Understanding Administrative Management in Spain
Direct Management and Task Delegation in Public Administration
Presupposes respect for the powers of the organ vested with the powers. As soon as power is conceived, jurisdiction is exercised by the holder. However, there are occasions when the exercise dissociates; competition rests with an organ or person other than the holder.
Direct Management
Execution involves physical operations in different organs for the benefit of the organization itself or another entity (Article 15, Law 30/92). It involves the transfer of ownership of competition or substantive elements of the exercise. The entrusting organ remains responsible for any act or decision of a jurisdictional type that supports or integrates the material object of the assigned task.
Management between administrative bodies or public entities within the same administration should be formalized within the terms established by their own rules and, failing that, by express agreement of the bodies or entities involved. In any case, the formalization of the task management and resolution must be published for its effectiveness in the corresponding official bulletin.
Each administration may regulate the necessary requirements for the validity of such agreements, including at least the mention of the activities concerned, the term of effect, and the nature and scope of the entrusted management.
When management is entrusted between different organs and entities, it is formalized through the signing of the corresponding agreement, except in the case of the ordinary management of the services of the Autonomous Communities by the Provincial Councils or Island Councils, which are governed by the law on Local Regimes.
Entrusting management is not possible in a private capacity. It is then adjusted, as appropriate, to the relevant legislation of the state contract. However, activities may be assigned to persons or entities of this nature if, under current legislation, they are subject to administrative law.
Delegation of Signature
Holders of administrative organs may, within their own competence, delegate the signature of their resolutions and acts to holders of the organs under their jurisdiction, within the limits of Article 13. Therefore, only the materiality of the signature is delegated, not the competition.
The delegation does not alter the jurisdiction of the delegator, and its validity does not depend on its publication; informal communication may suffice. However, it is necessary to record the provenance of authority in resolutions and acts signed by delegation. Delegation is not appropriate in resolutions of a sanctioning nature.
Replacements
This is of practical importance because contingencies can affect the holders of organs, which must not affect the operation of public services. Article 17, after being refined by the Constitutional Court, states that the owners of the administrative organs may be temporarily replaced. In cases of vacancy, absence, or illness, the body responsible for appointing them will designate a replacement. If no alternate is assigned, the competition will be designated by the administrative body immediately superior to whom it reports.
Example: Article 13 of the Government Law states that in cases of vacancy, absence, or illness, the President’s duties will be assumed by the Vice Presidents in order of priority, and failing that, by the ministers, according to the order of precedence.