1

OBJECTIVE

This code aims at safeguarding the civil servants’

status and its constant upgrading by systematic
observance of the fundamental rules governing
correct conduct, in the context of the legislation in
force and the everyday practices.

The generally accepted civil servants’ ethics code

promotes their moral nature, the quality of the
services provided to the citizen as well as the public
interest.

2
 PART A

FUNDAMENTAL VALUES

The following rules govern the civil servants’ professional behavior:

1. Respect for their mission

Civil servants should:

i) Be loyal to their country and obey the Constitution and the laws.
ii) To carry out their duties bearing always in mind the society's and the citizens’
rights.
iii) Assert their legal rights, essential prerequisite for successfully accomplishing their
task.

2. Freedom of expression

i) Civil servants are free to develop their personality, they can express political
convictions as well as philosophical and religious beliefs and state their justified
views, even when they reflect professional criticism against the supervising
authority.

3. Independent decision-making

Civil servants execute their legal duties uninfluenced by outside interventions.

4. Selflessness and Impartiality

Civil servants:
i) should not misuse their official position to further private interest
ii) should take into consideration and impartially evaluate all information about the
case they are processing, in order to arrive at correct decisions.

5. Transparency when performing duties

Civil servants should fulfill their duties in a way that enables information of third
parties, social dialogue, criticism and legitimate control.

6. Equality and Proportionality

i) When handling cases, civil servants should ensure the principle of equal treatment
towards individuals or groups.

3
 PART A

ii) Civil servants, when making a decision, should ensure that the measures taken are
proportionate to the pursued aims and refrain from limiting individual rights or
imposing strict measures, when the latter are not proportional to the public or
private interest they serve or protect.

7. Effectiveness, efficiency and quality

Civil servants should fulfill their duties in the best possible way and work to achieve the
best qualitative and quantitative results according to the objectives set by the service,
taking into consideration the «cost» parameter.

8. Sense of responsibility

Civil servants:
i) Should take responsibility for their decisions and actions, which have to be justified
and supported.
ii) Should acknowledge the unity of their service and ensure the continuity of public
action.

9. Social sensitivity and respect for the citizens needs

Civil servants should perform their duties with social sensitivity and individualise their
actions and decisions, taking into consideration possible particularities of individuals or
groups.

4
 PART B

CONDUCT
1. Relation to the citizens

When performing their duties Civil servants:

i) Should acknowledge and ensure that citizens exercise their individual, social and
political rights unobstructed and especially their right to be informed on public
affairs and to contribute, through the public dialogue, to the decision making
processes.
ii) Should respect the principle of equality and should not manifest discriminative
behavior towards individuals in the same situation.
iii) Should avoid limiting the citizens’ rights, when such limitation is not justified by
the pursued aim.
iv) Should apply the law and the regulative rules demonstrating social sensitivity.
v) Should always take into consideration the principle of the citizens’ justified trust.
vi) Should never misuse the discretionary powers, accorded by the law.
vii) When more than one legal solutions are available, provided they are not to the
detriment of public interest, they should opt for the most lenient towards the
citizen.
viii) Should behave with decency towards the citizen and serve them at their own
initiative, when handling their cases.
ix) Should behave with discretion and sensitivity towards the citizen especially when
they are mourning, distressed, shocked and towards the elderly and people with
special needs.
x) When serving the public, they should observe priority and take special care of
people with special needs.
xi) Should provide in á simple and easy to understand way, information on the cases
they are handling. When the necessary information is confidential and can not be
released, they should state to the citizens the reasons for their denial.
xii) Should answer politely to all telephone calls, state their name and answer to all
questions. If they are not competent to answer they should help the citizen locate
the telephone number and the full name of the competent person. If this is not
possible, they should provide the citizen with the telephone number of an
information centre.
 The civil servant, when addressing the citizen should always use the polite
form, while showing compassion.
 When on duty they do not make unnecessary use of phones, fax machines,
computers etc.
 When a citizen is present, the public servants’ priority should be serving
him/her and should interrupt politely any phone calls or other occupations.
 Take care of his working environment, so that the citizen feels welcome and
politely and willingly served. Civil servants should always offer their services
with a smile.

