Abstract
The article deals with the relation between the constitutional and legal regulation of decision-making in matters of territorial self-government, especially to the question of whom this decision belongs - whether only to the representatives of territorial self-governing units or if it is possible to realize also direct way of decision making by citizens or by other bodies of territorial self-governing units.
Constitutional Act No. 294/1990 Coll., which was adopted in Czechoslovak federal state, restored territorial self-government as a public administration different from state administration at the level of municipalities. The Act explicitly assumed that matters of self-government could be decided not by the elected council, but also by the citizens directly through a referendum or at municipal assemblies.
On the other hand, the Constitution of the Czech Republic No. 1/1993 Coll., which was adopted later, establishes that in matters of self-government, the council of the territorial unit decides, while the regulation of direct participation of citizens in the form of a local referendum is not enshrined. The article analyzes the arguments about the constitutional and legal admissibility of holding a local referendum, as a supplement to the representative democracy represented by the council.
The article deals also with cases established by law, whem the decision-making of certain matters of self-governmet is entrusted to other body of the territorial unit other than the council, namely to the executive body or to the representative of the self-governing unit (e.g. to the mayor of the municipality). The article assumes that also in these cases the sovereignty of the council is preserved and that there is no contradiction with the constitutional regulation.