An Evaluation of the Constitutional Court’s Judgement on the Authority of Municipal Councils

The taxation power of municipal councils varies from country to country depending on the democracy traditions and their administrative structures. Following the industrial revolution, the importance of urbanization phenomenon has increased. The revenue need of the local governments has also increased with their enlarging duty and responsibilities. A similar situation is also valid for Turkey. Regarding the issue of local governments, the Ottoman regulations were mostly maintained in the early years of the Republic. The rule of law numbered 5237, came into force in 1948, gave the authority to the municipal council to determine the amount of taxes and duties within the upper and lower limits established in the law. This situation preserved partially in the law numbered 2464 which took effect in 1981. However, there has been a long debate arguing whether the taxation regulations in the 1982 Constitution gave this right to the municipal councils. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the taxation rights of municipal councils in a historical perspective in relation to the European Charter of Local Self Government.