Administrative law

The basic values of central government are a compilation and interpretation of the legal rules that govern our activities. All employees, regardless of whether they are teachers, researchers, doctoral students or civil servants (technical and administrative staff), are expected to adhere to and work in accordance with the basic values of central government.

As well as being a public authority Stockholm University is also characterised by fundamental academic values that include academic freedom and autonomy.

The basic value of government

In this section you will find information about the basic values of central government that you as a civil servant need to know and understand. The basic values of central government are reflected in six principles that together set the direction for how we as an authority should undertake our mission.

Democracy

The Instrument of Government (1974:152) is the fundamental law that provides us with the basic principles for Swedish democracy and the role of the administration. The Instrument of Government states that all public power in Sweden proceeds from the people. As a civil servant, you work on behalf of the people, and your mission includes promoting democratic values.

Legality

The Instrument of Government also states that public power is exercised under the law. The principle of legality means that we must have support in laws or other statutes for the decisions we make and the activities we carry out. The principle of legality is also expressed in the Administrative Procedure Act (2017:900).

Objectivity

It follows from the Instrument of Government that those who perform functions within the public administration shall pay regard in their work to the equality of all before the law and shall observe objectivity and impartiality. The principle of objectivity means that we are obliged to act in a factual and impartial way at all times and that we must never allow ourselves to be guided by personal opinions, friendships or family ties (see more about conflict of interest, secondary occupations and bribery below). This principle is also reflected in the Administrative Procedure Act.

Free formation of opinion

According to the Instrument of Government, every citizen shall in their relations with the public institutions be guaranteed freedom of expression, freedom of information, freedom of assembly, freedom of demonstration, freedom of association and freedom of religion. This also applies to you as a civil servant. The principle of public access to information means that everyone has the right to transparency and to critically examine you and your authority. This means that our deliberations and decisions must be documented in official documents that are public. Everyone has the right to turn to us to access the content of these documents. The right to access official documents may be restricted, for instance to protect the personal or financial circumstances of private persons. The exceptions are set out in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400). To make sure that a matter has been processed correctly, documentation is important. It is also important for you to be able to show how and why Stockholm University made a particular decision. As an employee of Stockholm University, it is important that you are aware of the democratic purpose of documentation.

Respect

According to the Instrument of Government, public power shall be exercised with respect for the equal worth of all and for the freedom and dignity of the private person. As a civil servant, you have to strive to carry out your duties with respect for the individual and meet the requirements for non-discrimination and consideration of personal privacy. The Discrimination Act (2008:567) applies to you as an employee of Stockholm University and you need to be able to recognise and counteract situations where discrimination may arise and work towards treating people equally.

Efficiency and service

The fundamental democratic principle that the public power proceeds from the people requires efficiency and good service to the public. Efficiency is about managing government funds prudently and processing matters quickly, rapidly and with sufficient quality. According to the Administrative Procedure Act, every matter in which a private person is a party must be handled as simply, rapidly and cost-effectively as possible, without neglecting legal security. The Administrative Procedure Act also states that an authority shall ensure that contacts with private persons are smooth and simple and that the authority shall give private persons the assistance they need to look after their interests. The assistance shall be given to the extent that is deemed appropriate with regard to the nature of the question, the private person’s need of assistance and the activities of the authority. Assistance shall also be given without unnecessary delay.

The authority and its employees are also obliged to provide information about applicable rules and procedures at the authority. For Stockholm University, this may mean providing information on how to apply for a particular course, admission or grading criteria, employment conditions, examination rules, the University's organisation or other matters relating to the University's activities.

What is a conflict of interest?

The public should be able to rely on you as an employee of Stockholm University to act objectively and impartially and not to be influenced by irrelevant considerations when processing a matter. If there is any circumstance that makes your impartiality in the matter questionable, i.e. there is a conflict of interest, you may be disqualified. You do not have to be biased or act in a certain way to be considered disqualified. A situation of disqualification may arise if there is a risk that the public may believe that you are acting in a biased manner. This could be the case, for example, where you or someone close to you is affected by the matter or decision.

