TO THE ISSUE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC (CIVIL) SERVICE

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of normative consolidation and legal content of the principles of public (civil) service as the basic guidelines on which the civil service should be based. The authors emphasize that nowadays there is no single doctrinal vision of the concept of “principle” in scientific circles, and, respectively, there is no single approach to understanding the concept and system of basic and additional principles of public service in Ukraine. Researchers analyze the content and essence of the principles of public service, defined by the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service” and note that each of them, having an individual legal meaning and significance, is closely related to other principles. Legislative consolidation of the list and legal content of the principles of public service should promote their clear understanding and application by representatives of the state (public) service as well as by people who use the services of public servants. Taking into account the fact that service in certain state structures may be regulated by special legislation, the authors justify their point of view regarding Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service” and state that it should be supplemented by part 2 of the following content: “The principles of civil service in certain public bodies can be determined by acts governing the activities of such bodies”. In addition, it is important to include the principle of political and religious impartiality, which should be worded as follows: “political and religious impartiality – prevention of political views and religious beliefs refraining from demonstrating one's attitude to political parties, blocs and their associations, religious organizations, demonstrating one’s own political views and religious beliefs while performing public service duties”. Instead, the principle of equal access to the civil service should be removed from the principle of the civil service, defined by the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service”, as it does not comply with the provisions of the mentioned Law of Ukraine.