Ethical Problems in Public Life and Their Solution ... - Lituanistika

ISSN 1392 – 0758 SOCIALINIAI MOKSLAI. 2011. Nr. 1 (71)

Ethical Problems in Public Life and Their Solution: Lithuanian Scenario Jolanta Palidauskaite Kaunas University of Technology Donelaicio 73, LT-44239 Kaunas, Lithuania 2002, 2004; Hungtinton, 2002; Kaufmann, 2003; Klitgaard, 1988; Rose-Ackerman, 1999; etc.). Karklins (2002, 2005), Krastev (1998, 2003, 2004), Sajo (2002), etc. concentrate on this ethical problem in transitional societies or new democracies. Relative to the corruption is the problem of conflict of interests. This issue received less attention from scientists. Two recently published books are worth of mentioning: 2004 was released ‘Combating conflict of interest in local governments in the CEE countries’ (edited by Kudrycka) and 2008 ‘Conflict of interest and public life’ (edited by Trost and Gash). Misuse of official position was studied in the context of more dangerous societal problems as corruption, conflict of interests, etc. Separate attention to this problem is noticeable in textbooks on public service ethics (Cooper, 1990; Lewis, 1991; Lewis and Gilman, 2005, etc.). Lithuania as a new democracy had undergone simultaneous economical, political, institutional, and cultural changes. Some of those changes and transformations were not so easy and were accompanied by various ethical problems. Today trust towards many public institutions in Lithuania is really low and one of possible explanations for this is scandals or other misdeeds of public authorities. This kind of situation requires solution. The research problem of this article may be defined in the following way: what ethical problems appear in public life and how public authorities are going to address and solve them? Many various actors (politicians, ministers, business companies, international organizations, NGO, interests’ groups, etc.) can be seen in public life, but this article concentrates on public authorities mainly politicians and civil servants. This article may encourage Lithuanian researchers to contribute to public policy knowledge development and bring to practitioners’ notice. The research object of the article is ethical problems (ethical issues) in Lithuanian public life. literature analyses, content analyses of legal acts, secondary data analyses and case study – had been used in the article. The aim of the article is to analyze current ethical problems in Lithuanian public life and the proposed ways for their solution. The case study of Lithuania is analyzed in several chapters. After the methodological part the description of critical incidents in public life analyses ethical problems and their possible solutions follows.

Abstract Ethical problems and issues are not a new phenomenon. Even democratic societies witness certain scandals. New democracies are not exceptions. This article concentrates on a Lithuanian case (an example of new democracies) and tries to answer the question what ethical problems appear in the contemporary public life and how the government addresses them. The article consists of several parts which try to elaborate the topic and explain the Lithuanian scenario. A short presentation of ethical problems is followed by the analysis of Lithuanian scandals which allow distinguishing several ethical issues. An analysis of Lithuanian legislation and institutional arrangements helps to answer the question about the proposed ways of solving one or other ethical problems. Summing up an alternative scenario for tackling ethical problems in Lithuanian public life is provided and several ideas which in the future can develop the topic of ethical problems are pointed out. Keywords: conflict of interests, corruption, critical incidents (scandals), ethical problems, ethical issues.

Introduction Ethical problems and issues which appear in the public life is not the phenomenon of the 20th century. Already in ancient times elected and appointed officials often found themselves in rather complex and controversial situations. The 21st century can be characterized as more complex and dynamic. In addition to the requirements to be efficient and effective, the ethical challenge is one of the greatest challenges the government are facing today. Politicians and civil servants should be aware of ethical dimensions of their professional activity, avoid ethical problems, etc. Public authorities have to conduct legally and morally (Dobel, 1999, p.40). Ethical problems and issues were addressed by philosophers as early as in the times of Ancient Greece. Nowadays social researchers (political scientists, sociologists, lawyers, specialists of public administration and management) analyze such important ethical problems as corruption, conflict of interests, misuse of official position and information, nepotism, etc. Some concentrate only on theoretical questions, others researchers analyze existing reality and manifestation of one or another ethical problem. Probably the biggest attention attains the phenomenon of corruption (Caiden, 1988, 2001, 2005; Heidenheimer,

Theoretical assumptions about ethical problems Those who wish to find the definition of ‘ethical problems’ or ‘ethical issues’ will face difficulty.

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Social Sciences / Socialiniai mokslai. 2011. Nr. 1 (71)

