Contribution to the problem of ethics of public administration personnel

Abstract

Civil service ethics is an important issue in the context of any modern civil service system including the civil service system of the Republic of Serbia. Civil service ethics is referred to as a set of social rules characteristic of civil servants which they adopt as a personal behaviour criterion. In this way, ethics is manifested through the relationship of civil servants towards citizens, society as a whole, the administrative body where they work and towards their duties. The modern civil service system must promote acceptance of ethical principles and values which represents a key step towards the effective professionalization of the civil service. Thus, civil servants will have a clear idea of their position and overall social importance of the activities they perform. The paper is dedicated to that segment of the civil service system referring to the work ethics and behaviour of civil servants, which in the modern world in legal terms is grounded in system laws, by-laws and codes of ethics. As regards the Republic of Serbia after a few decades, the Law on Civil Servants of2005 marked significant progress towards the codification of the material related to civil servants. Also, solutions provided by other system laws and regulations in this area promote completely new methods and mechanisms of modern human resources management, which has allowed the operation of the civil service system as a whole. Every profession, among other things, is based on ethical principles. Civil servant profession as a highly demanding profession implies compliance with certain ethical standards of work and the relationship with the entities which the administrative activity is directed at. The ethics of administration personnel is incompatible with bribe, corruption, bureaucratic inefficiency, arrogance, lack of work, harassment of citizens and other negative phenomena. New civil service system in the Republic of Serbia is characterized by meritorious civil service system, or career system. The general trend in the direction of state administration reform imposes an obligation that the state administration employs civil servants who possess high professional and moral characteristics. Devotion to and respect for the rule of law, neutrality, loyalty to democratic institutions and the respect of citizens are just some of the characteristics that are related to the civil service. Committed to the European standards of state administration and the existence of common values shared by the member states of the European Union, the Republic of Serbia incorporated in its legislation the basic principles of good practice of the European administration related to civil servants. It is very important that in the future the practice confirms and pursues these legislative solutions.

U službeničkim sistemima modernih država, pa i Republike Srbije, kao nezaobilazno se postavlja pitanje etike kadrova koji na profesionalnoj osnovi obavljaju poslove iz nadležnosti organa uprave. Na taj način, državni službenici imaju jasnu predstavu o svom položaju i ukupnom društvenom značaju delatnosti kojom se bave. Predmet naše pažnje u ovom radu jeste onaj segment službeničkog sistema koji se odnosi na etiku rada i ponašanja koja je u pravnom smislu utemeljena u sistemskim zakonima, podzakonskim aktima kao i etičkim kodeksima. Zakon o državnim službenicima Republike Srbije iz 2005. godine je nakon nekoliko decenija označio prvi pomak ka određenoj kodifikaciji materije službeničkih odnosa. Takođe, rešenjima koja su sadržana i u drugim sistemskim zakonima i podzakonskim aktima u ovoj oblasti došlo je do uvođenja određenih sasvim novih metoda i mehanizama savremenog upravljanja kadrovskim resursima, što je omogućilo delovanje službeničkog sistema kao jedne celine. Propisivanje uslova za zasnivanje i prestanak radnog odnosa, klasifikaciju državnih službenika, selekciju kadrova, sistem napredovanja, prava i dužnosti državnih službenika, poboljšavanje kvalifikacija putem osposobljavanja i usavršavanja, razvoja ličnih vrednosti i potencijala kod državnih službenika, usvajanjem evropskih i nacionalnih etičkih standarda, osnovi su na kojima počivaju savremeni službenički sistemi pa i sistem Republike Srbije. PR Rad je rezultat istraživanja na projektu: Kriminalitet u Srbiji i instrumenti državne reakcije, koji finansira i realizuje Kriminalističko-policijska akademija u Beogradu, ciklus naučnih istraživanja 2015-2019. godine.