Impartially, honestly, professionally
In this regard on June 23 each year, the Republic of Kazakhstan celebrates the Day of civil service, similar concept of serving people by making a country a better place.
Kazakhstan also echoes the views of the United Nations about the importance of public and civil service. Therefore the country's modernization began with the modernization of the civil service system. The success of social and economic reforms highly depends on professionalism, responsibility, patriotism of civil servants. There are high expectations of general public that civil servants are impartial and honest in performing their duties. However the process of meeting those requirements sometimes are perceived other way.
The idiom «red tape», which is often perceived by critics of bureaucracy, refers to excessive regulation and strict adherence to formal rules that are considered redundant or bureaucratic, as well as hamper or prevent action or decision making. Discretionary powers enable civil servants to exercise their own functions, using the rules of law, at their own discretion. It is possible that individual employees can enjoy the general nature of the law, both for certain purposes, and as a result of lack of motivation. The uncontrolled and massive practice of such a nature of administrative procedures certainly hinders the effective functioning of the state apparatus and paves the way for corruption. Therefore, the legislator should clearly distinguish and find a balance between excessive regulation and discretionary powers, as well as imperative and dispositive norms in legislation.
Overall, formal rules of behavior, interpreted by general public and business representatives as «red tape», can be a manifestation of nothing else but the rule of law. This is why it is very important to understand that administrative civil servants are limited by their job descriptions, by the framework of various rules and regulations. In addition, they are limited in their actions for mandatory implementation of decisions taken by higher-level state bodies and officials, including political civil servants. At the same time, there is always personal responsibility for non-fulfillment or improper performance of official duties by civil servants and exceeding their official powers.
Under such conditions, the excessive use of discretionary powers can lead to corruption offenses, and blindly following the rule of law in the regulated legal relations - to the very manifestation of bureaucracy in its most distorted sense. On the whole, an administrative civil servant is not interested in creating a situation that will be regarded by general public as a manifestation of bureaucracy. Therefore, the legislator must, most importantly, deeply understand the consequences of the adopted rules of conduct.
Given the above illustrations, it is necessary to correctly assess the following. General public wants the civil service in the Republic of Kazakhstan to be based on the principle of legality. In this case, it is crucial to understand that sometimes, in order to ensure the legality and the rule of law, an administrative civil servant must be «a bureaucrat».
An important and yet problematic issue that requires attention is the professionalism of the civil servant. Professionalism may be should not be based on primarily number of academic qualifications or university ranking, but on the totality of knowledge, abilities and skills necessary for the effective performance of professional activities in a particular public office.
For example, the problem with our citizens entering the civil service for the first time is that they cannot build and organize their work so that it becomes the focus of their attention. They tend to be very impatient because they want instant results. However, an administrative civil servant is one who carries out his activity on a permanent professional basis. They need to realize that the daily routine work is also important and with the correct strategic vision it eventually gives measurable outcome and the expected results.
At the same time, the principle of subordination to superior official must be correctly perceived by citizens who first enter civil service. If state functions are carried out solely through individual administrative activities, then the task of subordinate officials and assistants is to ensure this activity of such high official.
In addition, according to the legislation, the civil service is the activity of civil servants in state bodies for the exercise of their official powers aimed at realizing the tasks and functions of state power. Of utmost importance is the performance of official authority. By honing his skills in the exercise of his official powers by reducing the time for consideration and improving the quality of execution, an administrative civil servant not only improves the effectiveness of the state body, but also helps reduce bureaucracy and red tape.
It is possible that due to different levels of professionalism of civil servants in the performance of official powers, there may be failures and red tape in the work. Each stage of administrative procedures has its own civil servants with relevant sphere of responsibility and the level of knowledge, skills and abilities. For example, an ordinary civil servant reviews and prepares a document as a possible response project based on his knowledge and experience of previous work on the project. The head of the division, considering the quality of the draft response, also takes into account other aspects in terms of the direction of the management activities. The director of the department or the chairman of the committee is fully and conceptually responsible for the coordinated work of all such divisions included in the structure of the department or committee.
In this case, it is the sole administrative activity that deters and mitigates the possible risks in the performance of official powers. Therefore, in arguments about the excessive multistage hierarchy of posts and in the idealization of project management in routine work, the realities of the functioning of all segments of the state apparatus and the corporate culture of the administrative civil service must be taken into account.
Despite the often considered need to ensure the competitiveness of public service with the private sector, the introduction of elements such as pay for performance, merit-based appointments and best practices of business and corporate governance, administrative public service remains more a calling than a job.
Legislation on civil service implies that this is more a calling, since an administrative civil servant brings a very solemn oath of the following content: «Considering the performance of civil service as an expression of special trust on the part of society and the state, realizing its high responsibility to the people of Kazakhstan, I solemnly swear to observe the Constitution and the legislation of the country, faithfully and professionally serve the people».
The Ethical Code of Civil Servants of the Republic of Kazakhstan also establishes that civil service is not only an expression of special trust on the part of society and the state, but also high demands on the moral and ethical appearance of civil servants. The society expects that civil servants will invest all their forces, knowledge and experience in their professional activities, serve their homeland - the Republic of Kazakhstan impartially and honestly. At the same time, when entering the administrative civil service, a citizen must also observe standards of conduct during off-duty hours, standards of conduct associated with public speeches, including in the media, anti-corruption restrictions and many other prohibitions.
Considering that the main motivation for the qualitative and effective work of an administrative civil servant remains, to a large extent, the desire to justify the special trust of society and the state, general public mostly sympathize with the path of civil servants who choose the career in serving the people of Kazakhstan. Just as the Stoics at one time firmly and bravely endured the trials of life, so the administrative civil servants work daily for the common good.
By Saken Zhukenov, Director of Legal Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan