First Book - General framework of decentralization - Law 2019/024 of 24 December 2019 on the General Code of Decentralised Local Authorities

SECTION I - HUMAN RESOURCES

ARTICLE 22- (1) The Territorial Communities shall freely recruit and manage the staff required for the performance of their duties, in accordance with the laws and regulations in force.

(2) However, State personnel may be assigned, seconded or made available to Territorial Communities, at the request of the latter, in accordance with the procedures laid down by regulation.
(3) The State shall set up a local civil service, the status of which shall be determined by a decree of the President of the Republic.

ARTICLE 23 - Civil servants or agents of the decentralised services of the State, who have directly or indirectly provided assistance to a Territorial Community for the implementation of an operation, may not participate, in any form whatsoever, in the control of acts relating to this operation.

SECTION lI - MATERIAL RESOURCES

ARTICLE 24 - (1) The transfer of a competence entails, ipso jure, the handing over to the beneficiary Territorial Collectivity of all the movable and immovable property used, on the date of this transfer, for the exercise of this competence.

(2) The transfer provided for in paragraph 1 above is recorded by a decree of devolution issued by the Prime Minister.

ARTICLE 25 - (1) A General Decentralisation Allocation is instituted for the partial financing of decentralisation.

(2) Each year, the Finance Act sets the proportion of State revenue allocated to the General Decentralisation Grant mentioned in paragraph 1 above.

(3) The fraction referred to in paragraph 2 above may not be less than fifteen percent (15%).

SECTION II - THE BALANCE BETWEEN COMPETENCES AND TRANSFERRED RESOURCES

ARTICLE 26 - (1) The costs corresponding to the exercise of transferred competencies shall be assessed prior to the transfer of said competencies.

(2) Any new burden incumbent upon Territorial Communities as a result of the State modifying, by regulatory means, the rules relating to the exercise of transferred powers, must be compensated by the appropriate payment to the General Decentralisation Allocation provided for in Article 25 above or by other fiscal resources, in accordance with the procedures defined by law. The aforementioned regulatory act shall mention this.

(3) In cases where the inadequacy of the financial resources of the Territorial Communities risks compromising the performance or execution of public service missions, the State may intervene by granting special allocations to the Territorial Communities concerned.

ARTICLE 27 - (1) The financial burdens resulting, for each Territorial Community, from the transfer of competencies, shall be the object of an allocation by the State of resources of an amount at least equivalent to the said burdens.

(2) The resources allocated are at least equivalent to the expenditure incurred by the State during the financial year immediately preceding the date of the transfer of powers.

PARAGRAPH I - PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGEMENT OF LOCAL SERVICES

ARTICLE 42 - (1) For a Territorial Authority, a public service is managed directly within the framework set by the regulations.

(2) Local public services managed on a "régie" basis operate in accordance with the common law applicable to State public services.

(3) However, services of public interest may be operated by Local Authorities when the public interest so requires, and in particular where private initiative is lacking or insufficient.

ARTICLE 43 - The deliberating bodies of the Local Authorities shall draw up the list and the provisions which must be included in the internal regulations of the services which they intend to operate in the form of a local public interest company.

ARTICLE 44- (1) Where several Local Authorities are interested in the operation of a local public service, it may be operated.

a) either under the direction of one Territorial Community with regard to the other Territorial Communities, as agent;

b) or under the direction of a grouping formed by the Territorial Communities concerned.

2) Where the grouping is formed exclusively with a view to the operation of an industrial or commercial service, the Territorial Communities may request that the administration of the organisation thus created be merged with that of the régie. In this case, the founding instrument of the grouping shall be amended under the conditions laid down by the provisions of this law.

ARTICLE 45 - (1) Services that may be provided by the Territorial Authorities on a public service basis may be subject to technical control by the State.

(2) The procedures for the application of paragraph 1 above are laid down by
regulation.

PARAGRAPH II - DELEGATED MANAGEMENT OF LOCAL SERVICES

ARTICLE 46 - (1) Delegated management consists, for a Local Authority, in entrusting the management of a public service to another legal entity.

