The Internal Inspection Institution in Disciplinary Proceedings against Public Officers

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the concept, purpose, types of inspections carried out concerning the facts of violation of discipline and legality in the system of public service of the Russian Federation. Ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of the public officer in respect of whom the inspection is carried out, the decision on the possibility or impossibility of imposing a disciplinary sanction depends on the completeness, timeliness, correctness, legality, objectivity of the inspection. The author analyzes the normative acts and the approaches to the definition of an official inspection that exist in the legal literature. On the basis of the analysis, the author defines the concept. The author argues that from the point of view of the content of the stages of law enforcement and the types and content of the stages of the law enforcement jurisdictional process, an official inspection completely fits into the stage of initiating a disciplinary case, acts as one of its possible stages, along with other forms of clarification and investigation of the circumstances of a disciplinary case. The paper concludes that, in the generally accepted sense, the term “official inspection” in the system of the civil service of the Russian Federation most fully characterizes the purpose, content and possible procedure for actions concerning the facts of committing disciplinary violations and other events requiring examination and analysis. The author proposes to use the term “official inspection” in a uniform manner to unify the verification actions carried out in connection with the commission of a disciplinary offence by public officers of the Russian Federation. This approach makes it possible to streamline the organization and conduct of official inspections for various types of public officers.