Activities and Competence of Councils

The Council carries out its activities in the form of sessions and through the activities of the Council's bodies, as well as by the deputies of the Council exercising their powers, including through the creation and activities of deputy groups and other deputy associations.

The bodies of the Council are the presidium, standing and temporary commissions of the Council.

The Council organizes its work based on the regulations approved by the Council, which determine the procedure for preparing, submitting, and considering issues at sessions of the Council and meetings of its bodies, voting on decisions made, forming and operating the Council's commissions, hearing reports on their work, considering deputies' inquiries, and resolving other issues of organizing the work of the Council and its bodies, as well as the responsibility of Council deputies for non-participation in its work without valid reasons.

Higher Councils coordinate the activities of lower Councils and their bodies, and provide them with organizational and methodological assistance.

Organizational, technical, and other support for the activities of the Council and its created bodies is provided by the Council's apparatus and the executive committee at the expense of the respective local budget. The staffing of the Council apparatus is established by the President of the Republic of Belarus.

Issues affecting the interests of adjacent territories are resolved jointly by the respective Councils.

Councils, within their competence and in the manner established by law:

represent the interests of the respective administrative-territorial unit in relations with other state bodies, other organizations, and citizens;

approve investment programs, socio-economic development programs of the relevant administrative-territorial unit, the local budget and its execution report;

approve regional sets of measures ensuring the implementation of state programs involving financing from local budgets (Councils of the regional and basic levels), concepts (Councils of the primary level – action plans) on housing construction, improvement of the relevant territory, road construction, utility and social services for citizens, social support for children, youth, families raising children (including assistance for the academic year), veterans, disabled persons, the elderly, as well as other categories of citizens in need of assistance, support for small and medium-sized businesses, healthcare, education, development of physical culture and sports, environmental protection and rational use of natural resources, improvement of working conditions and labor protection, radiation safety, protection of historical and cultural heritage, and other matters of local importance;

determine, within the limits established by law, the procedure for managing and disposing of the property of the relevant administrative-territorial unit (hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, referred to as communal property);

manage natural resources in cases provided for by legislation on environmental protection and rational use of natural resources;

establish local taxes and fees in accordance with the law;

grant or instruct local executive and administrative bodies to grant benefits on taxes, fees (duties) in accordance with the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus and/or acts of the President of the Republic of Belarus;

determine payment rates in cases established by legislative acts (including rates for rent of hunting and fishing grounds, water bodies);

resolve issues of administrative-territorial structure;

appoint local referendums;

coordinate the activities of territorial self-government bodies;

participate jointly with associations of Councils in the implementation of civic initiatives;

promote the development of industrial and agricultural production, the service sector, small and medium-sized businesses, and personal subsidiary plots;

participate in the implementation of measures for the preservation and revival of historical and cultural values;

participate in measures to preserve historical truth and memory of the heroic feat of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War;

participate in the prevention and elimination of emergency situations, the implementation of civil defense measures, ensuring fire, industrial, nuclear, and radiation safety, and the elimination of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster;

approve the regulations and structure of the Council;

annually approve the budget of the Council;

decide on the early termination of the powers of deputies of the Council;

elect and prematurely relieve of their powers the chairman of the Council and his deputy (deputies);

approve the chairman of the executive committee;

establish and abolish bodies of the Council, approve and amend their composition, elect and relieve of their powers the chairmen and deputy chairmen (if any) of these bodies;

decide on participation in the creation of associations, and on joining or withdrawing from them;

consider requests from deputies of the Council and make decisions on them;

hear reports from the chairman of the Council, as well as from the bodies of the Council, officials elected, appointed, or approved by the chairman of the Council, reports and other information from the chairman and other officials of the relevant executive committee on issues within the competence of the Council;

decide on the delegation of certain powers to Councils of other territorial levels, executive committees, their chairmen, and bodies of territorial public self-government;

determine the terms and procedure for releasing deputies of the Council working under labor contracts (agreements) from performing their labor (official) duties during the preparation and holding of Council sessions and meetings of its bodies;

revoke orders of the chairman of the Council and the chairman of the relevant executive committee, decisions of the relevant executive committee, decisions of a lower-level Council and orders of its chairman that do not comply with the law;

act as founders of local media;

make decisions on self-dissolution;

carry out international cooperation;

exercise other powers provided for by this Law and other legislative acts.

Basic level Soviets, within their competence and in the manner prescribed by law:

approve territorial development plans for districts, general plans for cities of district subordination and other settlements located in the respective territory;

exempt from crediting to the budget revenues received from the lease of property in communal ownership;

establish the debt limit of local executive and administrative bodies for the next financial year and the debt limit guaranteed by local executive and administrative bodies;

determine measures of social support for children, youth, families raising children (including assistance for the school year), veterans, disabled persons, elderly people, as well as other categories of citizens in need of assistance, measures to assist in the preparation of camps for the summer health period;

hold regional meetings of Soviet deputies with the participation of deputies of Soviets of all territorial levels, deputies of the House of Representatives and members of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus from the respective electoral district and administrative-territorial unit, with the invitation of representatives of territorial self-government bodies, public associations, at which they hear information from the heads of executive and administrative bodies and Soviets on the socio-economic development of the respective administrative-territorial units and consider other issues of greatest concern to the population;

confer the title of honorary citizen of the city, district, respectively, determine the procedure for conferring such a title and the specifics of the status of an honorary citizen;

exercise other powers provided for by this Law and other legislative acts.

Primary level Soviets, within their competence and in the manner prescribed by law:

submit proposals to the basic level Soviet and executive committee on social protection of citizens;

submit proposals to the basic level Soviet on the amounts of deductions from local taxes and fees, amounts of subsidies to primary level budgets;

interact with the media, provide them with information about the activities of primary-level Councils, and promote the implementation of state information policy in the relevant territory;

nominate candidates for membership in the collegial bodies of territorial public self-government;

approve the regulations on the sole body of territorial public self-government;

make decisions on the abolition of the collegial body of territorial public self-government;