(2) Delegated management methods are :

(3) The management methods for Regional or Communal public services provided for in paragraph 1 above are determined by regulation, in accordance with the provisions of this law.

ARTICLE 47 - In contracts for the concession of public services, the Territorial Collectivities may not insert clauses whereby the concessionaire assumes responsibility for the execution of works outside the scope of the concession.

ARTICLE 48 - Public works contracts concluded by Territorial Authorities may not include any clause relating to the leasing of public revenue, with the exception of revenue from the operation of the work which is the subject of the contract.

ARTICLE 49 - Companies operating public services on a self-governing basis are subject to all control measures and the production of all supporting documents, in accordance with the regulations in force, with regard to the operation and initial works that they may be required to carry out on behalf of the granting authority.

ARTICLE 50 - Groups of Territorial Authorities may, by way of concession, operate services of interest to each of the Territorial Authorities concerned.

ARTICLE 51- (1) Any Territorial Community that has conceded or leased a public service or service of public interest may revise or terminate the concession or leasing contract when the concessionaire's deficit, due to economic or technical circumstances beyond its control, is of a lasting nature and no longer allows the said service to operate normally.

(2) The provisions of paragraph 1 above apply mutatis mutandis to the concessionaire or operator.

(3) The Territorial Community concerned must either abolish the service in question or reorganise it in a more economical manner.

SECTION II - LOCAL PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS AND COMPANIES WITH PUBLIC CAPITAL AND THE ACQUISITION OF HOLDINGS IN PUBLIC, SEMI-PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENTITIES

ARTICLE 52 - (1) The Territorial Communities may, by deliberation of their deliberating body, either acquire shares or bonds of the companies in charge of operating local services, or receive as a royalty contribution shares or founders' shares issued by the said companies, following the prior approval of the representative of the State, according to the maximum holding set by the present law.

(2) In this case, the articles of association of the companies referred to in paragraph 1 above must provide in favour of the Collectivité Territoriale concerned.

a) where it is a shareholder, the statutory allocation outside the General Meeting of one or more representatives on the Board of Directors;

b) where it is a bondholder, the right to have its interests defended before the company by a special delegate.

(3) Amendments to the Articles of Association of such a company shall be subject to the prior approval of the representative of the State, where they concern such Territorial Communities.

ARTICLE 53 - (1) Securities acquired by the Collectivités Territoriales in the context of the creation of or participation in public companies or private companies must be issued in standard form or represented by registered certificates.

(2) They shall be acquired on the basis of a deliberation of the deliberative body of the Territorial Community concerned and kept by the Receiver of the Territorial Community, even where they are assigned to guarantee the management of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE 54 - (1) Securities allocated to guarantee the management of the Board of Directors are inalienable.

(2) The transfer of shares may only take place by virtue of a Deliberation approved under the same conditions as the decision to acquire.

ARTICLE 55 - (1) The civil liability for acts performed as a Director of the company by the representative of a Regional Authority on the Board of Directors of the company of which it is a shareholder shall be borne by the Regional Authority, subject to recourse action against the person concerned.

(2) The recourse action provided for in paragraph 1 above may only be brought in the event of personal misconduct or gross negligence detrimental to the interests of the Territorial Community concerned.

ARTICLE 56 - The shareholding of Territorial Communities or a group of such Territorial Communities may not exceed thirty-three percent (33%) of the share capital of the companies or bodies referred to in this section.

section ii - local authority property

ARTICLE 57 - The public and private domains of a Territorial Community consist of movable and immovable property acquired for valuable consideration or free of charge.

ARTICLE 58 - The decision-making body of the Territorial Community decides on the management of property and real estate operations carried out by the Territorial Community concerned.

ARTICLE 59 - The price of property acquisitions made by Territorial Communities is paid in accordance with the procedures laid down by the regulations in force for similar operations carried out by the State.

ARTICLE 60- (1) The sale of property belonging to the Territorial Communities is subject to the same rules as those for property belonging to the State.

(2) The proceeds of the said sale are collected by the collector of the Territorial Community.

