Discipline of civil servants conflict of interest and

Discipline of civil servants, conflict of interest and ethics Peter REINBERG Austria Chisinau 28/03/2008

Introduction Transparency International (TI) – Global Corruption Barometer • Austria 15 th Austrian federation – examples of corruption: • Austrian consular officials – grants for issuing visa • former head of the Federal Criminal Office (our FBI) – accused cabinet members of partisan politics political investigation comittee page 2 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Introduction Upper Austria – examples for corruption: • head of district administration and his secretary • head of guest house and three of her staff All convicted by criminal courts contractual public employees – dismissal possible civil servants – transferred to other posts disciplinary proceedings – independent disciplinary board page 3 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Statutory rules in Austria Penal Code Abuse of power • up to 5 years imprisonment Acceptance of gifts • in breach of duty – up to 3 years imprisonment • in accordance with duty – up to 1 year imprisonment • acceptance of gifts – without connexion to concrete official transaction (so-called feeding) page 4 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Statutory rules in Austria Civil Servants Act 1979 Acceptance of gifts • excepted are only small gifts of little value Secondary occupation • forbidden when - prevents from duties - suspicion of bias (Im)partiality • To abstain from matters in which relatives are involved page 5 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Statutory rules in Austria Offical secret Civil servant and instructions: • may (=has to) refuse to observe an instruction - from a position not competent or - if observance would violate criminal law • regards the instruction as unlawful obliged to tell his objections to his superior • HR authority decides whether the instruction is to observe or not page 6 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Code of Conduct UN Convention against Corruption GRECO convention Federal Government of Austria – government program 20072010 Code of Conduct – working group • USA-Standards of Ethical Conduct for the Employees of the • • Executive branch Canada – Values and Ethics – Code for the Public Service European Parliament – Guidelines for the duties of the civil servants and employees Germany – Guidelines for the prevention of corruption in the federal administration City of Vienna – A question of ethics – handbook for the prevention of corruption page 7 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Code of Conduct code is neither law nor decree or regulation guideline, standard of good practice, "soft law" Values underlying the conduct of civil servants: • democracy • transparency • participation • quality • respect • diversity and non-discrimination • impartiality and integrity • accountability page 8 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Code of Conduct Critical points for conflicts of interest Small gifts maintain a friendship • Recommendations - make clear to your client - inform your superior - be careful against invitations page 9 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Code of Conduct Sponsoring in Public Administration • no sponsoring for core tasks • sponsoring must remain the exception • sponsoring must be transparent • clear contracts, receipts Public Procurement • detailed national laws and rules • competitors have sufficient legal ways page 10 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Code of Conduct Secondary occupation • CS – neglects official duties • occupation – creates danger of bias • CS has to inform superiors and the HR department • Upper Austria: approval by HR in advance Official secret vs. Transparency • conflicting interests • protection of personal data • contacts to the media • media secret privilege page 11 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Implementation Responsibility of leaders • • • creating codes of conduct training and supervising their collaborators being role models themselves: verba movent, exepmla trahunt giving clear competence by delegation putting the right person in the right place rotating officials in sensible positions page 12 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Implementation Violations of the Code of Conduct – measures • talk and admonition in lesser cases • interdiction of a secondary occupation • transfer to another post • disciplinary measures by the HR authority • disciplinary measures by the independent disciplinary board: - appeal is possible to the independent superior disciplinary • • • board termination to the next possible term or immediate dismissal of a contractual - appeal is possible to the labour and social courts report to the Public Prosecutor - disciplinary proceedings are interrupted CS can be suspended or transferred page 13 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Implementation Internal and external control • Internal review - central unity - review plans • Courts of Auditors - Federal Court of Auditors - 9 Regional Courts of Auditors page 14 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Implementation Internal/external publication of the code • directed primarily to the civil servants • reflects to the general public • folder General code/adaptations or appendices • 3 -level-code - Level 1 – concise preamble - folder - Level 2 – guidelines for the different chapters - Level 3 – voluminous annex • style – shortlist similar to the 10 biblical orders page 15 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008

Conclusion; Acknowledgements Discipline and ethics – a permanent concern in public administrations culture of honesty and transparency, of justice and integrity superiors – good example Working group TI Francisco Cardona page 16 Discipline of civil servants, Peter Reinberg, 28/03/2008