Constitutional reforms and legal foundations of local self-governance in CIS countries in 2020-2023: novations or efforts to enshrine the existing position

The article reveals relevant information about the constitutional reforms in the CIS member states, which took place in 2020-2023 and affected the legal foundations of local self-government models implemented in the states of the association. Based on the analysis of changes in the constitutional and sectoral legislation on local governance and self-governance of the designated countries, the author draws conclusions regarding the compliance of reforms and their results with international legal standards and principles of local self-governance organization, including recommendations of the CIS bodies. In most of the unification countries, the implementation of local self-governance reform based on constitutional and legal norms was aimed at preserving the existing subordinate position of municipalities to the state administration. As an example of reverse tendencies, it is worth considering the constitutional-legal reform and the reform of local self-government in Turkmenistan, as a result of which a system of local self-government bodies was established in the country, which corresponds to both national-cultural traditions and international legal principles of local self-government.