ARTICLE 61- (1) Territorial Communities may own annuities on the State, in particular through the purchase of securities, the use of capital from repayments made by private individuals, alienation, exchange balances, gifts and bequests.

(2) Investment in State
annuities shall be made by virtue of a resolution of the Territorial Community concerned.

ARTICLE 62- (1) Available capital held by the Receiver of the Collectivité Territoriale may be used to purchase annuities or shares. In this case, he shall ensure the registration and safekeeping of the securities.

(2) Registrations of annuities owned by the Collectivités Territoriales are considered as immovable property.

SECTION IV - LOCAL AUTHORITY CONTRACTS

ARTICLE 63 - Members of the Executive and the Receiver of the Local Authority may not, in any form whatsoever, by themselves or through an intermediary, make themselves bidders or tenderers, on pain of cancellation by the representative of the State.

ARTICLE 64 Private law contracts of Local Authorities are awarded in accordance with ordinary law.

ARTICLE 65 (1) Where several Local Authorities own undivided property or rights, they shall set up, by agreement and after authorization by the deliberating body, a Commission made up of delegates from the deliberating bodies of each of them.

(2) Each of the deliberating bodies elects from among its members, by secret ballot, the number of delegates decided by mutual agreement.

(3) The deliberations of the Commission are subject to all the rules applicable in the deliberating bodies.

ARTICLE 66 - (1) The powers of the Commission and its Chairman include the administration of undivided property and rights and the execution of related works.

These powers are the same as those of the deliberative bodies of the Local Authorities and their Executive bodies in similar matters.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 above, sales, exchanges, divisions, acquisitions or transactions remain reserved to the deliberative bodies which may authorise the President of the Commission to pass the relevant deeds.

SECTION V - GIFTS AND LEGACIES TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES

ARTICLE 67 - (1) Decisions of the Local Authorities concerning the acceptance of donations and legacies, where there are charges or conditions, are enforceable only after approval by the Minister responsible for Local Authorities.

(2) In the event of a claim by the claimants to the estate, regardless of the amount and nature of the donation or legacy, authorisation for acceptance may only be granted by order of the Minister responsible for local authorities.

ARTICLE 68 - (1) The Communal or Regional Executive may, as a precautionary measure, accept donations or legacies and, before authorisation is granted, make any request for them to be issued.

(2) Any subsequent decision by the Council takes effect from the date of such acceptance.

(3) Acceptance must be made without delay and as far as possible in the deed itself constituting the donation. Otherwise, it shall be made by a separate deed, also notarised, and must be notified to the donor, in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force governing civil and commercial obligations.

ARTICLE 69 - (1) Local Authorities or groupings of Local Authorities are free to accept gifts or bequests made to them without charge, condition or allocation to property.

(2) In all cases where donations and legacies give rise to claims from families, authorisation to accept them is given by decree, in accordance with the provisions of article 68 above.

ARTICLE 70 - When the proceeds of the donation are no longer sufficient to cover expenses, an order of the Minister in charge of Local Authorities may authorise the Territorial Community concerned to allocate these proceeds to another purpose in accordance with the intentions of the donor or testator. Failing this, the heirs may claim the return of the donation. Under no circumstances may members of the Executive of the Collectivité Territoriale acquire the donation.

SECTION VI - THE WORK OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES

ARTICLE 71 - Any new construction or reconstruction on behalf of the Territorial Community may only be carried out on the basis of plans and estimates made available to the deliberative body of the Territorial Community concerned.

ARTICLE 73- (1) The State's powers of control over Local Authorities and their establishments shall be exercised, under the authority of the President of the Republic, by the Minister responsible for Local Authorities and by the representative of the State in the Local Authority.

(2) The powers of control referred to in paragraph 1 above are exercised to the exclusion of any assessment of expediency and subject to the cases provided for in article 77 below.

(3) In the Region, the Governor, appointed by decree of the President of the
Republic, is the representative of the State. In this capacity, he is responsible for national interests, administrative control, compliance with laws and regulations and the maintenance of public order. He supervises and coordinates, under the authority of the Government, the civil administrations of the State in the Region.

(4) The Prefect is responsible for State supervision of the Region.

