Título III. Gobierno y administracion del municipio

The exercise of the government of the municipality corresponds exclusively to the Municipal Council, to safeguard the integrity of its patrimony, to guarantee its interests based on the values, culture and needs expressed by the neighbors, in accordance with the availability of resources.

The Municipal Council shall issue its own internal regulation on organization and functioning, the regulations and ordinances for the organization and functioning of its offices, as well as the personnel regulation, per diem regulation and other provisions that ensure the proper functioning of the municipal administration.

The powers of the Municipal Council are:

a)The initiation, deliberation and decision of municipal affairs;

b)Land-use planning and urban control of the municipal district;

c)Convening the various sectors of the society of the municipality for the formulation and institutionalization of municipal public policies and of the urban and rural development plans of the municipality, identifying and prioritizing community needs and proposed solutions to local problems.

d)Oversight and supervision of the various acts of the municipal government and of its administration;

e)The establishment, planning, regulation, programming, oversight and evaluation of municipal public services, as well as decisions on the institutional modalities for their provision, always taking into account the preeminence of public interests;

f)Approval, execution oversight, evaluation and settlement of the municipality's income and expenditure budget, in accordance with municipal public policies;

g)Acceptance of the delegation or transfer of powers;

h)Raising conflicts of jurisdiction with other entities present in the municipality;

i)Issuance and approval of municipal accords, regulations and ordinances;

j)Creation, elimination or modification of its dependencies, enterprises and administrative service units, for which it shall promote the process of technological modernization of the municipality and of municipal or community public services, as well as the administration of any municipal or public register assigned to it in accordance with the law;

k)Authorizing the process of deconcentration of the municipal government, for the purpose of improving services and creating the necessary institutional bodies, without prejudice to the unity of government and management of the municipal administration;

l)Organization of technical, advisory and consultative bodies necessary to the municipality, as well as such support as it deems necessary to the indigenous advisory councils of the community or auxiliary mayor's office, as well as to the coordination bodies of the Community Development Councils and of the Municipal Development Councils;

m)Preservation and promotion of the right of neighbors and communities to their cultural identity, in accordance with their values, languages, traditions and customs;

n)Setting of rents for municipal property, whether for common use or not, of fees for administrative services and fees for local public services, improvement contributions or compensatory payments by owners or possessors of real property benefited by municipal urban and rural development works. In the case of private use of municipal property for common use, the modality may be by way of rent, servitude of passage or onerous usufruct;

o)Proposing the creation, modification or elimination of a municipal tax to the Executive Branch, which shall forward the file with the respective bill to the Congress of the Republic;

p)Setting of the mayor's salary and representation expenses; per diems for attendance at sessions of the Municipal Council; and, where applicable, remuneration for community mayors or auxiliary mayors;

q)Granting of temporary leaves and acceptance of excuses from its members for not attending sessions;

r)Approval of the issuance, in accordance with the law, of shares, bonds and other securities deemed necessary for the better fulfillment of the purposes and duties of the municipality;

s)Approval of association or cooperation accords or agreements with other municipal corporations, public or private entities or bodies, national and international, that foster the strengthening of municipal management and development, subject to the laws on the matter;

t)Promotion and maintenance of relations with national, regional, departmental and municipal public institutions;

u)Awarding contracts for works, goods, supplies and services required by the municipality, its dependencies, enterprises and other administrative units in accordance with the law on the matter, except those whose award corresponds to the mayor;

v)Creation of the municipal police force;

w)As applicable, the powers for fulfillment of the obligations attributed to the State by Article 119 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala;

x)Preparation and maintenance of the municipal cadastre in accordance with the commitments undertaken in the peace accords and the law on the matter;

y)Promotion and protection of the renewable and non-renewable resources of the municipality;

z)Issuing a favorable opinion for the authorization of establishments which by their nature are open to the public, without which no authority may issue the respective license;

aa) Such other powers inherent to the autonomy of the municipality; and,

bb) Discussion, approval, execution oversight and evaluation of municipal youth development policies.

At its first ordinary annual session, the Municipal Council shall organize the commissions it considers necessary for the study and opinion on the matters it will consider during the entire year, the following commissions being mandatory:

1.Education, bilingual intercultural education, culture and sports;

2.Health and social assistance;

3.Services, infrastructure, territorial ordering, urban planning and housing;

4.Economic promotion, tourism, environment and natural resources;

5.Decentralization, municipal strengthening and citizen participation;

6.Finance;

7.Probity;

8.Human rights and peace;

9.The family, women, children, youth, older adults or any other [commission] formed for social outreach; all municipalities must recognize, from the amount of income received from the constitutional transfer, an amount of not less than 0.5% for this Commission, of the respective Municipality.

