Case: In a certain youth council of the county, the statute provided that the number of its members is 10 people (2 people from each municipality), and its term was established for 2 years. After a year of activity, it was noticed that such a small number of youth councilors hinders effective actions. The county council therefore amended the statute of the youth council, changing the number of council members from 10 to 25.
Can the number of youth councilors change during their term?
IREPSO’s answer:
As a rule, there is nothing to prevent the county council from increasing the number of youth councilors – there are no regulations that would prohibit it, and furthermore, according to art. 3e para. 10 of the Act on County Self-Government: “The county council, creating a youth county council, gives it a statute specifying in particular the principles of operation of the youth county council, the procedure and criteria for selecting its members and the principles of expiration of the mandate and dismissal of a youth county council member.” The number of members of the youth council is therefore a certain institutional issue that must appear in the statute (as “principles of operation” and “criteria for selecting members”).
However, changing the number of youth council members cannot happen at any time during the operation of this body. The county council may increase the number of youth council members by amending the statute, but the provision would have to apply only from the next term of the youth council. A transitional or episodic provision is not applicable here, as changing the number of members of the body during their term would too much violate its institutional normalization and would change the legal position of both the body and its current members in a way that is too far-reaching and disproportionate (e.g. newly elected youth council members could easily remove the previous presidium of the youth council).