12 September 2026
(IMAGE: AI)
With this article, Intent continues its series of publications on the workings of local self-government. Today, we’ll focus on the position of local council secretary.
Today, the position of “local council secretary” is shrouded in numerous myths. That’s why Intent investigated who can hold this position and what powers the official receives after being elected.
This article focuses on secretaries of village, town, and city councils. For simplicity, we will refer to the head of a village, town, or city as the “community leader” hereafter.
The council secretary is an elected official. However, there are significant differences from regular elections. The secretary is elected by the council from among its members for the duration of the council’s term.
The nomination for the position of council secretary is usually submitted by the community head. In cases specified by law, the nomination may be submitted by at least half of the council members—in particular, if the election of the head has not yet been completed, the council has not endorsed the candidate proposed by the head, the head has not submitted a candidate within the prescribed time limit, or the position of secretary has become vacant while the position of head is also vacant.
In other words, the council secretary is one of the council members who has been elected to the position by the other members. Upon election, he or she becomes an official of the local government and serves on the council on a full-time basis.
As we noted, the council secretary is elected for the term of office of the respective council. The same council may terminate his or her powers early. Decisions on the election and dismissal of the secretary are made by secret ballot.
All of the council secretary’s powers can be broadly divided into “day-to-day” duties and those performed on a case-by-case basis.
The main “routine” powers include:
In very simple terms, these powers are primarily aimed at organizing the council’s work: preparing matters for consideration, working with council members and committees, as well as publicizing and implementing adopted decisions.
The powers that the council secretary exercises in specific cases include:
The latter case requires a separate explanation.
The law provides for two different situations.
The first is when the community head’s term is terminated early or he has died. As a general rule, in such a case, the council secretary temporarily exercises those powers—until the new head, elected in a special election, takes office, or until the first session of the council elected in a regular local election convenes. The law provides for specific exceptions in cases of early termination of the mayor’s term in accordance with the laws on military-civilian administrations or on the legal regime of martial law.
In its ruling of June 3, 2026, the Supreme Court, while considering a case involving the secretary of the Zaporizhzhia City Council who was temporarily exercising the powers of the mayor, noted that in such a situation, he possessed all the powers of the mayor.
The second situation is when the mayor remains in office but, for certain reasons, is unable to exercise his or her powers. Part 2 of Article 42 of the Law of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine” also refers to the council secretary in this case. At the same time, the law does not contain an exhaustive list of circumstances that should be considered such an inability, nor does it define the scope of the secretary’s powers clearly enough in each of these situations.
As early as 2013, the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada classified temporary incapacity, vacation, and business trips, among other things, as instances of such inability. At the same time, the Committee noted the vagueness of the legislative framework and concluded that, in the event of the chairperson’s temporary absence, the secretary is not necessarily required to exercise all of the chairperson’s powers.
However, the Committee’s position regarding vacation as a case where the mayor is unable to exercise his powers is not undisputed. In a case considered by the Supreme Court in May 2026, the plaintiff argued that since the mayor of Dnipro was on leave, his powers, in accordance with Part 2 of Article 42 of the Law of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine,” should have been exercised by the council secretary, not the deputy mayor. The court disagreed. Before going on leave, the mayor delegated his duties to the deputy in accordance with the established division of powers, and the Supreme Court recognized the deputy as authorized to sign the disputed order.
Thus, the temporary absence of the mayor alone does not mean that his powers automatically transfer to the council secretary. What matters are the specific circumstances and how the division of duties is regulated within the community.
It is also worth noting that clarifications issued by Verkhovna Rada committees do not constitute official interpretations of laws.
The council secretary is not the “deputy head of the community” but a separate official whose primary role is related to organizing the work of the council itself. However, in cases specified by law, the secretary may also exercise the powers of the head of the community.
If the head’s powers are terminated prematurely, the general rule is quite clear: his or her powers are temporarily transferred to the council secretary. The situation is significantly more complex when the head remains in office but is temporarily unable to perform certain functions. In such a case, not every absence automatically means that the secretary will act as a substitute for the head, and the scope of possible substitution depends on the specific circumstances and legal regulations.
Сергій Бондаренко
Sept. 12, 2026
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