|
Strasbourg, 8 December 2000
|
Restricted
CDL-SP (2000) 6
Or. fr.
|
EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR
DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW
(VENICE
COMMISSION)
Questions for consideration at the
seminar to launch
the UNIDEM (Universities for
Democracy) project
for legal training of civil servants
Document modified
on the basis of the contributions of
participants
Questions for consideration at the seminar to launch the
UNIDEM (Universities for Democracy) project for legal training of civil
servants
Trieste, 11-12 December 2000
Starts: Monday 11 December at 15h00
Finishes: Tuesday 12 December at 12h30
- Topics and dates of seminars
Each seminar should last for 5 days.
February 2001: respect for human rights in relations between the
administration and individuals (suggestion:
should also cover the civil service and the citizen: obligations of civil
servants in relations with citizens)
March 2001: non-discriminatory practice of the administration
April 2001: the protection of minorities in relations with the
administration, particularly through linguistic rights
Other proposals:
-
general
principles of administrative action
-
accessibility and
security of the law
-
rules applicable
to the civil service (it is suggested
that this should be the first topic)
Other proposals:
-
the relationship between the administration and
courts, particularly judicial control of administrative acts
-
control over administrative action by
parliament or the ombudsman as well as internal control
-
seminar(s) intended for local authority civil
servants, including:
·
possibility of conflict between the interests
of the state and those of local authorities
·
means of resolving conflicts of competence
-
transparency: could be introduced in other
seminars
-
how the public service deals with individuals
-
strategic planning for specific policies
-
human resources management in the civil
service: appointment, evaluation, promotion and transfer of civil servants
-
exchange of information and co-operation
between the administrations of ministries and state agencies
-
limits of administrative action: deprivation of
liberty
-
public service management
-
public sector-private sector partnerships for
the civil service
-
European experience in civil service
development
-
universal civil service
-
national mechanisms for human rights protection
- Seminar format
It is proposed that the seminars should be participatory and include:
- introductory
courses, of a comparative nature, aiming particularly to define common
European standards
- discussion of
practical examples proposed by the lecturer
- exchange of
experiences among participants
- Working languages:
In principle, each seminar should take place in one of the official
languages of the Council of Europe
Some participants suggest that interpretation in English
and French would be preferable ; others that another language could be used
(for national seminars)
- Lecturers:
- availability
of different training institutions
- number of
hours and length of training
Approximately
6-8 hours per day, for example with courses in the morning and discussion in
the afternoon – it is suggested that lecturers should prepare materials to
distribute to participants
- choice of
lecturers – who should choose? – delay
Venice Commission – could ask universities/civil
service training establishments to propose qualified lecturers.
Some criteria could be established, by joint
agreement at the seminar, which could include professional criteria and
affiliation to a specific public administration development centre in a European
country
- honoraria:
215 € per day
- Beneficiaries
- number of
beneficiaries: three participants from each of the beneficiary states
should attend most of the seminars (24 participants in total); smaller
seminars could be organised for participants from a single state
- identification
of beneficiaries: what criteria should be used to select beneficiaries?
Who should choose them? Delays to be fixed for the designation of
beneficiaries prior to each seminar
In seminars involving participants from several
states, it is proposed to hold an exchange of information between participants
regarding their experience and the difficulties encountered in implementing law
in the different national contexts, in order to identify common questions and
how to deal with them. Consequently, participants with similar profiles will be
selected.
Seminars involving participants from one state will
be devoted to problems specific to that state. They will target persons with
similar responsibilities (for example, heads of legal services in different
ministries), or even those belonging to a particular branch of the
administration where specific problems regarding the application of law arise.
Suggestions:
Criteria
for selection:
-
area of activity
-
similar level of professional responsibility
-
personal level of training
-
experience or results obtained at university
for less experienced
-
type of professional: practitioners or civil
service trainers?
-
inclusion of non-lawyers? priority to lawyers,
but suggestion that could include other civil servants with legal knowledge, in
particular economists
-
level of experience: young lawyers or
experienced practitioners? suggestion that high officials are better placed to
disseminate experience than civil servants at the start of their career
-
both civil servants who are involved in
drafting laws and those involved in their implementation should be selected
-
designation at least 30-45 days before the
seminar by national co-ordinators, national civil service training institutions
or by departments of public administration of respective governments, with
approval by organising team
- Location of the seminars
Trieste – for specific seminars, in individual country
- Accommodation, subsistence expenses (7
days)
Transfer
of subsistence expenses
- Organisation of travel
Suggestion:
pre-paid tickets
- Seminar evaluation
By the Venice Commission’s Sub-Commission on
South East Europe – frequency?
Suggestion: every 6 months
- Persons responsible in Trieste
Functions, contacts
