How to Implement Codes of Conduct: Lessons from OECD Member States

Abstract

In this brief, we review the basics of implementing codes of conduct. We discuss the link between codes of conduct, ethics-related law and other law. We discuss how different OECD Member States regulate the behaviour of their public officials – using codes of conduct as a guide or reminder of well-established principles in administrative law. In the first phase of work, officials in charge of the code of conduct programme must decide what to regulate, who to regulate and how to regulate them. In the second phase, they must collect data about existing needs, study existing law (to know what is possible), and draft ethics-related regulations. Codes of conduct can serve as actual administrative rule-making or as reminders of more detailed ethics-related regulations. In the third phase, officials in charge of public ethics must decide on a division of labour between various institutions – or let such a division develop organically. In the final step, senior public sector managers implement the codes of conduct which remind staff of the more lasting ethics-related legislation and regulation in place. Human resource departments and internal audit departments help senior public sector managers change administrative behaviours.