TOPIC 1

INTRODUCTION TO
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT

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 CONTENT
 Definitions
 Objectives
 Functions
 Characteristics
 Obligatory and discretionary functions
 Sovereignty and Local Government

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 WHAT IS LOCAL GOVERNMENT?
A governing institution which has authority
over a sub national territorially defined area

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 • LG as a system of district, territorial unit,
which has their own boundary, legal entity,
instructional structure, power and tasks, which
is subject to certain act, has a financial
authority and other autonomy ( Dilly M. Hill,
1974)

• LG denotes the Government of urban area,

rural area or a combination of urban and rural
area, subordinated to the state government but
having an independent legal existence/from the
government (Malcolm W. Norris)
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It is a public organization authorized to decide and
administer a limited range of public policies within a
small territory which is a subdivision of a regional or
national government
It is at the bottom of a pyramid of governmental
institutions with the national government at the top
 DEFINITION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
 A political subdivision of a nation or a state which is constituted
by law and has substantial control over local affairs, including
the power to impose taxes or exact (hire) labour for
prescribed purposes. (United Nations)

 Local governments are infra–sovereign, geographic sub-divisions

of a sovereign nation or state exercising the power of
jurisdiction in a particular area. Many of them are legal entities,
which means they can sue and be sued and enter into a legal
contract. (Ministry of Housing and Local Government)

 A state created political entity, representing the third tier in a

Federal structure, administered by State nominated councilors,
geographically encompassing a portion of the country. It is infra
sovereign, subordinate and subject to control by State
government, yet it is a separate legal unit being a body
corporate, having a common seal, with power to sue and be sued
and mainly providing obligatory services” (Phang, 1997)
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5 OBJECTVES OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT (A.F. LEEMANS)

National Unity
Democracy – Pluralism, Participation and
Responsiveness
Autonomy – Financial, Administrative, and
Functional
Administrative
Efficiency
Socio- Economic Development
FUNCTIONS OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT IN MALAYSIA

1) Local Government Act 1976 (Act 171) lists 5 main

functions of local government:
Environment Protection and Building Control
Public Amenities – maintenance functions
Public Health and Sanitation
Social Function
Town Planning and Control
2) Town & Country Planning Act 1974:
It is the main planning body in the area
It prepares the structure/town plan once every 5 years

3) Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974:

Permits for building and extensive purposes
Approval of Certificate of Fitness (CF) for building and housing

Sabah- LA were established through provisions under the LG

Ordinance 1961.

Sarawak- LA were established under LA Ordinance 1996.

Obligatory & Discretionary Functions
Local government in Malaysia operate on the Anglo
Saxon Principle of Ultra Vires
Ultra vires- the local councils may only perform the
functions specifically enumerated in the various acts and
by-laws.

Local government functions consists of both the

obligatory and discretionary types.
Obligatory : street lighting, public health
Discretionary : beautification of the area
Differences
OBLIGATORY FUNCTIONS
Financial & administration
Public amenities
Enforcement and license
Public health & cleaning
Social service & development
Environment

Depends on allocation from the state and federal

government
Direct supervision from the federal government
Cont (Differences)..

DISCRETIONARY FUNCTIONS
Development functions
Beautification area
Recreational park
Garden
Lamppost

Depends on local government funds

Indirect supervision from the federal government
CHARACTERISTICS OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
• A body corporate- carry out their function according the law
provided, they can sue, be sued, has properties, and can signed
agreement/contract.

• LG has its own territory which is clearly delineated by the state

government.

• LG has its own population. LG responsible to develop the areas

for the benefits of the society

• LG has financial, administration and functional autonomy.

– Financial autonomy – it can collect taxes, licenses, fees and use the revenue
for its own purposes. It can also get involved in business.
– Administrative autonomy- it can hire and dismiss its own staff
– Functional autonomy –refers to its competence – whether it has Inherent
Competence or whether it follows the Anglo Saxon Doctrine of Competence
Cont (Characteristics)..

• Policy and decision making is decided by a Council – the

Council is either appointed or elected. Decision making
may take the form of approving budgets, by laws, new
development proposed by developers and building plans.