J. Palidauskaite. Ethical Problems in Public Life and Their Solution: Lithuanian Scenario

Researchers have not paid sufficient attention to clarifying these basic concepts. As an example, we can illustrate Lawton’s (1998, p. 15) position. The terms ‘ethical issue’, ‘decision’ or ‘dilemma’ are used alternatively. It is notable that the adjective ‘ethical’ emphasizes ethical, moral dimensions of situations. Ethical action may strengthen democracy, safeguard human rights, prevent maladministration, encourage justice and general ethos giving a good example for citizens (Burke, 2001, p. 604). Meanwhile unethical conduct, that is often illegal and improper, challenges such a situation. Ethical issues and problems may have various forms: misuse of official position, official information or resources, lie, fraud, improper and negligent execution of duties, corruption, conflict of interests, etc. Some of them happen more often than others and not always receive proper attention. Example may be a misuse of human resources at an institution. Ethical issues appear in everyday life situations but for the research purposes critical incidents provide a better possibility of studying ethical problems. Observing everyday activities would give some sense of reality in which public authorities function. When the ethical conduct becomes more exception than the habit and media gets information on improper or illegal behaviour of public authorities often the issue transforms into a scandal. Critical incidents or scandals can be judged as a moral mirror of political regime existing in the state. They often evoke a moral panic in a society. In the 1990s corruption scandals shook up politics in Italy, Spain and France. They swept over the cities of Berlin and Frankfurt (Blankenburg, 2002, p. 152). Each society undergone bigger or smaller in scale Watergates, which influence the development of government, administration and society relations. ‘In point of fact scandal seems the norm and ethicality the exception, and the only variances among the nations appears to be scope, size of impact and novelty of the violation’ (Huberts et al., 2008, p. 240). Scandals may vary in time, tense, main actors and outcomes. In the study of critical incidents in Lithuanian public life the main criteria were a wish to provide a sample of these incidents, each illustrating different issues and different groups of public officials. President, minister, the mayor, diplomats, parliamentarians, public employees and public agency were the main actors of these scandals. The emphasis on main actors and outcomes can help to better understand the essence of ethical issues. Analysis of critical incidents gives a sense of major ethical issues and allows narrowing the object of inquiry. Distinguished ethical problems were examined more carefully paying attention towards their definition in Lithuanian legislation and possible ways of solution and prevention. Finally, the study of critical incidents in contemporary Lithuanian life, distinguished ethical problems and proposed measures to tackle those help to describe and evaluate the existing policy towards sensitive and important ethical issues.

Critical incidents in contemporary Lithuanian public life Possibilities for various public scandals in new democracies are bigger than in the old ones. Evidence for this may be found in Table 1. Often the main reason for the scandal was a wish to benefit personally from the official position. In some cases conflict of interests (help to family or party members without concrete financial gain) turned into corruption (privatization issues, contracts, etc). Besides the private persons or companies, main actors in those scandals were representatives of all three branches - legislation, executive, and judiciary1. Public authorities starting from the highest post – President of the Lithuanian Republic, ministers, and leaders of public agencies, city mayors, – and ending with civil servants or public officials, which names often remain unknown to the public, were involved. Being one of stakeholders’ media had a power to decide how much attention to give to one or other case. So logical that small local scandals on municipality level did not received the attention of national press (the exception is the scandal of ‘gold’ toilet in Kaunas, 2009). Analyzing those incidents more carefully we can find many ethical issues: misuse of official position, going beyond one’s commission, misuse of information, prioritizing private or group interests, bribery, negligent excise of functions, conflict of interests. Some scandals lasted several months (Presidential scandal) or have kind of continuation (scandal of privileges), others were rather short in time. Some scandals can be associated with concrete names or titles (as in case of some ministers), others with the process (restoring the right to land ownership, construction, financing of political campaign, etc.). Some personalities became controversial figures due to constant media attention to their personalities and their reputation (Viktor Uspaskich and Arturas Zuokas2). Each time after hearing the new story the Lithuanian public was outraged but many scandalous deeds had not concrete outcomes for the persons who broke moral principles, professional ethics, regulation or legislation. Resignation of the Minister of Transportation in 1998 without any pressure from above was more an exception than a general rule. Later on even unfavourable decision made by the Chief Official Ethics Commission (further on – COEC) about the breach of the Law on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Civil Service were not taken seriously. Not all officials were eager to take responsibility for their conduct which can be explained differently. On the one hand, there is an unwritten rule that if the court has not proved it to be an offence, there is no need to take any actions or feel morally responsible. The other point is that such narrow and legalistic view to the existing practice shows a relatively low civil consciousness; desire to avoid responsibility, non respect to public in general. 1

Activity of judiciary will not be analyzed in this article. They received much more attention from media who reported many examples of morally and ethical inappropriate, illegal conduct. So the word scandal together with their names is used in plural.

2

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Table 1 Chronology of major scandals in Lithuania Scandal

3

Essence

Main actors

2003 SAPPARD scandal

Support from the SAPPARD fund was given to non-existing companies

The National Paying Agency4, private companies

2003 scandal of seven diplomats

Illegal mediation on behalf of tourism agencies to get Lithuanian visas

Diplomats, tourism agencies

2003/2004 ‘Paksogate’ scandal

Close relationship between the President and the main supporter of his electoral campaign Russian businessman Borisov and undue influence helping his friends to obtain stocks of certain private company Knowing that complicated legislation and regulation on restoring the right to land ownership, changing purpose of land use or relocating land to more convenient and desirable place may be interpreted differently, many politicians became new owners meanwhile real owners of those places were kicked out of the game The lye about non-existing Moscow university diploma; discussions on private business interests when meeting Russian authorities; protection of Lithuanian business association; use of public money for his personal political advertisement; later accusation of false political party bookkeeping

President Rolandas Paksas, his supporter Russian businessman, Lithuanian businessmen

Outcomes Leader of the Agency resigned. Judiciary investigation found relationship with the Labour party Resignation of diplomats. The Public Prosecutor lacked evidence to prove this corrupt fact President’s impeachment procedure and the decision of the Constitutional Court that he roughly broke the Constitution and given pledge which does not allow him have any public position which requires taking oath

Some MPs, cabinet members, local politicians, public officials

Renationalization was not initiated due to lack of facts or limitation, some ordinary officials were fined

Minister of Economy Viktor Uspaskich (founder and leader of the Labour party), private companies (including his own)

After the Chief Official Ethics Commission decided that he mixed private and public interests and conversation with the President he quit leading Ministry of Economy and parliamentarian position but still remains active in public life (elected to EU Parliament)

2005 subscriber’s scandals

Mayor of Vilnius municipality helped his friend A. Janukonis’ company ‘Rubicon group’ to get contracts with the municipality

Vilnius city Mayor Arturas Zuokas, ‘Rubicon group’

The temporary parliamentary commission investigated the case and concluded that Mayer and ‘subscriber’, who is mentioned in black bookkeeping could be the same person. The President demanded his resignation but he left Central Liberal Party leaders position but still remains active in political life

2006- 2009 scandal of privileges in Parliament

Misuse of official transport (driving friends from party or dogs for a walk) later misuse of money for parliamentary activities (buying ‘Winnie the Pooh’ books, coffee set, coverage of taxi to Kaunas for dentist’s visit, etc.) in the context of economical crises

Some employees from Office of the Seimas. Main figure mentioned in the media – member of the Parliament Gediminas Navaitis

3 officials and later the chairman of the Parliament resigned in 2006. Promise to return some public money in 2009.

