Ethics and Professionalism in the Activities of Representatives of Subjects of Public Control in the Russian Federation

Goncharov Vitalii Viktorovich PhD in Law Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Higher Education, Polytechnic Institute (branch), Don State Technical University in Taganrog 347900, Russia, Rostov region, Taganrog, Petrovskaya str., 109a niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Spektor Lyudmila Aleksandrovna PhD in Law Head of the Department "Theory of State and Law", Institute of Service and Entrepreneurship (branch), Don State Technical University in Shakhty 346500, Russia, Rostov region, Shakhty, ul. Shevchenko, 147 niipg2010@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Malyutin Aleksandr Danilovich Student, Department of "Theory of State and Law", Institute of Service and Entrepreneurship (branch); Don State Technical University" in Shakhty 346500, Russia, Rostov region, Shakhty, ul. Shevchenko, 147 niipg2010@mail.ru

The existence of a modern democratic state presupposes the consolidation and implementation of the constitutional principles of democracy and the participation of society in the management of state affairs, which need a complex system of legal guarantees for their implementation, protection and protection, the most important of which is the institution of public control. This institution of civil society was established in the Russian Federation at the federal level relatively recently, with the adoption of Federal Law No. 32-FZ dated 04.04.2005 "On the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation", and through its functioning, Russian citizens, public associations and non-profit non-governmental organizations can exercise control over the activities, acts and decisions of public authorities, state and municipal organizations, other bodies and organizations that exercise certain public powers on the basis of federal laws.

The organization and implementation of public control in the Russian Federation is based on a number of principles – the basic, most general principles that determine the content and main directions of legal regulation of this institution of civil society in Russia.

The principles of public control in the Russian Federation are enshrined in federal and regional legislation, as well as in the relevant regulatory legal acts of local self-government bodies.

At the federal level, for example, the principles of public control are enshrined in Article 6 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated 21.07.2014 "On the Basics of Public Control in the Russian Federation". They can be classified on various grounds. In particular, on the basis of their impact on the process of public control, they can be classified into the principles of the organization of public control (for example, the principle of diversity of forms of public control) and the principles of public control (in particular, the principle of publicity and openness of public control).

At the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the principles of public control are formalized in regional laws, both on the regulation of public control, and the organization, as well as the activities of public chambers of the constituent entities of Russia. At the same time, the regional legislation on public control (and regional public chambers) fixes, as can be seen from the example of the Law of the Krasnodar Territory dated 03.03.2017 No. 3575-KZ "On the Public Chamber of the Krasnodar Territory and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Krasnodar Territory", fewer principles of public control than the federal one.

An analysis of municipal regulatory legal acts on municipal public chambers (councils) shows that in most of them the principles of public control are not singled out separately, although a reservation is made that these subjects of public control are created, in particular, to implement certain principles. In particular, in the municipality of Krasnodar, the Municipal Public Chamber was established in accordance with the resolution of the Administration of the municipality of Krasnodar dated 18.08.2010 No. 6214 "On the Public Chamber of the Municipality of Krasnodar" for the implementation of democratic principles of civil society development, consideration of the needs and interests of citizens, protection of their rights and freedoms, effective resolution of local issues.

It seems that the list of principles of public control enshrined in Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated 21.07.2014 "On the basics of public control in the Russian Federation" is not exhaustive and requires the addition of a number of other principles.

What is the reason for the need to expand the list of principles of public control enshrined in the above-mentioned Federal Law, the principles we propose?

Firstly, the list of these principles should be supplemented with the universal principle of responsibility (both representatives of subjects of public control and public authorities, state and municipal organizations, other bodies and organizations endowed by federal laws with the right to exercise certain public powers). This will ensure, on the one hand, the organization and implementation of public control by representatives of subjects of public control in full compliance with the requirements of the current legislation under the threat of bringing them to justice if they either violate the requirements of the legislation, or use this institution of civil society to realize their own goals and objectives. On the other hand, the consolidation and implementation of the principle of responsibility makes it possible to motivate officials of public authorities, state and municipal organizations, other bodies and organizations endowed by federal laws with the right to exercise certain public powers, to comply with the current legislation on public control, for example, in terms of not obstructing the processes of organizing and holding its events by representatives of subjects of public control (under the threat of bringing them to various measures of legal responsibility).

