Being in the public service is not only prestigious and honorable, as many think. It is also very difficult, and most importantly - a very responsible job. And beckoning with many kinds of temptations, which not everyone can withstand. There is such a thing as "the responsibility of civil servants." What is it, what does it happen and what does it lead to?
Who is called a civil servant
Before discussing the responsibility of civil servants, it is necessary to understand what positions and specialties fall under this definition. So, a civil servant is a person who is in the public service and performs certain duties in accordance with his position. Then what is public service? This is work in those areas that relate to the state administration apparatus. Next, we will analyze what kind of areas they are, but first, a couple of words from the history of the emergence of public service and its employees.
History tour
Public service has been known since the days of Ancient Rome and Byzantium. In the apparatus of power in those ancient times, people worked for whom this post was inherited, or those who directly depended on the ruler. There were no appointments, let alone elective procedures. But then it was already possible to instruct other people to do what was entrusted to you, and to receive payment for it yourself.
In imperial Russia, current civil servants were called officials. There was a special Table of Ranks - a document according to which officials lined up in a hierarchical order. So, the highest position - that is, the rank - was occupied by the chancellor, the lowest - the college registrar. The table of ranks appeared under Peter the Great and was repeatedly modified; at the last revision, it left twelve (instead of fourteen) posts. His rank could be improved in several ways, one of them by seniority (it was required to work at least three or four years at the corresponding post). There was a funny fact: there were fewer jobs themselves than there were applicants for them in the form of public servants.
At first, the representatives of the nobility were among the civil servants, but the further they got, the fewer they became. This was due primarily to the fact that the nobles began to receive exemption from compulsory service - therefore, they began to evade the performance of their state duties. At the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the number of bureaucratic apparatus was measured by half a million people.
Civil Servant Professions
So, we got acquainted with a brief history of the emergence of public service in Russia. It remains now to find out who to attribute to the employees of this service, and who is not. A complete list is not possible due to its unusually large size, but it’s quite realistic to name a few examples for familiarization and understanding of the essence. In the presidential administration, this is the head of administration, the presidential aide, the head of the office, the deputy secretary of the Security Council, the plenipotentiary of the president in the State Duma, the presidential adviser, the military inspector of the Russian Federation, and so on. The office of the Federation Council employs a manager for his affairs, chairman, assistant chairman, and also an assistant member of the Federation Council. And there is also the apparatus of the State Duma, the administration of the president’s affairs, the management of special programs, the Federal Customs Service ... In general, you can continue for a long time.
For those particularly interested, we note that there is a special presidential decree with an attached list of all posts of this order. And we, perhaps, will put an end to this, and gradually move on to discussing the responsibility of civil servants, and before that - their functions, rights and obligations.
Responsibilities of Civil Servants
It is logical to assume that since civil servants have a certain responsibility, then there are obligations that, if they are not properly performed or are not properly performed, they have to bear this responsibility. What are these responsibilities?
It must be understood that they are different for each specific position, since this implies requirements for a given place of work. However, there are general criteria for everyone, regardless of their position. This, for example, high-quality and conscientious performance of their direct duties; ensuring the observance and protection of the rights of citizens, as well as the implementation of the norms of the Constitution of our country; Fulfillment of orders given by higher management (of course, if they do not violate the law). People who are in a similar job should strictly comply with the internal rules that apply in accordance with their position. If they know a state secret or other things that are not subject to mass distribution, they are required to keep them secret. In addition, civil servants are subject to a special legal regime, but nevertheless they are not exempted from all the possibilities and functions of an ordinary ordinary citizen of the country. The remaining functions of public servants can be discussed separately for each specific position.
Types of civil servant responsibility
So we moved on to the most interesting point: the civil servant and his responsibility. What is it like?
First of all, we say that there are four types of legal liability. It is disciplinary, material, criminal and administrative. All four of these are fully applicable to government officials. Next, we consider in more detail each type of responsibility separately - and begin with a disciplinary one.
Disciplinary
So, the disciplinary responsibility of a civil servant. This type is considered the most common and generally the main type of responsibility possible for public servants. The word “disciplinary”, as you can easily guess, comes from the word “discipline”. Accordingly, disciplinary liability refers to liability for failure to discipline, disobedience, and so on. Also, the disciplinary liability of civil servants is also referred to as responsibility for subordination. It must be clarified: any other type of liability will be considered in court, but in this case everything is considered without the involvement of unauthorized persons, specifically at the scene of the incident.
The disciplinary liability of civil servants occurs as a result of a disciplinary offense. It can be understood as such things as failure to comply with executive orders (or poor execution), evading one's duties and powers, being late, absenteeism, non-observance of rules of conduct at the workplace and all that sort of thing. To sort out the offense of the offender and impose any penalty on him is the responsibility of his direct supervisor.
Sometimes it happens that a person refuses to comply with the order of the leader, considering it unlawful. If this is true, then, despite the person’s violation of discipline and disobedience, in this case one cannot speak of a disciplinary offense on his part. Here the responsibility should be borne by the one who issued such an order.
The prosecution of a civil servant is also possible at the request of a special representative body.If such a request arrives, indicating that the employee, for example, has exceeded his authority or has violated discipline or something else, is his direct supervisor, the employer will be obliged to consider this application and take appropriate measures. These measures can be either a simple verbal remark, or a reprimand (with or without a personal record), and even in especially serious cases, dismissal.
In general, it should be noted that all possible measures applied to employees in the event they bear disciplinary responsibility are prescribed in a special law - an article of the Labor Code - and managers are strictly forbidden to carry out any other measures that are not provided for by law. There are deadlines for bringing civil servants to disciplinary action. This must be done within six months from the moment the misconduct was discovered. After six months from the day of the misconduct, no penalty can be applied to the person, and if this happens, the civil servant has the right to appeal the incident to the court. And most likely, everything will be decided in his favor.