2004 land plunderers’ scandal

2005 Viktor Uspaskich’s scandals

3 4

Data for table taken from Sarafinas (2006) and internet site of the Chief Official Ethics Commission. Responsible for coordinating distribution of EU structural funds provided for agricultural and rural development in the country.

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Table 2 Legal definition of the problem and proposed solutions Definition of the problem Abuse of office – ‘acts or omission on the part of the officer when the powers granted to him are exercised not in accordance with laws and other legal acts but for self-seeking purposes or for other personal considerations (abuse of official position, revenge, envy, careerism, provision of illegal services, etc.) as well as actions of the officer whereby he exceeds his authority or his arbitrary actions’ [Law on the Seimas’ Ombudsmen, 2004 and Law on Civil Service, 2002] Conflict of interests – ‘situation where a person in the civil service, when discharging his duties or carrying out instructions, is obliged to make a decision or participate in decision-making or carry out instructions relating to his private interests’ [La w on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Civil Service, 1997] Definition of private and public interests [La w on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Civil Service 1997, and Law Approval, Entry into Force and Implementation of the Code of Conduct for State Politicians, 2006]

Corruption – ‘direct or indirect seeking for, demand or acceptance by a public servant or a person of equivalent status of any property or personal benefit (a gift, favour, promise, privilege) for himself or another person for a specific act or omission according to the functions discharged, as well as acting or omission in seeking, demanding property or personal benefit for himself or another person, or in accepting that benefit, also a direct or indirect offer or giving by a person of any property or personal benefit (a gift, favour, promise, privilege) to a public servant or a person of equivalent status for a specific act or omission according to the functions of a public servant or a person of equivalent status, as well as intermediation in committing corruption-related offences’ [Law on the Special Investigation Service, 2000] Definition of corruption related criminal acts (bribery, the abuse of office or exceeding one’s authority, fraud, misappropriation or embezzlement of property, disclosure of an official/commercial secret, etc.) [Law on the Special Investigation Service, 2000, Law on Prevention of Corruption, 2002]

Solution Duty to refrain from misuse of official position and properly perform official functions, proper use of official information and property, adhere to ethical principles [Law on Civil Service, 2002] Principle to refrain from abuse of power and implement ‘one-desk’ principle [Law on Public Administration, 1999] Requirements set in Rules of Conduct for Civil Servants, 2002 Possibility for citizens to appeal to the Seimas’ Ombudsmen [indirectly the Constitutional provisions] Duties to serve the public interests and avoid conflict of interests; list of incompatibilities with civil service [Law on Civil Service, 2002] List of obligations of persons in the civil service; declaration of assets and interests; duty of self-exclusion in such situations; restriction of the right of representation; restrictions related to official duties; restrictions on the acceptance of gifts or services; obligations in seeking other employment; limitations after expiration of the term of office [La w on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Civil Service, 1997] Withdrawn from participation in the administrative procedure in such situations [Law on Public Administration, 1999] Requirements set in Rules of conduct for civil servants 2002, and Seimas Statute, 1994, Law Approval, Entry into Force and Implementation of the Code of Conduct for State Politicians, 2006 Corruption risk analysis; anti-corruption programs; anti-corruption assessment of legal acts or their drafts; provision of the information about a person seeking or holding office at a state or municipal agency; provision of the information to the registers of public servants and legal entities; education and awareness raising of the public; public disclosure of detected corruption cases; other measures for the prevention of corruption provided for by law [Law on Prevention of Corruption, 2002] Principle of disinterestedness, impartiality, transparency and moral propriety stressed in Law on Civil Service 2002, and Rules of Conduct for Civil Servants, 2002] Principle of ‘one-desk’ [Law on Public Administration, 1999] Anticorruption commission set in Parliament and in municipalities, other public institutions

Table 3 Corruption Perception Index in Lithuania, year 1999-2009 (www.transparency.lt) 1999 3.8

2000 4.1

2001 4.8

2002 4.8

2003 4.7

2004 4.6

2005 4.8

2006 4.8

2007 4.8

2008 4.6

2009 4.9

Table 4 5

Trust in public institutions 1991-2009 (percentage) Media Constitutional court Municipalities President Cabinet Courts Parliament

1991 70 ** ** ** 73 ** 70

1998 03 61.7 ** 33 69.7 29.8 19.3 17.4

2000 06 67.3 ** 33.7 56.3 16 16.2 7.5

2003 06 59.6 44.5 31.6 48 22.3 22.3 12.9

2005 11 50.6 50.6 33 55.3 17.5 21.1 7.8

2009 06 39.7 36.3 25.9 63.4 12.5 14.3 4.8

**- not included in the survey.

5

Representative public opinion surveys are conducted every month by Lithuanian companies ‘Vilmorus’ and ‘Baltic survey’. Source: Lithuanian daily newspaper ‘Lietuvos rytas’ where data from those surveys are published every month.