The Municipal Council may organize other commissions in addition to those already established.

The commissions shall submit to the Municipal Council, through its president, the opinions and reports required of them with respect to the matters submitted to their knowledge and study; as well as propose the actions necessary to achieve greater efficiency in municipal public services and in the administration of the municipality in general.

When the commissions of the Municipal Council deem it necessary, they may require the professional advice of public or private persons and entities specialized in the subject matter at issue.

Only when, in order to decide matters of interest to the municipality, the law requires the Municipal Council to previously have a favorable opinion, opinion or decision from a specialized state entity, at no cost, such entity shall render its pronouncement as appropriate within a time not exceeding thirty (30) calendar days, unless for technical reasons it requires a longer time limit, which it shall bring to the knowledge of the interested Municipal Council.

The sessions of the Municipal Council shall be presided over by the mayor or by the councilor who, legally, temporarily substitutes for him in office.

There shall be ordinary and extraordinary sessions. Ordinary sessions shall be held at least once a week upon convocation by the mayor; and extraordinary sessions shall be held as many times as necessary at the request of any of the members of the Municipal Council, in which case the mayor shall issue the corresponding convocation, in accordance with the provisions of this Code and the regulation on the organization and functioning thereof.

There may be no extraordinary session without prior personal and written summons, sent to all members of the Municipal Council and stating the matter to be addressed.

Sessions shall be public, but they may be private when so agreed and provided that the matter to be considered affects public order, or the honor and decorum of the municipality or of any of its members. Also, when the importance of a matter suggests the advisability of hearing the opinion of the residents, the Municipal Council, with the vote of two-thirds of the total of its members, may agree that the session be held as an open town meeting, setting forth in the convocation the place, day and time of the session. In these council sessions, the residents attending shall have voice but no vote, and all must maintain the composure, decorum and dignity befitting a meeting of such nature; otherwise, it shall be suspended without liability of the Municipal Council.

The Municipal Council may declare itself in permanent session if the importance and urgency of the matter so warrants.

Likewise, it shall hold ceremonial or solemn sessions on special occasions. All sessions shall be held in the building of the municipality, except in special cases determined by the Municipal Council or of force majeure, in which situation the sessions may be held in any other part of the territorial circumscription of the municipality.

When the importance of the subject so warrants, the Municipal Council may consult the opinion of the Community Development Councils, through their authorized representatives.

All members of the Municipal Council are obligated to attend sessions punctually. All members have voice and vote, and none may abstain from voting or withdraw once voting has been ordered; but if any member has a personal interest in the matter at issue, or any relative of his or hers within the degrees established by law has such an interest, he or she shall abstain from participating in its discussion and, consequently, from voting, withdrawing while the decision is taken. If such a situation exists and he or she does not abstain, any of the members of the Municipal Council may so request of him or her; and he or she shall forthwith proceed to withdraw.

Absence from sessions, without justified written excuse, shall be disciplinarily sanctioned in accordance with the regulations of the Municipal Council, the office being subject to be declared vacant for absence, without justified cause, from five (5) consecutive sessions, immediately communicating its decision to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for the effects provided by the Electoral and Political Parties Law.

In the case of absence of the trustees, for the session in question, the mayor shall appoint one of the councilors as specific trustee.

The agreements, ordinances and decisions of the Municipal Council shall be valid if the favorable vote of the absolute majority of the total members who legally comprise it concurs, except in cases in which this Code requires a qualified majority. In case of a tie in the vote, the mayor shall have a double vote or a deciding vote.

The municipal secretary shall prepare a detailed record of each session, which shall be signed by the person who presided over it and by the secretary, being valid after having been read and approved by the members of the Municipal Council, no later than thirty (30) days from its holding. A certified copy of each record shall be filed chronologically under his responsibility.

The agreements, ordinances and decisions of the Municipal Council shall be of immediate effect, but those of general observance shall enter into force eight (8) days after their publication in the Official Gazette, unless such decision or agreement extends or restricts said time limit.

The publication of agreements, ordinances and regulations of general observance in the Official Gazette shall have no cost whatsoever for the municipalities, and they must be published by said entity, no later than within the thirty days following receipt of the corresponding instrument.

To be elected mayor, syndic, or councilor, the following is required:

a)To be a Guatemalan by origin and a registered resident in the municipal district.

b)To be in the enjoyment of one's political rights.

c)To know how to read and write.

