ASSOCIATION DES SECRETAIRES GENERAUX DES PARLEMENTS

ASSOCIATION OF SECRETARIES GENERAL OF PARLIAMENTS

Session doctobre 2013 GENVE / October session 2013 GENEVA

PRINCIPLES FOR THE RECRUITMENT AND CAREER MANAGEMENT OF

PARLIAMENTARY STAFF

PRINCIPES POUR LE RECRUTEMENT ET LA GESTION DES CARRIRES DU

PERSONNEL DE LADMINISTRATION PARLEMENTAIRE
Adopted by the Association, 9 October 2013
Adopt par lAssociation, le 9 octobre 2013

Introduction
Introduction
Parliaments are not organisations apart. Best practices that other employers in the public and private
sectors apply to the recruitment and career management of their staff can be said to be equally
relevant to Parliaments.
Les Parlements ne sont pas des organisations part ou en dehors de la socit. Ainsi, les bonnes
pratiques dveloppes en matire de recrutement et de gestion des carrires tant dans le secteur
public que dans le secteur priv peuvent sappliquer galement aux Parlements.
But in some ways Parliaments are different. They are overtly political working environments, but they
do not have a single political direction. They exist as the central place in a nation in which a range of
competing political views are articulated. These political views may change, and the people
articulating them will change, over time and sometimes considerably, subject to the electoral cycle.
Toutefois, les Parlements ont une certaine spcificit, dans la mesure o, mme sils agissent dans un
environnement de travail hautement et ouvertement politis, ils ne prsentent pas une orientation
politique uniforme. Les Parlements sont en fait le lieu national par excellence darticulation de
diverses opinions politiques concurrentes. Ces opinions politiques et les personnes qui les endossent
changent au fil du temps, parfois de faon importante en fonction du processus lectoral.
Parliamentary staff need to be chosen and managed with this in mind. In many Parliaments, staff
provide a degree of continuity (and institutional memory) which elected Members by their nature
cannot.
Cest pourquoi le personnel de ladministration parlementaire doit tre choisi et dirig en fonction de
ces proccupations spcifiques. Dans ce contexte mouvant, il a souvent pour rle dassurer la
continuit du fonctionnement des services (rle de mmoire institutionnelle), ce que les lus, par
nature, ne peuvent faire.
Some parliaments prohibit the open expression by staff of their political views and affiliations. Others,
by contrast, permit or encourage such expression: but this is only sustainable if staff perform and are
seen to perform their parliamentary duties impartially, whatever their politics might be.
Certains Parlements interdisent leurs personnels lexpression publique de leurs opinions et
affiliations politiques. Dautres Parlements, en revanche, permettent ou encouragent ce type
dexpression : mais cela nest durable que si les personnels assurent (et sont vus comme assurant)
leurs fonctions avec impartialit, quelles que soient leurs opinions politiques
The Executive as an employer has much in common with Parliament, and will often be looking for
staff with similar qualities. But there will be views represented in Parliament which are not shared by
the Executive. Parliament and the Executive also have constitutionally different roles. There is
potential for conflict of interest between the two.
Enfin, si lExcutif est trs semblable au Parlement en tant quemployeur, et si les comptences
recherches sont largement semblables, certains points de vue exprims au Parlement, ne sont pas
pour autant partags par lExcutif. Le Parlement et lExcutif ont en outre des rles constitutionnels
diffrents. Il existe donc potentiellement des conflits dintrt entre les deux.
2

These principles do not apply to staff working for individual politicians, or for political parties or
groups.
Les principes qui suivent sappliquent uniquement au personnel parlementaire et ne sont pas destins
aux personnels recruts comme assistants individuels des parlementaires, des partis ou des groupes
politiques.

Principles
Principes

Parliamentary staff should be recruited and promoted through fair and open competition,
based on merit.
Le recrutement et la promotion du personnel parlementaire devraient soprer sur la base du
mrite, travers un processus comptitif ouvert et transparent.
Appointments should not be based on personal or partisan political considerations.
Les nominations ne devraient pas tre fondes sur des considrations personnelles ou
politiques.
As part of the recruitment process, candidates should be tested, among other factors, for their
ability to behave with integrity and political impartiality and for their resilience in the face of
political pressure. Parliaments may also want to test candidates for their ability to understand
different political viewpoints and to give expression to a variety of political opinions, whether
or not their own, depending on the nature of the work they will be expected to undertake.
Le processus de recrutement devrait permettre dvaluer, entre autres comptences, la
capacit des candidats observer un comportement intgre et impartial et leur rsistance
face aux pressions politiques. Les Parlements pourraient aussi vouloir tester la capacit des
candidats comprendre diffrents points de vue politiques et exprimer diverses opinions
politiques, quils les partagent ou non, en fonction de la nature du travail quils devront
assumer.
A Parliament should have control of its recruitment and promotion processes, and the
Executive in particular should have no influence over the outcome of these processes. A
managed system of staff secondments between Parliament and the Executive may, however,
be valuable, for career management purposes.
Les Parlements devraient avoir la matrise des processus de recrutement et de promotion de
leur personnel. En particulier, lExcutif ne devrait pas avoir dinfluence sur les rsultats
deces processus. Il est toutefois possible denvisager des systmes encadrs de dtachement
de personnel du Parlement vers lExcutif et inversement, pour permettre une plus grande
fluidit dans la gestion des carrires.
Recruitment should be conducted with the aim of ensuring so far as possible that
parliamentary staff as a body represent the range of people who are citizens of the country.
Le systme de recrutement devrait permettre, dans la mesure du possible, que le personnel
parlementaire soit reprsentatif des citoyens dans leur diversit.
Parliamentarians and/or political staff should only be involved in the recruitment and career
management of parliamentary staff in exceptional circumstances, usually in relation to the

most senior positions. The terms on which they do so should always be clearly defined and
made available to the public.

Les parlementaires et/ou leur personnel politique ne devraient intervenir dans la procdure
de recrutement ni de gestion de carrire que de manire exceptionnelle, en principe pour les
postes les plus levs. Les modalits de cette intervention doivent tre dfinies de manire
claire et rendues publiques.
Good in-house training is particularly valuable in Parliament, as it is the only place in which
to learn effectively about Parliament. This suggests a greater than usual need for management
to be able to move staff around the organisation without promotion, both for the benefit of the
individuals, and to meet the needs of the institution.
Un bon programme de formation interne est particulirement prcieux pour les Parlements,
dans la mesure o la connaissance effective du Parlement ne se fait pas ailleurs que sur
place. Ceci suggre la ncessit accrue dune politique active de mobilit horizontale des
personnels au cours de la carrire. Une telle pratique bnficie non seulement aux individus
concerns, mais galement linstitution elle-mme.
Where staff are relied on for institutional continuity, human resources policies need to have as
an objective the retention through career management of qualified staff with sufficiently
diverse backgrounds.
Dans les cas o le personnel assure la continuit de linstitution, la politique de ressources
humaines devrait avoir pour objectif la fidlisation par la gestion des carrires dun
personnel qualifi et aux profils suffisamment diversifis.