CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ THE INTERNATIONAL LAW ASPECTS OF THE NEW CZECH ACT … transfer the State officers after every change of Government – had no rules that would draw a line between the civil servants and political appointees and, in the long term, lead towards more efficient and depoliticized State administration. Therefore, just two years before the entry of the Czech Republic into the EU, the Act on the Service of State Employees in Administrative Offices and on the Remuneration of these Employees and other Employees in Administrative Offices (hereinafter, the “2002 Act”) was finally approved. It was promulgated under No. 218/2002 with the envisaged entry into force on January 1, 2004. However, when (in 2003) the Treaty of Accession to the EU was signed, its ratification in progress and the long-awaited EU membership for the Czech Republic secured (as of May 1, 2004), the political leadership suddenly lost its interest in the 2002 Act. Consequently, its entry into force was postponed, the first time, by one year, and five times in total, so it has never entered into force. Most often, the Czech Governments argued that its implementation would be too expensive, due to the new generous system of remuneration and related benefits for the State officers. As such, the State employees, including those at the Foreign Ministry, had to continue to operate under the Labor Code. In early 2014, the Czech Government – in response to some criticism from the EU Commission – finally decided to bring the legislation applicable to the State officers closer to the standards existing in the other EU member States. Instead of just allowing the 2002 Act enter into force, a new act was created, although many elements of the 2002 Act were included. The outcome is the Act on State Service, promulgated under No. 234/2014, whose transitional provisions entered into force on November 6, 2014, and the rest of the Act on January 1, 2015. While the Act on State Service certainly constitutes an important step towards the above-stated objective of efficient and depoliticized State administration, it is not well thought through and its legislative quality is far from being perfect, mainly due to its hasty preparation and limited discussion among the relevant ministries and in the Parliament. One of the weaknesses of the Act on State Service can be found in its ignorance of modus operandi of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (hereinafter, the “Foreign Ministry”). A typical Czech career diplomat is supposed to be posted for up to four years abroad (in hardship territories, the period may be shorter), then to serve two years in the capital, then go again abroad etc. Therefore, the personal fluctuation at the Foreign Ministry is constant, massive and incomparable to any other governmental body. In contrast, the system devised by the Act on State Service was tailored for a “standard” ministry or other office where State officers – after they pass a demanding formal competition for their job – stay at their position permanently until they get promoted or retire. In order to prevent an imminent collapse of the Czech foreign service – caused by the unrealistic requirement to organize a full-fledged competition for every vacant position whenever a diplomat is posted abroad – a quick amendment to the Act on State Service had to be passed already in 2015. As the practical problems with the application of the Act on State Service accumulated, it soon became clear that – should the Foreign Ministry be able to carry out its responsibilities under the Act No. 2/1969 on the Establishment of Ministries and other Central Bodies of the State Administration (hereinafter, the “Competence Act”) – it will have to prepare an act that would sufficiently address its needs: the new Act on Foreign Service. At the same time, it was unrealistic to propose that this Act would entirely exempt the diplomats from the scope of application of the Act on State Service. Therefore, the compromise solution was to prepare

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