The offices of syndic and councilor are service to the community and, therefore, of gratuitous performance, but they may be remunerated under the system of per diems for each full session attended, provided that the financial situation so allows and the volume of work so requires, and in any case, such remuneration must be authorized with the vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the total members comprising the Municipal Council.

The mayor and secretary shall be entitled to the same per diems as those established for syndics and councilors, when sessions are held during off-hours or on non-working days. Any increase to the mayor's salary, and where applicable to the established per diems and remunerations, requires the favorable vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members comprising the Municipal Council and that the municipality's finances so allow.

Syndics and councilors who work as employees in the public or private sector shall enjoy leave from their work centers of ten (10) hours per week, without deductions from their remuneration, which time shall be devoted exclusively to the duties inherent to their offices on the Municipal Council. The employer is obligated to grant the weekly leave.

Syndics and councilors shall not be transferred or reassigned by their employer without their consent while they exercise their functions.

The following may not exercise the functions of mayor, trustee or councilor:

a)A person judicially disqualified by final judgment for an intentional crime or subject to an order of preventive imprisonment.

b)A person who directly or indirectly has a part in public services, contracts, concessions or supplies with or on behalf of the municipality.

c)A debtor for sureties or shortfalls in accounts owed to municipal funds.

d)Where kinship exists within the degrees established by law among those elected. If the kinship is between the mayor and one of the trustees or councilors, the mayor shall be deemed elected. If it is between other members of the Municipal Council, the trustee or councilor with the preferential award in his favor shall be deemed elected, the vacancy occurring for that reason being filled ipso facto in the manner established by the Electoral and Political Parties Law.

If, after the election, the mayor, trustee or councilor becomes subject to any of the prohibitions in this article, once fully proven, the Municipal Council shall declare the office vacant and shall request the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to accredit the substitute.

The following are causes for not accepting or resigning the office of mayor, trustee or councilor:

a)Those expressed in the preceding article.

b)Being over seventy years of age.

c)Suffering from illness or impediment that prevents him from exercising his functions.

After ratification of the non-acceptance or resignation before the Municipal Council, and the latter meeting in ordinary session, it shall decide with the favorable vote of the absolute majority of its members and shall declare the vacancy, immediately communicating its decision to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, for purposes of the Electoral and Political Parties Law.

Resignation from the office of mayor may only be accepted with the favorable vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all the members of the Municipal Council and, upon declaration of the vacancy, it shall immediately install the first councilor in office, and if he does not accept, the first alternate councilor shall be called, in accordance with the Electoral and Political Parties Law, observing the formalities and solemnities of law.

The trustee or councilor who replaces the incumbent shall take office in ordinary session of the Municipal Council, once accredited as such by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, observing the formalities and solemnities of law. The resigning person may not, without incurring liability, abandon the office until the substitute takes office, except in the case of substitution of the mayor.

The members of the Municipal Council shall assume the offices to which they were elected, on the date on which, in accordance with the Electoral and Political Parties Law, the municipal government term begins.

Municipal mayors shall not be detained or criminally prosecuted without a prior declaration by a competent Judicial authority that there are grounds to initiate proceedings, except in the case of flagrante delicto.

During their prosecution, the public officials subject to proceedings shall enjoy the rights granted by the Law on Probity and Liabilities of Public Officials and Public Employees, and they shall be restored to their office if within the proceedings they are granted a substitute measure for preventive imprisonment and it does not disqualify them from exercising their functions.

If the judgment is a conviction and does not disqualify them from exercising their public functions, and the penalty imposed is commutable in its entirety, upon payment of the fine within three (3) days following execution of the ruling if they are not in office, they shall resume their office; otherwise, the vacancy shall be declared and shall be filled as provided by the Electoral and Political Parties Law.

No public official or public employee, nor any natural person, acting individually or in association, may, without incurring criminal liability, remove or attempt to illegally remove the mayor and other legally elected municipal authorities.

The mancomunidades are associations of municipalities that are established as entities of public law, with their own legal personality, constituted through agreements entered into between the councils of two or more municipalities, in accordance with this Code, for the joint formulation of municipal public policies, plans, programs and projects, as well as the execution of works and the efficient provision of municipal services. In addition, they may perform those competencies that are decentralized to the municipalities, provided that the statutes so establish and the Municipal Councils have specifically so approved.

The governing bodies of the mancomunidades are: a) the General Assembly, composed of mayors, councilors and/or trustees as determined by each Municipal Council of the municipalities forming the mancomunidad, each member municipality being entitled to one vote; b) the Board of Directors, elected by the General Assembly and which shall act in accordance with the provisions of the latter.