We also clarify some of the features of disciplinary liability. Firstly, such responsibility is characterized by its speed, efficiency - as a rule, everything is decided in a matter of weeks, if not days. Secondly, she exerts a very strong moral influence on the perpetrator, since the whole collective learns about his misconduct and, accordingly, the recovery. Finally, thirdly, in the event of a disciplinary offense, an audit can be initiated - either by the leader and his representatives, or by the employee who committed this offense. The audit should be carried out during the month as a maximum, and during it, firstly, the misconduct that the person did was established, secondly, the circumstances in which this happened, thirdly, the harm that his misconduct caused to someone neither was (or whatever). At the end of the audit, a decision is made whether to punish the person or not. While the check is being carried out, no penalties can be applied to the employee. The maximum may be suspended from his post.
What is administrative responsibility?
We turn to the second type of responsibility of civil servants - it is called administrative. What does this mean and what violations are included here?
The legislation of our country classifies such offenses as those that correspond to the following parameters: these are either actions or inaction that harm the health or property of the population, public law and order, the environment, and so on. They have several signs by which it is immediately easy to identify violations of this kind - for which, therefore, administrative responsibility is imposed. We list these signs.
First offense. That is, this action or, conversely, inaction is a violation of the law. Secondly, it must be committed either intentionally (when guilty plea), or by negligence. However, guilt is recognized in this case as well. The third sign of administrative offenses is their punishability.
A legal offense can be committed by a legal entity, that is, an organization, or by a physical person, that is, an individual, including, of course, a civil servant. Then it is appropriate to talk about the administrative responsibility of a civil servant. As a rule, it occurs if a person, an official, improperly performs his duties, which leads to violations of various kinds.
The person who committed the administrative offense, of course, bears responsibility for this - therefore, receives a certain punishment. But it does not always happen that one particular person can correct his mistake.In this case, the responsibility with him will be shared by the enterprise in which he works - that is, a legal entity. In order to be better understood, we can give an example: someone dumped radioactive waste into the river. One person is to blame, but he cannot compensate for the losses, so together with him the administrative responsibility will be borne by the organization where he works, and she will receive the appropriate punishment. As a rule, the main measure of administrative punishment is a fine.
The administrative responsibility of civil servants is characterized by the fact that, unlike criminal offenses, it does not cause significant harm to either society or specific people and cannot be considered dangerous. Another feature of violations of this order is that they are all recorded in government bodies. If a person commits a second violation within a year, even a criminal case can be brought against him, and if it is an organization, then it is even possible to suspend activities. Here's what you should know about the administrative responsibility of a public servant. We understand further!
Criminal liability
The next type of liability is called criminal. What it is is clear from the name alone. Punishment for misconduct of such a plan inevitably entails the institution of a case and going to court; and even if, in the final analysis, the deprivation of liberty, position or fine (namely, such measures are provided by law as punishments in these cases) can be avoided, a person will still have a criminal record, which means a stain, and his reputation, as they say, will be tarnished .
Most often, a criminal case is opened according to an article determining the punishment for exceeding one's official capabilities. There is even a special gradation - in which case the case may result in a fine and in what amount, in which - by arrest and for how long, and so on. It is separately specified that if the incident had especially grave consequences (causing serious harm to someone, for example), then the punishment will also be more severe - either a ten-year detention, or a three-year ban on working in certain positions.
Holding civil servants liable (criminal) is also possible for such an offense as official forgery - that is, a situation where a civil servant deliberately introduces deliberately false information into the working documents. This is also considered a violation of a criminal nature and is punishable, depending on the severity of the situation, by a fine, suspension from service or corrective labor - usually for a hundred or more hours.
Separately, you should talk about bribes. This is also a criminal offense, the punishment for which is quite strict. The responsibility of civil servants for corruption offenses occurs regardless of whether the person took the money himself, transferred it to someone through him or he helped someone else to receive the bribe. Even a simple “blind eye” to known information is criminally punishable. Even in such a situation, civil servants are responsible for committing corruption offenses. As for the punishment in such a case, it varies depending on whether the person acted alone or with someone together (in the latter case, of course, the punishment is harder, as there is a conspiracy). So, for a single corruption violation, a person can receive a fine from one hundred to five hundred thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to five years and the inability to perform certain activities. In a situation with a group offense, you can go to places not so remote for twelve years, and pay up to a million rubles. For failure to comply with a court order (this mainly applies to fines), additional measures are envisaged.
Material liability
Finally, the last type of responsibility imposed on employees of the state apparatus is the liability of public servants. How does it in fact differ from the above? After all, there, if necessary, to pay a fine, a person also parted with money - therefore, he incurs material costs!
It's simple: this is the name of the employee’s obligation to compensate for the damage caused to the organization or the state. When it is necessary? Obviously, when a person committed an offense, which led to significant damage. Legislatively, no public servant can have so much money to be able to independently, from personal reserves, pay with the state or enterprise in case of damage to the latter.
In other words, the position of a public servant does not imply huge incomes and incredibly high financial well-being. That's all kinds of legal responsibility of civil servants.
Promotion of civil servants
You can not talk only about misconduct and censure - there are also praise. What kind of promotion is possible for a public servant? They are different for military civil servants and civil servants. Here are a few examples of both.
The military can be awarded as follows: add a photo to the Book of Honor / hang on the Board of Honor; assign the next rank; issue a medal or personal weapon; and they can also remove the previously imposed penalty. For civilians there are the following types of rewards: gratitude; one-time payment; Certificate of honor or title of honor; encouraging the government or president and so on.
That's all there is to know about the promotion and responsibility of civil servants. And let there be no misconduct and punishment, but only incentives happen!