REGULATION AND PREVENTION OF CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS IN PUBLIC SERVICE AS THE BASIS OF THE "HONEST CITIZEN" PRINCIPLE

REGULATION AND PREVENTION OF CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS IN PUBLIC SERVICE AS THE BASIS OF THE "HONEST CITIZEN" PRINCIPLE

21.06.2025 01:57:04 15841

      In our country, public service plays a special role in the life of society. It means ensuring the life of society and satisfying public interests in the best and most efficient way. That is, unshakable values ​​such as loyalty to the interests of the country and feeling of duty to it are closely related to the features of public service and the ideals of "Honest Citizen". Here, the issue of preventing conflicts of interest in the work of civil servants is in particular attention. Based on the legislation on public service, conflict of interest is a conflict between the official powers of a civil servant, which may lead to the personal interests of a civil servant not fulfilling his official powers. In addition, the Code of Ethics of civil servants imposes requirements to prevent conflicts of interest of civil servants. And if there is a conflict of interest, it is prohibited for the civil servant to perform his official duties. As soon as the civil servant becomes aware of the conflict of interest or the possibility of its occurrence, he is obliged to inform his direct superior or the management of the state body about it in writing. On their part, they must take timely measures to regulate the conflict of interests, including:

- transfer the official powers of the civil servant to another civil servant;

- change the official duties;

- take other measures to eliminate the conflict of interests.

The civil servant, his direct head and the management of the state body shall be subject to disciplinary responsibility for not taking measures to prevent and regulate situations of conflicts of interest known to them. Despite this, in Pavlodar region, there was a fact of conflict of interest with the first heads of 4 state bodies, appropriate disciplinary measures were taken against the mentioned persons, and measures were taken to eliminate the conflict of interest in all facts. The indicated persons employed their relatives and did not take any measures to prevent conflicts of interest and did not inform their direct superiors. Another vivid example of the conflict of interests in the public service is the fact that relatives hold public positions in the same body. In particular, in Pavlodar region, 42 civil servants were found to be related within the same state body. Meanwhile, there are no signs of conflict of interest among 38 civil servants, that is, 20 civil servants work in different structural departments, while 18 civil servants cannot influence the field of activity of other civil servants. In turn, it should be noted that 4 civil servants were dismissed due to a direct conflict of interest. In this regard, the prevention and regulation of conflicts of interest with civil servants is consistent with the principles of good faith, honesty and justice in public service, as well as with the concept of "Honest Citizen" which originates from Uly Abai's "Complete Man" teaching.

Republic of Kazakhstan

             Head of the Department of Public Service Affairs of the Pavlodar Region Agency Chairman of the Ethics Council

A. B. Iskendirov

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/maslihat-pavlodar-ertis/press/news/details/1018003?lang=kk