Today, the Federal Law acts on the territory of the Russian Federation, on the basis of which all issues related to the organization of the activities of workers falling into the state civil service are resolved. The law was approved by the State Duma in July 2004, and has undergone many additions and changes. This article will discuss some important articles of the law, including such a difficult issue as restrictions on admission to the civil service. Let's try to figure out why they appeared in the regulatory document and whom they concern.
Civil Service Law - General Provisions
Articles 1–7 of the Federal Law on Civil Service deal with general provisions. Article 1 discloses two important terms used in the law: public office (in Russia and in its subjects); representative of the employer.
There is a conditional division of posts into those that are related to the Russian Federation as a whole, and those whose activities are carried out in individual entities (republics, territories, regions).
Principles underlying the civil service
All the most important principles are given in article 4 of the law on the state civil service of the Russian Federation. The most important principle is the priority of freedoms and rights, it is interesting that any citizen of the Russian Federation is given the right to enter the civil service, the following data do not matter:
- floor;
- race;
- religion or belief;
- location;
- the presence of posts or property;
- participation in trade unions.
But there is one condition, a citizen must speak the state language of the Russian Federation, that is, Russian.
Interconnections of various public services
Articles 6-7 of the Federal Law on the Civil Service spelled out theses on the interconnection of various services with each other, outlined the fields of interaction between municipal and civil departments. Unified principles are emphasized on which each of them is built, including:
- the same qualifications;
- the same rights, obligations, restrictions;
- same requirements for professional skills and employee growth.
This emphasizes that both services have much in common, more than between the civilian and military services. An important postulate is that civil and municipal departments build relations between themselves on a constitutional basis.
Position Act Provisions
Articles 9-12 of this normative legal act regulate the issue of posts, hence the roots of the section where restrictions related to civil service are indicated. This complex begins with a review of the categories and types into which the posts are divided. The following 3 categories are distinguished:
- Leaders
- advisers;
- providing specialists.
The last group of this article of the Law on the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation (RF) includes employees who ensure normal life in all areas - documentary, organizational, informational, economic and financial.
The division into groups distinguishes higher, junior, main, leading, senior positions. Only managers can have the first, the same category of workers cannot have “senior” and “junior”. Personnel engaged in the provision of security cannot be in senior positions.
In addition to the position, the employee is still in the process of assigning ranks, for which a qualification exam is passed. According to its results, you can get one of the following ranks:
- Full State Advisor to the Russian Federation;
- State Advisor of the 1st class;
- State Advisor of the 2nd class;
- State Advisor of the 3rd class.
The first rank is assigned personally by the president; in other cases, the head of a federal authority takes on this function.
Qualification Requirements Act
And although it was previously stipulated that there are no obstacles to occupying a position, it is clear that there are certain restrictions associated with the civil service. And the first obstacle to political and economic heights of power can be a citizen’s mismatch with qualification requirements, including:
- lack of necessary professional education;
- lack of work experience;
- lack of necessary skills and knowledge.
Depending on what position the candidate is applying for (senior or junior), requirements of different orders are presented. For higher posts, education is at the master's level, for lower ones - the presence of a diploma of vocational training.
What rights does a public servant have?
The adjacent articles 14 and 15 of this normative act reveal the basic rights and obligations of civil servants. It is interesting that in the list of rights wages and vacations occupy far from the first positions.
The second interesting point concerns the entries in the personal file. It is emphasized that the employee must be familiarized with them before being entered into a personal file, but nothing is said about whether he has the right to make adjustments to the information entered. The list of rights does not mention restrictions related to civil service.
There are rights, but where are the responsibilities?
Naturally, after the list of rights, the next chapter of the law is devoted to the duties that a potential civil servant should fulfill. It all starts with the thesis on compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, other Russian regulations, instructions of the head (specified - "within their powers").
Important responsibilities are:
- performance of official duties;
- observance of the official schedule, preservation of official secrets;
- respect for property held by the public servant.
An important point: the withdrawal of citizenship of the Russian Federation for a civil service employee is mandatory for the attention of managers. And the obligation indicated last in the article: the employee must pass the fingerprint registration. Its order is determined by special federal law.
Limit Details
The most important theses of federal law are spelled out in article 16, which is called “Restrictions Associated with Civil Service”. It consists of only three points, the first lists in detail the reasons why it is impossible to take the desired position.
Paragraph 2 of Article 16 emphasizes that there may be other restrictions related to public civil service. The reasons in this case should be spelled out in one of the federal laws. What can hinder the occupation of a vacant post, with the appropriate education, level of knowledge and skills, seniority?
The first paragraph is incapacity (or limited legal capacity), a prerequisite that this fact is established by the court. The issue of dismissal is decided only when the decision of the judicial authority has entered into legal force.
The second paragraph also relies on the decision of the judiciary, but concerns criminal records. This means that a citizen cannot be accepted into the civil service if:
- he is condemned;
- has an outstanding conviction;
- has an unexpunged criminal record.
If this is revealed before entering the service, then a person has no chance to take a vacant "warm chair".The same applies to the point that a criminal record is found out after employment. There is only one solution - dismissal, and under the article on violation of the provisions of the law.
The third important point, described in the chapter on restrictions on recruitment, is a person’s refusal to go through the procedure of access to so-called secret information. If a disease is identified that impedes civil service, the potential employee will also be denied.
In order to remove unnecessary questions, for example, what diseases impede the “take-off of a career”, this item is supplemented with information that the list of diseases, the terms of the medical examination for employees is determined by separate regulatory legal acts (at the federal level).
