The dilemmas about the appointment of senior level management positions in the civil service

16/03/2017

In the 131st meeting held on 15 February 2017, the Government of Kosovo took the decision no. 08/131 to appoint the General Director of the Civil Registration Agency (CRA) as the Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). This appointment was commented to be against the civil service legislation given that there was no open vacancy published and consequently the appointment was out of public competition. The purpose of this article is to tell what the procedures of appointment of senior level management positions in the civil service are and if the above mentioned appointment is against the civil service law and secondary legislation pertaining to senior level management positions in the civil service.

In principle the appointment of senior level management positions in the civil service according to the Civil Service Law and the respective secondary legislation is done based on an open vacancy, but the respective secondary legislation (Regulation) create a possibility to reassign (reappoint) a person from one institution to another when the position is equivalent and a few conditions are met. In the respective case of appointment of the CRA General Director in the position of MIA Secretary General, this case is about the reassignment (reappointment) to an equal position since the CRA General Director and the MIA Secretary General positions are of the same level and therefore equivalent. Such a reappointment is defined with the Regulation 06/2012 on senior level management positions in the civil service in the Republic of Kosovo, Article 14. The decision of the Government is exactly based on this Regulation and the respective article which defines the reappointment from one institution to another provided that the positions are of the same level and equivalent. According to point 1 of Article 14, “the senior level management official may be reassigned into another position of the same level provided that he/she agrees for such a reappointment as well as the agreement of the head of the institution where the employee is currently working and the head of the institution where the employee is reappointed are taken. In our case we have to do with a reappointment within MIA where head of the institution is the Minister of Internal Affairs as the final authority who has given the agreement for such a reappointment because both positions are in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

However, the reappointment process has also a limitation related to when it can be applied. Point 2, Article 14 of the Regulation 06/2012 stipulates “the reappointment of the senior level management official has to be done by a Government decision after the recommendation from the Prime Minister. The circumstances in which the Prime Minister can give such a recommendation relate to the fulfillment of functional requests of the Government and the needs to solve a contest between the Minister and the respective senior level management official. The appointment/reassignment of the CRA General Director as the MIA Secretary General is done based on a Government decision but it can hardly be concluded that such a reassignment has been done to fulfill the functional requests of the Government or for the need to solve a contest between the Minister and the respective senior level management official. The position of the MIA Secretary General has been left vacant after the President nominated the former MIA Secretary General as the Head of KIA. However, this fact itself does not legitimize the decision of the Government to not open the vacant position and proceed with reappointment. Moreover, given the fact the no vacant position has been opened for the MIA Secretary General position, the Government has to publish an open vacancy for the position of the CRA General Director. The reappointment is based on civil service legislation but it should be considered for application only in specific circumstances stipulated in the above mentioned article of the Regulation. On the other hand, in case the specific conditions are not met according to the Regulation and the specific article, it is not fair to apply the reappointment procedure and avoid the publishing of open vacancy. The reappointment has to be considered an exception to the rule and not vice-versa.

The appointment of senior level management positions is done through an open vacancy and the right to apply is given to all candidates inside and outside the civil service according to the criteria set in the legislation. According to the Civil Service Law, Article 12, point 2, the Ministry for Public Administration (MPA) establishes a Committee to review the applications composed of three positions as General Secretary, a professor from the respective area of expertise and a member from civil society; whereas the head of the institution where the position is vacant nominates two other members of the Committee. After procedures of the Committee have been completed, if the vacant position is in the executive branch, the Committee proposes to MPA the best three candidates who have reached the maximum points. Now, if the vacant position is in the executive branch, the MPA proposes to the Government the preferred candidate from the head of the institution to be appointed in the respective position for a three year term. On the other hand, if the vacant position is not in the executive branch, the respective Committee proposes to the head of the institution to select one out of three candidates to be appointed in the respective position.