The Ethics Infrastructure

An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Initiative
Introduction
In real life, and in the management of society and human kind in
general, if everyone made ethical decisions and if everyone had high
integrity, there would be no need for laws, rules, and regulations.

Laws, rules and regulations are instituted to guide people into making
ethical choices that would benefit themselves and the society as a
whole

Yet an empty prison remains rare to find.

Introduction
Despite the rules, regulations and laws, ethics, ethical behavior and
integrity are of prime importance since these are intrinsic to the
person and are useful in guiding individuals as they conduct themselves
in relationship to others.

Ethical behavior and high integrity are therefore key elements in

establishing governance mechanisms in society.
WHAT IS ETHICS?
A branch of philosophy dealing with questions regarding:
“What ought to be done?”
“What ought not to be done”

It is the study and philosophy of human conduct with emphasis on the

determination of right and wrong.
WHAT IS ETHICS?
... refers to a system of moral principles – a sense of right and wrong
('and goodness and badness of actions').
Ethics is the objective basis upon which judgements are rendered
regarding right and wrong behavior and often explores fundamental
questions such as: -- What is fair? -- What is just? -- What is the right
thing to do in this situation?
ETHICS...
... involves an active process of applying values, consciously and
unconsciously on a daily basis.
These range from religious principles to customs and traditions.
... provide moral guidelines that makes it incumbent upon all persons
to apply these guidelines in making decisions.
Thus, persons in governance positions have ethical responsibilities, but
also have higher ethical standards that are imposed on them for
purposes of upholding public interest.
Like with individuals, all
organizations should maintain a
value system and culture with
strong ethics and integrity as part
of its governance framework

This way employees of those

organizations operate with
integrity and high standards of
ethical conduct and can be
participative in fine-tuning or
formulating sound policies and
make sound decisions to ensure
community confidence and trust.
The Ethics Infrastructure
A well-functioning Ethics Infrastructure supports a public sector
environment which encourages high standards of behavior.
Each function and element is a separate, important building block, but
the individual elements should be complementary and mutually
reinforcing. The elements need to interact to achieve the necessary
synergy to become a coherent and integrated infrastructure.
The elements of infrastructure can be categorized according to the
main functions they serve – guidance, management and control –
noting that different elements may serve more than one function.
The Ethics Infrastructure
Guidance is provided by strong commitment from political leadership;
statements of values such as codes of conduct; and professional socialisation
activities such as education and training.
Management can be realised through co-ordination by a special body or an
existing central management agency, and through public service conditions,
management policies and practices.
Control is assured primarily through a legal framework enabling independent
investigation and prosecution; effective accountability and control
mechanisms; transparency, public involvement and scrutiny.

The ideal mix and degree of these functions will depend on the cultural and
political-administrative milieu of each country.
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
1. Political Commitment
In the absence of sustained political commitment to ethical
behavior in the administration, efforts to encourage such behavior
will be in vain.

There must be buy-in, and sponsorship at the highest political

levels. For example the institution of various acts in the country
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
2. Workable Codes of Conduct
Codes of conduct play a vital role in stating the expected standards
of behavior.

Some countries have chosen a broad public service code of conduct

from which individual MDAs design a purpose-built code to reflect
their particular objectives and mission.
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
3. Professional socialization mechanisms
However, the content of the Codes of conduct or even legal provisions
remains simply words on paper, if it is not adequately communicated and
inculcated.

Socialization mechanisms are the processes by which public servants

learn and adopt ethical norms, standards of conduct, and public service
values.

Training (induction and ongoing) is an essential element to raise ethics

awareness and develop skills capable of solving ethical dilemmas; good
role models (especially managers) also serve this purpose.
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
4. Ethics co-ordinating body
These take various forms - like our Code of Conduct Bureau and
Tribunals. The existence of a co-ordinating body should not,
however, be construed as absolving departments and managers of
the responsibility for ensuring ethical conduct within their
jurisdictions.
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
5. Supportive public service conditions

The high standards of ethical conduct expected of public officials are

one side of the coin.

The other side is a “package” which provides decent working and living
conditions for the “servants of the public”.

This “package” consists of such basic elements as sufficient job

security, opportunities for promotion and career development, fair
remuneration or social appreciation.
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
5. Supportive public service conditions

Fair and impartial human resources management policies can ensure

that selection and promotion processes in the public sector are based
on general professional requirement and non-discrimination, and that
other factors such as for example political considerations are
minimized.

If public servants are feeling underpaid, over-worked and insecure,

then they are less likely to embrace initiatives to improve performance
including in the ethical domain.
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
6. Effective legal framework
The legal framework is the “teeth” of the overall ethics infrastructure. laws and
regulations define the basic standards of behavior for public servants and enforce them
through systems of investigation and prosecution.

In reviewing its legal framework, a country must check that existing criminal codes and
civil service laws, conflict of interest statutes and other regulations which apply to
public servants are clear and consistent.

The Japanese law on the ethics of public servants passed in 1999 requires the Cabinet
to establish a new code of conduct as a government order which bans public servants
from receiving gifts and/or entertainment from private companies under their
jurisdiction. Furthermore, senior officials in the central government will be required to
report gifts or entertainment worth more than 5000 yen, with some in higher positions
required to report their stock transactions and income as well
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
7. Efficient accountability mechanisms

Accountability mechanisms should encourage ethical behavior by making

unethical activities hard to commit and easy to detect.
Accountability mechanisms set guidelines for government activities, for
checking that results have been achieved, and for checking that due process has
been observed.

They include internal administrative procedures (requirements that activities or

requests be recorded in writing), comprehensive processes such as audits and
evaluations of an agency's performance, or new forms of procedures such as
whistle-blowing. They might also be external to the public service: for example,
oversight mechanisms such as legislative committees.
Elements of the Ethics Infrastructure
8. Active civil society
Ethics is everybody's responsibility, including that of an assertive
media, which through its probing reporting helps citizens to acts as
watchdog over the actions of public officials.

Freedom of information laws guarantee citizen access to public

information from the late 1960s and they can institutionalize and
support public awareness and responsiveness.
Thank you