within a time limit set in paragraph 5 of this Article a necessary number of signatures of residents is not collected, the director of the municipal administration shall terminate further collecting of signatures.

7. An initiative group shall gather requests of residents concerning the announcement of a survey. After having collected within a time limit set in paragraph 5 of this Article a necessary number of signatures of residents with regard to a request to announce a survey, an initiative group shall write out a final act pertaining to the collecting of signatures of and refer it together with requests of the residents to the director of the municipal administration.

Article 42. Taking of a decision to proclaim a survey

1. If a necessary number of signatures of residents with regard to a request to announce a survey has been collected within a time limit set in paragraph 5 of Article 41 of this Law and no violations of collecting of signatures (the cases of forging signatures or violations of the principle of voluntariness) have been established, the mayor must announce a survey not later than within one month from the submission of a final act pertaining to the collecting of signatures and the request of the residents to the director of the municipal administration.

2. When the right of initiative to announce a survey is implemented at the request of not less than one-fourth of the municipal councillors, the mayor must announce a survey not later than within a month from the day of receipt of this group.

3. The mayor shall, having evaluated the initiative to announce a survey submitted by the warden in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct, announce a survey not later than within one month.

4. An ordinance of the mayor to announce a survey must indicate: the text of a question(s) submitted to a survey, the territory covered by a survey, a type of a survey, the date and place of a survey, the composition of a survey commission. An initiative group shall have the right to delegate its representative to the survey commission.

5. An ordinance of the mayor to publish a survey must be made public through the local (regional) mass media, on the website of the municipality and the notice boards of the wards on the territories of which a survey will be conducted.

Article 43. Publicity of a survey

1. The beginning of publicity of a survey shall be the day of the registration of an initiative group of residents with the municipal administration.

2. Publicity of a survey may be of various forms and in various ways, with the exception of those, which violate the Constitution, laws and other legal acts.

3. The members of the survey commission may not participate in publicity of a survey.

Article 44. Organization of a survey

The director of the municipal council shall organize a survey in accordance with the procedure laid down by the municipal council.

Article 45. Establishment and proclamation of survey results

1. The municipal council must consider a question(s) submitted for a survey if not less than 15 percent of the residents of the territory covered by the survey have expressed their opinion on a submitted question(s), with the exception of the sample survey. The municipal council may establish in the description of the procedure of the local population opinion survey that it is obligatory to consider a question(s) submitted for a survey even if fewer residents than set out in this paragraph have expressed their opinion in the survey.

2. The survey commission shall, not later than within five working days after the end of the survey, submit the survey results to the director of the municipal administration. The survey results shall be made public through the local (regional) mass media, the website of the municipality and the notice boards of the wards on the territories of which a survey was be conducted.

Article 46. Solution of the questions submitted for a survey

1. Survey results (population opinion concerning a question(s) submitted for a survey) must be considered at a next sitting of the municipal council in accordance with the procedure laid down by the rules of conduct.

2. A decision of the municipal council regarding a question(s) submitted for a survey (population opinion concerning a question(s) submitted for a survey) as well as the reasons for adoption of the municipal council’s decision. A decision of the municipal council regarding a question(s) submitted for a survey must be made public through the local (regional) mass media, the website of the municipality and the notice boards of the wardens on the territories of which a survey was be conducted.

Article 47. Expenses related to organization of a survey

Expenses related to the organisation of a survey shall be covered with the funds of the municipal budget.

CHAPTER TEN

PROPERTY AND FINANCES

Article 48. Municipal ownership

1. Composition of the municipal property and the ways of acquisition thereof, procedure for managing, using and disposing of such property shall be established by the Constitution, laws, resolutions of the Government and decisions of municipal councils.

2. Functions of owner of the property belonging to a municipality by the right of ownership, related to the property belonging to a municipality by the right of ownership, shall be implemented by the municipal council in compliance with the law.

3. Municipal property shall be managed, used and disposed of by trust by municipal institutions, establishments, organisations and undertakings in accordance with the procedure established by the Laws on Budgetary Institutions, State and Municipal Undertakings, the Management, Use and Disposal of the State and Municipal Property, and other laws, as well as by decisions of the municipal council.

4. Municipalities shall, in the manner prescribed by laws and other legal acts, manage, use and dispose of the state property transferred to them by trust.

