Civil Servants

Certain obligations arise for Civil Servants under the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 which are known together as the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001 (the Ethics Acts). A description of these obligations is provided under the following headings:

Disclosure of Interests
Tax Compliance
Code of Standards and Behaviour

Disclosure Requirements

The disclosure requirements of the Ethics Acts apply to all positions in the Civil Service in respect of which the maximum salary is not less than the maximum salary of a Principal Officer (General Service Grade), and to other specific positions in individual Departments/Offices. These are known as designated positions of employment. (Details of designated positions of employment in Civil Service Department / Offices are contained in Appendix 3 of the Standards Commission's guidelines for Public Servants.)

You are required, in respect of each year during any part of which you occupy or occupied a designated position of employment in the Civil Service, to prepare and furnish, to the Secretary General/Head of Office (relevant authority), in a form which is determined by the Minister for Finance, a statement in writing of your registrable interests and those, of which you have actual knowledge, of your spouse or your child or a child of your spouse which could materially influence you in, or in relation to, the performance of your functions. If there are no such interests to disclose, you are requested to furnish a nil statement. The forms for disclosure may be accessed on the website of the Department of Finance. Further information concerning the above requirements is contained in Part 7 of the Standards Commission guidelines for Public Servants.

Also, if a function of your position falls to be performed and you have actual knowledge that you, or a connected person, have a material interest in a matter to which the function relates, you must, as soon as may be, prepare and furnish a statement in writing of those facts to the relevant authority. You should not perform the function unless there are compelling reasons requiring you to do so. If you propose to perform the function you should, before doing so or, if that is not reasonably practicable, as soon as possible afterwards, prepare and furnish to the relevant authority a statement in writing of the compelling reasons. The requirements relating to a material interest apply whether or not an interest has been disclosed in an annual statement of registrable interests. (A definition of what constitutes a "connected person" and a "material interest" is provided at Part 8 (Definitions) of the Standards Commission's guidelines for Public Servants.

A Civil Servant who is appointed to serve on the board of a public body may be required to meet separately the disclosure obligations applying to a designated director under the Ethics Acts.

The obligations outlined above also apply to the holders and occupiers of certain offices and positions which have been prescribed as designated positions of employment. These offices and positions and a definition of what constitutes a "designated director" is provided at Part 3 of the Standards Commission's guidelines for Public Servants.

Tax Acts Compliance

A Civil Servant who is appointed to senior office also has obligations in relation to tax clearance as outlined below.

If you are appointed to senior office, you must provide the following to the Standards Commission, not more than nine months after the date of appointment:

a Tax Clearance Certificate (the Tax Clearance Certificate must have been issued by the Collector-General within a period of nine months before or after the date of appointment), or
an Application Statement, which is issued by the Collector-General, following an application, and is to the effect that you have applied for a Tax Clearance Certificate and that a decision on the application has not been made (an Application Statement that was issued to you must have been made within a period of nine months before or after the date of appointment) and
a Statutory Declaration, which is a declaration made by you in accordance with the Statutory Declarations Act 1938, as amended, testifying that, at the time of its making, you are, to the best of your knowledge or belief, in compliance with the obligations imposed on you by the Tax Acts and are not aware of any impediment to the issue of a Tax Clearance Certificate (the Statutory Declaration must have been made by you within a period of one month before or after the date of appointment).

Further details in relation to tax clearance are available at Part 6 of the Standards Commission's guidelines for Public Servants.

Code of Conduct

Civil Servants are required by law to have regard to and be guided by the "Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour" which was drawn up and promulgated by the Minister for Finance on 9 September 2004. The Code was published by the Standards Commission in December 2004. The Code provides, inter alia, that Civil Servants in the performance of their duties must:

(a) Maintain high standards in service delivery by:

conscientiously, honestly and impartially serving the Government of the day, the other institutions of State and the public;
always acting within the law and
performing their duties with efficiency, diligence and courtesy.

(b) Observe appropriate behaviour at work by:

dealing with the public sympathetically, fairly and promptly and
treating their colleagues with respect.

conducting themselves with honesty, impartiality and integrity;
never seeking to use improper influence, in particular, never seeking to use political influence to affect decisions concerning their official positions;
abiding by guidelines in respect of offers of gifts or hospitality
avoiding conflicts of interest; and
treating their colleagues with respect.

The following publications provide more detailed information relating to your obligations under the Ethics Acts: