14 MÓŁKA v. POLAND DECISION 3. The Court’s assessment The Court first reiterates that the term “legislature” in Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 does not necessarily mean the national parliament: it has to be interpreted in the light of the constitutional structure of the State in question. In the case of Mathieu-Mohin and Clerfayt v. Belgium, the 1980 constitutional reform had vested in the Flemish Council sufficient competence and powers to make it, alongside the French Community Council and the Walloon Regional Council, a constituent part of the Belgian “legislature”, in addition to the House of Representatives and the Senate (see Mathieu-Mohin and Clerfayt v. Belgium, judgment of 2 March 1987, Series A no. 113, p. 23, § 53, and Matthews v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 24833/94, § 40, ECHR 1999-I). On the other hand, the Convention organs have found that local authorities, such as the municipal councils in Belgium, the metropolitan county councils in the United Kingdom and the regional councils in France, did not form part of the “legislature” within the meaning of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (see Clerfayt, Legros v. Belgium, no. 10650/83, Commission decision of 17 May 1985, Decisions and Reports 42, p. 212; Booth-Clibborn v. the United Kingdom, no. 11391/85, Commission decision of 5 July 1985, DR 43, p. 236; and Malarde v. France, (dec.) no. 46813/99, 5 September 2000). Furthermore, the power to make regulations and by-laws which is conferred on the local authorities in many countries is to be distinguished from legislative power, which is referred to in Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, even though legislative power may not be restricted to the national parliament alone (see Cherepkov, cited above). The Court notes that Poland is a unitary State and that legislative power is exercised by the Sejm and the Senate (see Articles 3, 10 § 2 and 95 § 1 of the Constitution). Moreover, local government has only those powers which are not reserved by the Constitution or statutes to other public authorities (see Article 163 of the Constitution). The municipal councils, district councils and regional assemblies are the repositories of powers of an administrative nature concerning the organisation and provision of local services. These powers are granted by statute or other subordinate legislation which defines closely and restrictively their field of application. Consequently, the municipal councils, district councils and regional assemblies do not exercise legislative power within the meaning of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Furthermore, the Court notes that the legality of actions of local government at different levels is subject to control exercised by the Prime Minister and the regional governors who represent the government in each of the sixteen regions. Ultimately, in the case of a flagrant violation of the Constitution or a statute, the Sejm, acting on an application of the Prime