Article 49. Property Relations when Boundaries of Municipal Territories are Changed

1. When a municipality is being established or liquidated or its boundaries are being changed, the real estate of the municipality shall be ascribed to another municipality by that part of the real estate, which is on the ascribed territory. Property, financial and other obligations and rights related to the ascribed real estate shall be transferred together with the said real estate. Other property and debts, upon having evaluated actual conditions and proposals of municipalities, shall be distributed among municipalities in the manner prescribed by the Government or an institution authorised by it.

2. Disputes concerning property of municipalities arising from the reorganisation specified in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be settled by the court.

Article 50. Financial resources of municipalities and the use thereof

1. Financial resources of municipalities shall consist of:

1) municipal budget revenue received from taxes in accordance with laws and other legal acts;

2) income from municipal property (ownership);

3) fines received in accordance with the procedure laid down by law;

4) local fees and charges fixed by law;

5) income of budgetary establishments for services provided;

6) revenue from the balances of municipal funds on current accounts;

7) income received for leased-out state land and water bodies of the state inland waters stock, and after the distribution in the manner prescribed by the Government of the funds for plots of state land sold and rented for non-agricultural purposes;

8) state budget subsidies;

9) other income established by law;

10) non-repayable financial support (monetary funds);

11) loans.

2. Municipalities shall receive a part of the income from taxes the rates of which are increased or decreased by municipal councils without exceeding amounts provided for by law.

3. Municipal budgetary funds may be used only for the functions of the municipalities: to implement planning documents of the municipalities approved by the municipal councils or their executive institutions, to maintain budgetary establishments and organise the provision of public services.

4. Municipalities or, in their name, the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania shall co-ordinate drafts of legal acts in compliance with which the change in municipal functions, income and/or expenditures is provided for, along with the financial calculation appended to it.

5. In the event that the revenue or expenditure of the municipal budget changes due to legal acts adopted by state institutions, the sums of said changes, except the sums by which municipal budgets decrease because of the tax on lease of state land within the territory of a free economic zone used to buy out the land from land owners on this territory, shall be compensated for from the State budget or municipal budgets appropriately. The sums of compensations shall be fixed in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on the Methodology of Determination of Municipal Budgetary Revenues. In the event of a dispute, the court shall adopt a final decision.

6. Supplementary and surplus budget revenue received during the implementation of the budget as well as saved funds (expenditure) shall be left to municipalities, with the exception of other cases laid down in laws.

7. Funds intended for exercising state functions (delegated by the state to municipalities) shall be appropriated from the state budget or state monetary funds and transferred to municipalities as a special targeted grant.

8. Budget funds of the municipalities intended for investments during the implementation of municipal energy efficiency projects within the period of the implementation thereof according to the programmes approved by the Government shall be used pursuant to their targeted purpose and only to attain the objectives and under the conditions specified in the abovementioned programmes.

Article 51. Drawing-up and control of the municipal budget

1. Each municipality shall have an autonomous budget. The municipal budget shall be drawn up and approved for the period of one budget year. The procedure of preparation, consideration and approval of municipal budgets shall be established in the Law on the Structure of the Budget and the rules approved by a resolution of the Government.

2. During a budget year the municipal council may amend the budget.

3. The basis of formation of a municipal budget shall be strategic planning documents approved by the municipal council as well as calculations of funds necessary for the implementation of the functions of municipalities.

4. Municipalities must create conditions for the population to consider a draft budget in the manner prescribed by the rules of conduct.

5. Upon the end of a budget year, independent financial and/or performance audit may be conducted by a decision of the municipal council. If independent audit is carried out, an audit report must be publicly considered at a sitting of the municipal council not later than until the first of September of an appropriate budget year.

6. When necessary, the National Audit Office may, by decision of the Auditor General, carry out financial (legality) and performance audit of municipalities, as well as municipal establishments and undertakings controlled by municipalities.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

RELATIONS OF MUNICIPALITIES WITH

STATE INSTITUTIONS AND REPRESENTATION

Article 52. Relations of municipalities with state institutions and establishments

1. Relations between municipal councils and State institutions and establishments shall be based on the Constitution and laws.

2. Municipalities shall not be subordinate to State institutions.

3. Municipalities shall furnish to the Seimas, the Seimas committees and commissions the information necessary for parliamentary activities.

4. Central and territorial state administration entities, when considering issues related to the interests of a particular municipality or all municipalities, inform the mayor of an appropriate municipality or the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania about this. Proposals submitted in writing by the municipal council or executive organs of the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania shall be considered (evaluated) by state administration entities and answers shall be provided.

