Good governance in Kosovo municipalities requires public consultation to be considered as two types: one form is addressed in Article 6 of the Administrative Instruction on Transparency in the Municipalities where public meetings are held at least twice a year (a minimum standard), they take the form of public consultations held for issues of general interest and where many different topics for local issues can be discussed and where the highest officials of the municipality participate, while the other form of public consultations is what is dealt with in Article 8 of the the above-mentioned, which states that “acts of municipal organs which are of interest to citizens are subject to public discussion before adoption, including organization of debates in rural areas. The body proposing the act makes the explanations in relation to it and keeps not of proposals given by the public during consultations, as consultations should be conducted before adoption of acts”, such consultations would have to be much more frequent because it is a legal obligation.
Moreover, this form of consultation is also envisaged by the Regulation on the Procedures for the Drafting and Publication of Acts of the Municipality which states that “the procedure for drafting municipal acts shall be subject to public consultation. Consultation is done not only through meetings but also through written and electronic consultation via interviews, panels and other forms such as publication of the draft act on the notice board, the municipal website, newspaper, meetings with interest groups, and meetings with citizens “.
In principle nearly every month the municipal assembly has such documents that are reviewed and approved, which are in the interest of the citizens, for which public consultation should be held before them being adopted, but unfortunately this legal obligation is not implemented, as there is such a perception that it is enough to hold public meetings at least twice a year, as a minimum obligation.
Therefore as a citizen you are entitled to public consultations not only twice a year, but on any matter of interest before the approval, the proposing body should consult the public.
The procedure for conducting public consultations.
The Information Officer informs the public two weeks prior to the date of the public consultation about the date and the agenda. The proposer of the act reviews the submitted proposals within a reasonable time, and informs the municipal assembly on the proposals. The Municipal Assembly shall ensure that the proposals are included in the final text of the act.
For public consultation to be effective, the municipality not only has to publish the time and place of the meeting but should also explain the purpose of the meeting from the outset, and ensure that each participant's recommendation is taken into account. The municipality should also take into account that consultation hours are as convenient as possible to enable anyone interested to come to have access.