Case: The Youth Assembly of the Province, seeing certain provisions in its statute that may cause certain limitations in its activities, decided to change them.

What could be the model procedure for changing statutory provisions initiated by the Youth Assembly of the Province?

IREPSO’s answer:

The procedure mentioned in the case should begin with the creation of a problem committee or a working group that would prepare a resolution project in this regard. Of course, the establishment of such a committee must be based on a resolution of the Youth Assembly, which will have a basis in the statutory provisions. If the statute does not provide for the creation of ad hoc committees, the committee already established (e.g. the audit committee) or the entire Youth Assembly can deal with the matter of changes in the provisions.

In the process of preparing changes to the statute provisions, one should remember to regulate Article 10b(6) of the Act on Provincial Self-Government, which states: “The Youth Assembly of the Province may submit a proposal for initiating a legislative initiative to authorized entities. The procedure for submitting a proposal for initiating a legislative initiative is determined by the provincial statute or a separate resolution of the Provincial Assembly.” Therefore, after completing work in the working group or committee, the Youth Assembly can adopt a resolution on submitting a proposal for initiating a legislative initiative to an authorized entity. The annex to such a resolution should be the project of changes worked out in the committee/working group together with the justification for the changes.

The authorized entity to which the proposal is submitted is an entity or members of the entity who, based on the provincial statute, have the legislative initiative. It will always be the executive body (in this case, the provincial board), but the statute may also provide that the legislative initiative belongs to a certain number of councilors or the chairman of the assembly. The Youth Council can approach all these entities with such a proposal, but it is suggested not to do so simultaneously due to potential political conflicts.

The procedure for submitting a proposal should be determined by the provincial statute or a separate resolution of the Provincial Assembly, but these provisions cannot in any way block the Youth Council from submitting a proposal to entities having a legislative initiative. More specifically, the provisions cannot obligate the Youth Council to submit a proposal only to the executive body of the province, excluding other entities (e.g. the chairman of the assembly) who have the right to legislative initiative. However, if the statute or resolution does not specify the procedure for submitting a proposal for initiating a legislative initiative, the Youth Council does so based on the relevant provisions of the Administrative Procedure Code (Chapter VIII of the Act on Complaints and Requests refers to complaints and requests).