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Changing political timetable influence the cover for new scandals. Public procurement, contracts, distribution of support from the EU structural funds etc. influence the appearance of scandalous deeds. Thought Table 1 mentions only major scandals, it is notable that since 2003 year the country is constantly involved in some kind of scandal, which impacts a rather low trust in various public institutions. The analysis of critical incidents in Lithuanian public life allows narrowing the object of inquiry. In the next chapter the attention would be devoted towards such ethical problems as abuse of office, conflict of interests, corruption.

pursue, rent and use official vehicle for public institutions; on gifts; on possibility for related persons to work in one institution. The Chief Official Ethics Commission set several resolutions and recommendations (with concrete examples) how to recognize the apparent or possible conflict of interest and deal in such situations. The Seimas’ Statute also was edited elaborating in detail the question of official trips abroad, attendance of official meetings, the use of money for parliamentary activity and possibility to stay in the Seimas hotel. There are more than 300 different definitions of corruption. Lithuanian laws emphasized more traditional perspective towards this problem as only activities of public authorities may be recognized as corrupt. A universal definition emphasizes that in activity of any person who misuse their official position for private benefit features of corruption can be observed (World Bank, 1997, p.17). Corruption can take an active and passive form and mainly is associated with bribery. The Lithuanian Penal Code (2000) does not present concrete definition of such terms as bribing, bribery and bribery through mediator as in other legislation (Table 2) but explains it in general as connected with bribe taking, promising, demanding, provoking (Lithuanian Penal Code article, p. 225-229). Civil servants or persons in similar status can be accused for taking bribes; others can be sentenced for bribing or mediating in the process. According to the Penal Code punishment for public authorities (up to prohibition to have a certain job) in case of corrupted activities is more severe than for others. There are many concrete measures (from corruption investigation to anticorruption education) which are implemented trying to fight this public illness. Despite various measures the CPI (Table 3) is lower than 5.0 and it means that corruption is serious societal problems. The anticorruption potential (wish to conduct businesses without giving a bribe) is fractionally growing not only among business people but citizens as well. Reasons for many ethical problems in Lithuanian public life is similar as everywhere else. It is a wish to benefit from the office seeking private interests instead of serving general public interest. The interaction of soviet and newly developed under free market mentality is rather evident in many scandalous cases. Unclear boundary between private and public, soviet legacy when using one’s office for private purposes was considered to be normal practice, practice of blat (soviet form of using networks and gaining from one’s position) blend with prevailing consumptional values (money, status is on the top of values hierarchy among the society members). Besides the definition the Lithuanian legislation tackle the problem solution. The exception is the Constitution which sets only general requirement for the conduct of officials. Table 2 shows that some problems received more attention than others. For example prevention of conflict interest can not be assured only by listing few principles. There are certain duties, obligations, principles which should be followed and they are listed not only in various legal acts but codes of ethics as well. For the preventive purpose several institutions – the Chief Official Ethics Commission, the Special

Definition, extent of ethical problems and the proposed solutions For a long time meaning of the sensitive ethical issues was left to subjective interpretation in Lithuania. Only recently the explanation of important terms such as abuse of office, corrupted activities, and conflict of interests appeared in Lithuanian legislation (Table 2). Researchers relate abuse of office to illegal activity, misuse of official internal or confidential information, misuse of material resources, rules breaking, incompetence and misuse of power. Abuse of office is one of features of administrative corruption (Van Wart and Denhardt, 2001; Caiden, 2001). Definition of this term in Lithuanian legislation is rather near in meaning. In order to address this issue few principles and duties are emphasized. Abuse of office is more common in everyday activity of civil servants though politicians can also misuse of their position. The best illustration for this is scandals of privileges when money for parliamentary activity was used for the private purposes or official vehicles were used for private needs. Conflict of interests arises when a public official has private-capacity interests which could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities (OECD, 2004, p. 2). Such conflict may appear in various forms: additional employment, contracts, official decision-making, policy advising, gifts and other forms of benefit, etc. In addition to definition of conflict of interests Lithuanian laws present terms of public and private interests. Definitions of gifts and favours were not presented but their meaning becomes evident after reading legislation on conflict of interest and corruption. Understanding that conflict of interest can lead to corruption, big attention was paid to its prevention. Lithuanian La w on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Civil Service (1997, updated 2000, 2009) emphasizes that all decisions should be made solely in the public interests. Such obligations as discharge official duties impartially, honestly and competently; avoid conflict of interest and suspicions about it, refrain from using official position for personal gains; be guided by laws and the principle of equality of all persons; corect use of official information and state or municipalities property were mentioned in Article 3 of the Act. Besides certain requirements already emphasized in the Law several secondary legislation were issued on possibility for civil servants to have a secondary job; to

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Investigation Service, the Seimas’ Ombudsmen’ Office, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson – were set up. Constantly active the Commission for Ethics and Procedures in Parliament control the ethical side of MPs’. Misdeeds of local politicians are controlled by Commissions of Ethics which were set up in all 60 Lithuanian municipalities after the Law Approval, Entry into Force and Implementation of the Code of Conduct for State Politicians come into force in 2006. The heads of public institutions are responsible for prevention of corruption, conflict of interest, etc. In some situations (receiving gifts or favours, etc.) every official have to be ethically competent and sensitive not to damage his/her or institutional reputation. Responsibility for unethical conduct in Lithuania varies from oral warning (civil servants), informing the public about the breach of the Code (in case of parliamentarians), and fines for wrong disclosure of interests to disposing collected data to judiciary in case of criminal offence.

