Changes to local boundaries without court control. More and more conflicts, and legal stalemate continues

• Changes to the boundaries between local governments most often occur through the expansion of a city at the expense of a rural commune.
• Such a decision is made by the government, without taking into account the most often negative results of social consultations in smaller municipalities.
• There is a lack of effective judicial control over this process, and although the matter has been known for years, there are no legislative changes in sight - warns the Commissioner for Human Rights.

Since 2000, there have been 85 cases of changes in the boundaries between local governments in Poland - most often through the expansion of a city at the expense of a rural commune. This often happened despite the negative results of public consultations, and only in a few cases did it happen without conflict.

Every year, the Commissioner for Human Rights receives complaints from local government units concerning - as they call it - "hostile takeovers" of parts of their territories by other units.

The first application this year to the Commissioner for Human Rights to intervene in such a case was submitted by the Kobylnica commune (Pomeranian Voivodeship). The change of affiliation of part of its territory was filed by the Słupsk commune, where - despite the fact that only two years have passed since its previous expansion at the expense of neighbouring communes - it was stated that "the possibilities of developing the city based on its internal potential have basically been exhausted".

According to the Commissioner for Human Rights, the current procedure for changing the boundaries of local government units is dysfunctional. This was the subject of the Commissioner's earlier applications to many bodies. The Commissioner primarily postulated supplementing the act with a mechanism for real judicial review of government decisions. He also recalls that the Constitutional Tribunal drew attention to the matter over 15 years ago, and its decisions are still unimplemented.

The Commissioner for Human Rights, in the absence of a reaction from the authorities, attempted to challenge the decision of the Council of Ministers before an administrative court. However, this proved ineffective. This means that the source of annual conflicts between local government units has not been eliminated.

The spokesman points out that in the current term of parliament, there has not even been a bill that would be a response to the existing problem. In the previous term, such a bill was submitted, but it did not even receive a parliamentary print number.

Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights Adam Krzywoń asks Secretary of State in the Ministry of Interior and Administration Tomasz Szymański whether the ministry plans to undertake appropriate legislative work, and if so, he asks for an indication of the date of their commencement. We are waiting for the answer.

Recently, the Union of Pomeranian Municipalities called for legislative action aimed at:

• limiting the frequency of initiating proceedings for changes to administrative boundaries in the application mode - no more than once every 5 years;
• strengthening the role of social consultations in the procedure for changing municipal boundaries so that the voice of residents has a leading character;
• establishing detailed formal requirements for applications to change municipal boundaries, taking into account their economic, social and infrastructural consequences.

Local government officials from Pomerania also demand that the commune affected by the territorial change be granted the status of a party in the legislative proceedings, ensuring the possibility of active participation in the decision-making process . They also appeal for the definition of the principles and procedure for the transfer of municipal property in connection with the change of commune boundaries, in order to avoid conflicts in the scope of ownership and responsibility for public property.