5. Drafts of decisions related to the change of administrative units of the state territory and the boundaries of those units shall be considered with municipalities in the manner prescribed by legal acts.

6. The State shall support training of municipal councillors, civil servants and employees working under the employment contract.

7. If necessary, when planning and resolving all the issues directly related to them municipalities may consult with state institutions.

8. Prepared or considered drafts of laws and other legal acts related to activities of municipalities shall be discussed with separate municipalities or the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania in the manner prescribed by the Seimas Statute and business regulations of the Government, as well as by other state administration entities.

9. Each year the Government and the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania shall consider the indicators specified in the Law on the Methodology of Determination of Municipal Budgetary Revenues and primary statistical data on demographic, social and other indicators of municipalities in accordance with the Government-approved rules for coordinating such indicators.

10. A bilateral commission shall be set up by mutual agreement for the co-ordination of interests and positions of the Government and the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania.

Article 53. Representation of municipalities

The Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania shall represent common interests of municipalities in the Government, other state institutions and international organisations.

CHAPTER TWELVE

LEGAL GUARANTEES AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISION OF MUNICIPALITIES

Article 54. Rights of municipalities and the protection thereof

1. Municipalities may appeal to the court for the violation of their rights, taking into consideration the character of violation. Municipal institutions shall function in the name of the municipality in accordance with the powers granted in this and other laws.

2. Decisions of the municipal council, which do not exceed the competence of the council, shall be mandatory to the municipal administration, all establishments, undertakings and organisations in the municipal territory, as well as the population.

3. State administration entities shall be prohibited from restricting or limiting the powers and rights of municipalities, except for the cases provided for by law.

4. Decisions of the municipal council on local fees and charges, as well as rules confirmed by decisions of the municipal council for the violation of which laws provide for administrative liability, shall be effective within the whole territory of the municipality and all institutions, establishments, undertakings and residents, as well as other natural and legal persons who have come to the municipal territory must observe them.

5. Municipalities shall have the right to apply all legal measures so that a general plan of the municipality or general plans, detailed plans of the parts of the municipality would be complied with and the requirements related to the implementation of the said plans would be met.

6. Municipalities shall have the right themselves and through the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania to participate in drafting of laws and other legal acts regulating local self-government or establishing functions of municipalities, and to express their proposals and remarks in regard to the prepared drafts.

Article 55. Supervision of activities of municipalities

1. The compliance of municipalities with decisions of the Government shall, in the manner prescribed by the Law on Administrative Supervision of Municipalities, be supervised by state officers appointed by the Government - representatives of the Government.

2. Complaints of residents concerning the abuse of power or bureaucracy of municipal employees shall be examined by the Seimas Ombudsmen; their powers shall be laid down in the Law on the Seimas Ombudsmen.

3. Acts or actions of municipal institutions and civil servants which violate the rights of residents, institutions, establishments and organisations may be appealed against in the manner prescribed by the Law on Administrative Proceedings.

4. The functions of municipalities and the restrictions of their rights in the event of the state of war and/or the state of emergency shall be established in special laws.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SYMBOLS AND BUSINESS CONDUCT OF MUNICIPALITIES

Article 56. Symbols of municipalities

1. Municipalities shall have their symbols.

2. Symbols of municipalities and the procedure of the use thereof shall be regulated by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the State Emblem, other Coats of Arms and Armorial Insignia.

3. Repealed.

Article 57. Filing work of municipalities

Filing work of municipalities, documents of accounting, sets of financial reports and sets of consolidated financial reports of municipalities, as well as financial and technical documents of municipalities shall be managed in the Lithuanian language and must correspond to the requirements for filing work defined in the effective legal acts.

Annex to Republic of Lithuania

Law on Local Self-government

IMPLEMENTED LEGAL ACTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

1. Council Directive 94/80/EC of 19 December 1994 laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (OJ 2004 special edition, Chapter 20, Volume 1, p. 12) with the latest amendments adopted by Council Directive 2006/106/EC of 20 November 2006 (OJ 2006 L363, p. 409).

2. Commission Directive 2006/111/EC of 16 November 2006 on the transparency of financial relations between Member States and public undertakings as well as on financial transparency within certain undertakings (OJ 2006, L 318, p. 17).