For the administration and efficient execution of the decisions of the mancomunidades, they shall have their own administrative structure and at least one Manager.

Municipalities have the right to associate with others in one or more mancomunidades.

Mancomunidades shall be governed as established in this Code and their statutes. They may not bind the municipalities comprising them beyond the limits set forth in their statutes.

The procedure for approval of the statutes of municipal commonwealths of municipalities shall comply with the following rules:

a)The intent of each municipality to organize as a municipal commonwealth shall be placed on record, by means of certification of the record item of the session held by each Municipal Council so evidencing;

b)The statutes of the municipal commonwealths shall be prepared by the designated mayors, councilors and syndics, of all of the municipalities promoting the municipal commonwealth, convened as a general assembly of municipalities to be joined in commonwealth, each with voice, with one vote per municipality.

c)Each Municipal Council of the municipalities joined in commonwealth shall approve the formation of the municipal commonwealth and its respective statutes, by agreement adopted by at least two-thirds of all of its members. Certification of the record item of the Session held by each Municipal Council shall be issued with respect to said Municipal Agreement.

d)The statutes of each municipal commonwealth shall contain at least the following matters:

1.The name, purpose and domicile of the municipal commonwealth;

2.The municipalities constituting the municipal commonwealth;

3.The purposes for which it is created;

4.The period of its validity;

5.The initial contribution of each of the municipalities creating it and the initial ordinary assessment;

6.The power of the general assembly to increase ordinary assessments and to establish extraordinary assessments;

7.The composition of the governing bodies of the municipal commonwealth, the manner of appointing them, their powers, responsibilities and the time they shall remain in office, which shall be based on the office they hold;

8.The manner of appointing the manager of the municipal commonwealth; the manager's functions and powers;

9.The procedure for amending or dissolving it, and the manner of resolving disputes that may arise with respect to its administration and its property; and,

10.The control mechanisms of the municipal commonwealth.

e)Municipal commonwealths and their respective legal representatives shall be registered in the municipality where they were formed. Likewise, the associations of municipalities regulated in Article 10 of this Code, as well as their legal representatives, shall be registered.

The mayor represents the municipality and the municipal district; is the legal representative thereof, without prejudice to the judicial representation attributed to the syndic; is the head of the executive organ of the municipal government; member of the respective Departmental Development Council and president of the Municipal Development Council.

As applicable to him, it is the power and obligation of the mayor to enforce the ordinances, regulations, agreements, decisions and other provisions of the Municipal Council and for that purpose shall issue the necessary orders and instructions, shall adopt policy and good-government measures and shall exercise the power of direct action and, in general, shall decide the affairs of the municipal district that are not attributed to another authority.

The mayor presides over the Municipal Council and has the following specific powers:

a)To direct the municipal administration.

b)To represent the municipality and the municipal district.

c)To preside over the sessions of the Municipal Council and to convene its members to ordinary and extraordinary sessions in accordance with this Code.

d)To ensure strict compliance with municipal public policies and with the development plans, programs and projects of the municipal district.

e)To direct, inspect and promote public services and municipal works.

f)To order expenditures, within the limits of his jurisdiction; to authorize payments and to render accounts in accordance with the legally established procedure.

g)To hold the superior leadership of all the administrative personnel of the municipality; to appoint, impose sanctions on, accept the resignation of and remove, in accordance with the law, municipal employees.

h)To exercise leadership of the municipal police, as well as the appointment and sanction of its public officials.

i)To exercise judicial and administrative actions in case of urgency.

j)To personally adopt, and under his liability in case of catastrophe or disasters or serious risk thereof, the necessary measures, immediately informing the full Municipal Council.

k)To impose sanctions for offenses for disobedience to his authority or for violation of municipal ordinances, except in cases in which such power is attributed to other bodies.

l)To contract works and services in accordance with the legally established procedure, with the exception of those whose contracting corresponds to the Municipal Council.

m)To promote and support, in accordance with this Code and other applicable laws, the participation and work of civil associations and neighborhood committees operating in his municipal district, and must inform the Municipal Council when it so requires.

n)To process the administrative matters whose decision corresponds to the Municipal Council and, once substantiated, to report on them to the full Council at the immediately following session.

o)To authorize, jointly with the Municipal Secretary, all books to be used in the municipality, the civil associations and neighborhood committees operating in the municipal district; excepted are the books (physical or digital) and auxiliary registers to be used in accounting operations, which by law the Comptroller General of Accounts is responsible for authorizing.

p)To authorize, free of charge, civil marriages, providing within the law the greatest facilities for them to take place, and may delegate this function to one of the council members.

q)To administer the legal oath to the council members, trustees and to the community or auxiliary mayors, upon giving them possession of their offices.

r)To send a certified copy to the Comptroller General of Accounts of the inventory of the property of the municipal district, within the first fifteen (15) calendar days of the month of January of each year.

s)To serve as the means of communication between the Municipal Council and the authorities and public officials.

t)To present the annual budget of the municipality to the Municipal Council for its knowledge and approval.

u)To remit, within the first five (5) working days after the end of each quarter of the year, to the Citizens' Register of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, a report on the residency registrations effected in the previous quarter and on the residents who died during the same period.

v)Such other powers as are expressly attributed to him by the laws and those that State legislation assigns to the municipal district and does not attribute to other municipal bodies.

Clause o) as amended by Article 13 of Decree Number 22-2010 of 22-06-2010.

The syndics and the councilors, as members of the deliberation and decision-making body, have the following attributions:

a)To propose measures tending to prevent abuses and corrupt practices in municipal offices and dependencies.

b)Councilors shall substitute for the mayor, in their order, in case of temporary absence, having the right to earn remuneration equivalent to the mayor's salary when this occurs.

c)To issue an opinion in any matter requested by the mayor or the Municipal Council. The opinion must be technically reasoned and delivered as soon as possible.

d)To form part of and perform promptly and diligently the commissions to which they are appointed by the mayor or the Municipal Council.

e)Syndics shall represent the municipality before the tribunals of justice and administrative offices and, in such capacity, have the character of judicial agents under a mandate, and must be expressly authorized by the Municipal Council for the exercise of special powers in accordance with the law. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Municipal Council may, in specific cases, appoint specific agents under a mandate.

f)To oversee the administrative action of the mayor and to demand compliance with the agreements and decisions of the Municipal Council.

g)To question the mayor about measures he may have adopted in the use of or in excess of his functions, and, by majority vote of its members, to approve or not the measures that gave rise to the questioning.

The municipal government shall recognize, respect and promote the indigenous mayoralties, where they exist, including their own forms of administrative functioning.

The Municipal Council, in accordance with the uses, norms, and traditions of the communities, shall recognize the community mayoralties or auxiliary mayoralties as representative entities of the communities, especially for decision-making and as a link of relation with the municipal government.

The appointment of community mayors or auxiliary mayors shall be issued by the municipal mayor, based on the designation or election made by the communities in accordance with the principles, values, procedures, and traditions thereof.

The members of the community mayoralties or auxiliary mayoralties shall remain in the exercise of their offices for the period determined by the community assembly, which may not exceed the term of the Municipal Council, based on the principles, values, norms and procedures of the community, or, on a supplementary basis, in accordance with the ordinances issued by the Municipal Council.

The following are the powers of the community mayor or auxiliary mayor, in their respective circumscription:

a)To promote the organization and the systematic and effective participation of the community in the identification and solution of local problems.

b)To collaborate in the identification of local needs and in the formulation of proposals for solution thereof.

c)To propose guidelines and coordination instruments in the community for the execution of programs or projects by persons, institutions or entities interested in the development of the communities.

d)To prepare, manage and supervise, with the support and coordination of the Municipal Council, programs and projects that contribute to the integral development of the community.

e)To cooperate in national and municipal censuses, as well as in the surveying and updating of the municipal cadastre.

f)To promote and manage, in the community and municipal spheres, actions that guarantee the rational and sustainable use of public infrastructure.

g)To exercise and represent, by delegation of the mayor, the municipal authority.

h)To serve as a communication link between the authorities of the municipality and the inhabitants.

i)To render the reports required of him/her by the Municipal Council or the mayor.

j)To mediate in the conflicts submitted to him/her by the residents of the community, coordinating efforts with the Trial Court of Municipal Affairs, when the case so requires.

k)To ensure compliance with the ordinances, regulations and provisions of a general nature, issued by the Municipal Council or the mayor, to whom he/she shall report the violations and faults committed.

l)To ensure the conservation, protection and development of the natural resources of his/her territorial circumscription.

m)Such others as are assigned to him/her by law and those delegated to him/her by the Municipal Council or the municipal mayor, within the scope of their respective competences.

Municipal public officials and employees shall provide, as applicable to them, the necessary collaboration for the fulfillment of the powers of the community mayor or auxiliary mayor.

The Municipal Council shall meet, at least two (2) times per year, with the community or auxiliary mayors of the municipality, to coordinate activities.

Each municipality, in accordance with its financial resources, shall regulate in the municipal regulation the remuneration corresponding for service as community mayor or auxiliary mayor.