While awaiting the report from the public hearing, we highlight important suggestions we submitted to the Ministry of Public Administration on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees.
In light of announcements of more complex amendments, we limited our suggestions to the current scope of changes, although we believe that a fundamental reform in this area is necessary to address numerous priorities: from the inappropriately narrow scope of regulations regarding civil servants and state employees, to the scope of human resource planning and transparency in job allocation and filling.
We regret to note that our active contribution within the working group has not been valued, given that we received no feedback on previously submitted comments, despite the general assessment that they were “constructive comments.” Furthermore, there was no explanation for the minimal duration of the public hearing, without holding a round table, for which we were also left without in the working group.
We submitted a total of ten suggestions with comprehensive explanations, based on decades of research and monitoring.
Regarding the norms regulating experience for leadership positions, it is necessary to add a norm that specifies that such experience is proven by reviewing the previous relevant employment contract. Additionally, to strengthen inspection oversight, which is a greatly neglected area, we suggest the necessity of enhancing the analytical capacities of inspection bodies, which are currently exceptionally weak. Such a norm would allow individuals who have performed the most complex inspection oversight tasks to contribute in the same area where they possess relevant experience.
Regarding the provision regulating the status of employees in the Administrative Centre, whose establishment is foreseen through amendments of mentioned law, we believe that employees in this institution should not be exempt from the application of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, especially since it plays a significant role in setting an example in this area.
The narrow scope of regulations regarding civil servants and state employees is one of the main issues in public administration employment, which is further complicated by such provisions. We remind that even agencies, with full implementation, apart from a few, should apply the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, while this Law is already applied to employees in the Ombudsman Institution and the State Audit Institution. The explanation that state commissions would be in a conflict of interest while reviewing complaints or procedures against employees in this institution simply does not hold, as such a broad interpretation could extend to relations with other institutions.
We also suggested that the Law, in principle, should prescribe criteria for assessing unprofessional and negligent performance of duties, which would be further elaborated by a by-law, in relation to the dismissals of members of state commissions that occurred for these reasons. In the articles relating to the appointment of members of state commissions, one of the conditions for appointment should be that the candidate cannot be a member of a political party.