5
 PART B

xiii) Should reply explicitly, fully and promptly to citizens’ inquiries, looking into all
complaints or claims.
xiv) Should see to that the decisions that affect individual rights or interests are
communicated in writing as soon as possible. They should not announce any
decision to third parties, unless the interested party has already been informed.
xv) Should not make public any information available concerning the citizens’ private
and family life.
xvi) In case they discover that by taking legal action or due to their own omissions
have violated the citizens rights, they should apologise immediately and take legal
action, in order to make full restitution.
xvii) Before taking any action or any measure against the rights or interests of an
individual, they should invite the interested party to express his/her views.
xviii) When new real or legal facts related to their functions come to the civil servants’
knowledge, they should inform the citizens in due time.
xix) When drafting up a written decision, especially decisions that affect the citizens’
rights, they should state in the preface the legal basis and real facts of the case in
question, justifying their conclusions.
xx) When they receive a citizen’s application, for which their service is not
competent, they should forward it promptly to the competent service and inform
the citizen.
xxi) Should offer quality services to the public, without invoking technical problems or
acting of grounds of expedience.

2. Relations to the services’ political leadership

Civil servants

a) Should place their knowledge and skills at the disposal of the political leadership,
support and implement honestly and without bias the policies planned by any legal
government.
b) Should provide their political supervisor with detailed reports, objective
information on matters of their competence and express their own views on how to
deal with various matters demonstrating integrity, initiative, creativity, decency and
drive.
c) Should brief in due time, correctly and fully, any new elected or appointed political
leadership on all pending matters, in order to ensure the continuity of the service.
d) Should not make any kind of commitment without permission and should not make
any kind of promises, by implying that they speak in the name of the service or the
government.
e) Should not attempt to obtain any personal benefit by putting pressure on the
political supervisor.

6
 PART B

3. Relations to the subordinates

Civil servants:
i) Should constitute an example of conduct for their subordinates and should strictly
the code of ethics in everyday practice.
ii) Should respect the personality and views of their subordinates and promote co-
operation, by maintaining responsibility for the final decision.
iii) Should supervise their subordinates’ actions and assume due responsibility for their
actions or omissions.
iv) Should acknowledge and protect their subordinates’ rights and should not limit
these rights unless it is considered legal and judged necessary for the proper
function of the service.
v) Should evaluate objectively the effectiveness and their subordinates’ conduct.
vi) Should offer to the staff equal training and educational opportunities.
vii) Should promote in any possible way their subordinates’ professionalism, their work
and motivate them to take initiative and to perform their functions creatively.
viii) Should call regularly staff meetings to discuss all matters in progress, the arising
problems, the alternative solutions and the selection of the most appropriate one.
ix) Should demand from their subordinates to consume their working hours for the
execution of their duties and neither encourage nor tolerate any occupation not
relevant to the service.
x) Should not accept suggestions by third parties on favoring certain civil servants
within the service.

4. Relations to the supervisors

Civil servants should:

i) Acknowledge the meaning of discipline and adjusts accordingly their conduct
towards the legal supervisors.
ii) Perform their duties according to the action plan and the directions determined by
the supervising authority.
iii) Take initiative and suggest actions within the authority they have been accorded.
iv) In case a problem arises when performing their duties, they should consult and
cooperate with supervisors to decide on the most effective solution.
v) In case they contest the legitimacy of an order they have received by a supervisor,
they are obliged to carry it out with no undue delay and to report in writing their
opposite opinion. However, in case the order is clearly unconstitutional or illegal,
they should not carry it out, but report it immediately to the authority supervising
the person who gave the order.
vi) In case a new department supervisor is appointed, they should brief him/her in due
time, carefully and fully on all pending matters, in order to ensure the continuity of
the department’s function.
vii) Informs their supervisor about the reason of their absence from the service, as well
as about any possible problem that could have a negative effect on the working
environment.

