Practical experiences of the legality supervision of the municipalities in the years 1886–1887

Abstract

In my study, relying on the archival sources of the Hungarian Royal Ministry of the Interior, I examined the ordinances submitted in 1886 and 1887 or submitted in previous years but approved in these years. In the course of my research, I sought an answer to the question of how the Ministry of the Interior, when revising the ordinances and the new legal regulation, despite the unchanged legal provisions in force, actually implemented a positive or negative change in the established development. During the investigation, I elaborated thirty-five ordinance, during the selection I focused on those ordinances that refer to the same subject area, thus ensuring their comparability. In some places, due to its specificity, I also describe a single ordinance of a specific subject area. For a deeper understanding of the cases, I also reviewed the works of former and contemporary authors concerning the history of public administration. The Ministry of the Interior has always required the municipalities to comply with the legal procedure and the criteria of legality. The Act XXI of 1886 however, its conceptual shortcomings were an opportunity for the ministry to use its discretionary power to enforce a position that might differ from the original legislative objectives of the municipalities, which had a negative impact on the autonomy of the municipalities. A good example of this can be operating with the terminology of one’s own internal affairs or the expediency. The Act XXI of 1886 did not explain these terms in any detail. A more detailed elaboration was left to organisation of the municipalities.