Legal status of North Mitrovica municipality

Abstract

In this paper the author deals with the topic which has not yet been analyzed by the public. The legal status of the North Mitrovica Municipality, which is the result of the Brussels Agreement between Belgrade and Pristina and exists within the system of Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Pristina, is an issue which carries legal and political implications important to understand the process of integration and legal status of Serbs on Kosovo and Metohija. The paper thoroughly encompasses topics such as competences and manners of organizing the functioning of the North Mitrovica Municipality, asymmetry in relation to the remaining municipalities in Kosovo and Metohia, as well as the relation with the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Pristina and the North Mitrovica Municipality in relation to its uniqueness and autonomy, with special emphasis on international documents which define the status of the local government, such as the European Charter of Local Self-Government. In the conclusion, the author emphasizes the problems in achieving the competences of North Mitrovica Municipality in relation to the political context in which it exists.

Keywords

• local self-government
• autonomy
• competences
• asymmetric representation
• brussels agreement