論地方自治團體間合作之法制

Abstract

地方自治團體除了自行處理自身轄區內的地方事務外，也會基於各種原因而產生與其他地方自治團體協力合作處理事務的需求。本文的研究主題即是探討我國現行法對於地方自治團體間協力合作設有如何之規範，現行規範有何解釋上疑義與規範設計上之不足，以及能如何使我國相關法制更加完善。 本文首先從憲法、中央法令與自治法規三個規範層次，整理出我國現行法中涉及地方自治團體間合作之規範，並分析各規範間之適用關係，再由「參與合作之地方自治團體彼此間關係」、「合作團體與中央及上級地方自治團體間關係」以及「個別合作團體內部行政、立法機關與地方居民之角色分配」三大觀察面向，體系性的分析現行法對地方自治團體間合作之各環節分別有如何之規範內容，並針對存在解釋疑義之處提出本文之解釋主張，同時也指出現行規範設計尚有何不足。 接著，本文選擇日本法作為法制上參考之對象，日本地方自治體間合作具有悠久的歷史，也累積了豐富的案例，其對地方自治體間合作之規範則集中於地方自治法所規定之七種合作方式，分別是：一部事務組合、廣域連合、機關等共同設置、協議會、事務委託、事務代替執行以及合作協約。本文詳細說明這七種合作方式之規範內容與運作方式，並由上述地方自治團體間合作之三大觀察面向，分析日本法分別如何就其進行規範，以及相關司法判決之內容。 最後，本文綜合前兩部分之討論，提出對於我國地方自治團體間合作法制之立法建議，包括應將規範架構修改為「工具箱」之形式、引進目的事業公法社團作為合作方式、以規約作為合作基本框架之決策形式、基於地方自治合作之特性通盤修正地方自治監督與行政爭訟法之規定，以及於個別合作方式之設計上應兼顧決策效率、穩定性與住民自治原則等。

Local self-governing bodies not only handle local affairs within their jurisdiction but also have the need to cooperate with other local self-governing bodies for various reasons. The research topic of this paper is to explore the regulations in the current laws of our country regarding cooperative collaboration between local self-governing bodies, identify ambiguities and deficiencies in the current regulations, and propose ways to improve the relevant legal framework in our country. Firstly, this paper categorizes the regulations related to cooperation between local self-governing bodies in our current laws into three levels: the Constitution, acts and regulations, and self-government laws and regulations. It analyzes the applicability of each regulation and systematically examines the regulatory contents of various stages of cooperation between local self-governing bodies from three perspectives: "relationships between participating local self-governing bodies," "relationships between collaborating bodies and central/superior local self-governing bodies," and "role allocation among administrative and legislative bodies and local residents within individual collaborating bodies." The paper also presents its own interpretation of ambiguities in the existing regulations and points out the deficiencies in the current regulatory design. Next, this paper selects Japan as a reference for legal comparison. Inter-municipal cooperation in Japan has a long history and has accumulated rich case examples. The regulations on inter-municipal cooperation in Japan are mainly concentrated in the Local Autonomy Act, which stipulates seven cooperation methods: partial operating unions, regional unions, jointly established institutions, councils, entrusted affairs, substitutionary execution of affairs, and cooperation agreements. This paper provides a detailed explanation of the regulatory contents and operational methods of these seven cooperation methods. It analyzes how Japanese law regulates each method from the three aforementioned perspectives and examines relevant judicial decisions. Finally, based on the discussions in the previous sections, this paper proposes legislative recommendations for the legal framework of inter-municipal cooperation among local self-governing bodies in our country. These recommendations include modifying the regulatory framework into a "toolbox" format, introducing purpose-based public law associations as a cooperative method, adopting regulations as the fundamental decision-making framework for cooperation, comprehensively amending the provisions of local autonomy supervision and administrative litigation laws based on the characteristics of local autonomy cooperation, and designing individual cooperation methods considering decision-making efficiency, stability, and the principle of resident autonomy.