• Українська
  • Русский
  • English
Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Civil servants’ irresponsibility as the prime mover of corruption

7 December, 1999 - 00:00

Bribery (see The Day, November 16) really is
a vital component of the system of interaction and corruption that exists
in Ukraine. However, the situation with corruption in general is considerably
more complicated because its power to ruin is not bribery in itself but
in the professional deformation of civil servants.

The problem of fighting corruption is currently aggravated
by substantial malfunctions in the socioeconomic and moral- ethical systems
of this society, thus facilitating steadily mounting psychological and
emotional tensions and professional deformity in practically every individual
involved. The said professional deformity manifests itself primarily by
negative changes in the individual and professionally required qualities,
affecting the public servant’s professional orientation and professional
thinking. Professional deformity emerges as the result of repeated negative
typical situations over a lengthy period. The most dangerous personality
change is found in the civil servant, in that it leads to legal nihilism
and premeditated violations of the law. Here I mean not only the individual
transgressions of individual statutes but also acting contrary to the legally
established guidelines.

This deformity could be defined as a manifestation of the
civil servant’s legal nihilism and acting unlawfully, distorted view of
his/her performance as a public servant, simplification of professional
stereotypes, along with weakening the reliability of the official’s morals
and will. The main cause of such legal nihilism and unlawful conduct is
the impunity and lack of public control over the bureaucrat’s performance.
While accumulating professional experience, public employees find themselves
increasingly apt at determining which elements of law can be violated without
much risk to oneself.

An important sign of professional deformity is psychological
instability. This is manifest in one’s inability to resist negative influences
in the line of duty. These negative influences include unlawful pressure
from law enforcement authorities, ranking officials (one’s immediate superior,
business people, etc.) to make illegal decisions, and complicated external
working conditions.

The third sign is the trend to distort requirements in
terms of unbiased reflection of circumstances existing within the state:
ignoring realities, weakened self- criticism, as well as an inability to
view one’s work and external circumstances critically. Here it is not so
much one’s inaptitude as the reluctance or loss of the ability to assess
circumstances in an unbiased manner. Thus professional deformity consists
not in the initial absence of qualities or lack of professional training
but in their transformation or atrophy. The absence of professional qualities
or inadequate professional training can only serve as a nutrient medium
for professional deformity.

All this makes it possible for the public servant to retain
confidence in the correctness of his actions and regard errors as an inevitable
possibility, caused by external factors — hence considering them harmless.
Among typical techniques of self-justification are constant references
to inadequate legislation and the pure formality of its requirements; biased
entourage; objective circumstances and hardships, such as overloaded schedule,
constant shortage of time; unlawful decisions motivated by national interests,
instructions from above, the complexity of one’s duties, etc. Total self-justification
under any circumstances is the main symptom of civil servants’ professional
deformity.

All these changes are determined primarily by the imperfect
organization and bad conditions of professional activity. Such changes
emerge and manifest themselves at various levels — processes, status, and
personal qualities, conscious and subconscious. Often, the most important
changes come down to the hypertrophy of vital professional traits. Thus,
vigilance turns into suspiciousness, confidence into self-confidence, contentment
into indifference, being demanding into nit-picking, diligence into pedantry,
and so on. Secondly, it means the emergence and development of negative
traits: particularly cruelty, vindictiveness, rudeness, permissiveness,
and cynicism. A certain mental state like disillusionment, boredom, or
irritability emerges and becomes dominant. Naturally, this cannot help
effective professional performance. Thirdly, it is the suppression and
subsequent atrophy of certain traits that become objectively assessed as
being of minor importance, or even unnecessary. There is a loss of confidence
in fellow citizens’ law-abiding conduct and in the effectiveness of struggle
against lawbreaking, especially corruption. It should be noted that certain
characteristics become specifically distorted. This is especially true
of such most important sphere of legal conscience as quantitative concepts
of the goal and professional means and methods.

Proceeding from all this, the apparent conclusion is that
bribe- taking is only one of the signs of professional deformity in civil
servants. Thus fighting corruption requires a more skillful and systemic
approach, whereby its causes and conditions facilitating abuse of office
could be eliminated, primarily within the social category of civil servants.

INCIDENTALLY

To take or not to take bribes is not the question. Of course,
bribery belongs to the double standard category, and not only in Ukraine.
Remember all those sensational trials involving top-level officials in
Japan?

In Ukraine, 50-60% of what little progress we have takes
place in the shadow economy. Here doing anything without feathering someone’s
nest looks totally incredible, unthinkable. We have all given bribes at
least once, like when you need a new passport in an hour, not in a month
or 45 days which is standard procedure. Or you want something else arranged
for yourself quickly and effectively. And it is not necessarily an envelope
slipped into one’s pocket or passed under the table. It can be arranged
as a pay rise, royalty, sponsorship, donation, investment, a book published
on a priority basis, or an act of perfectly selfless aid, say, to a court
of law, like a shipment of stationery and office equipment. After all,
there is a note warning of their shortage attached to every courtroom or
office door.

They say the only way to get something done is by greasing
palms, that it was always there. And, of course, that is true.

Or take the history of legal punishment. What was the main
cause, say, in the last century? Murder? Burglary? No, 90% of the legally
tried cases involved “secret theft” — bribe-taking... Yes, our people are
simple-hearted, but not that much. Moreover, bribery is punishable under
law: a term of 3-8 years and 7-15, with confiscation of property, for a
repeat offender (Article 170 of the Criminal Code). And the tenderer and
solicitor are meted out almost equally harsh punishments (ibid., Article
169), for any type of bribe or for any non-performance in the bribe- giver’s
interests (Article 168). It looks tough.

Perhaps, but practice shows that not too tough, because
in the presence of sufficiently harsh punishment the causes remain, enough
and to spare. For example, the irresistible urge to steal among the psychological
factors. Often what is stolen does not actually matter, even a trifle.
Then there are the hateful traditions of the recent past and the latter-day
mentality. Add to this the great temptation an investigating officer has
to sustain, having to live on a meager salary (UAH 150-200 plus inflation
plus the possibility of delayed payment), handling a case spelling millions
of dollars. Or a business-registering bureaucrat processing a company with
hundreds of thousands in turnover and having that same salary of a couple
hundred hryvnias or even less. Talking of bureaucrats, I would suggest
further protecting their rights and raising their salaries (perhaps by
means of personnel reductions) but simultaneously to enhancing their personal
legal liability many times over. A single transgression entailing a term
in prison and total exclusion, meaning that after serving his term this
bureaucrat will never get another job in a similar capacity, and also meaning
that he will never get the nice pension otherwise due him.

This is how things are done in the civilized world. And
this approach proves remarkably effective. Offices are changed the apparatus
remains. This is a perfectly normal and gratifying practice, because such
jobs are held there by true professionals. If one is caught stealing it
means one had it coming. So before stealing one will think not twice but
a hundred times, for they also have unemployment, and the unemployed are
treated with a definite degree of condescension, but that’s all. Thus why
take the risk, considering that staying on the right side of the law really
pays off? This way one can earn enough for one’s family and secure oneself
a pleasant retirement.

Bribery is indeed a vital component of the system of interrelationships
and corruption existing in Ukraine. Yet the situation with corruption is
much more complex than meets the eye, because its prime mover is not bribe-taking
and giving but the public servant’s professional deformity.

Oleksandr PRYIMAK, lawyer

Rubric: