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2007 Assessment

Argentina: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Argentina: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Civil Service Regulations
Indicators		Score
41	Are there national regulations for the civil service encompassing, at least, the managerial and professional staff?	100
42	Is the law governing the administration and civil service effective?	69
43	Are there regulations addressing conflicts of interest for civil servants?	42
44	Can citizens access the asset disclosure records of senior civil servants?	83

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there national regulations for the civil service encompassing, at least, the managerial and professional staff?

41a: In law, there are regulations requiring an impartial, independent and fairly managed civil service.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: UN / OAS Conventions against Corruption Ethics Law (Law 25.188) Decree 41/99 National Civil Service Law (Law 25.164)

www.infoleg.gov.ar

41b: In law, there are regulations to prevent nepotism, cronyism, and patronage within the civil service.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: UN / OAS Conventions against Corruption Ethics Law (Law 25.188) Decree 41/99 National Civil Service Law (Law 25.164)

www.infoleg.gov.ar

41c: In law, there is an independent redress mechanism for the civil service.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a mechanism to which civil servants and applicants for the civil service can take grievances regarding civil service management actions. Civil servants are able to appeal the mechanism\'s decisions to the judiciary. NO: A NO score is earned if no such mechanism exists.$

Comments:

References: Administrative Investigations Rules (Decree 467/99)

41d: In law, civil servants convicted of corruption are prohibited from future government employment.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to Law 25164, convicted felons are forbbiden to enter the civil service, both in the national and the provincial levels.

References: Civil Service Law (Law 25164)

Is the law governing the administration and civil service effective?

42a: In practice, civil servants are protected from political interference.

Score:

100

Comments: The INDEC (National Institute of Statistics and Censuses) "affair" is an example of how civil servants may not be protected from political interference. In this case, some of them were removed for not allowing the manipulation of official statistics and for violating the statistical secrecy.

References: [ LINK ];

Interview with Julieta Arias, Transparency and Anti-Corruption Department, Poder Ciudadano Foundation.

42b: In practice, civil servants are appointed and evaluated according to professional criteria.

Score:

100

Comments: According to this report, there are many irregularities in the implementation of the mechanisms available to appoint civil servants.

References: Poder Ciudadano´s Reply to the Questionnaire of the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism for the implementation of The Interamerican Convention against Corruption, 2006 [ LINK ]

[ LINK ]

42c: In practice, civil service management actions (e.g. hiring, firing, promotions) are not based on nepotism, cronyism, or patronage.

Score:

100

Comments: According to this report, there are many irregularities related to nepotism, cronysm, and patronage as well, in the way the legislative, executive and judicial branches appoint civil servants.

References: Poder Ciudadano´s Replay to the Questionnaire of the Committee of Experts of the Follow up Mechanism for the implementation of The Interamerican Convention against Corruption, 2006

[ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: cases of nepotism are very common in Argentina. Presidente Kirchner sister, Alicia Kirchner, is minister of Social Development; Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, presdient's wife is the elected president -although people gave her the votes-; Daniel Scioli's brother is going to be Chief of Staff in his cabinet in the Provincia de Buenos Aires (Daniel Scioli was elected governor in october 24). Similar cases are numerous in public administration.

42d: In practice, civil servants have clear job descriptions.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Civil servants almost always have formal job descriptions establishing levels of seniority, assigned functions, and compensation. Job descriptions are a reliable means to map positions to both human capital requirements (including the position\'s authority and responsibilities) and base pay. 50 Score Criteria: Civil servants often have formal job descriptions, but exceptions exist. Some civil servants may not be part of the formal assignment of duties and compensations. Some job descriptions may not map clearly to pay or responsibilities in some cases. 0 Score Criteria: Civil servants do not have formal roles or job descriptions. If they do, such job descriptions have little or nothing to do with the position\'s responsibilities, authority, or pay.$

Comments:

References: Nicolás Dassen, expert on anti-corruption affairs, Poder Ciudadano Foundation advisor. Telephone interview, Aug. 15, 2007

42e: In practice, civil servant bonuses constitute only a small faction of total pay.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Civil servant bonuses constitute no more than 10% of total pay and do not represent a major element of take-home pay. 50 Score Criteria: Civil servant bonuses are generally a small percentage of total take-home pay for most civil servants though exceptions exist where some civil servants\' bonuses represent a significant part of total pay. 0 Score Criteria: Most civil servants receive bonuses that represent a significant amount of total take-home pay. In some cases bonuses represent the majority of total pay to civil servants.$

Comments:

References: Nicolás Dassen, expert on anti-corruption affairs, Poder Ciudadano Foundation advisor. Telephone interview, Aug. 15, 2007

Peer Review Comments: If they exist at all. In one particular case involving the SIGEN many years ago it was found that the agency's management appropriated for itself all the amount set aside for employees bonuses.