autocratic rule, etc. Powers of president institution decided society’s internal businesses is rather limited, so he used own personal example. The sitting President Dalia Grybauskaite is also one of the most trusted public authorities in the country. Such public institutions as the Special Investigation Service, the Chief Official Ethics Commission with the help of MPs initiated several legislation to fight corruption and regulate conflict of interest. New ideas and initiatives came from or were supported by some NGO. To mention just ‘Transparency International’ who initiated the Draft Code of Conduct for Local Government and the Free Market Institute who constantly emphasize the need to reduce red-tape, improve public procurement, etc. The attempt to create Code of Ethics for Civil Servants by group of experts from various public bodies in 2002 under the guidance of Ministry of Interior was vain (right now the new group is drafting the Code). Meanwhile some public institutions (Labour Inspection, Internal Revenue Inspectorate, Customs, etc.) and business companies created codes of ethics. Understanding responsibility for society some business enterprises sighted honesty pacts or implemented principle of accountability. Thought government can be understood as one stakeholder the requirements for them differ. General constitutional principle of serving the people, respect for an individual person and the state, justice, transparency, decency; exemplariness, selflessness, impartiality, responsibility are common guidelines for politicians and civil servants. Some duties, obligations, incompatibilities are written to give priority to public interest and ensure fair and just administration. President, MPs, members of Cabinet, Ombudsmen, COEO, etc. before taking the office gives an official oath. Seimas’ Statute list several principles, duties and emphasize incompatibilities (art.2, 6, 18). Law Approval, Entry into Force and Implementation of the Code of Conduct for State Politicians (2006) requires that MPs, Cabinet members, local politicians would follow principles: respect for an individual person and the state; justice; honesty; transparency and publicity; decency; exemplariness; selflessness; impartiality; responsibility (art. 4). Besides constitutional requirements Cabinet members have to obey several principles emphasized in the Law on Government (art. 2, 5, 5, 14). The Law on Local Government set certain principles and duties for local politicians (art. 4, 23). Everyday activity of civil servants is regulated by the Law on Civil Service and the Law on Public Administration. The first Act besides principles of public service stress the key ethical principles (they are elaborated in the Rules of Conduct for Civil Servants), list 12 duties and certain incompatibilities (art. 3, 15, 17). Principles of public administration are named in the Law on Public Administration (art.3). The question does these values, reflected in legislation as principles important for conduct, are implemented is not easy one. As an example we can mention principle of political neutrality so important in everyday activity of civil servants. Representative civil servants’ survey conducted in 2007 showed that each second of civil servants were demotived by red-tape and lack of leadership

Stakeholder support for addressing ethical issues State and local politicians, civil servants, public officials, media, political parties, non governmental organizations, business and public in general can be listed as stakeholders addressing ethical issues. Do they all have similar vision of the way government has to function? Ethical issues often relate to subjective judgment and this fact explains why sometimes so difficult to have common vision on such sensitive but important issues. Generally trust in public institutions (with few exceptions) is rather low in Lithuania (Table 4) and people are rather disappointed in their authorities. During the first years of independent state trust towards Parliament, Cabinet and other institutions was rather high (about 70 percent on average) as everybody believed in future of democratic state. Later on process of privatization, from which old nomenclatura and new emerging wealthy class gained, various scandals, cases of improper and illegal conduct, appearing gap of income was kind of cold shower after which public become more critical, sceptical, disappointed in the way society is governed. Decline in public institutions from time span may be explained by more complicated problems which had to be solved (Hardin, 2000). Comparatively high trust in media was challenge by the Paksogate scandal where media was acting more like business enterprise than a democratic watchdog (this scandal only for a short period of time divided society into two opposite camps). Though activities of journalists are regulated by Code of Ethics often the mentioned principles are ignored while gathering, transforming or announcing some data. Despite the Paksogate, the institute of President and he personally were and are on top of most trustworthy public institutions and persons. The former President Valdas Adamkus was considered a real moral leader who always reacted to various ethical issues. In his annual reports the President often emphasized lack of moral leadership from politicians or officials’ side, warned about danger of

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skills, each third by constantly changing legislation, each fourth by political pressure (Palidauskaite, 2008).

of government of the future Lithuania would be helpful trying to tackle ethical problems. Such vision can stress the most important values or principles which should be guiding every step and action taken by public authorities. Such vision should be followed by the strategic plan with concrete tasks for each government branch and public institutions which has to be monitored and estimated according certain time.

Two versions of Lithuanian scenario For a long time ethical issues were considered as minor one in comparison with economical (building a free market economy), political (membership in the EU and NATO) or social tasks (social justice and welfare) and were neglected. It is hard to say when the germs of strategic planning appeared in the country but the Longterm State Development Strategy was confirmed by the Lithuanian parliament in 2002. This strategy described the future of Lithuanian society pointing to question of state governance and self-governance too. The general idea of development and modernization of governance on various levels according norms and traditions of the EU was highlighted together with implementation of e-government idea, transparency, development of administrative capacities, etc. Many initiatives or steps creating certain legislation (regulating conflict of interest, corruption, etc.) or building institutional framework were coincidental without having a concrete strategy to build ethical infrastructure. Successful implementation of first steps brought up other ideas. For example when the first anticorruption program was confirmed in Lithuania the ideas of codes of ethics, whistleblowers’ protection, disclosure of spending, etc. appeared6. Such legal and institutional way of tackling the problems characterizes Lithuanian scenario de facto. After regaining the Independence (1990) entering the EU was a top Lithuanian priority. For this the country has to satisfy number of requirements and this motivated to set up several legislations, establish some self-control institutions and implement other measures. Until 2004 when Lithuania became a full member of the EU, the country received international support implementing various ideas such as anticorruption legislation and education, corruption risk assessment, etc. Now the country’s experts help other developing countries. New practices and methods (privatization, public procurement, etc.) encourage the appearance of new ethically sensitive issues but the solutions or prevention often is overdue as government has to discuss those questions according to certain procedures. Complicated economical situation and the necessity to reorganize some government activities bring new challenges. In such a context a better scenario for preventing ethical problems and scandals would be careful analyses of current situation in all government branches. In the analyses of current situation can be involved various actors (not just representatives from various public institutions but other stakeholders such as media, business, NGO, academicians). Knowing the fact that Lithuanian legislation correspond the requirements set by EU but de facto the weak point is implementation of legal acts. Sometimes attempts to circumvent legislation are obvious. Taking this into consideration would be the necessity and would help to make a progress. Carefully developed vision 6