(5) The Prefect is the State representative in the Commune. In this capacity, he is responsible for national interests, administrative control, compliance with laws and regulations and the maintenance of public order.

(6) The Governor and the Prefect, as representatives of the President of the Republic, the Government and each of the Ministers, shall have sole authority to speak on behalf of the State before the deliberative bodies of the Territorial Communities, the Syndicates of Communes and the management bodies of the establishments of the Territorial Communities.

ARTICLE 74 - (1) Acts issued by the Territorial Communities shall be sent to the representative of the State at the Territorial Community concerned, by registered post or by deposit with the relevant department, against acknowledgement of receipt.

(2) Electronic transmission of documents to the representative of the State is permitted under the conditions laid down by the laws and regulations in force.

(3) Proof of receipt of documents by the representative of the State may be provided by any means.

(4) The acts mentioned in paragraph 1 above are enforceable by operation of law fifteen (15) days after receipt, and after their publication or notification to the interested parties. This period may be reduced by the representative of the State.

(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 above, the representative of the State may, within a period of fifteen (15) days from the date of receipt, request a second reading of the act concerned. The corresponding request shall have suspensive effect, both for the execution of the instrument and for the calculation of the time limits applicable in the event of contentious proceedings, in accordance with the legislation in force.

ARTICLE 75 - (1) Regulatory and individual decisions taken by the Head of the Executive of the Territorial Community in the exercise of his/her police powers and day-to-day management acts are enforceable as soon as they have been published or notified to those concerned.

(2) These decisions are forwarded to the State representative and the local representative of the Ministry in charge of Territorial Communities within fifteen (15) days.

ARTICLE 76 - (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of articles 74 and 75 above, acts in the following areas shall remain subject to the prior approval of the State representative and shall be forwarded to the local representative of the Ministry in charge of Local Authorities:

(2) Communal and regional development plans and regional land use plans are drawn up taking into account national development and land use plans. The relevant decision is therefore subject to the approval of the representative of the State.

(3) Deliberations and decisions taken in application of the provisions of paragraph 1 above are forwarded to the representative of the State, in accordance with the procedures laid down in article 74 above. The approval of the said representative is deemed to have been obtained if it has not been notified to the Territorial Community concerned within a maximum period of thirty (30) days from receipt of the said acts by any means.

4) The period provided for in paragraph 3 above may be reduced by the representative of the State, at the request of the Head of the Executive of the Territorial Collectivity. This request has suspensive effect, both for the execution of the act and for the computation of time limits applicable in the event of contentious proceedings, in accordance with the legislation in force.

ARTICLE 77 - (1) The representative of the State shall inform the Head of the Communal or Regional Executive, by any means that leaves a written trace, of any illegalities found in the act or acts communicated to him/her.

(2) The representative of the State shall refer to the competent administrative court the acts provided for in articles 75 and 76 above which he/she considers to be tainted by illegality, within a maximum period of one (01) month from the date of their receipt.

(3) The administrative court to which the matter is referred shall render its decision within a maximum period of one (01) month.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 above, the representative of the State may annul the acts of the Territorial Authorities that are manifestly illegal, particularly in the case of an encroachment or de facto act, it being the responsibility of the Territorial Authority concerned to refer the matter to the competent administrative court.

ARTICLE 78 - (1) The representative of the State may include a request for a stay of execution with his appeal. This request shall be granted if one of the grounds put forward in the application appears, in the light of the investigation, to be serious and of such a nature as to justify the annulment of the contested act.

(2) When the contested act is of such a nature as to compromise the exercise of a public or individual freedom, the President of the administrative court or one of its members, delegated for this purpose, shall pronounce a stay of proceedings within a maximum period of forty-eight (48) hours.

(3) The administrative court may, on its own initiative, issue a stay of execution for any public contract that the representative of the State transmits to it for cancellation.

ARTICLE 79 - (1) The Head of the Communal or Regional Executive may refer the State representative's decision to refuse approval to the competent administrative court for misuse of powers, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the legislation in force.

