Summary

The article provides an overview of a study conducted within the framework of the local government subproject of the Project “Limitation of corruption in a transition society (legal aspect)” focusing on the delegation of local government functions to the third sector. The article looks at corruption that may accompany such delegation and the possibilities of limiting it.
The article is based on a survey carried out among Estonian local governments by the author in the summer of 2000. The empirical part of the article outlines the survey and the issues raised in the study, the choice of respondents (the local government units under survey), the method applied and the questions put to respondents, as well as a summary of the results and proposals for resolving corruption related issues pointed out in the survey.
Also, the article deals with the theoretical issue concerning the contractual delegation of services which is relatively little known in the Estonian legal system and by the public. The author explains the concepts dealt with in the article, including contractual delegation. Finally the author examines the legal and actual situation in the field of contractual delegation of local government functions in Estonia.