Measures to Manage and Prevent Conflict of Interest

What impact does conflict of interest have on an organization?

           A conflict of interest can occur when a person authorized to make decisions influencing common interest or the benefit of an agency or organization has a personal interest in, or stands to benefit from, the outcomes of the decisions made. A conflict of interest can cause a decision-maker not to be impartial or honest when making a decision because he or she is likely to place personal benefit over public benefit. This can harm the common interest or lead to corruption. At the very least, a conflict between personal and common interests will raise public suspicion. The public will tend not to trust such a person’s ability to exercise discretion or carry out duties without prejudice.  For this reason, situations involving a conflict of interest should be avoided. If such a situation cannot be avoided, action must be taken to ensure that the public's interests are not jeopardized and that no corruption occurs. If executives or persons in authority are unaware of or fail to avoid conflict of interest situations, an organization's reputation will be harmed.

        Although a conflict of interest between personal and common interests is not, in itself, considered corruption, it is a factor that can easily lead to corruption. In other words, conflict of interest is closely associated with corruption. Therefore, if we want to fight against corruption effectively, it is essential that we deal with conflict of interest as well.

Policy for avoiding conflicts of interest and expected behavior of personnel while performing their duties in the organization

        "Organizational culture" provides a set of guidelines for personnel to follow when performing their duties. It reflects the ideas, beliefs, and values that form the foundation for what should be done and what should not be done. Organizational culture is comparable to the personality of an organization, each of which is unique. An organization with a strong and creative organizational culture will stand out. It will be able to compete effectively, maintain stability, and adapt to external changes. Organizational culture is one of the most important factors that contributes to an organization's success; alongside policies, strategy goals, and organizational structure.

        Since the Administrative Court was established on 9 March 2001, most of the personnel of the Office of the Administrative Courts have been transferred from government and other agencies and some have been recruited directly into the Administrative Court. So, personnel have come from a variety of organizational cultures and bring with them a variety of work experience. The Administrative Court recognizes the importance of organizational culture as a tool to unite personnel and drive them in the direction of the court's operational objectives as well as enhance the organization's attitudes, values and culture.  A study has been conducted within the Administrative Court to determine a desirable culture and to identify the strengths and weaknesses in personnel's behavior. The fundamental values of a desirable culture are integrated with job descriptions for all positions so as to enable personnel to act and communicate in a consistent manner. It is believed that this will benefit the internal management of the Administrative Court and the Office of the Administrative Courts and support the strengthening and endurance of the Administrative Court. The organizational culture of the Administrative Court is composed of:

         In 1995, the Office of the Administrative Courts was subjected to a moral and transparency assessment (Integrity & Transparency Assessment: ITA), which was developed by the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission to measure morality and transparency in government agencies, prevent corruption, and improve government operations. The following are two goals of the assessment system:

             1) To determine the level of morality and transparency of government agencies that have been evaluated, and

             2) To make suggestions to government agencies that have been evaluated from both internal and external organizations, enhancing their ability to be transparent and fair and thereby increase their Corruption Perception Index: (CPI).

         Participating in the Integrity and Transparency Assessment (ITA), the Office of the Administrative Courts has not only complied with the mandate of the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, but has also emphasized the cultivation of TRUST, with a focus on Transparency and Righteousness. The participation in ITA also enables the Administrative Court's personnel to act transparently in serving the common interest and the benefit of the organization.  It reveals and monitors compliance with professional ethics, righteousness, impartiality, non-discrimination, as well as upholding honesty and morality in a more concrete manner.

         The Office of the Administrative Courts gives importance to promoting the “Administrative Court Way”, specifically in regard to Transparency and Righteousness as an operational framework which leads to "an organization that does not tolerate corruption.” It is used as a preventative technique to remedy problems in advance rather than waiting for corruption and conflicts of interest to occur before acting. The development of an organizational culture of TRUST must be strong and long-lasting in order to enhance the results of the ITA and produce a higher CPI for the country. This is appropriate for the Administrative Court as it is the main pillar for upholding administrative justice.

What can the Office of the Administrative Courts do to increase knowledge of conflict of interest and prevent its personnel from getting involved in such issues?