Secondly, the list of principles of public control requires the addition of principles that streamline the process of organizing and implementing public control measures within the framework of this institution of civil society in the country, in particular, the principle of centralism and decentralization in the organization and activities of subjects of public control. The inclusion of this principle in the list will allow combining, in the process of functioning of the public control system, the concentration of issues of coordination of the processes of formation and functioning of some subjects of public control in the hands of other subjects of public control (for example, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation) with the consolidation of the list of subjects of competence and powers for one or another subject of public control, which he must carry out independently without interference both on the part of other subjects of public control, as well as public authorities and their officials.

Thirdly, the system of principles of public control should be supplemented with principles that consolidate the system of requirements for persons exercising the powers of representatives of subjects of public control and other organizational structures of public control (in terms of their professionalism, as well as compliance with the rules of ethical duty corresponding to the powers exercised). At the same time, as we noted in previous studies, compliance with the above requirements is the basic guarantee of the implementation of a number of other principles that ensure the legal regulation of certain areas of life in Russian society and the state. ^{[3, pp. 28-35]}

In this regard, within the framework of this scientific research, we will consider in more detail ethics and professionalism in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control as a principle of public control.

It seems that ethics in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control should be understood as the need for persons organizing and conducting public control activities to comply with the system of moral and moral norms adopted and observed in modern Russian society.

The current legislation on public control does not contain a single codified set of rules for the ethical conduct of representatives of any subjects of public control, for example, in the form of a Code of Ethics of Public Control. However, Federal Law No. 32-FZ of 04.04.2023 "On the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation" fixes in Article 5 the possibility of the development and adoption by the Public Chamber of the country of the Code of Ethics of Members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

In turn, the analysis of educational and scientific literature, as well as regulatory documents adopted within various professional communities, shows that in the Russian Federation, various theoretical and methodological approaches are being actively developed in determining the necessary and sufficient list of rules of ethical duty within certain professional communities, ^{[2, pp. 20-26; 5, pp. 2-7; 9, pp. 160-165]} as well as normative documents fixing these rules (for example, the Code of Judicial Ethics was approved by the 8th All-Russian Congress of Judges on 19.12.2012).

At the same time, these documents fix various rules of ethical duty (both in the process of exercising their powers by persons within their professional activities and outside it).

In particular, the Code of Judicial Ethics mentioned above establishes: a list of general requirements for the conduct of a judge (for example, during the entire term of office, a judge should not carry out any activity that could call into question his independence and impartiality and lead to a conflict of interests); principles and rules of professional conduct of a judge (in particular in particular, the principles of objectivity and impartiality, equality, competence and integrity of a judge, rules of conduct of a judge in the exercise of organizational and administrative powers, his interaction with the media); principles and rules of conduct of a judge in non-judicial activities (for example, a judge in non-judicial activities and in off-duty relationships, a judge should avoid everything that could to detract from the authority of the judiciary, to raise doubts about its impartiality and fairness). ^[6]

The legislation on public control formalizes certain rules of ethical duty of representatives of subjects of public control in the organization and conduct of public control events.

In particular, Federal Law No. 212-FZ of 21.07.2014 establishes in part 2 of Article 10 the obligation of subjects of public control to respect the confidentiality of information received during the implementation of public control, if its dissemination is limited by federal laws.

In addition, individual subjects of public control, as mentioned earlier, are authorized to develop and adopt codes of ethics. In particular, the Code of Ethics of Members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, approved by the Protocol of the plenary session of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation dated 08.12.2022 No. 6, establishes the basic principles and ethical rules of conduct of a member of this subject of public control (for example, prohibition to perform certain actions, imputation of certain actions in the exercise of their powers as a representative of the subject of public control), as well as the norms of responsibility of members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation of the norms of the above-mentioned Code of Ethics.

In turn, professionalism in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control, in our opinion, should be understood as the presence of a set of properties in these persons, thanks to which they are able to systematically, effectively and reliably carry out activities for the organization and implementation of public control measures in any conditions and in relation to any objects of public control.