Checking the documents upon admission to the civil service, personnel will definitely pay attention to the columns related to marital status. According to paragraph 5 of Article 16 of this law, two people, relatives or brother-in-law, cannot occupy the positions of civil servants, provided that one submits to the other. This item appeared in the law 7 years after its entry into force, the degrees of kinship are described in detail (parents, spouses, etc.).
Personnel workers, applying for a job, check the issue of citizenship of another state. According to the law of the Russian Federation “On civil service”, second citizenship is an important reason for refusal. An exception is made only if an international agreement is signed with another state regulating dual citizenship.
If the facts of the submission of false information, the presentation of false documents, the concealment of information, employment is refused. The same applies to cases when a potential candidate prudently kept silent about certain facts that impede enrollment in the civil service.
Evasion of service in the armed forces of the Russian Federation also refers to restrictions on admission to the service. Not at all, in June 2016, this paragraph of the law was supplemented by another subparagraph (12) - failure to provide information on property and income.
"Prohibited!"
Some of the items related to prohibitions have already lost their force, but not all. So, for example, a civil servant of the Russian Federation is obliged to leave his post if he is elected to a state or elective post, moreover, he is elected both in local government bodies and in trade unions.
It is forbidden to combine the work of a civil servant with entrepreneurial activity. Since this issue is currently relevant for Russian reality, the authors of the bill tried to disclose the thesis as accurately as possible in order to remove the insinuations from individual unscrupulous workers.
Another paragraph of a similar nature says that under the ban, civil servants have any rewards:
- money;
- loans
- presents;
- payment for services, recreation, transport.
Again, knowing that unscrupulous employees can even bribe “greyhound puppies”, the law emphasizes “other rewards”. The main thing is to establish the fact of receiving this very reward, and the question of dismissal can be resolved very quickly.
The exception is gifts received on special occasions:
- during protocol events;
- during business trips;
- during various official events.
But in such cases, gifts cannot be taken home, they are a priori considered the property of either the federation or the subject of the federation, and by act must be transferred to the civil service, where the employee who received the gift works.
There are sub-items related, one might say, to freedom of speech, freedom of expression. Firstly, the employee is forbidden to disclose information constituting a state secret if he signed the documents. Secondly, the employee does not have the right to condemn the leaders of the body where he works, higher persons and organizations.
Responsibility of civil servants expects and in the case of acceptance of awards from representatives of foreign states, political parties, religious, public associations. The exception is scientific organizations: the titles assigned by them are retained by the person.
The list of prohibitions includes political and religious views of a civil servant who should not interfere with the performance of their official duties. Moreover, he cannot create new political parties within his structure or lobby their interests. A similar ban applies to the creation (lobbying) of public organizations, religious structures, trade unions, interest clubs, etc.
A number of subparagraphs relate to cooperation with foreign organizations, in addition to not accepting awards and gifts, it is also forbidden to enter trustee and other coordination councils, or to accept financial assistance for the organization’s needs (without the written consent of senior officials). Foreign banks are also taboo, not only for the public servant himself, but also for his relatives. True, the circle of relatives is rather small - spouse and minor children.
Responsibility for violation of the provisions is established both in the law itself and in other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation.
The Code of Ethics for a Civil Servant
Pretty serious demands are made on a civil servant. They are spelled out in article 18. The first thing that this article requires is the conscientious performance of their duties. In the list of important provisions - equal treatment of individuals and representatives of legal entities.
An important point is the neutral attitude that civil servants must exercise during the performance of official duties in order to exclude even the slightest possibility that representatives of the church, trade union, beloved party or public organization can influence a person.
The following is a list that largely coincides with the basic principles of the builder of communism:
- observe honor and dignity;
- be correct;
- respect the traditions and customs of the small peoples of Russia;
- favors people of different faiths, representatives of an ethnic minority;
- smoothing out conflict situations.
A special clause prohibits the head of a government agency from forcing subordinates to join the ranks of a particular party, trade union or join a public organization. Responsibility for non-compliance with restrictions, prohibitions or failure to fulfill obligations he will bear in the prescribed manner.
A very complicated article is a conflict of interest article; it can sometimes be very difficult to resolve such issues. The drafters of the law understand that it is imperfect, continue to clarify paragraphs and subparagraphs. How actively this process is going on can be seen in the article related to the conflict of interests.
Transparency of income and expenses - important postulates
No less important for Russia, steeped in corruption at all levels, is the article of the law on the provision of information related to the personal property of a public servant. Key points:
- information is provided upon admission and annually;
- information is provided not only personally by the employee, but also by his spouse and minor children (although, as we all know, this is not always done, and very often a corrupt civil servant transcribes his property to his neighbors).
It is good that the law stipulates that the presentation of property information is confidential, and those who violate this rule are punished.
Failure to provide information about their income or the income of the spouse when a fact is revealed leads unambiguously to dismissal. Article 20 has subparagraphs 20.1 and 20.2, the first discloses the procedure for submitting information about expenses, and the second, respectively, the relationship of a public servant with the Internet.
According to the law, candidates are required to provide links and addresses of sites where they posted information about themselves. Upon entering the service, indicate Internet sources for the previous three years, then report annually.
These are all preparatory moments that a potential candidate must know in order to assess his strength and capabilities. The following is a detailed review of the conditions of employment, contracting, transfers and vacations, the procedure for dismissal, promotion and punishment. It is best to get acquainted with this material when the first stage is completed successfully.