Sultankhan Shakir Asylkhanovich-head of the Department of the agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Civil Service affairs in Zhambyl region, chairman of the Ethics Council
1. question:
As you know, by the decree of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated February 22, 2022, the Code of ethics of civil servants of the Republic of Kazakhstan was approved in a new version.
Shakir Asylkhanovich, what are the prerequisites for making changes to the Code of ethics?
Answer:
Head of state Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that a new approach to the work of the state apparatus is needed at a meeting of the Mazhilis of the Parliament in January of this year and at a meeting on anti-corruption issues, and that the civil service system requires radical changes so that it is actually service-oriented and customer-oriented.
Today, the activities of the state apparatus are aimed at meeting the needs of society, including protecting the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, i.e. providing services.
Consequently, the creation of a customer-oriented state apparatus requires a radical change in the attitude of civil servants in general.
We can say that the main reason for the adoption of the Code of Ethics in the new version was the solution of a number of emerging issues in the civil service system.
The code of Ethics, approved in the new version, will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the formation of the mentality of civil servants in a new way.
2. Question:
Please note the main innovations introduced in the code of ethics.
Answer:
The code of ethics defines the role of the civil service in the life of society, the position of civil servants and the need to strive to preserve and strengthen public confidence in the civil service, the state and its institutions.
At the same time, it was noted that employees adhere to the state policy.
One of the innovations of the code of ethics is the establishment of ethical principles of the civil service.
At the same time, the official ethics of civil servants is based on the principles of good faith, honesty, fairness, openness, politeness, and customer orientation.
In this case, the principle of customer orientation implies improving the quality of public services provided, fully focusing on the needs of the population as a consumer of public services, and preventing manifestations of bureaucracy and red tape when considering applications.
In addition, the rules of conduct of civil servants are reflected in the standards of official ethics.
In particular, standards of official ethics of civil servants in public spaces, in official relations with citizens and colleagues, and in off-duty hours.
For example, civil servants are obliged to be modest, comply with generally accepted moral and ethical standards, and not distribute information that does not correspond to reality.
At the same time, they should be tactful in their relations with citizens, do not allow facts of rudeness, humiliation of dignity, obscenity and unethical behavior, and do not provoke criticism from them by their actions and behavior.
Another exception is the requirement for civil servants not to make illegal promises of any nature related to the exercise of official powers and not to take illegal obligations.
For example, civil servants may make unfounded promises to the public that they will take any measures on issues that do not fall within their powers. At the same time, the impossibility of fulfilling this promise in practice in accordance with the legislation may lead to a decrease in public confidence in state power.
In short, so.
3. Question:
As far as we know, the current code of ethics contained provisions that are reflected in other legislative acts. How is this problem resolved?
Answer:
The following requirements for civil servants in the current code of ethics:
- ensuring the legality and fairness of their decisions;
- improve their professional level and qualifications for the effective performance of official duties, comply with the restrictions and prohibitions established by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- inadmissibility of committing offenses and misdemeanors, for which the legislation provides for disciplinary, administrative or criminal liability, and much more are excluded due to the inflexibility of their application in practice.
4. question:
The Department of the agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Civil Service affairs in Zhambyl region monitors compliance with the requirements of legislation in the field of civil service, including the Code of ethics.
Shakir Asylkhanovich, what is the level of ethics of civil servants today? Also, please note the state of disciplinary penalties for civil servants.
Answer:
- In general, over the past 3 years, there has been a decrease in the number of disciplinary penalties imposed on civil servants.
Thus, in 2019, a total of 1,229 employees were punished, and in 2020 this figure amounted to 1,050 employees, which decreased by 14.6%.
In turn, in comparison with 2020, the number of civil servants brought to disciplinary responsibility in 2021 decreased from 1,050 to 865, i.e. by 17.6%.
In general, the number of disciplinary penalties for 3 years decreased by 29.6%.
Most of the disciplinary penalties were imposed against employees of local executive bodies, i.e. 67%, on average for 3 years.
This means that the number of violations committed by civil servants is also decreasing.
- Now I will focus on the practice of imposing disciplinary penalties for violation of ethical standards.
There is also a decrease in the number of employees who were punished for violating ethical standards, if in 2019 30 employees were punished, then in 2020 12 employees were punished, that is, the figure decreased by 60%.
In turn, 13 employees were brought to justice for committing violations of this category last year.
Therefore, it is possible to observe that the situation has stabilized somewhat.
5. question:
On April 13 of this year, the decree of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan" on measures to free the activities of the state apparatus from bureaucracy " was issued.
In this context, is there any correlation between the issue of ridding state bodies of bureaucracy and the new edition of ethics?
Answer:
The decree you mentioned was adopted in order to increase the efficiency and efficiency of decision-making in the state apparatus, reduce document flow and reporting, increase the independence and personal responsibility of heads of state bodies.
This document defines the role and scope of competence of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Civil Service affairs in this process.
To the agency in cooperation with the government:
1) hold an annual competition among civil servants for the best project in improving the activities of the state apparatus;
2) within the framework of procedures for monitoring the state of public services and public monitoring of the quality of public services rendered, an annual survey is conducted to get rid of bureaucracy.
At the same time, the agency and its territorial departments will study the monitoring and analysis of the state apparatus on the elimination of bureaucracy, including internal administrative procedures of state bodies.
As I have already mentioned, the principle of customer orientation in the new code of ethics implies the exclusion of bureaucracy and confusion in the provision of public services to the population and the consideration of Appeals.
Therefore, the issue of avoiding bureaucracy is also reflected in the Code of ethics, and its violation entails disciplinary liability.