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How Much Local Autonomy Is Good for a City? An Analysis of the Peruvian Constitutional Design for Cities and Its Effects in the Case of the Lima Metropolitan Area

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European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2020

Part of the book series: European Yearbook of Constitutional Law ((EYCL,volume 2))

Abstract

The decentralization reform that started in Peru in 2002, which divided the country into regions, provinces and districts, was initially regarded as a just and long-postponed project. However, while the constitution grants all local governments political, economic and administrative autonomy, the rapid population growth many cities have experienced since then calls for the reevaluation of the whole design. This is especially the case for the Lima Metropolitan Area, of which the population has more than doubled since the 1980s. This chapter analyses the effects that being divided into various autonomous districts can have for the governance of a metropolis. We argue that the division causes practical difficulties for reasons rooted in the Peruvian constitutional design, and that this fragmentation hinders the provision of public services, reduces long-term planning and may cause spending inefficiencies. A reexamination of this flawed constitutional design for its cities could be the first step for Peru to finally adapt to its new urban reality as well as to keep up with future changes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Perú 21 2019.

  2. 2.

    Perú 21 2019.

  3. 3.

    Lafranchi and Bidart 2016, p. 29.

  4. 4.

    Lafranchi and Bidart 2016, p. 42.

  5. 5.

    Rodríguez and Espinoza 2017, pp. 83–84.

  6. 6.

    Gamarra 2019.

  7. 7.

    Calderón 2016, p. 147.

  8. 8.

    García Belaunde 2017, p. 39.

  9. 9.

    McNulty 2011, p. 28.

  10. 10.

    For a better identification of some of the consequences of centralist praxis, see Blume 2017, p. 74.

  11. 11.

    Vergara 2014.

  12. 12.

    Zas Friz Burga 1998, p. 261.

  13. 13.

    Ibid., pp. 263–267.

  14. 14.

    Zas Friz Burga 1998, p. 488.

  15. 15.

    The meaning of the Form of Government is the one collected by Naranjo taken from Biscareti: “reciprocal position of the classic elements of the State: power, people and territory”, while reference is made to the form of allocation of political power in the territory of a State. Naranjo 2003, p. 287.

  16. 16.

    According to Hauriou, deconcentration will, in the end, be a form of centralization if it is limited to transferring administrative competences. According to this author, deconcentration is a technique of authority, while decentralization is a technique of freedom. The second one refers to self-administration, insofar as it transfers powers to the local level for the benefit of representatives elected by the citizens themselves. See Hauriou 1980, p. 185.

  17. 17.

    De Vega, Pedro. Constituent Power and Regionalism. In: Trujillo, Gumercindo (comp.). Federalism and Regionalism. Madrid, 1979. p. 354 quoted by Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Miguel Ángel Mufarech in representation of more than five thousand citizens v. Congreso de la República. Judgement of 18 May 2005. 00,002-2005-PI/TC, para 40.

  18. 18.

    Alvites 2014, p. 58.

  19. 19.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Roberto Nesta Brero in representation of more than five thousand citizens v. Poder Ejecutivo. Judgement of 11 November 2003. 00008-2003-PI/TC, para 19.

  20. 20.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Presidente de la República v. Gobiernos Regionales de Cusco y Huánuco. Judgement of 27 September 2005. 00020-2005-PI/TC, paras 34–38.

  21. 21.

    The interpretative value of the Decentralization Law (LBD, in Spanish) is high in Peru due to the establishment of the constitutional body of law. As the Constitutional Court itself acknowledges: “(…) there is a “natural” parameter of the constitutionality control of regional decrees, which is composed of the Constitution, the LBD and the LOGR (Organic Law of Regional Governments). But also, in the case of the regulation of certain matters, the constitutional body of law may be additionally conformed by other national laws. In these cases, these norms are part of what could well be called the "eventual" constitutionality parameter.” Tribunal Constitucional del Perú, 020-2005-PI/ TC, para 71.

  22. 22.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Alcalde de la Municipalidad Provincial de Huaraz v. Congreso de la República. Judgement of 4 May 2009. 00028-2007-AI/TC, para 5.

  23. 23.

    Landa 2002, p. 62.

  24. 24.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Alcalde de la Municipalidad Provincial de Huaraz v. Congreso de la República. Judgement of 4 May 2009. 00028-2007-AI/TC, para 5. The reference to the problem of law-makers regarding the local autonomy and not the government autonomy seems to be an inheritance of the Spanish influence, also with German origins, by which the concept of institutional guarantee is assumed. See, among others, Esteve Pardo 1991.

  25. 25.

    Recently in Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Municipalidad Provincial de Satipo v. Municipalidad Distrital de Río Negro. Judgement of 12 January 2019. 00025-2014-PI/TC, para 16.

  26. 26.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Alcalde de la Municipalidad Provincial de Huaraz v. Congreso de la República. Judgement of 4 May 2009. 00028-2007-AI/TCp, para 8.

  27. 27.

