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2007 Assessment

Georgia: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Georgia: 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?	50
42	Is the law governing the administration and civil service effective?	39
43	Are there regulations addressing conflicts of interest for civil servants?	33
44	Can citizens access the asset disclosure records of senior civil servants?	67

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: Article 13 of the Law on Public Service mentions the basic principle of an independent civil service but there are no specific regulations to implement that principle in practice.

References: Law on Public Service; There are no regulations and procedural rules regulating independence and impartiality of the service.

Peer Review Comments: See Article 13 of the Law on Public Service.

Peer Review Comments: I agree that the civil service is not really protected from political interference, but the law on Public Service clearly states general principles of functions and procedures. According to the law, public service is free of party control and it is secular (article 13).

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

Score:

YES

Comments: It is prohibited to have close relatives under direct supervision. This is the only provision in this respect.

References: Law on Public Service, art.17

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: General Rules of Administrative Procedure, under the Code of Administrative Procedure

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

Score:

YES

Comments: Law on Public Service, art.17, has a general prohibition that persons under any investigation or sentence cannot serve in the civil service before the term of the sanction expires. After the term of the sanction, however, the individual can once again take up government employment.

References: No special rules exist.

Peer Review Comments: Article 17 clearly states that persons who have been convicted of a deliberately committed crime cannot hold public office. This is a general provision which also includes corruption crimes of similar nature.

Is the law governing the administration and civil service effective?

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

Score:

100

Comments: As there is a procedure for appointing qualification exams and atestation at any time , and there are no objective criteria set by the law, it is used as a tool for firing all staff as a new minister or head of administration takes office.

References: Law on Public Service

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: No criteria is provided by law. Appointments are usually related to party loialties.

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

Score:

100

Comments: After any reshuffle of government, the majority of the staff of ministries and departments are fired, and new, party members loyal to concrete person are appointed.

References: Any Georgian media report about the issue.

Peer Review Comments: Nepotism does indeed play a role in Georgia's civil service. However, when considering the situation in other countries (notably, the United States) it is apparent that top-level bureaucrats are usually replaced after government changes.

Peer Review Comments: At least there should be a distinction made between political appointees versus civil servants so that it is clear who will be removed from their position after changes in the 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: There are almost no job descriptions. Contracts are of a general charachter and civil servants are on call for the next assignment.

References: Interviews with 15 civil servants at national and local level.

Peer Review Comments: Some legal persons of public law are better at this than other institutions.

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: There is no system of bonuses in Georgia, which is why there are no reports in this regards. Yet, the law on public service allows for one time bonus annually, or a special gift.

References: No reports exist.

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

Score:

100

Comments: Some agencies publish in the newspaper "24 Hours" vacancies as they appear.

References: No media reports exist.

Peer Review Comments: For Ministries and similarly scaled public institutions, changes to these lists are also published in Sakanonmdeblo Matsne.

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

Score:

100

Comments: There have been a number of cases where illegally-fired public servants have won against the institutions, but the big majority of redress cases have never been executed, as after massive firing of staff the public institutions change the names of the departments and posts and of formal grounds they refuse re-hiring, as their former positions do not exist any more.

References: Labor Code Law on Public service Code of Administrative Procedure see reports at www.gyla.ge

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: There are no media reports on delays.

Peer Review Comments: And that is a considerable achievement, taking into account that civil servants weren't paid for months under Shevardnadze.

Peer Review Comments: There have been media reports of delayed payments to school teachers.

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

Score:

100

References: There is no formal system and prohibition of this kind.

Peer Review Comments: There are some cases where high-ranked officials accused of abuses of power still find opportunities to hold public office, although they try to avoid publicity about it. The media have unexpectedly revealed some of these cases.

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:

References: Law on Civil Service

Peer Review Comments: See for example Article 62, 66 or 17(f) of the Law on Public Service.

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: No restriction exists.

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

Score:

YES

Comments: There is a limit on gifts and hospitality that can be accepted annually.

References: Law on Conflict of Interest and Corruption

Peer Review Comments: There is no mechanism for returning gifts.

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: No regulation exists.

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: No regulation applies on checking and audit.

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: The regulations are rarely applied in practice.

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:

References: General Administrative Code of Georgia, Chapter 3, Freedom of Information

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

Score:

100

Comments: It takes form 10 days to one month to get the requested information. There have been no reports on delays and any particular problems.

References: No particular problems have been reported.

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

Score:

100

Comments: Only photocopying costs are charged, as required by law.

References: No information has been reported on such problems.