42f: In practice, the government publishes the number of authorized civil service positions along with the number of positions actually filled.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: [ LINK ]

Interview with Julieta Arias, Transparency and Anti-corruption Department, Poder Ciudadano Foundation. Aug. 17, 2007

42g: In practice, the independent redress mechanism for the civil service is effective.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Nicolás Dassen, expert on anti-corruption affairs, Poder Ciudadano Foundation advisor. Telephone interview, Aug. 15, 2007

42h: In practice, in the past year, the government has paid civil servants on time.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Nicolás Dassen, expert on anti-corruption affairs, Poder Ciudadano Foundation advisor. Telephone interview, Aug. 15, 2007

Peer Review Comments: Yes, it was also an electoral year!

Peer Review Comments: Yes. And there were wage increases, partly due to the elections.

42i: In practice, civil servants convicted of corruption are prohibited from future government employment.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Nicolás Dassen, expert on anti-corruption affairs, Poder Ciudadano Foundation advisor. Telephone interview, Aug. 15, 2007

Peer Review Comments: Convicted, yes. Accused, not.

Are there regulations addressing conflicts of interest for civil servants?

43a: In law, there are requirements for civil servants to recuse themselves from policy decisions where their personal interests may be affected.

Score:

YES

Comments: Law 25188 has been regulated for Public Administration by Decree 164/99. On the other hand, Decree 862/01modified law 25188.

References: UN / OAS Conventions against Corruption Ethics Law (Law 25.188) Decree 41/99 Decree 164/99 Decree 862/01 National Civil Service Law (Law 25.164) Ministries Law (Law 25.233)

www.infoleg.gov.ar

43b: In law, there are restrictions for civil servants entering the private sector after leaving the government.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there are regulations restricting civil servants\' ability to take positions in the private sector after leaving government that would present a conflict of interest, including positions that directly seek to influence their former government colleagues. NO: A NO score is earned if no such restrictions exist.$

Comments:

References: There are no regulations.

Peer Review Comments: One case: Hernán Lombardi was minister of Tourism during Fernando De la Rúa's presidency. After leaving the Department he worked in the private sector, he ownes hotels and has many bussines in this sector. In december he will return to public service with elected governor of Buenos Aires city Mauicio Macri, as his secretary of Culture and tourism.

43c: In law, there are regulations governing gifts and hospitality offered to civil servants.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: UN / OAS Conventions against Corruption Ethics Law (Law 25.188) Decree 41/99 National Civil Service Law (Law 25.164)

www.infoleg.gov.ar

43d: In practice, the regulations restricting post-government private sector employment for civil servants are effective.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: There are no regulations.

43e: In practice, the regulations governing gifts and hospitality offered to civil servants are effective.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Nicolás Dassen, expert on anti-corruption affairs, Poder Ciudadano Foundation advisor. Telephone interview, Aug. 15, 2007

43f: In practice, the requirements for civil service recusal from policy decisions affecting personal interests are effective.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Nicolás Dassen, expert on anti-corruption affairs, Poder Ciudadano Foundation advisor. Telephone interview, Aug. 15, 2007

Peer Review Comments: My personal experience in interviewing civil servants who dealt with public procurement and privatization is that top level bureaucrats often did not recuse themeselves when a conflict of interest is at stake.

Can citizens access the asset disclosure records of senior civil servants?

44a: In law, citizens can access the asset disclosure records of senior civil servants.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to Law 25188, the executive, legislative and judicial branches are obligated to present asset records, which should be made available for citizens.

Law 25.188 sets out incompatibilities and conflicts of interest for civil servants. The executive has issued regulations (Decree 164/99) for this law only in the framework of the central and decentralized civil service. Ministries Law sets out special standards on conflicts of interest for officials directly appointed by the president. The judiciary has regulated the same issue by Acordada 1/2000, while the Senate has done so through its internal rules.

References: UN / OAS Conventions against Corruption Public Ethic law (Law 25188) Ministries Law (Law 25233) Decree 102/99 Decree 164/99 "Acordada" 1/2000 Senate Rules, article 46

www.infoleg.gov.ar/ [ LINK ]

44b: In practice, citizens can access the asset disclosure records of senior civil servants within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: During the last year, Poder Ciudadano Foundation has accessed the records of the Senate members within a reasonable time period. On the other hand, there have been some difficulties in accessing the same information in the House of Representatives and the judiciary. In the first case, it is important to say that some legislators voluntarily published their disclosure reports on the Web site. When it comes to the executive, Poder Ciudadano declares it is possible to access the asset disclosure records of civil servants within a reasonable period of time, over the Internet. [ LINK ]

References: Poder Ciudadano Foundation www.poderciudadano.org

44c: In practice, citizens can access the asset disclosure records of senior civil servants at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: It is important to say that it is possible to access the information at a reasonable cost, but only in those cases when the information is available.

References: www.poderciudadano.org