Round Table: The current trend in amending the Civil Service Law is harmful

At the round table Public Administration Reform in the context of the proposed amendments and additions to the Law on Civil Service, held by Transparency International BiH in Sarajevo, representatives of institutions involved in the reform process, as well as representatives of the legislative authorities, civil society, international organizations and the media participated, reports the Patria News Agency.

 

The general conclusion of the round table is that BiH needs a professional, politically neutral, competent, efficient, and, above all, responsible public administration that will serve citizens and achieve savings.

It was concluded that the amendments to the Law on Civil Service of the Federation of BiH, as well as identical solutions prepared at the BiH level, are a cause for concern because they do not move in this direction, and that under the guise of rationalization and reorganization of the civil service, additional politicization is being introduced.

It was emphasized that the proposed amendments are completely contrary to the principles contained in the Public Administration Reform Strategy, and the requirements that the European Union and SIGMA have insisted on for years. Instead of eliminating shortcomings in the functioning of public administration, these amendments are actually dismantling the public administration system.

It is important to emphasize that the existing public administration system has mechanisms in place to ensure the efficiency of civil servants, but they have never been fully utilized.

In addition to the controversial content of the legal solution, it was emphasized that the manner of drafting and adopting the proposed legal amendments is particularly concerning because it is a very important law. Namely, it was adopted under an urgent procedure, with legal violence, violation of procedures, and disregard for the opinions and positions of the professional public, the Legislative Office, as well as the relevant commissions of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH. Although the amendments are presented by the authorities as rationalization, it is very likely that these legal solutions will cause additional financial burdens to an already expensive public administration, especially when the same solutions are adopted at lower levels of government.

From the discussion held on the Law on Civil Service, which was adopted at the level of the Federation of BiH, and prepared at the level of BiH institutions, the following conclusions emerged:

The current trend in amending the Law on Civil Service is harmful and opens the door for irresponsible individuals to exert undue influence on public administration. The question is what the consequences of the controversial solutions will be for the public administration system and society as a whole, given that public administration should be predictable in its work;

A professional, impartial, and politically neutral public administration are key principles that need to be applied through: personnel policy, recruitment processes, candidate selection procedures, and the development of human resource management units, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Administration Reform Strategy;

It is necessary to examine the constitutionality and legality of the adoption of laws at all levels of government, and to use existing mechanisms to assess the constitutionality and legality of the adoption of this law;

Public debate and discussion on legal amendments between the authorities and civil society, academia, and the professional public in identifying reform priorities must be respected in order to find the most optimal solutions;

It is necessary to ensure that the efficiency of civil servants is given due attention and that the issue of effectiveness needs to be resolved through better management by institutional leaders.

Based on the defined conclusions, TI BiH will continue its engagement in monitoring public administration reform processes.

TI BiH organized the Round Table within the framework of the Public Administration Reform Monitoring - PARM project, which is being implemented in partnership with the Center for Investigative Journalism, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Government of Denmark, it was announced from TI BiH.