    While we have highlighted a constitutional model that empowers the municipality, it is still necessary to point out, following Zas Friz, that “to determine whether a state decree is decentralized or not (and if so, what is its grade and its character), one of the most important objectives of an investigation is to verify that a mainly political and financial autonomy corresponds, or not, to local authorities and to the intermediate level”. This verification corresponds, of course, to an analysis of how the law is applied, and not only of applicable standards. See Zas Friz 2001, p. 27.

  28. 28.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Municipalidad Provincial de Puno v. Municipalidad Provincial General de Sanchez Cerro. Judgement of 22 February 2017. 00019-2013-PI/TC.

  29. 29.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Colegio de Abogados de Lambayeque v. Municipalidad Provincial de Chiclayo. Judgement of 5 June 2018. 00017-2012-PI/TC.

  30. 30.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima v. Poder Ejecutivo. Judgement of 23 May 2011. 00031-2010-PI/TC.

  31. 31.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Municipalidad Distrital de Surquillo v. Municipalidad Distrital de Miraflores 00003-2007-PCC.

  32. 32.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Colegio de Abogados de Ica v. Congreso de la República. Judgement of 21 November 2007. 00027-2010-PI.

  33. 33.

    Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Ernesto Emilio Laynes Campoblanco v. Municipalidad Distrital de Pichari. Judgement of 21 September 2010. 00016-2009-PI and Tribunal Constitucional del Perú. Asociación de Comerciantes San Ramón y Figari v. Municipalidad Distrital de Miraflores. Judgement 22 June 2007. 00007-2006-PI.

  34. 34.

    Article 4, para c), of the Decentralization Law states the following about decentralization: “c) It is irreversible: The process must guarantee, in the long term, a country; spatially better organized, population ally better distributed, economically and socially fairer and more equitable, environmentally sustainable, as well as politically institutionalized.” The stated objectives do not seem to be related to the idea of irreversibility, however, the principle exists as such and could not cease to be applied.

  35. 35.

    Lafranchi and Bidart 2016, p. 8.

  36. 36.

    Ibid., p. 9.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., p. 8.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., p. 8.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., p. 9.

  40. 40.

    Lafranchi and Bidart 2016, p. 9.

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    Quoted in Grin et al. 2017, pp. 13–14.

  43. 43.

    Grin et al. 2017, p. 13.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., p. 15.

  45. 45.

    Lafranchi and Bidart 2016, p. 9.

  46. 46.

    Ibid., p. 9.

  47. 47.

    Valenzuela 2006, p. 6.

  48. 48.

    Valenzuela 2006, pp. 6–7.

  49. 49.

    Grin et al. 2017, pp. 22–23.

  50. 50.

    Vial 2017, p. 264.

  51. 51.

    Berg 2002, p. 417.

  52. 52.

    Bensa 2017, p. 243.

  53. 53.

    Valenzuela 2006, p. 9.

  54. 54.

    Ibid., p. 6.

  55. 55.

    Nel-lo 2002, p. 462.

  56. 56.

    Iracheta 2002, p. 446.

  57. 57.

    Ibid., p. 446.

  58. 58.

    Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima 2016, p. 38.

  59. 59.

    Zucchetti and Freundt 2019, p. 69.

  60. 60.

    Ibid., p. 67.

  61. 61.

    Vega Centeno et al. 2019, p. 25.

  62. 62.

    Cited in Lafranchi and Bidart 2016, p. 11.

  63. 63.

    Macera and Odar 2018.

  64. 64.

    Rodríguez and Espinoza 2017, p. 83.

  65. 65.

    Mendoza 2020.

  66. 66.

    Leyton 2019.

  67. 67.

    Leyton 2019.

  68. 68.

    Instituto de Estudios Peruanos 2015, p. 9.

  69. 69.

    World Bank 2016, p. 144. Translation by authors.

  70. 70.

    Melendez 2017.

  71. 71.

    Laurie 2019.

  72. 72.

    Espinoza 2018.

  73. 73.

    Espinoza and Ford 2017, p. 138.

  74. 74.

    Ibid., pp. 138–139.

  75. 75.

    Espinoza and Ford 2017, pp. 138–139.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru

    Alberto Cruces Burga & Andrés Devoto Ykeho

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  1. Alberto Cruces Burga
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Law and Governance, Tilburg Law School, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Ernst Hirsch Ballin

  2. Department of Public Law and Governance, Tilburg Law School, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Gerhard van der Schyff

  3. Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Maarten Stremler

  4. School of Law, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore

    Maartje De Visser

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Cruces Burga, A., Devoto Ykeho, A. (2021). How Much Local Autonomy Is Good for a City? An Analysis of the Peruvian Constitutional Design for Cities and Its Effects in the Case of the Lima Metropolitan Area. In: Hirsch Ballin, E., van der Schyff, G., Stremler, M., De Visser, M. (eds) European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2020. European Yearbook of Constitutional Law, vol 2. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-431-0_5

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