Legislative initiative of residents
Z Encyklopedia Administracji Publicznej
LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE OF RESIDENTS (civic legislative initiative) – a tool of → direct democracy for those residents of a municipality, county and voivodship who have an active electoral right to elect a representative body, allowing them to submit a draft resolution to the competent authorities of the → local government unit. The specified minimum thresholds for the number of signatures of residents supporting the project (which is a condition of giving the initiative a further course) depend on the type and size of the unit. The minimum number of signatures is: in a municipality of up to 5,000 residents – 100, in a municipality of up to 20,000 – 200, in a municipality over 20,000 – 300; in a county up to 100,000 residents – 300, in a county above 100,000 – 500; in a voivodship – signatures of 1 thousand residents. A draft resolution submitted by authorized residents of a local government unit becomes the subject of the council/sejmik’s nearest session , but no later than three months after the submission of the project. Detailed rules regarding: bringing in civic initiatives, creating committees of legislative initiatives, promotion of civic legislative initiatives and formal requirements that must be met by submitted projects, are specified in a council/sejmik resolution. This form of → participatory democracy was introduced in 2018, thanks to the adoption of the Act amending certain acts in order to increase the participation of citizens in the process of selecting, functioning and controlling some public bodies. [B. Węglarz]
Literature: B. Węglarz, Ewolucja lokalnej demokracji bezpośredniej w Polsce po 1989 roku [The evolution of local direct democracy in Poland after 1989], Kraków 2013.