ABSTRACT
European national legal orders do not share the same approach to the legal nature of their civil servants’ disciplinary responsibility. Several of them acknowledge its criminal nature while some others, despite accepting its punitive character, reject it. Those differences have an impact on their legal regimes and, specifically, on the substantive and procedural rights granted to their civil servants. This is also reflected in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Taking this into account, this chapter will try to establish a common concept of the disciplinary responsibility of civil servants, to analyse its key elements, to determine when disciplinary measures can be considered “criminal in nature” within the meaning of Articles 6 and 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and to establish some common and minimum standards protecting civil servants.