        The Office of the Administrative Courts should focus on the enhancement of knowledge among its personnel using the following approaches and measures.

        1. Symbolic expression: The organization’s leaders should play a key role in communicating and leading activities that aim to enhance transparency, morality, ethics, and anti-corruption by:

           - Making and publicizing the Notification of the Office of the Administrative Courts regarding the Intent on Administration in Good Faith of the Office of the Administrative Courts;

           - Making Administration Agreements between the Secretary-General of
the Office of the Administrative Courts and other executives; namely, Deputy Secretary-General, Advisors, and Directors;

           - Declaring intent and expressing anti-corruption symbols at both central and regional offices;

           - Ensuring that executives at all levels take every opportunity to communicate and emphasize anecdotes from case studies, articles, and publications regarding transparency, morality, ethics, and anti-corruption. For example, the annual executive’s policy declaration, the monthly meetings of the executives of the Office of the Administrative Courts, in training sessions and seminars; and

           - Ensuring Executives at all levels behave as role models in strictly complying with the desirable behaviors under the culture of transparency and righteousness.

      2. Enhancing knowledge and instilling good awareness: Enable personnel to be aware of and see the importance of behaving in compliance with the organizational standard of ethics, honesty, morality, and transparency by:

Organizational level

                   - Arranging lectures, seminars, and exchange of experiences by experts;

                   - Arranging study visits at various sites namely, the Anti-Corruption Museum at the Office of the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Royal Projects on Sufficiency Economy, and other role model organizations;

                   - Arranging short-term and long-term Dharma practice courses, and supporting other religious activities and organizational volunteer projects;

                   - Distributing PR leaflets or handbooks regarding the prevention of conflict of interest and behavior not in compliance with the code of ethics;

                   - Managing knowledge on damages and penalties for being dishonest, corrupt, or breaching discipline from real case studies as well as developing training courses for newly recruited personnel including e-Learning;

                   -Distributing documents, handbooks, articles, and case studies on a regular basis, both at the central and regional offices, through various intra-organizational communication channels such as radio, ACT documents, CCTV, Intranet, and Internet;

                   - Selecting role model officers who behave in compliance with the TRUST organizational culture in order to be examples for other officers.

Bureau level

                   - Arranging activities for knowledge sharing among officers with an emphasis on transparency, morality, ethics, anti-corruption, and prevention of conflict of interest;

                   - Arranging activities under the project on enhancing “TRUST” organizational culture with an emphasis on the promotion of morality, ethics, and transparency.

        3. Prevention and surveillance by:

                   - Analyzing risks regarding conflict of interest in important projects;

                   - Setting up a compliance system concerning corruption in OAC personnel as well as suggestions for corruption prevention among personnel;

                   - Setting up anti-corruption networks; and

                   - Adjusting the role of the Discipline and Ethics Group, Bureau of Legal Affairs and Bureau of Internal Audit by putting more emphasis on proactive/preventive measures against corruption and conflict of interest.

        4. Connecting with the Human Resource Management system (HRM) by:

                   - Developing recruitment measures that ensure personnel’s desirable attitudes, beliefs, ways of thoughts, work methods, and experiences. This helps ensure that the organization has the personnel who incline to accept the TRUST culture;

                   - Developing rules and methods for appointment, transfer, and promotion which ensures transparency, morality, and the TRUST culture, while also using the personnel’s behaviors, especially in relation to transparency and righteousness, as one of the criteria for consideration; and

                   - Surveying personnel’s satisfaction in order to develop and modify the organizational management system and ensure that the system complies with the opinions and suggestions of the OAC personnel.

        In the implementation of activities, there should be a clear designation of responsible persons and timelines in order to bring about concrete practices. The activities should also be connected with annual performance assessments by making bureau-level and individual-level work performance agreements, while the outcomes should also be analyzed for further improvement in forthcoming years.

 

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Although a conflict of interest between personal and common interests is not, in itself, considered corruption, it is a factor that can easily lead to corruption. In other words, conflict of interest is closely associated with corruption. Therefore, if we want to fight against corruption effectively, it is essential that we deal with conflict of interest as well.