7
 PART B

viii) Never attempt to gain their supervisor’s favor in deceit.

ix) In cases provided by the law they may express objectively their views on the skills
and conduct of their immediate supervisor.

5. Relations to the colleagues

Civil servants should:

i) Prove by their conduct and spirit of cooperation in everyday practice that they apply
the code of ethics.
ii) Behave towards all colleagues politely and honestly, regardless of their nationality,
religious convictions, sex, health situation or their family status.
iii) Respect the effort and work of others and do not by any means obstruct their
effectiveness. On the contrary they should support and help them.
iv) Demonstrate modesty and self-containment even in cases they consider themselves
offended on a professional level by a third party’s actions.
v) Be discreet and should not make facts available that come to their knowledge
during service and are related to the private life of their colleagues.
vi) Cooperate and offer their knowledge and experience, when asked by colleagues of
the same or another service.
vii) When criticising the professional actions or views of their colleagues, must do so in
a justified way and should not obey any personal conflict or aspiration.
vi) When applying their colleagues’ ideas and scientific work, they should bear in
mind to notify them and mention their name.

6. Relations to the representatives of other authorities and institutions

Civil servants should:

i) Observe the rules arising from legal or deontology regulations and oppose their
ethics against any action that could lead to an unlawful personal gain.
ii) In agreement with the head of their service, they should make every endeavor to
facilitate members of Parliament, elective members of the local authority
organisations as well as party representatives and public services in performing
their functions. The same applies to legal claims of non-governmental
organisations’ representatives.
iii) Facilitate in every possible way the investigations and the controls conducted by
juridical, administrative and other independent administrative authorities.
iv) Promote the co-operation with scientific and educational institutions, by providing
information and by facilitating in any effective way the studies and research
conducted.

8
 PART B

7. Relations to the Mass Media

Civil servants should:

i) Not make public through the mass media information concerning their service
without their supervisors’ permission and in no case do they communicate
inaccurate data and information.
ii) Not comment, in their official capacity, on governmental policies unless authorised
by their service.
iii) Not unveil confidential information, or information that common sense and
experience suggest that should not be revealed.
iv) When speaking in public and not with their official capacity, they can use
professional title, in away that no doubts can be raised as whether they express
personal views or speak on behalf of the public service.
v) When publicly critisising their supervisors’ actions, they should always speak
decently and support their views with information already verified and
communicated to their supervisors.

8. On international missions

Civil servants:
i) When representing their service in international organisations, educational
institutions, conferences etc, they should do their utmost to promote their country’s
posistions.
ii) When in contact with other countries’ representatives should demonstrate
discretion and understanding. Refrains from expressing personal views concerning
issues of national or international dispute. They see to that their conduct does not
offend the laws, the customs and traditions of the host country.
iii) At their return they submit a relevant report in good time, in order to brief the
political authorities and their service’s executives.

9. When representing the service in collective bodies

Civil servants:
i) When representing the service in committees, work and other collective bodies,
they should express the services’ and not their personal views.
ii) When asked to express a view on a serious matter, for which their service has not
yet adopted a final stand, they should make clear that they are expressing personal
views, which are subject to further confirmation by the service.