Concluding remarks The first decade after the restoration of Lithuanian Independence in 1990s was relatively quiet in terms of critical incidents which later increased and become part of the public life since 2003. Often those scandals derived form the wish to benefit personally from official position. During those critical incidents such ethical problems as conflict of interests, misuse of official position and information, bribery, corruption etc. were evident. The main actors in those scandals were various public authorities starting from the highest post – President of the Lithuanian Republic and ending with civil servants or public officials, which names often remained unknown. Several institutions were set up on national (COEC, SIS, etc.) and local (Ethics commissions) level to prevent the appearance of such ethical issues as conflict of interests, corruption, red-tape, etc. Lithuanian legislation presents the definition of various ethical problems (redtape, conflict of interests, abuse of office). In some cases (conflict of interests, etc.) more than one law project how those issues can be prevented. One of possibility to prevent the appearance of ethical issues is presentation of certain values or principles as guidelines for public authorities. Principles emphasized in various Lithuanian legal acts reflect the specifics of activity of certain public authority. The legal way of addressing ethical issues can not reach the purpose without internalizing of those important principles, without the proper attention to ethical education and ethical awareness, competence rising. Those questions are noteworthy and can be analyzed in another article. Lithuanian scenario de facto can be characterized as late reaction to already existing problems. Government tries to prevent those problems drafting laws, setting up special institutions but does it without concrete vision for the future. So the better solution for government would be having a vision of future Lithuanian public authorities and later setting more concrete tasks for tackling ethical problems. Even though ethical problems which were observed in Lithuanian public life are not new but the Lithuanian case may give other countries, especially undergoing the transition from one system to the other, several lessons and help to avoid possible mistakes. This article opens a new perspective for studying public policy and may encourage others researchers to pay more attention towards ethical side of policy issues. References 1.

The last two are still draft ideas.

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Blankenburg, E. (2002). From political clientelism to outright corruption- the rise of the scandal industry. Political corruption in transition. A skeptic’s handbook. (Ed. S.Kotkin, A.Sajo). Budapest: CEU Press, p.149-165.



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Burke, J.P. (1986). Bureacratic responsibility. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Burke, J.P. (2001). Administrative ethics and democratic theory. Handbook of administrative ethics. (Ed. T. Cooper). NY: Marcel Dekker, p. 603-622. Caiden, G.E. (2001). Dealing with administrative corruption. Handbook of administrative ethics. (Ed. T. Cooper). NY: Marcel Dekker, p. 429-455. Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (1992). Retrieved from http://www.lrkt.lt/Documents2_e.html Dobel, J.P. (1999). Public integrity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Hardin, R. (2000). The public trust. Disaffected democracies. What’s troubling the trilateral countries? (Ed. S.J. Pharr, R.D. Putnam). Princeton: Princeton university press, p.31-51 Huberts, L., Maesschalk, J. & Jurkiewicz, C.L. (2008). Global perspectives on good governance policies and research. Ethics and integrity of governance. Perspectives across frontiers. (Ed. L.Huberts, J.Maesschalck, C.Jurkiewicz). Northampton: Edward Elgar, p. 239-264. Law on Civil Service. (2002). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=94580 Law on Prevention of Corruption Law in the Republic of Lithuania. (2002). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter2/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 Law on Public Administration. (1999). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter2/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=123381 La w on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Civil Service (1997). Retrieved from http://www.vtek.lt/site.admin/scripts/scripts/Editor/assets/EN/VPI% 20ISTATYMAS/VPI%20ISTATYMAS%20(EN).doc Law on the Seimas’ Ombudsmen (2004). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter2/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=253973 Law on the Special Investigation Service. (2000). Retrieved from http://www.stt.lt/documents/laws/stt_law.pdf Lawton A. (1998). Ethical managment for the public services. Buckingham: Open University Press. Lietuvos Respublikos baudžiamojo kodekso patvirtinimo ir įsigaliojimo į s t a t ym a s (2000). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter2/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=111555bk Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo nutarimas „D÷l valstyb÷s ilgalaik÷s raidos strategijos“. (2002). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=193888& p_query=&p_tr2= Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo statutas. (1994). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter2/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=347295. Lietuvos Respublikos Vietos savivaldos įstatymas. (1994). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter2/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=240620 Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausyb÷s įstatymas (1994). Retrieved from http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter2/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=270443. Lithuanian Code of Conduct of Civil Servants (2002). Retrieved from http://www.vtek.lt/site.admin/scripts/scripts/Editor/assets/EN/code %20of%20conduct%20of%20civil%20servants%20(en).doc OECD (2004). Managing conflict of interest in the public sector: a toolkit. Paris: OECD. Palidauskaite, J. (2008). Exploring public service motivation in Lithuania. Social Sciences, 32, (61), 17-30. Republic of Lithuania Law Approval, Entry into Force and Implementation of the Code of Conduct for State Politicians. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.vtek.lt/site.admin/scripts/scripts/editor/assets/en/politiku _elgesio_kodeksas.doc Sarafinas, G. (2006). Skandalu maratonas- be pabaigos. Veidas. nr. 20. Retrieved from http://verslas.banga.lt/lt/leidinys.printer/446dbc97b280f. Transparency International. Corruption perception index. Retrieved from www.transparency.org Van Wart, M. & Denhardt, K.G. (2001). Organizational structure: a reflection of society’s values and a context for individual ethics. Handbook of administrative ethics. (Ed. T.Cooper). NY: Marcel Dekker, p. 227-241. Vyriausioji tarnybin÷s etikos komisija. Sprendimai. Retrieved from http://www.vtek.lt/sprendimai/.

