Legal framework on recruitment and selection in the Serbian civil service – changes and challenges
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The paper analyses key provisions related to recruitment and selection in the Serbian civil service and challenges in their implementation. Civil service legislation in Serbia was adopted in 2005 and substantively revised in 2018, when the competency model was introduced in the process of recruitment and selection and merit-based selection significantly strengthened. Although the legal framework is generally solid, there are various challenges which have remained in its implementation, such as complex and lengthy selection procedures and insufficient effectiveness of standardized competency testing. Furthermore, although there is a general rule that the civil service is entered on the basis of the competition, there are also exceptions with regard to temporary employment to civil service posts, which is usually carried out without a competition procedure. Competitions (internal or external) for senior civil service positions are established by law as the only way of accessing the senior civil service, with the exception of acting senior civil servants, who can be appointed without a competition, and should serve for a limited period of time. In reality, there is an excessive number of “acting” senior managerial civil servants, as only one half of all senior managerial positions have been appointed on the basis of the competition. This anomaly has become a perennial problem in the Serbian civil service system and constitutes a clear example of the supremacy of the politics over the law.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Bogićević Milikić B., Petrović, I. B., Priručnik za određivanje kompetencija za rad državnih službenika, GIZ, Beograd 2020.
Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, 2nd Edition, MacMillan business, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27325-6
Cardona F., CIDS Position Note on Recruiting for Defence Intellligence Services, Center for Integrity in the Defence Sector, 2022, neobjavljen rukopis.
Cardona F., Recruitment in Civil Service Systems of EU Member States and in Some Candidate States, rad predstavljen na seminaru "Civil Service Recruitment Procedures", Vilnius, 21-22. mart 2006.
Gamage A. S., Recruitment and selection practices in manufacturing SMEs in Japan: An analysis of the link with business performance, Ruhuna Journal of Management and Finance 1(1)/2014. https://doi.org/10.4038/suslj.v13i1.7668
Ekwoaba J. O., Ikeije U. U., Ufoma N., The impact of recruitment and selection criteria on organizational performance, Global Journal of Human Resource Management 3(2)/2015.
Evropska komisija, Radni dokument komisije, Republika Srbija, Izveštaj za 2022. godinu, Brisel 2022.
EUPAN, Human Resources Working Group, Competency Management in EU Public Administration, Survey commissioned by the Portuguese EU-Presidency 2007.
Ingraham P. W., Building Bridges over Troubled Waters: Merit as a Guide, Public Administration Review 66(4)/2006, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00608.x
Meyer-Sahling J.-H., Civil Service Professionalisation in the Western Balkans, SIGMA Papers 48, OECD, Pariz 2012.
Meyer-Sahling J.-H. et al., Improving the Implementation of Merit Recruitment Procedures in the Western Balkans: Analysis and Recommendations, ReSPA Publications, Danilovgrad 2015.
Meyer-Sahling J.-H. et al., Merit Recruitment in the Western Balkans: An Evaluation of Change between 2015 and 2019, The University of Nottingham and RESPA, 2019.
Meyer-Sahling J.-H. et al., Making Merit Recruitment Work: Lessons from and for the Western Balkans, RESPA and University of Nottingham, 2020.
Pusić E., Nauka o upravi, Školska knjiga, Zagreb 1973,
Rabrenović A., Vukašinović Radojičić Z., Uvođenje kompetencija u službenički sistem Republike Srbije - konceptualna pitanja, Pravni život 10/2017, Tom II.
SIGMA/OECD, Principles of Public Administration, OECD publishing, Paris 2017a.
SIGMA/OECD, Methodological framework for the Principles of Public Administration, OECD publishing, Paris 2017b.
SIGMA/OECD, Monitoring report: Principles of Public Administration, Serbia, OECD publishing, Paris 2021.
SIGMA/OECD, European Principles of Public Administration, SIGMA papers 27/1999.
UN Convention against Corruption. 2003. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/, 20. 8. 2022.
Council of Europe's Recommendation No. R (2000) 6 on the Status of Public Officials in Europe. https://rm.coe.int/native/09000016804c3142, 20. 8. 2022.
Zakon o državnim službenicima, Službeni glasnik RS, br. 79/2005, 81/2005, 83/2005, 64/2007, 67/2007, 116/2008, 104/2009, 99/2014, 94/2017,95/2018, 157/2020 i 142/2022.
Uredba o određivanju kompetencija za rad državnih službenika, Službeni glasnik RS, br. 9/2022.
Uredba o internom i javnom konkursu za popunjavanje radnih mesta u državnim organima, Službeni glasnik RS, br. 2/19 i 67/21.
Uredba o razvrstavanju radnih mesta i merilima za opis radnih mesta državnih službenika, Službeni glasnik RS, br. 117/05, 108/08, 109/09, 95/10, 117/12, 84/14, 132/14, 28/15, 102/15, 16/18, 2/19, 4/19, 26/19 i 42/19.
Uredba o načelima za unutrašnje uređenje i sistematizaciju radnih mesta u ministarstvima, posebnim organizacijama i službama Vlade, Službeni glasnik RS, br. 81/2007 - prečišćen tekst, 69/2008, 98/2012, 87/2013 i 2/2019.