CULTURAL COUNCIL AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN CULTURE - NEW LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF MANAGEMENT AND FINANCING

This paper analyzes the adequacy of the existing legal framework in the field of culture, i.e. the regulation of the status, management, and financing of public cultural institutions, especially those that are not regulated by special laws. The intention of this paper was to point out possible shortcomings in the existing regulation and self-regulation and to propose potential improvements to the legal regulation, all with the aim of establishing a modern normative framework for improving the conditions of management and financing of public cultural institutions in the Republic of Croatia. The position and powers of cultural councils as bodies that have an important role in deciding on the allocation of financial budget resources to cultural projects, as an example of contemporary cultural policy, are particularly pointed out. However, in their work, there is a possibility of a conflict of interest due to the disproportion of their status in the cultural field, and it is necessary to create appropriate legislative solutions that will eliminate the possibility of abuse of positions, i.e. interest-based subjective treatment when disposing of public funds for public needs in culture. By establishing cultural councils, the cultural policy of the Republic of Croatia follows the principles of contemporary cultural policy, whereby decision-making and co-decision-making on cultural issues are decentralized and directed to the levels of local and regional administration units: counties, cities, or municipalities, with the introduction of various modalities of participatory management, including the establishment of cultural Council. In this paper, we point out certain legal deficiencies and, in this sense, the need for further amendments to the regulations, and we list solutions that follow from the legal provisions and should be contained in the founding acts, statutes and other general documents of the cultural institutions themselves.