At the same time, the criterion of the effectiveness of public control measures, as noted by a number of authors, is becoming increasingly relevant due to the fact that subjects of public control have limited financial capabilities in organizing and conducting public control. ^{[1, pp. 94-98; 8, pp. 24-30; 10, pp. 315-317]}

The legislation on public control establishes a large group of responsibilities of representatives of subjects of public control, aimed at ensuring professionalism in their activities when organizing and conducting public control events.

Thus, according to Article 10 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated 21.07.2014 "On the Basics of Public Control in the Russian Federation", representatives of subjects of public control are charged with the duties of complying with the legislation on public control, restrictions related to the activities of public authorities, as well as a ban on interference in their activities.

In addition, as we noted earlier, an important role in the implementation of ethics and professionalism in the activities of representatives of public control is occupied by the functioning of the institute of conflict of interest in the implementation of this institute of civil society, ^{[4, pp. 71-75]} the purpose of which is that representatives of subjects of public control refuse to participate in public control activities, if there are there are grounds to assume the existence of a conflict of interests, that is, a situation in which the personal interest of the above-mentioned persons affects or may affect the objectivity and impartiality of the exercise of public control and in which there is or may be a contradiction between the personal interest of these persons and the goals and objectives of public control.

The consolidation and implementation of the principle of ethics and professionalism in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control are associated with numerous problems, including the following:

Firstly, a significant problem is the lack of consolidation of this principle of public control both in Federal Law No. 212-FZ of 21.07.2014 "On the Basics of Public Control in the Russian Federation" and other federal and regional laws, municipal regulatory legal acts on public control, or the organization and activities of individual subjects of public control and other organizational structures of public control.

Secondly, a certain problem in the consolidation and implementation of the principle of ethics and professionalism in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control is the lack of consolidation in the above-mentioned Federal Law of the obligation of subjects of control to develop and adopt codes of ethics of members of this subject of public control, which will determine, for example: the main parameters of ethically proper behavior of representatives of subjects of public control; prohibitions to commit certain actions and recommendations to refrain from certain types of actions (inaction) both in the process of organizing and implementing public control measures, and outside of this type of activity.

Thirdly, a significant problem is the absence in the legislation on public control of a list of professional and ethical requirements for representatives of subjects of public control (persons applying to participate in the organization and conduct of public control events).

Fourth, a certain problem in the implementation of the principle of ethics and professionalism in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control is also the lack of consolidation in the legislation on public control of the system of assessment of professionalism and compliance with the rules of ethical duty in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control, as well as criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of this type of activity.

To resolve the above-mentioned problems, a system of measures should be developed and implemented, among which the following can be distinguished:

Firstly, the principle of ethics and professionalism in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control should be enshrined in Article 6 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated 21.07.2014 "On the basics of public control in the Russian Federation".

Secondly, it is necessary to supplement the above-mentioned Federal Law with a provision stating that subjects of public control are obliged to develop and adopt codes of ethics for members of this subject of public control, in which they can fix, in particular, ethical principles and rules of conduct for representatives of subjects of public control both in the process of organizing and implementing public control activities, and outside of this type of activity.

Thirdly, in the legislation on public control, in particular, in the above-mentioned Federal Law, a list of professional and ethical requirements should be fixed for representatives of subjects of public control (persons applying to participate in the organization and conduct of public control events). For example, it is necessary to fix a ban on participation in this activity: persons with an outstanding or outstanding criminal record, citizens of foreign states, stateless persons, persons convicted abroad for certain categories of crimes (for example, crimes against the person, genocide, ecocide, etc.).

Fourth, in the legislation on public control, it is necessary to consolidate a system for assessing professionalism and compliance with the rules of ethical duty in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control, as well as a system of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of this type of activity.

It seems that the assessment of professionalism and compliance with the rules of ethical duty in the activities of representatives of subjects of public control should be carried out at general meetings of these subjects of public control, or by higher territorial subjects of public control (for example, the assessment of professionalism and compliance with the rules of ethical duty of representatives of regional public chambers should be carried out by the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation).