Selection, Recruitment, and Appointment of Civil Servants/High-Ranking Civil Servants (CZ0010)

“Depoliticisation of the state administration shall be achieved by 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.”

Commitment 4. Selection, recruitment and appointment of civil servants/high-ranking civil servants

Commitment Text:

Depoliticisation of the state administration shall be achieved by 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.

Milestones:

1. Preparing selection procedure for the position of a deputy for state service and a personal director of the Section for Civil Service (SCS) and propose their appointment by the Government (immediately upon declaration of the Act, not later than 30.06.2015).
2. - Preparing selection procedure for the positions of state secretaries in ministries and the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic and ensure their appointment (immediately upon appointment of a secretary for the state service, not later than 30.06.2015).
3. Preparing selection procedures for the positions of heads of the service authorities and deputies for managing sections and ensure their appointment by 30.06. 2016.
4. Prepare selection procedures for the positions of directors of departments and heads of units and ensure their realization by 30.06.2017.
5. Appointing heads of administrative bodies and deputies for managing a section.
6. Appointing directors of departments and heads of units.

Editorial Note: The Section for State Service (SSS) was ultimately named Section for Civil Service (SCS) and is referred to as such throughout the report.

Responsible Institution: Ministry of Interior (Section for Civil Service [SCS])

Supporting Institution(s): Public authorities to which the Act on Civil Service applies

Start Date: Not Specified                                                                      End Date: 30 June 2017

Commitment Aim:

The commitment is aimed at making government administration apolitical through introducing transparent selection procedures for leadership positions and for high- and low-ranking posts.

Prior to the action plan, the government lacked a universal law for selecting public service employees. Newly appointed ministers and politicians could appoint unqualified supporters to positions in the public administration, or arbitrarily fire officials appointed by an opponent’s party. This practice was highly criticized, and led to frequent turnover in key civil service positions often awarded as political favours.

Status

Mid-term: Limited

The Ministry of Interior recruited a deputy for state service on 2 February 2015, and a personal director of the SCS on 23 February 2015.^{[Note 14: Government of the Czech Republic, New Deputy Minister for the State Service Appointed, (February 2015), [Czech] http://bit.ly/1PX8ggY.][Note 15: Government of the Czech Republic, New Personnel Director of the Section for Civil Service Appointed, (February 2015), [Czech] http://bit.ly/1Plx2Sl.]} By 30 June 2015, the government appointed all State Secretaries within the Office of Government and other ministries. IRM researchers concluded that the government completed Milestones 4.1 and 4.2 on time and in accordance with the action plan.

By the end of June 2015, the government had not begun preparations for selecting service authority heads or their deputies. Most of these positions were filled by officials with previous roles in government. The process of filling the remaining open positions had not yet started.

Overall, IRM researchers found this commitment had limited completion by the midterm.

End of term: Substantial

The government completed Milestone 4.3 (selection procedures for the positions of the heads of the service authorities and their deputies) in accordance with the action plan. The government began the selection procedures in June 2015 and appointed the selected employees on time by July 2016, thereby completing Milestone 4.5.^{[Note 16: Government of the Czech Republic, End of Term Self-Assessment OGP Action Plan Report of the Czech Republic 2014-2016 [Czech], https://www.korupce.cz/assets/dokumenty/tiskove-zpravy/Zaverecna-sebehodnotici-zprava-Akcniho-planu-Ceske-republiky-Partnerstvi-pro-otevrene-vladnuti-na-obdobi-let-2014-az-2016.pdf, 11.]}

Although the government has started Milestone 4.4 (selection procedures for directors of departments and heads of units) it is not expected to be completed until 30 June 2017 because they depend on the completion of Commitment 5: Systematisation of service positions and the authorities.^{[Note 17: Ibid.]} Through this systemization, the government will establish the number of civil servants and state employees for each public office and restructure the individual positions. For this reason, it is not likely that Milestone 4.6 (appointment of directors of departments and heads of units) will be completed before  30 June 2017.

According to the self-evaluation report, the government produced service assessments of civil servants for the first time in the first quarter of 2016. Officials assessed servants who worked in the civil service during 2015 for more than two months.^{[Note 18: Ibid., 10.]}

Overall, IRM researchers evaluate the completion of the commitment as substantial by the end of term.

Did it open government?

Access to information: Did not change

Civic Participation: Did not change

Public accountability: Did not change

Prior to adopting the Act, politicians could appoint and dismiss civil servants at their discretion. By establishing a transparent and merit-based selection procedure and related rules, the Government aimed to reduce corruption in the state administration and improve internal systems of accountability.

The composition of civil service authorities and other public bodies will see significant changes with the reappointment of all civil servants by 1 July 2017. After this date, members will have to comply with the new requirements contained in the Act on Civil Service, such as meeting a minimum level of education and passing the Professional Servants Exam. Edvard Outrata, former senator and head of the Czech Statistical Office, noted that the potential risk of political influence still remains in the selection committee. Incumbent ministers recommend members of the committee; members may therefore be biased toward recruiting and appointing officials for key service positions who are favourable to incumbent officials.^{[Note 19: Edvard Outrata, interview by the IRM researchers, 11 September 2015.]}

As noted in the Progress Report, this commitment was not clearly relevant to OGP values. As implemented, it continues to lack a public-facing element for accountability, a mechanism enabling public participation or public access to information. Therefore, it did not change government practice toward openness in OGP-relevant areas.

Carried forward?

The government carried forward this part of the commitment to the next action plan, setting 30 July 2017 as the completion date in the commitment Implementing the Adopted Civil Service Act, Putting Depoliticization, Professionalization and Stabilization of Public Administration, into Practice. The only parts of the commitment which are not yet completed are the selection procedures for department directors, the heads of unit of service authorities and their deputies.

For IRM researchers, it would be advisable to establish fully independent selection committees to carry out the work entailed in the commitment, thereby reducing the risk of bias in the selection procedures.