Legislation on the Civil Service
This section tests the Law on Civil Service No. 416-V of 23 November 2015 and related acts: categories of civil servants, admission, duties, restrictions, appraisal, discipline and termination. The exam checks whether you can classify a post and apply the merit principle.
Core rules
- Civil service is divided into political and administrative. Political posts include the President, Parliament deputies, Government members and other political officials; they are filled politically and are not subject to the ordinary competition.
- Administrative civil servants are classified into corps A, B and C. Admission is by competition based on qualification requirements, except cases expressly provided by law.
- Principles include legality, Kazakh patriotism, unity of the civil service, transparency, professionalism and meritocracy.
- A civil servant takes the oath, observes the Code of Ethics, declares income and assets, and must avoid conflicts of interest.
- Disciplinary liability is governed by the Civil Service Law; labour legislation applies only where the special law does not regulate the issue.
Worked example
A vacancy for a chief specialist in a local executive body is an administrative post in corps B. The appointing body cannot hire a relative without competition merely because the candidate has experience. It must announce the competition, verify qualification requirements, and select on merit. If the post were political, the appointment procedure would be political, not competitive.
Traps
Not every state employee is a civil servant: military, law-enforcement and some technical staff are regulated separately. Political officials do not pass the administrative competition. Do not apply the Labour Code automatically where the Civil Service Law has a special rule.