Despite the requirements of the national anti-corruption programme, no major Latvian city takes codes of ethics seriously. The Valmiera city council today discussed the matter with TI Latvia.

Despite the fact that Latvia’s national anti-corruption programme, which was approved two years ago, requires the elaboration and introduction of codes of ethics in Latvia’s local governments, no major city in the country has actually done this so far.Codes of ethics are an important anti-corruption instrument, and during election campaigns, they can be particularly important in terms of preventing the misuse of administrative resources by local governments.After receiving a reminder from TI Latvia about the need for local governments to accept a code of ethics, the local governments of Valmiera, Liepāja and Rīga are planning to start work on the drafting of a code of ethics. Members of the Valmiera City Council discussed the matter with TI Latvia today.

The national programme for preventing and combating corruption which was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2004 is to cover the period between 2004 and 2008, and it says that local government institutions must draft internal normative documents which define the standards and ethical rules which local government employees must observe in their work.

The drafting of a code of ethics which clearly defines the standards which City Council members and employees must observe would allow voters to have a measuring stick by which the work of their representatives could be assessed.

Some of Latvia’s local governments have defined individual principles of ethics and behaviour, and these are included in rules related to work or in other internal local government documents.The inclusion of these in a unified code of ethics for local government employees, however, might help local governments in avoiding any situations which are problematic in ethical terms.Doubts about the honesty of politicians and local government employees would dissipate.Principles included in a single document would be easier to review, and they would be much more important in terms of the understanding of politicians, local government employees and the public at large.

The deputy executive director for education, sports and culture of the Ventspils City Council, Aldis Ābele, disagrees.After TI Latvia sent a letter to the mayor of Ventspils, Aivars Lembergs, reminding him of the need to develop a code of ethics for the local government, Ābele responded by saying that “the basic principles related to the work and behaviour of our employees are (..) defined in work rules, job contracts and, in some cases, special instructions, as required by law. (..)The Ventspils City Council at this time has no plans to draft a code of ethics.”

The Jelgava City Council has reportedly drafted a code of ethics, but officials say that they do not want to make it public while it is still being developed.An internal debate between the public and local government officials about the code of ethics, however, is an absolutely necessary element in the drafting of such a document.

In Jūrmala and Rēzekne, as in Ventspils, no codes of ethics have been drafted, and there are no plans at this time to do so.

The Daugavpils City Council has approved a code of ethics, but it is not much more than a formality.It does not address important issues such as the use of state resources, the acceptance of gifts, conflicts of interest, and the political activities of employees.There is no mechanism for introducing the rules or whistle blowers protection.TI Latvia has expressed its criticisms about the document, but no response has been received yet.

The need for codes of ethics is demonstrated by a study which TI Latvia conducted, “Observing the Misuse of Administrative Resources in Advance of the 2005 Local Government Election.”Researchers found several cases in which the misuse of administrative resources was determined by the individual understanding of local government officials and employees with respect to acceptable or unacceptable activities in advance of the election.

TI Latvia is currently implementing another project, “Observing the Misuse of Administrative Resources In Advance of the 9th Saeima Election.”This project has involved a survey of representatives of Latvia’s leading local governments – those of Rīga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Ventspils, Valmiera, Jūrmala, Rēzekne and Jelgava.The aim was to determine whether codes of ethics for employees have been developed by those local governments.

“A code of ethics is a powerful anti-corruption instrument precisely during campaign season.It allows employees and the public at large to judge the activities of a local government.An inviolable component in this process is debates among employees while the document is being drafted.The document must also be a part of employee job contracts,” says the executive chairperson of the TI Latvia, Roberts Putnis.

Contact information:

Kristaps Markovskis
Legal analyst, TI Latvia
+371-29-588908
kristaps.markovskis@delna.lv