Source: Correio Braziliense - DF - ECONOMY - 19/07/2009

Thanks to a new way of interpreting the laws, federal civil servants have become the target of tough administrative processes and are being expelled from the civil service for practicing acts that do not necessarily have to do with corruption. Depending on the severity, ethical and moral slips committed outside of work - or that contradict the spirit of the job - weigh as much as pocketing public money. Increasingly, private life and functional life are no longer considered parallel worlds.

In the legal field, this concept is embedded in the doctrine that provides for a pattern of behavior that is morally appropriate for all those who perform some public function. In other words, it means that it is not enough to be honest, it is necessary to appear honest. “The guy when he enters the building where he works is the same person who left home. If I am not able to have an ethical conduct abroad, how will I be able to have it here? Justifies Jorge Hage, Minister of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) (read interview below).

Mistakes that stain biographies and spill into the curriculum pop up every day. There are curious cases, such as that of the public lawyer who, pitying his friend, decided to take the exams for the bailiff instead of the boy. Caught in the act, the server lost his job. Another public lawyer, who used the structure (computers and rooms) of the body he worked for to elaborate petitions - assuming a type of private law - ended up surprised. Investigated by the superiors, until today it has not been able to explain itself.

Much of the effort to combat ethical and moral deviations in the public administration is linked to the performance of the internal affairs and ethics commissions installed in the agencies. The Attorney General's Office (AGU) has one of the most oiled structures. In the last two years alone, 14 civil servants have been banned from the AGU staff. “In the civil service, the policy of 'putting your hands on your head' has always prevailed, but that has changed,” explains Aldemário Araujo Castro, the agency's general auditor. According to him, with rigor and prudence, it is possible to separate the chaff from the wheat, which, for the manager in charge of watching over good customs, avoids annoyances with the Justice. “There are few contestation actions and even lower the reintegration rates of expelled employees. As that phrase by Che Guevara rightly says: harden without losing tenderness ”, he completes.

The advances are notable, praise the experts. However, everything or almost everything has always been at hand, whether in the Constitution or in Law 8.112 / 90 (1). What has changed for some time now has been social tolerance towards a series of behaviors practiced by those who are in the daily life of the machine, warn scholars. In summary, there is currently more collection and surveillance. “We are experiencing a paradigm shift. In the past, things were almost always 'for the English to see'. Opening investigations and administrative proceedings against someone was the same as not investigating anything. It’s not like that anymore. The pileup has decreased considerably ”, reinforces Evânio Moura, advisor to the Brazilian Bar Association of Sergipe and author of texts on public administration and morality.

Wallet

Even simple but reprehensible gestures, like the famous wallets are on the hot seat. Although still very present in national culture, and impregnated with bureaucracy, the bad habit of opening doors with coats of arms or badges has been strictly scolded by managers. Brasília, which is considered the mecca of the adepts of this practice, collects stories. “An anonymous tip came to the internal affairs office, reporting that a server tried to enter a nightclub for free with 10 friends. The owner of the place called the police, ”says a magistrate. “We investigated a case of a public agent who closed the street with cones to allow exclusive access for guests to his private party”, reveals another.

Once investigated, these episodes yielded embarrassing warnings to servers. “At the very least, nowadays, the servant needs to explain his actions. And that bothers a lot of people who think they can do anything ”, adds another experienced broker. A sign of the times, recognizes Maria Pellegrina, a former judge and consultant at Opice Blum Advogados. She recalls that good examples of punishment and repression of ethical and moral deviations can feed a virtuous cycle in public administration. “The question is: will the highest management plans be achieved? For now, I find it a little difficult ”, warns the expert.

1 - BIBLE OF MORALITY
The law that governs the public servant, in the chapter dedicated to duties, establishes that the employee must maintain “conduct compatible with administrative morality”. The text, although generic, allows, through interpretation, to frame a series of cases that are not directly related to the exercise of the function or position.