9
 PART C

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
A. General

Civil servants:
i) When performing their duties, public interest should be placed above any personal
interest and any action that could imply breaking the law or the moral principles of
the Code of Ethics. Either on or off duty they should cultivate the citizens’ trust in
every possible way and should avoid any action that could undermine their
integrity, their assiduity in the discharge of their duties or moral reputation.
ii) When off duty, they should not take part in any activity or undertake tasks that
compromise their civil servant’s status.
iii) Should not make use of non-publicized information acquired in the course of their
official duties and should not allow the misuse of this information in order to serve
a private interest of any kind.
iv) In the course of their duties, they should manifest integrity and should not accept
directly or indirectly gifts of any kind. Gift signifies any offer of objects or services
of value, loans, reductions, entertainment, hospitality, travels, accommodation in
low prices as well as education. If the civil servants’ themselves or a close relative
are offered a gift or service of any kind they should return it immediately to the
donor or pay its commercial value.
v) When appointed as speakers in conferences, seminars or relevant events, they may
accept free hospitality, during the event, provided the organisers offer it.
vi) Should not offer gifts to their superiors neither should they ask for their colleagues’
contribution for buying a gift to a superior unless this is common use for social
purposes (e.g. wedding, birth of a child, etc.).
vii) Are allowed to work with remuneration in the private sector only after receiving
permission by their service and provided that the job is compatible with their tasks
in the service and does not obstruct the regular performance of their duties.
viii) When retired they should not seek to work for an enterprise that had dealings with
their service up to three years before their retirement. The same applies in the case á
civil servant resigns or interrupts in any other way his/her working relation with the
public sector.
ix) If they have interrupted their working relation to the public sector in order to work
in the private sector, they should not see to return to a public service that deals with
essential interests of the company they have worked for.
x) Should not exercise trade as a profession.

B. Participation in companies or associations

Civi1 servants:
i) Should inform their service about their participation to legal persons under private
law of any kind apart from unions or welfare institutions.

10
 PART C

ii) Should neither participate in any commercial company, personal, Ltd. company or
associations nor accept the appointment as managing director of a Ltd. company or
other commercial company of any kind. The administrative council of the service
may grant permission to the Civil Servant to participate in the management of a
Ltd. company or an agricultural co-operative but not as a managing director.
iii) May participate in their official capacity in co-operatives or in the management of
Ltd companies or limited liability companies, controlled by the State, legal persons
under public law, local authority organisations and state enterprises if special
provisions apply.

C. Impartiality

Civil servants:
i) Should perform their duties in a way that does not arouse doubt concerning their
impartiality.
ii) Should avoid establishing intimate social relations to individuals whose substantial
interests depend on the civil servants’ way of handling matters within their
competence.
iii) Should refrain from taking part in any decision-making process or expression of
view or statement if a) the outcome is related to personal interests or b) one of the
parties involved is spouse, relative of blood or affinity, unlimited as to generations
and up to the fourth degree in the same generation or c) have particular bonds or
particular friendly or hostile relationships towards the interested parties. When they
judge they should not participate, they should inform immediately the supervising
authority or the chairman of the collective body and refrain from taking any action
until the final decision of the supervising authority or collective body.
iv) Participate in juridical or other procedures that involve the state’s interests as
technical advisors or experts for the Greek State and never against it.

D. Use of Public Office

Civil Servants
i) Their conduct when on or off duty should establish them as trustworthy.
ii) Should not use their public office for personal benefit or for promoting products,
services or enterprises and in general for another parties benefit, nor should they
relatives or friends to evoke directly or indirectly their public office in order to
promote their individual interests.
iii) When teaching, speaking or writing, they may use their title provided it is clear that
they do so as private citizens.

E. Use of Public Property

Civil servants should protect and preserve public property and make use of it for
purposes as provided by the law.

11
 PART D

PROFESSIONALISM

Civil servants when performing their duties:

a) Should demonstrate seriousness, modesty, integrity and sound judgement based on
perfect knowledge of.
b) During their working hours they should work with heart to perform their duties.
c) Should develop their professional knowledge and skills by showing interest in their
work and participating in educational and vocational programmes.
d) Should study the law, theory, international experiences, the new working methods
and anything related to their competence that could possibly improve their
performance.
e) Submit well-documented proposals and work for their implementation, aiming at
improving law provisions and regulations, practices and policies that according to
them are not productive enough.
f) Should be favorably disposed towards new duties of their department and develop
initiatives in order to sort out any arising issues or problems.
g) Maintain a high-standard performance in order to ensure the quality of the end
product.
h) Make use of resources available within the service in an efficient and effective way
bearing in mind the «cost-gain» relation.
i) Demonstrate interest in the results of their work, acknowledge possible mistakes
and endeavor to correct and avoid repeating the same mistakes.

12