Clarity and adequacy of the material, horizontal and vertical scopes of public service legislation

Comprehensiveness of material scope of public service legislation

Review of general legislation on the public service. The analysis must determine whether public service legislation regulates at least the topics listed below. General legislation on the public service may include a law on the civil service, and/or a general law on the public service. Special legislation that may apply to some groups of public servants in the central government administration is not considered for the assessment. Some areas, such as salaries or integrity systems, may be regulated in detail in separate pieces of legislation, but the general public service legislation should at least refer to the specific legislation and/or contain basic provisions related to them. Provisions of the labour law are only considered if there is an explicit reference to them in general legislation on the public/civil service, or if the labour law is the general law regulating employment in the public service. The legislation(s) must cover at least the following 12 elements: 1) Vertical and horizontal scope 2) Rights and duties of public servants 3) Institutions responsible for the management of public servants 4) Main criteria for job classification 5) Eligibility criteria to enter the public service 6) Merit-based and transparent recruitment 7) Professional development 8) Merit-based career advancement and promotion 9) Integrity measures 10) Salaries 11) Disciplinary system 12) Termination of employment All 12 elements need to be regulated (or salaries or integrity are regulated in special legislation, and there is a clear reference to special provisions) to fulfil the criterion.

Comprehensiveness of horizontal scope of the public service in legislation (used for point allocation)

The analysis must verify: 1) Whether general legislation on the public service regulates employment relations and salaries in the eight group of public bodies listed below, and/or if they are subject to special legislation. For the analysis of this criterion, general legislation on the public service means a law on the civil service and/or a law on the public service, and a salary law. 2) In institutions where employment relations are regulated in special legislation, whether does the legislation ensures minimum standards for fair and professional management in: recruitment, dismissal and salaries. The following eight groups of public institutions are assessed: 1) Ministries 2) Customs administration 3) Tax administration 4) Foreign service 5) Other bodies reporting directly to the government, prime minister (PM) or ministers. The assessment of this group will be based on the situation in the three institutions with the highest number of public employees. If one or several of these institutions are the same as in points b, c or d above, they are replaced by the next institutions with the highest number of public employees. 6) The administration of the parliament, the president, and the prime minister. 7) Regulatory authorities. The assessment of this group will be based on the situation in national regulatory bodies operating in the following domains: a) competition protection; b) energy; c) electronic communications; d) audio-visual media services. 8) The supreme audit institution (SAI) and the ombudsperson institution. For each of the above groups of institutions to which special legislation applies, it is verified whether the following elements are fulfilled: 1. Recruitment: a. Competitions are established as the only way to access public service positions for external candidates (as stipulated in sub-indicator 9.I2, criterion 2); b. Members of selection committees cannot be political appointees and political appointees cannot choose members of selection committees professionals (as stipulated in sub-indicator 9.7, criterion 2); c. The highest-ranked candidate after the selection must be appointed (as stipulated in sub-indicator 9.8, criterion 6); d. Candidates can appeal recruitment decisions (as stipulated in sub-indicator 9.10, criteria 2-3); 2. Dismissal: a. The legislation establishes objective criteria for termination of employment (as stipulated in sub-indicator 8.6, criteria 1-3); 3. Salaries: a. Legislation defines all elements of remuneration, criteria and procedures to allocate them (as stipulated in sub-indicator 11.2, criterion 1); Points are allocated based on the number of groups of institutions for which legislation ensures merit and professionalism (x): • x < 4 groups of public institutions = 0 points. • 4 ≤ x < 8 groups of public institutions = linear function • x = 8 groups of public institutions = 5 points.

At least 7 out of 8 institution groups are regulated in one public service law

Analysis conducted in 8.1.3.2. to verify whether at least 7 out of 8 institution groups are regulated in one public service law.

Persons appointed based solely on political criteria do not have the right to stay in their functions after the mandate of their appointing authority terminates and do not enjoy public service tenure and career possibilities

Review of general legislation on the public service. General legislation on the public service may include a law on the civil service, and/or a general law on the public service. Special legislation that may apply to some groups of public servants in the central government administration is not considered. Provisions of the labour law are only considered if there is an explicit reference to them in general legislation on the public /civil service regarding relevant aspects to assess this criterion, or if the labour law is the general law regulating employment in the public service. The legislation is reviewed to verify whether provisions regarding positions to which appointment is based solely on political criteria (for example, deputy ministers, chief or advisors of the minister’s cabinet) fulfil the following three elements: 1. These positions are clearly distinguished from public service positions. 2. Persons appointed to these positions do not have the right to continue in the job when the political authorities who appointed them terminate their mandate. 3. Persons appointed to these positions and who were not public servants before their appointment do not have access to public service jobs or career opportunities in the public service after terminating their functions, outside the regular way of public competition.