Values and ethics

Public operations are fundamentally conducted under the authorization of the citizen, with funds of the citizen and for the benefit of the citizen. Discussions relating to civil servant ethics or morals refer to the general values and principles that concern civil servants. As Government officials state authorities, separate agencies and individual public servants are required to act in a manner that fulfils demands for neutrality, sovereignty and impartiality among others. A civil servant has a particular relation to the citizens, and the employment relationship entails values and principles associated with this relationship. 

The common value foundation for the state administration was defined in the Government’s decision in principle issued in 2001 concerning the Government’s Personnel Policy. According to the decision in principle, government activities originate in values and are ethically of high level. The common value foundation for state administration is formed by the following values: activities are result-oriented and open, they are characterised by quality, strong expertise and trust and they fulfil the service principle. Activities are neutral, sovereign, equal and responsible.

Values in the daily job – civil servant’s ethics – handbook (2005) is intended to assist and support the operational units of the state in turning the values and civil service ethics principles into practices. The handbook describes the content of the common values of the state administration and the central principles of civil service ethics and management in regards to maintaining activities at an ethically high level. It is recommended that the handbook is distributed to managers and personnel, and that it is used in orientation and training.

The Office for the Government as Employer participates in the OECD public administration committee for promoting good and ethically high level administration in the member states. Actions in this work include developing tools to prevent conflicts of interest and to measure how the objectives concerning honest and good administration have been reached in the member states. The OECD has published many books deal with the topic. The publication Public Sector Integrity: a Framework for assessment, also includes a report describing the ethics work conducted in the Finnish state administration, titled Values to be Part of the Daily Job – The Finnish Experience.

Both the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and governments of the member states in the EU feel a growing concern over the possibly increasing corruption and diminishing trust citizens have in governments due to changes in administration. The concern is current also in Finland, although the latest international research shows that Finland is among the least corrupt countries in the world.

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