Adoption of the New Act on Civil Service (CZ0007)

“The new coalition government has adopted the Policy Statement of the Government of the Czech Republic (February 2014), in which adoption of well-functioning and highquality act on civil service, including its implementation has been set as one of the priorities. This Act must guarantee full depoliticisation and well-functioning of public administration, give a clear definition of criteria for appointment and remuneration of public employees, lay down conditions for career advancement and guarantee a high level of education of the officials. In the sphere of public administration this task continue to be crucial, as adoption of the act on public-law basis should ensure a clear definition of basic rights and duties of a civil servant, set principles of personal and managerial running of state administration and reduce a corruption risk of its employees. Depoliticisation of state administration shall be achieved through transparent selection procedures both for low-rank posts and for posts of leading employees (superiors), objective rules for awarding non-entitled components of wages (extra pay for leadership and bonuses) and professionalisation shall be guaranteed by effective human resources processes – system education, examinations of officers and personal work with employees. By a clear definition of employees’ rights and obligations, their development and simultaneously by professional stability even the efficiency of state administration execution will be increased. The requirement to fill the vacancies (“hiring state employees and officials of municipal and regional offices”) on the basis of a selection procedure (open competition), particularly on all levels of public administration, follows beside others from GRECO Recommendation from the 2nd Evaluation Round of 2006, which has not been fulfilled up to now. Czech Republic is going to implement into the law and implementing rules the principles of protection in case of whistleblowing an unlawful conduct and protection against political pressures, as following from the European Principles for Administration, Recommendations of OECD and GRECO. Milestones: ● Adoption of the complex draft amendment by the Chamber of Deputies. ● Adoption of the amendment by the Senate. ● Full effectiveness of the Act on State Service. Responsible Institution: Parliament (Chamber of Deputies and Senate) Supporting Institution(s): The Ministry of Interior Start Date: Not specified End Date: 1 January 2015

Commitment 1. Adoption of the new Act on Civil Service

Commitment Text:

The new coalition government has adopted the Policy Statement of the Government of the Czech Republic (February 2014), in which adoption of well-functioning and high-quality act on civil service, including its implementation has been set as one of the priorities. This Act must guarantee full depoliticisation and well-functioning of public administration, give a clear definition of criteria for appointment and remuneration of public employees, lay down conditions for career advancement and guarantee a high level of education of the officials. In the sphere of public administration this task continue to be crucial, as adoption of the act on public-law basis should ensure a clear definition of basic rights and duties of a civil servant, set principles of personal and managerial running of state administration and reduce a corruption risk of its employees.

Depoliticisation of state administration shall be achieved through transparent selection procedures both for low-rank posts and for posts of leading employees (superiors), objective rules for awarding non-entitled components of wages (extra pay for leadership and bonuses) and professionalisation shall be guaranteed by effective human resources processes – system education, examinations of officers and personal work with employees. By a clear definition of employees’ rights and obligations, their development and simultaneously by professional stability even the efficiency of state administration execution will be increased.

The requirement to fill the vacancies (“hiring state employees and officials of municipal and regional offices”) on the basis of a selection procedure (open competition), particularly on all levels of public administration, follows beside others from GRECO Recommendation from the 2nd Evaluation Round of 2006, which has not been fulfilled up to now. Czech Republic is going to implement into the law and implementing rules the principles of protection in case of whistleblowing an unlawful conduct and protection against political pressures, as following from the European Principles for Administration, Recommendations of OECD and GRECO.

Milestones:

1. Chamber of Deputies adopts draft amendment.
2. Adoption of the amendment by the Senate.
3. Act enters into effect

Responsible institution: Parliament (Chamber of Deputies and Senate)

Supporting institution(s): The Ministry of Interior

Start date: Not specified                                                                     End date: 1 January 2015

Commitment Aim:

The Act is meant to address the lack of legislation regulating the civil service to professionalize and depoliticize public administration. Under the status quo, the professionalism, stability, and impartiality of the public sector was weak, and became influenced by corrupt practices and political influence. Without legal regulation and enforcement, politicians could interfere in administrative procedures, including the hiring and dismissal of civil servants.

Status: Complete at midterm

The government completed the commitment in full; the Act on Civil Service was adopted in October 2014 and promulgated on 6 November 2014.^{[Note 1: Act No. 234/2014 Coll., on Civil Service, https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/2014-234.]} The Act came into force on 1 January 2015 and includes provisions that aim:

1. To give a clear definition of criteria for the appointment and remuneration of civil servants;
2. To lay down conditions for career advancement; and
3. To guarantee a high level of education of the civil servants.

Did it open government?

This commitment could have been a potentially transformative change, as the adoption of the Act on Civil Service represents an indispensable step toward reforming the civil service in the Czech Republic. The Act could provide a more transparent civil service selection process and a means of significantly reducing political manipulation in the public service sector.

Following implementation, some stakeholders were sceptical about the value of the Act as adopted, and doubted whether it could accomplish the intended goals. A number of politicians and civil society actors have deemed the final version of the Act as insufficient, criticizing the lack of clarity and impartiality defined in the selection procedures for state administration. Stakeholders also criticized the lack of protection for civil servants against arbitrary changes or removal from their positions, in addition to undefined distinctions between political and professional (expert) positions.^{[Note 2: Reconstruction of the State, Standpoint Related to Complex Amendatory Draft of the Act on Public Servants, [Czech] http://www.rekonstrukcestatu.cz/novinky/20140909_stanovisko-ke-komplexnimu-pn-novely-sluzebniho-zakona_9_9_2014.pdf; Criticism of the Draft of The Act on Public Servants (Petráková: It’s the legitimatization of the current system), (Euroaktiv.cz, August 2014), [Czech]  http://www.euractiv.cz/cr-v-evropske-unii/clanek/petrakova-sluzebni-zakon-je-legitimizaci-stavajiciho-systemu-012107.]}

This commitment as written did not have clear relevance to OGP values, and as implemented it did not include activities that could be assessed using the OGP coding criteria. While the Act is a major first step for improving government practices, it lacked public-facing elements and concentrated on internal systems of accountability within the public administration. Although this commitment is assessed to have not changed access to information, civic participation, or public accountability, IRM researchers still consider this commitment to have the potential to eventually improve transparency and quality in public administration.
 

Carried forward?

The commitment was accomplished with the adoption of Act no. 234/2014 Coll. on Civil Service and it is entering into force. As a result, it is not carried over to the next action plan.

However, the new action plan includes a commitment called Implementing the Adopted Civil Service Act, Putting Depoliticization, Professionalization and Stabilization of Public Administration, into Practice, which follows the commitments concerning the Act on Civil Service from the second OGP plan (see also the next commitments).