Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey ACADEMIC RESEARCH REPORT Volume 1
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Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey ACADEMIC RESEARCHES ON PUBLIC ETHICS VOLUME 1 Edits Gaye Keylan Cover Design Ergin Şafak Dikmen First Edition: November 2009 / Ankara Turkey ISBN: 978-975-19-4647-8 www.tornatasarim.com Fersa Print Office Ostim 36. Sokak 5/C-D Yenimahalle-Ankara Tel : 0 312 386 17 00 Faks : 0 312 386 17 04 Web : www.fersaofset.com Council of Ethics for the Public Service Council of Europe Başbakanlık Yeni Bina (DPT Binası) Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs Rights Necatibey Caddesi No: 108 Kat: 1 Technical Co-operation Directorate Yücetepe Ankara Turkey Economic Crime Division Corruption and Fraud Unit F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex France Phone: 90 312 4191533 Phone: 33 3 88412354 Fax: 90 312 4241774 Fax: 33 3 90215650 www.kamuetik.gov.tr www.coe.int/tyec The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission and Council of Europe. Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey ACADEMIC RESEARCH REPORT Volume 1 ETHICS IN TITLE/LAND REGISTRY Assoc. Prof. Hamza ATEŞ Assoc. Prof. H. Emre BAĞCE Assist. Prof. Mustafa Lütfi ŞEN ETHICAL CONDUCT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT Prof. Dr. İbrahim CERRAH Assoc. Prof. H. Hüseyin ÇEVİK Assoc. Prof. Turgut GÖKSU Research Assistant Ercan BALCIOĞLU PLANNING ETHICS AT LOCAL LEVEL Asst. Prof. Gökçen KILINÇ Assoc. Prof. Hüseyin ÖZGÜR Asst. Prof. Fatma Neval GENÇ CONFLICT OF INTEREST Assoc. Prof. Ömer Faruk GENÇKAYA These academic researches have been conducted within the project on “Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey (TYEC)” which was funded by the European Commission and implemented by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Council of Ethics for the Public Service of the Republic of Turkey. The overall objective of TYEC is to contribute to the prevention of corruption in Turkey in accordance with European and other international standards through the implementation and extension of the code of conduct, and the development of anti- corruption measures. PREFACE Socio-economic and cultural changes, having gained momentum throughout the world and in our country based on the progress made in science and technology, have yielded an understanding of public service that is more transparent than the conventional approach, characterized by participation, impartiality, integrity, accountability and adherence to principles, where research and development activities prove to be ever-important. With the influence of a well-established and profound democracy, urbanization and the developments in education and information technologies, individuals now voice their demand to have a say in the way in which public resources and authorities are used. On the other hand, deterioration in social values as opposed to the growth of economic scales in the public and private sector has fostered overall degeneration as well as corruption at an economic level. In addition to the scandals involving ministers and prime ministers in many developed and developing countries in the last 30 years, the global economic crisis rising in the banking sector as of 2008 and encompassing other sectors can be regarded as the negative consequences of this process. As a preventative approach that adresses the conscience alongside conventional methods and institutions, the approach of ‘public ethics’, arising out of countries in the Far East and spreading across the entire world, supports public administrators in their natural and legal duty to create an environment marked by ethics and ensure that ethical rules are abided by in the process of service delivery. On the other hand, this approach nourishes the trust of individuals in the government thereby strengthening the relations between the government and individuals. With the adoption of Law no 5176 in the year 2004, the Council of Ethics for the Public Service was founded. With the implementation regulation passed by our Board in 2005 based on this Law, ethical rules have been designated and Ethics Commissions have been founded in administrative units to assume the responsibility for developing a culture of ethics at an institutional level. In the framework of the basic legal mandate of developing a culture of ethics, the project titled ‘Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey’ in the frame of the EU 2006 Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance Program was implemented together with the Council of Europe in the period November 30, 2007 – November 30, 2009 under which ten academic studies have been conducted for the purpose of examining the ethical issues in the public sector at an institutional level and developing recommendations. We are happy to be presenting you with the first group of these academic studies titled ‘Title/Land Registry Services and Ethics’, ‘Planning at Local Level and Ethics’, ‘Law Enforcement Services and Ethics’ and ‘Conflict of Interest in the Public Administration’. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the organizations, public administrators and representatives of the civil society who have extended their help and to the valuable scholars who have dedicated their efforts since the beginning of the process to deliver the research to you for the sake of recognizing the ethical problems in the administration and developing and implementing solutions. I sincerely hope that these studies will be useful for all those who are involved. Prof. Dr. Bilal ERYILMAZ Chairperson Council of Ethics for the Public Service PREFACE The overall objective of TYEC is to contribute to the prevention of corruption in Turkey in accordance with European and other international standards through the implementation and extension of the Code of Conduct, which is the responsibility of the Turkish Council of Ethics for the Public Service, and the development of anti-corruption measures. In terms of the overall project objective, the project will, first, address the need to implement the Code through training and investigation, as well as the consideration of the development of codes of ethics for other categories of officials or holders of public office. Second, in relation to the need to develop system¬s of monitoring the effectiveness of prevention and other anti-corruption measures, the project will support system analyses of the effectiveness of key measures implemented in recent years, such as the reform of the criminal legislation, the Public Information Act and the Code of Ethics. Drawing on the results of these analyses, the project will draft a Corruption Report on new proposals for further anti-corruption measures and reforms. The inclusion of the research studies come from an obvious question what is the factual evidence of corruption? The Background Review to the Corruption Report notes that there is no central database of cases, either in relation to criminal investigations or disciplinary cases. There is a limited amount of media and public opinion survey material on corruption and associated areas; much of the latter is nearly a decade old. There are also a number of surveys by international organisations is the credibility and robustness of the methodologies. In view of the absence of contemporary material, 10 research studies were commissioned to develop a greater understanding of various issues to do with the development of public ethics in Turkey, the drivers/inhibitors of reform, the institutions involved and the role of the media and civil society. More specifically, the research is intended to increase the knowledge and implementation of ethical issues in order to facilitate the work of the Council of Ethics for the Public Service and the project. It will seek to identify the roles of agencies and institutions, in the public and private sectors and in civil society in addressing ethics, and to understand the dynamics of contexts and trends that may affect the future work of those dealing with public ethics. The general areas of the research studies were: • Conflict of Interest in Public Administration • Public Bidding and Ethics • Planning at Local Level • Ethical Conduct in Law Enforcement • Ethical Conduct in the Health Services • Ethical Standards and the Title/Land Registry • The Shadow Economy • Professional Associations and Ethics • Ethics and the Customs Services • Ethics, Culture, and Society It was intended that each of the research studies would address the objectives, and do so within specific contexts. The studies were intended to be practitioner-based in that the findings would be used in the work of the Council of Ethics and by the Corruption Report. This publication covers 4 of the research studies: Conflict of Interest in Public Administration; Planning at Local Level; Ethical Conduct in Law Enforcement; and Ethical Standards and the Title/Land Registry. Together they provide some interesting insights into how the public view the provision of public services, and how the public officials view their relations with the public. They show how cultural traditions, public attitudes, the culmination of legislation and complexity of procedures, and the processes of reform both converge and diverge in how far they may facilitate or inhibit corrupt or unethical conduct. They also show that a number of public sector institutions are aware of the public responsibilities and are developing their own responses to the issues identified. Indeed, a key area of many of the research studies has been their ability to work with ministries to developing practitioner- relevant recommendations. The project included plans to hold workshops to publicise