(2) 'The annulment of the decision to refuse approval by the administrative court shall be equivalent to approval, upon notification of the decision to the Territorial Community.

ARTICLE 80 - Any natural person or legal entity having an interest in the matter may challenge, before the competent administrative court, an act referred to in articles 74, 75 and 76 above, in accordance with the procedures laid down by the legislation governing litigation, from the date on which the act in question became enforceable.

ARTICLE 81 - (1) Any general act of a Territorial Community that has become enforceable, as well as any request from the representative of the State relating to such an act and having suspensive effect, must be widely publicised, in particular by posting at the headquarters of the Territorial Community and at the services of the Administrative Division concerned.

(2) The procedure provided for in paragraph 1 above is carried out by way of notification, when it concerns an individual act.

ARTICLE 82 - Any request for the annulment of an act of a Territorial Community addressed to the representative of the State by any interested party, prior to the date from which such an act becomes enforceable, shall not affect the course of the litigation procedure.

ARTICLE 83 - (1) Upon request :

a) the Head of the Communal or Regional Executive shall receive from the representative of the State the information necessary for the exercise of his/her powers;

b) the representative of the State shall receive from the Head of the Regional or Communal Executive the information necessary for the exercise of his or her powers.

(2) The Head of the Regional or Communal Executive informs the deliberative body of the content of any letter that the representative of the State wishes to bring to its attention.

ARTICLE 104 - (1) The Communes of the same Department or Region may, by concordant decision taken by a majority of at least two thirds (2/3) of each Municipal Council, form a Syndicate with a view to carrying out operations of inter-communal interest.

(2) The Syndicat de Communes is created by an agreement signed by the Mayors of the Communes concerned. The said agreement shall set out the operating and management procedures of the Syndicate, as provided for by this law.

ARTICLE 105 - (1) The Syndicat de Communes is a public inter-municipal body with legal personality and administrative and financial autonomy.

(2) It remains subject to the provisions of the present law.

SECTION II - ORGANISATION AND OPERATION OF THE SYNDICATE OF COMMUNES

ARTICLE 106 - (1) The bodies of the Syndicat des Communes are:

(2) The Syndicate Council referred to in paragraph 1 above is made up of the Mayors, each assisted by two (02) Councillors appointed from each
Commune belonging to the Syndicate.

(3) It is headed by a Chairman elected from among the members of the Syndicate Council, for a renewable term of one (01) year.

(4) The term of office of the members of the Syndicate Council is governed by the legal system of the Municipal Council to which they belong. In the
event of vacancy or resignation, members are replaced in accordance with the rules applicable to representatives of the Communes d'Arrondissement on the Urban
Community Council.

ARTICLE 107 - (1) The minutes and deliberations of the Syndicate Council are communicated by the Chairman to the Mayors of the Communes belonging to the Syndicate.

(2) The Mayors are obliged to communicate the minutes and deliberations provided for in paragraph 1 above to their Municipal Council, on the occasion of the next session of the said Council.

ARTICLE 108 - The Syndicate Council deliberates on matters within its competence, in particular:

ARTICLE 109 - The Chairman represents the Association in civil and legal matters.

In this capacity, the President :

ARTICLE 110 - The Union's budget is prepared, voted on, implemented and audited in accordance with the stipulations of the creation agreement.

ARTICLE 111 - The budget of the Union is prepared and executed in accordance with the procedures defined by the financial regime of decentralised Local Authorities.

ARTICLE 112 - (1) The membership of a Commune to an already constituted Syndicat is subject to the prior approval of the Syndicate Council.

(2) The President must notify the Mayors of the Communes concerned of the Council's decision to admit a new Commune.

ARTICLE 113 - A Commune may withdraw from the Association, with the consent of the Council, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the agreement creating the Association.

ARTICLE 114- (1) The Syndicat des Communes is dissolved:
• automatically on expiry of its term or on completion of the operation it was intended to carry out;
• by decision of the Municipal Councils concerned taken by a majority of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the members of each Municipal Council, in accordance with the rules of ordinary law.

(2) The deed of dissolution shall determine, subject to the rights of third parties, the conditions under which the Syndicat shall be wound up.