Hür-Sen Confederation President Levent Kuruoğlu made a written statement and reacted strongly to arbitrary disciplinary investigations into the private lives of public officials.
Disciplinary law protects public order, not private life
“If there is no concrete damage, there can be no investigation,” Kuruoğlu said:
“According to the information received by our union, some public administrations are initiating disciplinary investigations, imposing administrative penalties and implementing reassignments on the grounds of “behavior outside the service that may undermine the reputation and sense of trust of the civil servant” by citing the acts of civil servants that take place entirely in the private life area.
Disciplinary law exists to protect the internal order of the administration and the healthy execution of the public service. In order for an act related to the private life of the civil servant to be subject to disciplinary law, it must be clearly demonstrated that it has a concrete and measurable negative impact on the public service. Otherwise, the action taken is an interference with private life.
Constitutional Court Concrete impact must be demonstrated
In the individual application decision of the Constitutional Court numbered 2014/167, it is clearly emphasized that in disciplinary proceedings, the impact of actions related to private life on professional life and the functioning of the institution must be demonstrated in a concrete, convincing and proportionality principle.
Under Article 20 of the Constitution, everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life. This right is also an indisputable constitutional guarantee for public officials.
Arbitrary investigations also waste public resources
Investigations initiated without any concrete damage, impact on public service or disruptive consequences on the institutional order are not only devoid of legal basis, but also lead to unnecessary use of public resources. While the capacity of inspectors and investigators should be directed to areas of real need, administrative processes are unnecessarily occupied with procedures that interfere with private life.
Investigations should not be opened without a preliminary examination
It is our open call as HÜR-SEN:
-The impact of the acts related to private life on professional life must be concretely demonstrated.
-It should be assessed whether there is a real and measurable risk to the functioning of the organization.
-The principle of proportionality should be carefully observed, taking into account the employee's record and past service.
Disciplinary proceedings initiated without establishing these elements are a violation of the right to privacy guaranteed by the Constitution.
We invite public administrations to act in accordance with the law, the principle of proportionality and fundamental rights. We respectfully announce to the public that we will continue our legal struggle against arbitrary interventions in the private lives of civil servants with determination.