What happens if you are disqualified?

The rules on disqualification apply to all matters processed by the University. If you are disqualified, you may not take part in the processing of a matter or in the decision-making process. If you perform purely administrative tasks such as registration, copying and mailing, you are not subject to the rules on conflict of interest.

It is primarily your responsibility to notify your immediate superior that you may be disqualified, and you should do so as soon as you become aware of a circumstance that may be assumed to make you disqualified. A notification of disqualification can also come from another person. Regardless of how the question of disqualification came about, it must be examined as soon as possible.

For more information on conflict of interest, rules and examples of different disqualification situations, see our rules on disqualification.

Secondary occupations

A secondary occupation is an occupation that you, as an employee, have alongside your employment at Stockholm University and that is not related to your private life.

The rules on secondary occupations are intended to prevent private interests from colliding with public interests in a way that endangers confidence in an employee's impartiality at work or that may damage the authority's reputation.

There are both permitted and prohibited secondary occupations. If you are a teacher, for example, you are entitled to engage in certain secondary occupations relating to research and development that do not harm confidence, known as R&D secondary occupations.

A secondary occupation is not permitted if it harms confidence, interferes with work or is competing. Secondary occupations that harm confidence are prohibited by law, while secondary occupations that interfere with work or are competing are regulated by collective agreements.

If you are a teacher at Stockholm University, you must continuously and on your own initiative report your current secondary occupation related to the subject area of your employment. Even if you are not a teacher, you may be obliged to inform Stockholm University of your secondary occupations.

Secondary occupations must be kept clearly separated from the University's activities.

Certain activities carried out alongside the employment at Stockholm University are traditionally considered to be part of the employment and are therefore not considered secondary occupations. These may include, for example, lecturing or presenting a thesis at another university, opposing a doctoral thesis at another university, acting as an expert in connection with the appointment of a teacher at another university, participating in scientific debates in various media and presenting one's own research at conferences organised by someone other than Stockholm University. This also includes assignments on examination boards and less extensive assignments for, for example, a scientific journal.

More information about secondary occupations can be found in our rules on secondary occupations for employees at Stockholm University.

Bribery

Employees at Stockholm University, like other employees in public administration, have a specific responsibility to uphold the requirements of objectivity and impartiality in the performance of their duties. The public must be able to rely on the University not making decisions on incorrect grounds.

If you, as an employee or contractor, receive, accept a promise of or request an undue advantage for the exercise of your duties or assignment, you can be convicted of taking a bribe. Anyone who gives, promises or offers an undue advantage can be convicted of giving a bribe.

Benefits generally have a financial value, such as monetary gifts, discounts and credits. Benefits of a non-material nature, such as honours and appointment to a post, may also constitute benefits within the meaning of the law. For the benefit to be considered a bribe, it must be undue. The exact boundaries of what constitutes improper behaviour are not defined in law but depend on the circumstances of the individual case. As a rule of thumb, any transaction that objectively could influence the performance of a particular task or be perceived as a reward for the performance of a task is undue.

There is no value limit for what is considered improper, which means that even if the value of the favour is very low, the favour may be undue.

For more information on bribery and examples of different benefits that can be considered improper, see our rules for preventing bribery at Stockholm University.

Processing of matters

A matter shall be handled as simply, rapidly and cost-effectively as possible without neglecting legal security.

The requirement for simple processing focuses primarily on the needs of the individual, which means that you should express yourself simply and clearly and not burden the cases with unnecessary correspondence or investigation.

The requirement for rapid processing means that matters must be processed as rapidly as possible. How rapidly varies depending, among other things, on the type of matter and how complicated it is. As an authority, we have a duty to investigate, which means that we must ensure that a matter is investigated to the extent required by its nature.

The requirement for cost-effective processing means that you must take into account the costs both for Stockholm University and the individual. This means that you have to weigh the value of requiring certain documentation against the costs of obtaining it.

Legal security primarily refers to the correctness of decisions.

More information on processing of matters, record keeping, service of decisions, etc. can be found in the University's Handbook for processing of matters (Handbok i ärendehandläggning, in Swedish).