• LG can make laws knows as ‘by-law’ which does not

contradict with the parent laws.

• LG is infra-sovereign- LG is eligible to the local law

• Local government can also get involved in business. It

can be either through joint venture with the private
sector or on its own.
Arrangement
Functions and powers of local governm ent in England
Upper tier authority Lower tier authority
Shire counties waste management, education, housing, waste collection,
libraries, social services, council tax collection, local
transport, strategic planning, planning, licensing, cemeteries
consumer protection and crematoria
Unitary housing, waste management, waste collection, tax collection,
authorities education, libraries, social services, transport, planning,
consumer protection, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria
Metropolitan housing, waste collection,
counties council tax collection, education,
libraries, social services,
transport, planning, consumer
protection, licensing,
cemeteries and crematoria
Greater London transport, strategic planning, housing, waste collection,
regional development, police, council tax collection, education,
fire libraries, social services, local
planning, consumer protection,
CONCEPT OF SOVEREIGNTY IN
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
 LG under the Ultra Vires principle do not have any element
of sovereignty and are only statutory bodies created by an
Act of Parliament.

 Only the Federal and State governments in Malaysia have

sovereignty.
 because the Constitution of Malaysia only specifies the powers of
the Federal and state government.

 Local government is under the jurisdiction of the State

government in Malaysia.

 Hence, LG does not have any sovereignty and can be

abolished by the Federal Parliament.
 Sovereignty and its relationship to
government

FEDERAL SOVEREIGN
GOVERNMENT NATIONAL

STATE
QUASI-SOVEREIGN
GOVERNMENT

LOCAL
INFRA-SOVEREIGN
GOVERNMENT

LG involves the conception of a territorial non-sovereign community,

processing the legal right the necessary organization to regulate its own
affairs. LG are not sovereign unlike independent nation states.
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Characteristic of infra sovereign LG:
Limited power/authority
Can be sued/ sue
It is legal entity
Can has the right to involve in agreement/contract

LG in Malaysia has no sovereignty and LG is set up

to ease and effectiveness in local administration.

LG in Malaysia is created by superior government,

thus LG can be dissolved without argues by other
parties.
ULTRA VIRES VS GENERAL
COMPETENCE
Ultra vires is defined as power beyond the
scope allowed functions
General competence is the principles that
allows action taken by LG to provide the goods
and services, protect people and property as
long as not against with Federal Constitution
 Power of LG-
1) Ultra Vires doctrine (Malaysia, UK, Australia,
and India). LG in Malaysia operates on the Anglo
Saxon principle of Ultra Vires. LG can only
perform the function specifically enumerated in
the various acts and by-laws (obligatory and
discretionary functions)

2) General Competence doctrine- LG derives its

power from the constitution and they can do
anything which is not under jurisdiction of higher
levels of government. (e.g. Denmark & Sweeden)

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 JUSTIFICATION/IMPORTANCE

• It is an efficient method for administering certain services since

their administrative area is smaller than state or federal
government.
• They are multipurpose and can provide a variety of services
• Some services need a local area for efficiency such as health,
refuse disposal
• As a provider of services – they provide services such as police,
fire, consumer protection services, art galleries, museums and
libraries
• LG have financial autonomy and can initiative in providing better
services such as housing.

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 Justification/Importance (Cont.)
• LG encourages democracy and political education at the local
level.
• LG acts as a defensive mechanism against a too powerful
central government
• LG is justified on grounds of tradition
• The services it provides has an immediate effect on the lives of
the people
• There is a closeness between local government and the people.
It provides opportunities for public participation and
involvement.

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 DEFECTS of LG
Weakness in having a system of LG.

• It allows variation in standard of services and types of services

provided.
• Efficiency of services provided – some LG are too small to
provide efficient services and can only provide the basic
minimum services.
• Public perception of local government is bad – it is associated
with 3R only (rats, rubbish and rates).
• There is too much central and state control and influence over
local government.

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 SKILL OF DELEGATING
No man will make a great leader
who wants to do it all himself, or
get all the credit for doing it.
-Andrew Carnegic

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 END OF CHAPTER 1

THANK YOU

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