J. Palidauskait÷ Etikos problemos viešajame gyvenime ir jų sprendimas: lietuviškasis scenarijus Santrauka Kiekviena visuomen÷, steb÷dama tai, kas vyksta viešojoje erdv÷je, bene dažniausiai atkreipia d÷mesį į valdžios atstovų elgesį, nors politikai ir valstyb÷s tarnautojai n÷ra vieninteliai viešajame gyvenime pasirodantys veik÷jai. Dažniausiai pastebimos įvairios etikos problemos. Vienos jų d÷l savo specifikos, masto, įtrauktų asmenų skaičiaus ar jų statuso tampa skandalingais visuomeninio gyvenimo įvykiais, kitos gi dažnai būna net nepasteb÷tos arba sulaukia gerokai mažesnio visuomen÷s ar spaudos d÷mesio. Straipsnio d÷mesio centre Lietuvos, kaip naujos demokratijos, atvejo tyrimas, kuriuo bandoma pažvelgti į esamas etikos problemas ir galimus jų sprendimo variantus. Straipsnyje siekiama atsakyti į probleminį klausimą: kokios etikos problemos stebimos Lietuvos valdžios atstovų veiksmuose ir kaip ta pati valdžia rengiasi užkirsti kelią jų atsiradimui. Straipsnio tyrimo objektas - etikos problemos, stebimos politikų ir valstyb÷s tarnautojų veikloje. Rengiant straipsnį naudoti šie tyrimo metodai: mokslin÷s literatūros analiz÷, dokumentų (teis÷s aktų) turinio analiz÷, antrin÷ duomenų analiz÷ ir atvejo tyrimas. Autor÷, rengdama publikaciją, tur÷jo mintį paskatinti tyrin÷tojus, ir visų pirma Lietuvoje, atkreipti didesnį d÷mesį į šią „naująją žemę“ viešosios politikos tyrimų diskurse. Pats straipsnis sudarytas iš kelių potemių, kurios leidžia geriau atskleisti temą. Straipsnio autor÷ pirmojoje dalyje teigia, kad norintys rasti termino etikos problemos apibr÷žimą, neabejotinai susidurs su tokio apibr÷žimo nebuvimu. Mokslininkai didelį d÷mesį skiria atskirų etikos problemų (korupcijos, interesų konflikto, piktnaudžiavimo pad÷timi, valdžia ir kt.) gilesnei analizei, nesivargindami pateikti bendresnes koncepcijas. Tyrin÷tojų vartojamos etikos dilemų, etikos reikalų, etikos problemų sąvokos akcentuoja etinę, moralinę klausimo pusę. Etiški valdžios atstovų poelgiai stiprina demokratiją, teisingumą, padeda užtikrinti asmens teises, užkirsti kelią blogam administravimui ir rodyti tinkamą pavyzdį piliečiams (Burke, 2001, p. 604). Tuo tarpu neetiškas elgesys dažnai yra neteis÷tas bei vertinamas kaip netinkamas, amoralus, neatitinkantis visuomen÷s lūkesčių. Etikos problemos gali būti įvairios: piktnaudžiavimas tarnybine pad÷timi, tarnybine informacija ar ištekliais, melas, apgaul÷, aplaidus ir netinkamas tarnybinių pareigų atlikimas, korupcija, interesų konfliktai ir kt. Šios problemos pasitaiko kasdieniniame gyvenime, bet skandalai leidžia tyrin÷tojams geriau analizuoti atskiras valdžios atstovų etikos problemas. Straipsnio apimtis neleido pateikti išsamaus šalyje vykusių didesnio ar mažesnio skandalų inventoriaus. Tod÷l pagrindiniu kriterijumi atrenkant atvejus analizei tapo skirtingi skandalo dalyviai bei jų pasekm÷s. Apibendrindama skandalus, kurie gali būti įvardinti kaip atskirų etikos problemų susipynimas, autor÷ teigia, kad jie buvo nevienodos trukm÷s, masto, skyr÷si ir juose dalyvavę pagrindiniai veik÷jai. Bene dažniausia priežastis tokiam skandalui atsirasti buvo bandymas pasinaudoti situacija, užimama tarnybine pad÷timi ir tur÷ti asmenin÷s naudos. Vienuose jų akivaizdžiai matomas interesų konfliktas, piktnaudžiavimas pad÷timi, įgaliojimų viršijimas, noras asmeniškai pasipelnyti, netinkamas pareigų atlikimas, kyšininkavimas ir kt. etikos problemos. Dažnai tik po spaudimo iš viršaus į skandalus įsiv÷lę asmenys atsistatydindavo iš pareigų, kur kas dažniau jie užimdavo laukimo poziciją, vadovaudamiesi principu, kad asmens kaltę privalo nustatyti teismas, nesusimąstydami apie moralinę, politinę atsakomybę. Apibendrinant konstatuojama, kad nuo 2003 m. Lietuvos visuomen÷ stebi nesibaigiančius skandalus, kuriuose dalyvauja valdžios atstovai, o tai neabejotinai atsiliepia žemiems jų reitingams. Atlikta skandalų analiz÷ leido autorei susiaurinti savo analizuojamų etikos problemų ratą iki trijų problemų: piktnaudžiavimo pad÷timi, interesų konflikto ir korupcijos. Prie institucijų, kurios užsiima vienų ar kitų etikos problemų sprendimu galima pamin÷ti: Seime veikiančią etikos ir procedūrų komisiją, kuri prižiūri ne tik kaip įgyvendinamas Politikų elgesio kodeksas, bet stebi, kad nebūtų procedūrinių pažeidimų svarstant įstatymus; taip pat kiekvienoje savivaldyb÷je (iš viso 60) veikiančias etikos komisijas. Atskiro d÷mesio nusipelno Vyriausioji tarnybin÷s etikos komisija, kuri atsakinga, kad būtų išvengta interesų konfliktų. Nuo 1997

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m. kovai su korupcija veikia Specialiųjų tyrimų tarnyba. Siekiant įduoti tinkamą įrankį šioms institucijoms užkirsti kelią vienų ar kitų etikos problemų atsiradimui buvo išleista nemažai įstatymų, kuriuose ne tik pateikiami etikos problemos (piktnaudžiavimas pad÷timi, interesų konfliktas, korupcija ir kt.) apibr÷žimai, bet ir numatyti būdai joms spręsti. Kai kurių problemų apibr÷žimai pateikiami daugiau nei viename teis÷s akte (korupcija, piktnaudžiavimas tarnybine pad÷timi), kas galbūt leistų teigti, kad jos vertinamos kaip rimtesn÷s, kitos gi sulaukia mažesnio d÷mesio. Analizuodama teis÷s aktuose pateiktų etikos problemų apibr÷žimus, autor÷ bando juos lyginti su mokslininkų pateiktomis sąvokomis. Tie patys teis÷s aktai numato įvairius būdus etikos problemoms spręsti. Vieni įstatymai vardija pareigas, kiti principus, kuriais turi būti vadovaujamasi tokioje situacijoje, dar kiti numato kur kas konkretesnes priemones (korupcijos rizikos vertinimas, antikorupcin÷s programos, antikorupcinis teis÷s aktų ar jų projektų vertinimas ir kt.). Ne tik teis÷s aktai, bet ir valstyb÷s tarnautojams galiojančios elgesio taisykl÷s (2002 m.) vardija pagrindinius principus, kuriais privalo vadovautis tarnautojai, bando persp÷ti apie galimas etikos problemas ar etiškai jautrias, dviprasmiškas situacijas. Daugelis etikos problemų yra atsiradę dar civilizacijos priešaušryje (korupcija, piktnaudžiavimai), o kova su jomis pripažinta kaip svarbi ne tik atskiros šalies, bet globaliu mastu. Tačiau vertinant Lietuvos situaciją, ypač kai kalbama apie kovą su korupcija, sunku būtų įvertinti stebimus pokyčius. Mat korupcijos suvokimo indeksas nuo 2001 m. Lietuvoje beveik nepasikeit÷. Kita priemon÷, galinti užkirsti kelią etikos problemų atsiradimui, yra atskiri principai ar vertyb÷s, kurie akcentuojami įstatymuose, reguliuojančiuose valdžios atstovų elgesį (LR Konstitucija, Seimo statutas, Vyriausyb÷s įstatymas, valstyb÷s tarnybos įstatymas, politikų elgesio kodeksas, elgesio taisykl÷s valstyb÷s tarnautojams, vietos valdžios įstatymas, viešojo administravimo įstatymas).

Apibendrindama atskirus Lietuvos valdžios žingsnius siekiant skirti d÷mesį etikos klausimams, autor÷ linkusi teigti, kad atskiros priemon÷s (įstatymai ar institucijų kūrimas) buvo priimtos gana atsitiktinai, be išankstinio plano ar strategijos, o tai ko gero geriausiai ir apibūdina lietuvišką scenarijų de facto, kai pav÷luotai sureaguojama į visuomen÷s ir kartu valdžios atstovų veiklos problemas. Tuo tarpu siūlomas scenarijus tur÷tų neapsiriboti kritine esamos situacijos analize, bet turi būti paremtas strateginiu planavimu ir nukreiptas į ateities valdžios viziją. Žinant, kokia valdžia tur÷tų būti ir kokiomis vertyb÷mis ar principais ji tur÷tų vadovautis, galima kiekvienai valdžios grandžiai ir atskiroms institucijoms kelti atskirus uždavinius, nuolat steb÷ti jų veiklą bei ją vertinti. Prie tokio scenarijaus gali prisid÷ti ne tik atskirų valdžios grandžių atstovai, bet ir kitos suinteresuotos pus÷s (NVO, žiniasklaidos, verslo, akademin÷s bendruomen÷s atstovai). Apibendrindama autor÷ teigia, kad etikos problemos stebimos Lietuvos viešajame gyvenime n÷ra naujos (nes kai kurių šaknys siekia civilizacijos pradžią), bet studijuojantys dabartiniame Lietuvos viešajame gyvenime stebimas valdžios atstovų etikos problemas, gali pasimokyti, atkreipti d÷mesį į klaidas, kurių galima išvengti. Straipsnis atveria naujas tyrimo perspektyvas studijuojantiems ir tiriantiems viešosios politikos klausimus, paskatinti mokslinę diskusiją apie aktualias etikos problemas ir jų sprendimo būdus. Raktiniai žodžiai: etikos problemos, etikos klausimai, interesų konfliktas, korupcija, kritiniai įvykiai (skandalai).

First received: January, 2011 Accepted for publication: February, 2011

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