Anti-corruption legal education: Conflict of interests in the civil service and the procedure for its settlement (part 3)
Typical situation:
Conflict of interest related to performing other paid work.
Description of the situation:
A civil servant, his relatives or other persons with whom the personal interest of a civil servant is associated, perform or intend to perform paid work under the terms of an employment or civil law contract in an organization in respect of which the civil servant performs certain functions of public administration.
Prevention and control measures:
A civil servant has the right to perform other paid work with prior notification of the employer's representative, if this does not entail a conflict of interest. The notification procedure for sending information about the intention to carry out other paid work does not require the consent of the employer's representative, except in cases of paid activities financed exclusively by foreign states, international and foreign organizations, foreign citizens and stateless persons.
The employer's representative has no right to prohibit a civil servant from performing other paid work.
At the same time, if a civil servant has a personal interest that leads or may lead to a conflict of interest, the civil servant is obliged to inform the representative of the employer and his immediate supervisor about this in writing. Determining the degree of his personal interest, which is a qualifying sign of a conflict of interest, remains the responsibility of the civil servant himself with all the ensuing legal consequences.
If there is a conflict of interest or the possibility of its occurrence, the civil servant is recommended to refuse offers to perform other paid work in the organization in respect of which the civil servant performs certain functions of public administration.
If at the time of the beginning of the performance of certain functions of state administration in relation to the organization, the relatives of the civil servant perform paid work in it, the representative of the employer and the immediate superior should be notified of the personal interest in writing.
In case of failure to take measures to resolve the conflict of interest, the representative of the employer is recommended to remove the civil servant from the performance of official (official) duties in relation to the organization in which the civil servant or his relatives perform other paid work.
Comment:
In accordance with Part 2 of Article 14 of the Federal Law "On the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation", a civil servant has the right, with prior notification of the employer's representative, to perform other paid work, if this does not entail a conflict of interest. At the same time, a situation in which a civil servant receives or is going to receive material benefits from an organization, on whose activities he can influence by his actions and decisions, is a typical example of a conflict of interest. In this case, the personal interest of a civil servant can negatively affect the performance of his official duties and give rise to doubts about his impartiality and objectivity.
The current legislation does not establish direct restrictions on the employment of relatives of a civil servant, however, it should be noted that for other types of civil service, a stricter prohibition is imposed on the implementation of other paid work. So, in particular, an employee of the internal affairs bodies is prohibited from working part-time at enterprises, institutions and organizations, regardless of the form of ownership that are not part of the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, with the exception of teaching, scientific and other creative activities, while she does not can be financed exclusively by funds of foreign states, international and foreign organizations, foreign citizens and stateless persons, unless otherwise provided by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or the legislation of the Russian Federation.