Proposed code of conduct reforms to bar Hong Kong’s 180,000 civil servants from publicly criticising government policies

“In the past, a small proportion of civil servants did not have a full understanding of the code of conduct. Some even misinterpreted it, leading to a deviance in action from the core values they should uphold.

“Through the revisions, we hope to offer civil servants guidelines for action with a set of clear, comprehensive, proper code of conduct.”

The revised code of conduct details civil servants’ responsibilities under the 12 core values they are required to uphold, including “political neutrality”, “the constitutional order and national security” and “commitment to rule of law”, among others.

Under the value of “dedication to duty”, the document said that civil servants “must promote and implement government policies, decisions and actions”.

“In their capacity as civil servants, they cannot criticise [including online and on social media or by other means] any government policies [particularly those relating to their official duties] or support opposing views of any other party,” the code said.

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Yeung said the government was not attempting to prohibit colleagues from expressing opposing views on policies, stressing the proposed code stipulated civil servants should put across different views during internal discussions “to make the deliberation process more comprehensive”.

Asked whether the government would inspect their colleagues’ views in their private accounts, Yeung said: “We will not require civil servants to submit their communications in private, whether in real life or online, for checking.

“However, if it comes to our attention that a civil servant, in expressing his or her own views in private, has not followed the principles set out in the code. We will take disciplinary actions.”

The political neutrality category in the revised code stipulates that government workers should never “selectively refuse” to implement government policies with which they may not agree, “delay their implementation or adopt a passive attitude” because of their own political views.

“In any event, civil servants should never, directly or indirectly, organise or participate in any activity that impedes policy implementation by the Hong Kong government,” the code said, without elaborating whether protests or petitions will be allowed.

It added that civil servants should not participate in party political activities in their official capacity, and refrain from political party activities that might lead to any actual, perceived or potential conflict of interest or bias.

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The code also emphasised that government workers had to take an “exemplary lead” in conscientiously discharging duties to safeguard national security and to effectively prevent, suppress and punish acts and activities endangering national security.

Serious or persistently substandard performance may result in the compulsory retirement of the civil servant, while gross oversight in carrying out duties constitutes negligence, which is considered a misconduct.

After consulting several civil servant groups on Wednesday, Yeung said colleagues were welcome to submit views on the proposed amendments by January 19 next year.

In his maiden policy address in 2022, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu promised to get rid of underperforming civil servants “in a timely manner” and pledged to revise the Civil Service Code.

Yeung last year said the administration planned to remove the “political neutrality” rule from the code to prevent government employees from using it to evade tasks.

The administration originally aimed to release an updated code in the first quarter of 2023, a plan that was later postponed as Yeung said she had received many comments since the bureau first made the suggestion last year.

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Earlier this year, the bureau introduced a streamlined forced retirement mechanism for persistent underperformers, with the new procedure cutting the number of representations to two from four and shortening the process by at least 10 months.

More than 3,000 civil servants were disciplined for misconduct over the past five years, Yeung said earlier, adding that the number of government workers dismissed in 2022 was almost double the annual average.