Constitutional and legal basis of the organization of local self-government in Portugal

Ukraine is in an active phase of the negotiation process with the European Commission regarding our country’s membership in the European Union. Roadmaps are being developed, discussions are ongoing. One of the parts of the negotiation framework is the provisions on the territorial organization of power, regional and local self-government. Building a national model of local self-government in accordance with the standards of the European Charter of Local Self-Government is one of the main tasks of our state. And the corresponding process will be incomplete without analysis and research of municipal government in foreign countries. At the same time, research on countries that have not been given much attention in domestic municipal science seems to be appropriate and useful. In general, the modern development of domestic municipal government necessitates research and study of the practices of organizing local government in foreign countries. Taking into account the generally accepted classification of municipal systems into Anglo-Saxon, continental and Iberian, the latter does not have complex and in-depth research. At the same time, it is widely believed that such a municipal system exists precisely in Spain and Portugal. Therefore, one of the tasks of this article is to study the constitutional and legal basis of local self-government in Portugal. So, the article provides an analysis of the sections and articles that regulate local and regional self-government in Portugal. In particular, more than 40 articles are mentioned. Thus, the Portuguese Constitution provides for the relevant institutions in quite detail and fully. A feature of the territorial organization of public power in Portugal is the functioning of self-government on the mainland and in autonomous regions, namely on the Azores and Madeira. In addition, the practice of functioning of intermunicipal units and associations of municipalities/parishes for certain purposes is considered interesting. Thus, the state fills a certain vacuum of governance at the regional level. In this context, another fact seems interesting - the enshrining of administrative regions in the Constitution, but their actual absence following the referendum. Thus, a certain vacuum of regional self-government and administration has arisen. In turn, the features of administration in the Azores and Madeira demonstrate the features of the Iberian model of local self-government. The status and powers of the Representative of the Republic confirm this.