International project

Ethics in public administration

In cooperation with international partners, the Institute for Public Administration, Prague has been carrying out a project focused on ethics in public administration. The project is called ”Sharing Best Practices in Introducing and Teaching Ethics Principles to Public Administration Employees” and it was launched in August 2011 under the Lifelong Learning Programme/Leonardo da Vinci/Partnership project. The Institute for Public Administration, Prague acts as the project coordinator, with partners from Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin, Krajowa Szkola Adminstracji Publicznej (Poland) and Direcção Geral da Qualificação dos Trabalhadores em Funções Públicas – INA (Portugal).

The project’s main objective is to create a comparative study about ethics in public administration. Each of the organisations involved conducts research in its home country and outputs are discussed in order to come up with a coherent overview for the final study.

During the preparation phases and the actual realisation it has become apparent that it would be useful to set the topic in a broader context. Therefore, introductory chapters are focused on public administration systems in the countries concerned and on the system of training in public administration. However, the largest scope is dedicated to ethics. The research aims at analysing the current legislation and situation in the area of codes of ethics for public administration officials. Moreover, an insight into the training in terms of ethics in public administration is part of the research.

The project has already approached the half-way stage of its realisation phase and we already have interim outputs. The core of the research is focused on the ethics of public administration employees, because we think that this is a current topic, which has not yet attracted much attention. Due to the fact that the project is intended to last two years, the situation in ethics has been developing during its realisation phase.

We consider it beneficial that the Czech government released on 9^th May 2012 resolution No. 331 regarding the Code of Ethics of officials and public administration employees. This resolution replaces the code from 2001 and brings a more complex perspective on the issue. Currently, this deals with important aspects such as the decision-making processes, further training, impartiality, work efficiency and officials’ behaviour. The code involves measures for the prevention of a conflict of interests and corruption. In case an official encounters corruptive behaviour, mechanisms on how to proceed are described and the disclosure of such a fact should not have any negative impact on him/her. Although there is still no complex legislation for the protection of whistleblowers, this matter is being looked into.

The Code is binding for ministries and central administration authorities, whereas it has an advisory character for territorial self-government. It follows up on the rights and duties of employees within the labour code and conditions of employment and it is intended to include selected statements into the upcoming act about public administration officials.

If we compare the situation internationally, for example in Poland since the end of 2011, there has been an ordinance from the Prime Minister regarding respecting rules in public administration and ethical principles. Officials are required to follow similar demands as in the Czech Republic. We can identify principles such as following legal acts and public interest, economical utilisation of financial resources, transparency and competence etc. In the part dedicated to ethics, similar principles can also be found: correct behaviour towards citizens and colleagues, responsibility, avoiding situations of a possible conflict of interest or political impartiality.

There is a different approach in Germany, where there is no unified code and aspects of ethics are included in the so-called Basic law (constitution) and simultaneously in acts of federated lands. On the other hand, in Portugal, each state organisation follows the so-called Code of Administrative Procedure, which highlights similar principles as in the Czech Republic and Poland.  Moreover, in 1993, the Charter of Ethics for Public Services was released, which was later replaced by the government resolution on ethical principles in public administration.

We continuously include new findings from our research and believe that interesting material will be produced with a broader utilisation next year. You can find more information about the project at www.institutpraha.cz/activity/project.