CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

JAN HLADÍK CYIL 14 (2023) staff members are obliged to exercise the outmost discretion in regard to all matters of official business and not to communicate to any person unpublished information known to them by reason of their official position, except in the course of their duties or by the authorization of the Director-General. These obligations remain binding after separation from the Organization. 11 Finally, staff members are not entitled to accept any honour, decoration, favour, gift or remuneration from any government or from any other source external to the Organization, unless in the opinion of the Director-General, such acceptance is compatible with his/her status as international civil servant. The Director-General makes provisions in this regard. 12 It should be noted that Regulations 1.1, 1.3 and 1.4 use the expression “members of the Secretariat” instead of “staff members”. Thus, is the notion of a “member of the Secretariat” larger than that of a “staff member” within the context of obligations of persons working for UNESCO 13 ? Item 13.1 of the UNESCO Human Resources Manual provides for the following categories of persons working for UNESCO who are not staff members: service contract holders, individual consultants/specialists, short-term contracts and short term-term contracts for Interpreters and Translators. When analysing the relevant provisions of Item 13.1, service contract holders are required to comply with the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service and Regulations 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6 of the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules; individual consultants/specialist with Regulations 1.4 and 1.5 of the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules; short-term contract holders with Regulations 1.4 and 1.5 of the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules; and, holders of short-term contracts for Interpreters and Translators with the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service and Regulations 1.1 and 1.3. Thus, all persons working for UNESCO are, to a certain extent, required to comply with both legal and ethical obligations related to international civil service. Finally, I wish to mention the 2013 Standards of Conducts for the International Civil Service 14 , which represent a general reference to all the professional and ethical obligations applicable to these civil servants owing to the requirements of their status 15 . Regulation 10.1 11 “Staff members shall exercise the outmost discretion in regard to all matters of official business. They shall not communicate to any person unpublished information known to them by reason of their official position, except in the course of their duties or by the authorization of the Director-General. These obligations remain binding after separation from the Organization.”, Regulation 1.5 of the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules. 12 “No staff member shall accept any honour, decoration, favour, gift or remuneration from any government or from any other source external to the Organization, unless in the opinion of the Director-General, such acceptance is compatible with his/her status as international civil servant. The Director-General makes provisions in this regard.”, Regulation 1.6 of the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules. 13 UNESCO document “Follow-up to Decisions and Resolutions adopted by the Executive Board and the General Conference at their previous sessions (Human Resources Issues)”, 216 E/5.III.A, Paris, 4 April 2023, uses in paragraph 13 of Annex I the term “workforce”. This term includes both staff members and affiliate personnel. This document is available through the website of UNESCO’s Executive Board at https://www.unesco.org/en/ executive-board. Website visited on 14 July 2023. 14 Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service (available on-line at https://icsc.un.org/Resources/ General/Publications/standardsE.pdf) represent a general reference to all the professional and ethical obligations applicable to these civil servants owing to the requirements of their status (cf. ILOAT Judgment 2944, Consideration 47, available on-line through the ILOAT website at https://www.ilo.org/tribunal/lang--en/index. htm. Website visited on 14 July 2023. 15 ILOAT Judgment, Consideration 47, available through the ILOAT website at https://www.ilo.org/tribunal/ lang--en/index.htm. Website visited on 14 July 2023.

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