- Open administration
The use of digital services increases by 11%: balance of the AOC 2023
18/3/2020 Telematic plenary session of the Vallès Oriental County Council
Distances of security, avoiding crowds, stopping the processing of administrative procedures, etc., the various measures coupled with the declaration of the alarm status can give the impression that the holding of session sessions must be canceled. collegiate bodies (full, meetings, commissions, meetings, etc.).
Nothing is further from the reality: the Third Additional Provision of the Decree Law 7/2020, of March 17, on urgent measures in the field of public procurement, health and management of health waste, transparency, public transport and in tax and economic matters, on purpose allows electronic sessions of meetings of the collegiate bodies of the Catalan local administrations (from the announcement to the adoption of agreements and the transfer of minutes).
This qualification, however, requires the occurrence of situations of force majeure or serious collective risk, catastrophe and public calamities.
It gives freedom of choice of the means used (telephones and audiovisuals are supported), provided that they meet the formal and technical requirements. By way of summary, you will need to make sure that the solution used:
- Guarantee: i) the identity of the members, ii) the content and timing of their manifestations, (iii) real-time intervention interaction, (iv) availability of electronic media during the session, i v) the secret of deliberations (where appropriate).
- Avoid external interference.
- Allow live broadcasting for public sessions.
In the same vein, the modification of article 46 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the rules of the local regime, approved by second final provision of the Royal Decree 11/2020, of March 31, adopting urgent complementary measures in the social and economic field to deal with COVID-19.
Precisely, this modification of the regime of operation of the collegiate bodies of the local entities admits the use of the electronic and telematic means to celebrate the sessions of these organs and, among others, demands that the assistants are in territory Spanish to understand that they have been validly constituted.
On the other hand, from the AOC we highlight the special information that the Catalan Association of Municipalities and Counties (ACM) dedicates to covid-19, and, in particular, the section on collegiate bodies.
In this section, you will find the Legal note on the distant holding of meetings of the collegiate bodies of local entities in the current state alarm, where the feasibility of the telematic sessions of the collegiate bodies of the Catalan local authorities is studied (if you click this link you will find the text of the Note).
We also echo the article “On the possibility of holding full Telematic Telematic during the alarm state, and how to do it", By Víctor Almonacid, which analyzes the current situation of the municipal plenary sessions from the current regulations, as well as the Notes and Informative Guidelines of the General Direction of autonomic and Local legal system and COSITAL.
Also, in this post, Victor Almonacid makes a number of recommendations that can be very helpful for holding sessions (if you want to read the entire one, including external references). click here).