Values And Ethics Code For The Public Service

The purpose of this report is to help the public service to rediscover and understand its basic values and assist the public service to recommit to and act on those values in all its work. It discusses the following issues: accountability and responsible government; downsizing, public service organization, and non-partisanship; new versus old values; new ethical challenges; leadership.

Conflicts of interest in both the public and private sectors have become a major matter of public concern world-wide. The OECD Guidelines define a conflict of interest as occurring when a public official has private-capacity interests which could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities. However, identifying a specific conflict of interest in practice can be difficult. And resolving the conflicting interests appropriately in a particular case is something that most people find even more challenging. The Toolkit focuses on specific techniques, resources and strategies for: Identifying, managing and preventing conflict-of-interest situations more effectively; and Increasing integrity in official decision-making, which might be compromised by a conflict of interest. This Toolkit provides non-technical, practical help to enable officials to recognise problematic situations and help them to ensure that integrity and reputation are not compromised. The tools themselves are provided in generic form. They are based on examples of sound conflict-of-interest policy and practice drawn from various OECD member and non-member countries. They have been designed for adaptation to suit countries with different legal and administrative systems. FURTHER READING: Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Service: OECD Guidelines and Country Experiences

The OECD Guidelines for Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Service provide the first international benchmark in this field. This report highlights trends, approaches and models across OECD countries in a comparative overview that also presents examples of innovative and recent solutions.

At a time when there is a growing consensus among governments on what should constitute the essential elements of an effective and comprehensive ethics strategy, this OECD report constitutes a unique source of comparative information on ethics management measures in OECD countries.

The OECD Public Integrity Handbook provides guidance to government, business and civil society on implementing the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity. The Handbook clarifies what the Recommendation’s thirteen principles mean in practice and identifies challenges in implementing them.