Constitutional Guarantees of Protection against Unjustified Dismissal of Officials with an Important Public Legal Function in a Democratic Society

Abstract

In a democratic society, the activities of officials with a special public legal function, elected by the legislative body for a specific term, should be stable. It is true that a number of such officials do not have constitutional status, but nevertheless, their dismissal from office should not be done without justification, in violation of the constitutional guarantees of protection of rights. By appointing a person to a position for a fixed term, the legislator equips the person in this position with guarantees of independence. Personal and institutional independence is required for impartial decision-making and is therefore a prerequisite for impartiality. When limiting the official powers of such persons, the legislator is obliged to justify the valuable public (legitimate) interest that led to the need to limit the right.
 
 Reforming public institutions is a discretionary authority of the government, however, the legal norm should provide for the possibility for such officials to continue their term of office as the head of any newly created service. Termination of the term of office would be justified if the goal of institutional reform was to perform fundamentally different functions. In addition, premature termination of authority undoubtedly causes a "stinging effect" not only for the dismissed person, but also for other public officials. The disputed legal norm has discouraged them because they do not have the sense of stability to exercise their public office without interruption.