Summaries of Articles published in French and Spanish
| DOI | 10.1177/002085236803400111 |
| Date | 01 March 1968 |
| Published date | 01 March 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
i
Summaries
of
Articles
published
in
French
and
Spanish
The
Civil
Service
Ian
FINLAY
Definition.
-
The
term «
civil
service
»
cannot
be
exactly
defined.
It
might
be
des-
cribed
as
the
body
of
staff
which
serve
in
a
civil
capacity
the
organs
of
State
defined
by
the
Constitution
(the
President,
the
Houses,
the
Judiciary,
the
Ministers,
the
Attorney
Gen-
eral
and
the
Comptroller
and
Auditor
Gen-
eral).
The
Supreme
Court
has
introduced
a
distinction
which
has
become
law :
the
staff
of
the
various
departments
belongs
to
the
Civil
Service
of
the
Government
and
the
staff
of
the
other
constitutional
bodies
to
the
Civil
Service
of
the
State.
Legislation.
-
Two
main
Acts,
both
of
1956,
now
govern
the
Civil
Service.
They
are
the
Civil
Service
Regulation
Act,
covering
civil
service
matters
in
general,
and
the
Civil
Ser-
vice
Commissioners
Act,
dealing
with
recruit-
ment.
Several
other
Acts
affect
particular
branches
of the
Civil
Service
and
the
manage-
ment
of
their
staff.
Number
of
Staff
in
the
Departments.
-
The
Constitution
provides
that
the
Govern-
ment
shall
consist
of
not
less
than
seven
min-
isters
but
not
more
than
fifteen.
The
number
of
departments
has
risen
from
eleven,
in
1924,
to
sixteen,
but
two
of
the
ministers
are
each
responsible
for
two
of
them.
On
1
January
1967,
the
number
of
officers
serving
in
the
Civil
Service
was
37.965.
Parliament
and
the
Civil
Service.
-
As
a
rule,
Parliament
keeps
a
very
close
eye
on
Government
activities,
especially
on
govern-
ment
finances.
This
reflects
on
the
behaviour
of
the
civil
servants
who
must
show
objectivity
and
impartiality
in
their
dealings,
and
on
the
operation
of
the
Service,
which
has
to
record
all
decisions
and
their
motivation
in
case
any
of
its
actions
should
be
challenged
in
Parlia-
ment.
The
Department
of
Finance
and
the
Civil
Service.
-
The
Department
of
Finance
acts
as
the
central
office
of
the
Civil
Service,
whose
head
is
the
Secretary
of
the
Department.
It
also
has
considerable
powers
in
personnel
management.
The
Minister
has
to
approve,
up
to
a
certain
level
in
the
grading
structure,
all
civil
service
appointments
or
promotions,
and
to
authorize
recruitment.
Through
regul-
ating
the
Civil
Service,
fixing
its
organization,
remuneration
and
conditions
of
service
and
career,
the
Minister
for
Finance
is
the
real
manager
of
the
Civil
Service
and
is
concern-
ed
with
all
stages
of
a
civil
servant’s
career
from
his
recruitment
to
his
superannuation
(paid
by
the
Department
of
Finance).
The
Civil
Service
and
the
Public
Finances.
- Officers
of
the
Department
of
Finance
play
a
leading
role
in
the
preparation
of the
Esti-
mates,
but
each
Minister
presents
his
own
Estimate
to
the
Dail.
It
is,
then,
the
job
of
the
officials
to
draft
material
for
the
Minister’s
speech,
and
to
give
him
a
very
full
written
brief
covering
all
the
items
in
the
Estimate,
so
as
to
arm
him
to
deal
with
any
questions
which
may
be
raised.
Usually
the
Minister
is
accompanied
by
some
high
officials,
able
to
produce
any
information
which
he
may
re-
quire.
For
each
Estimate
approved
by
the
Dail
there
is
an
Accounting
Officer,
appointed
by
the
Minister
for
Finance,
who
is
ordinarily
the
senior
civil
servant
of
the
Department
or
Office
concerned.
This
Office
must
approve
the
accounts
and
present
them
to
the
Comp-
troller
and
Auditor
General
for
a
thorough
audit.
The
Accounting
Officer,
in
regard
to
expenditure
from
the
Vote
for
which he
is
responsible,
is
to
ensure
that
each
item
is
ex-
pended
in
the
manner
and
for
the
purpose
for
which
it
was
voted.
The
Civil
Servants’
Role.
-
In
general
civil
servants
exercise
statutory
functions
only
with-
in
the
limits
of
Ministerial
directives
which
they
carry
out
in
relation
to
individual
appli-
cations.
Their
normal
role
is
to
advise
the
Ministers
and
fully
to
implement
their
deci-
sons,
even
when
they
do
not
approve
them.
The
Minister
is
thus
alone
responsible
for
the
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