Verwaltungsträger im Kompetenzverbund

The jurisdiction for performing administrative tasks in Germany has been allocated to a multitude of legal entities. These tasks, which are initially separated and allocated, are often performed together. However, the allocation of competences and the cooperation among those performing them do cause problems. In practice, they result in impediments to decision-making and involve additional work because of the necessity of coordinating among the legal entities. From a legal perspective, they endanger the functions of the system of competences aiming at democracy and the rule of law.
Markus Winkler has developed a new approach to solving the problems of a continuous cooperation of administrative bodies. It is the special legal relationships in the network of competences which are the key to the solution. This includes obligations of the entities concerned, in particular an obligation to cooperate diligently with each other, as well as obligations to the subjects of democratic legitimization and the addressees of administrative tasks.