Legal document establishing a municipality
A
city charter
or
town charter
(generically,
municipal charter
) is a legal
document
(
charter
) establishing a
municipality
such as a
city
or
town
. The concept developed in
Europe
during the
Middle Ages
.
Traditionally, the granting of a charter gave a
settlement
and its inhabitants the right to
town privileges
under the
feudal system
. Townspeople who lived in chartered towns were
burghers
, as opposed to
serfs
who lived in villages. Towns were often "
free
", in the sense that they were directly protected by the king or emperor, and were not part of a feudal
fief
.
Today, the process for granting is determined by the type of government of the state in question. In monarchies, charters are still often a
royal charter
given by
the Crown
or the authorities acting on behalf of the Crown. In federations, the granting of charters may be within the jurisdiction of the lower level of government, such as a
province
.
Canada
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In Canada, charters are granted by
provincial authorities
.
Germany
[
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]
Philippines
[
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]
Since the beginning of American colonial rule, Philippines cities were formally established through laws enacted by the various national legislatures in the country. The
Philippine Commission
gave the city of Manila its charter in 1901, while the city of Baguio was established by the
Philippine Assembly
which was composed by elected members instead of appointed ones. During the
Commonwealth era
, the
National Assembly
established an additional ten cities. Since achieving independence from the United States in 1946 the
Philippine Congress
has established 124 more cities (as of September 2007
[update]
), the majority of which required the holding of a
plebiscite
within the proposed city's jurisdiction to ratify the city's charter.
Sweden
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]
In
Sweden
until 1951, cities were established by
royal charter
.
United Kingdom
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]
In the
United Kingdom
, cities are established by
royal charter
.
United States
[
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]
In the
United States
, such charters are established either directly by a
state legislature
by means of
local legislation
, or indirectly under a general
municipal corporation
law, usually after the proposed charter has passed a referendum vote of the affected population.
A municipal charter is the basic document that defines the organization, powers, functions and essential procedures of the city government. The charter is, therefore, the most important legal document of any city.
[1]
Municipalities without charters, in states where such exist, are known as
general-law municipalities or cities
.
See also
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]
References
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]
Further reading
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]
- Winfield, P.H.,
The charter of San Francisco
(
The fortnightly review
Vol. 157-58:2 (1945), p. 69-75)
- Roger L. Kemp, "Model Government Charters: A City, County, Regional, State, and Federal Handbook" (2007), McFarland and Co., Inc., Jefferson, NC, and London, ENG. (
ISBN
978-0-7864-3154-0
)
- Roger L. Kemp "
Documents of American Democracy: A Collection of Essential Works
", McFarland and Co., Inc., Jefferson, NC, and London, Eng. (
ISBN
9780-7864-4210-2
)
External links
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]