Commissions on Compliance with Requirements to Official Conduct and Resolution of Conflicts of Interests: Formal Requirements and Actual Composition
The article deals with commissions formed by the Russian federal government to examine the issues of civil servants’ official conduct and resolve conflicts of interests emerging in the federal civil service. The author analyzes the composition of 79 federal commissions. Research data was collected through official websites of federal public bodies. The results show the commissions commonly consist of 8-13 members. The special regulation on commissions stipulates that persons outside the public body where commission is formed must be included in the commission. The share of the “outside members” should be at least a quarter of the total number of commissioners. Research data reveals that the commissions commonly include 3-5 “outside members”. The above-mentioned requirement is fulfilled in most cases (94%). The special regulation on commissions provides that commission must include an “outside member” representing Presidential Anti-Corruption Directorate or Government Executive Office. This requirement is also fulfilled in most cases. A commission must also include “outside member(s)” representing research or educational organization(s). This requirement is fulfilled in all cases. “Outside member(s)” representing public councils, trade unions and veteran organizations may be included in a commission. The representatives of trade unions and public councils are included in commissions more frequently than the representatives of veteran organizations. The sphere of professional expertise was assessed for the representatives of research and educational organizations. The results show 34 commissions (out of 68) include at least one representative whose professional activity is connected with anti-corruption or civil service issues. At the same time anticorruption or civil service issues are the main sphere of professional interest for only about 14% of representatives. Main problems of the commissions’ formation are discussed as well.