Afghanistan Watch: Tom Perriello: Update on APPA (and the complete terms of reference)

A few quick updates and notes about my last post on the Advisory Panel on Presidential Appointments:

President Karzai has not yet signed the final APPA terms of reference. There is no indication yet that this amounts to more than a change of schedule but will keep people posted.
The final version of the Terms of Reference can be viewed here
Lots of people deserve credit for the APPA, but I wanted to offer particular praise to Javier Leon-Diaz and Richard Bennett of the UNAMA Human Rights Division who have been relentless in keeping this on track.

More to follow shortly. (Continue below for the Terms of Reference...)

Term of Reference of Special Board of Advisory to the President for Appointments of Senior Government Posts

Introduction

Administrative reforms are one the basic requirements that the government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is committed to implement in accordance with the Constitution, the Afghanistan Compact adopted in London, and the National Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice approved by the Ministers Council, in order to ensure a capable and efficient administration, improve the human rights situation, security and the rule of law.

For this purpose, the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan through Order No. 2421 dated 1385/6/25 established the so called Special Board of Advisory for Senior Appointments in Senior Government Posts, to establish a transparent mechanism with the required conditions and standards towards reform in the state administrations.

Members of Special Board of Advisory commit themselves to cooperate with the Office of President and other relevant institutions for establishing an efficient administration based on the provisions of Constitution, social justice and ensuring the rule of law.

Chapter One
General Provisions
Article 1:

Board of Advisory to the President for Senior Appointments has been established in accordance with the Afghanistan Compact adopted in London and the Order No. 2421dated 1385/6/25 of the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to ensure efficient civil administration and enhance the working capacity in leadership level of the government institutions.

Board of Advisory may prepare its term of reference and working guidelines for better functioning and performance. In accordance with the aforementioned objectives, this term of reference has been prepared to describe the rules of procedure, duties, rights and authorities of the Board of Advisory.

Article 2:

Board of Advisory shall, in accordance with Order No. 2421dated 1385/6/25, advice the President on appointment and transfer of the following posts:

1. Deputy Ministers
2. Provincial Governors
3. Provincial Chiefs of Police
4. Provincial Chiefs of National Security
5. Members of the Civil Services Reforms and Administrative Commission

Board of Advisory shall request job descriptions of the posts mentioned in this Article from relevant authorities and consider them for evaluations.

Article 3:

Board of Advisory has been established in accordance with the Afghanistan Compact adopted in London, and Order No. 2421dated 1385/6/25 of the President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as an independent entity for a period of (5) years to ensure efficient civil administration and enhance the working capacity in leadership level of the state administrations.

Chapter Two
Structure – Duties - Authorities
Article 4:

Board of Advisory to the President for Appointments of Senior Government Posts shall have (5) members appointed by the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the following order:

1. Three members from amongst independent social personalities with high morality two of whom are appointed by the President and one member shall be recommended by four other members.
2. One member recommended by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

3. One member recommended by the co-chairs of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board.

Article 5:

1. Members of Board of Advisory work independently and shall not be dismissed during their tenure of duty.

2. Membership in Board of Advisory shall be rescinded in case of death, resignation or conviction to minimum punishment of imprisonment by final verdict of competent court, or in case of lack of physical and mental ability that prevent proper performance of duties.

3. If member of Board of Advisory is appointed to one of the posts mentioned in Article 2 of this Order, his membership shall be rescinded in the Board.

4. If membership of a member is rescinded based on the mentioned reasons, a new member shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions in Article 4. The newly appointed person shall serve for the remaining term of Board of Advisory.

Article 6:

Board of Advisory shall collect information for purpose of reviewing appointment cases and execution of Order:

1. Academic certificates of the candidates certified by the concerned Ministries of Education, Higher Education, Interior and Defense.

2. Obtain information on the specified criteria in accordance with the forms annexed to this term of reference.

Article 7:

Board of Advisory shall elect a Chairperson and a Vice-chair on rotation from amongst the members for a period of (1) year. Nomination for the posts of Chair and Vice-chair is voluntary.

The election for Chair and Vice-chair shall take place in through free, direct and secret votes. In case of the Chairperson’s absence, the Vice-chair shall enforce his authorities.

Article 8:

Chairperson of Board of Advisory shall have the following duties and authorities:

1. Hold and lead sessions of the Board of Advisory in accordance with the specified program.
2. Constant and active supervision and organization of administrative affairs and other services through the Secretariat.
3. Implement the decisions of the Board of Advisory.
4. Signing of letters, recommendations and questionnaires addressed to the concerned departments upon approval of members of Board of Advisory.
5. Providing report to Board of Advisory.

Article 9:

The issue of resignation, death or detention of members of Board of Advisory shall immediately be reported to the President with signature of the Chairperson.

Article 10:

The Advisory Board’s session becomes official with participation of all members and decisions are made by four majority votes. In situation that one of the members is not present in the session due to an accepted reason; the decisions are made in consensus. In cases a general consensus is not reached the decision shall be postponed all members session.

Chapter Three
Authorities of Advisory Board

Article 11:

In order to improve the effectiveness of civil administration and gradually build capacity of the state administrations, and in line with the timeline set forth in London Compact, the Board of Advisory shall provide its views and recommendations to the Office of the President as follows:

1. Comments on the candidates for vacant posts and replacing the officials set forth in this Order introduced by the Office of the President.

2. Provide information with specific recommendations, to achieve appropriate reforms, on individuals that were employed before the establishment of Board of Advisory.

3. Evaluate the performance of authorities set forth in Order No. (2421) and the specified criteria based on the complaints received, and providing information to the President accordingly.

Article 12:

Board of Advisory shall obtain the information from the following sources:

∑ Government Institutions
∑ Political Parties
∑ Scientific and Academic Institutions
∑ Press and Mass Media
∑ Civil Society
∑ Candidates Themselves
∑ International Institutions

Article 13:

Documents, evidences and information obtained by Board of Advisory are strictly confidential and merely in the possession of the Office of President and the Board of Advisory. No other source and authority shall force Board of Advisory to publicize or reveal the documents, evidences and the information in hand.

Article 14:

Board of Advisory shall seek information about the candidates through the specific forms attached to this Order in order to determine the aforementioned criteria.

The attached forms of this Order are as follows:

1. Information form through which information is sought from the relevant departments
2. Application form which shall be filled by the candidates
3. Evaluation form, which shall be filled by Board of Advisory after necessary review.

Article 15:

Board of Advisory shall, in cooperation with the Office of President, prepare a database and if needed, provides the President with a copy of it.

Database shall contain information about individuals as follows:

1. Information about the identity, education, work experience and other required qualifications of the persons who are currently serving in the positions set forth in order No. (2421) dated 1385/6/26.

2. Information about the identity, education, work experience and other required qualifications of the persons eligible to the positions set forth in order No. (2421) dated 1385/6/26.

Article 16:

President office shall submit the list of proposed candidates to the Board of Advisory. The evaluation of eligible candidates by Board of Advisory shall take place within maximum (30) days after receiving the official list introducing the candidates. But to speed up this process, members of Board of Advisory shall try to obtain information from the departments concerned prior to the determined deadline and present their comments to the President. Therefore, the concerned departments shall provide the Board of Advisory with required information promptly.

The Secretariat of Board of Advisory after receiving the official list of candidates shall contact those included in the list and request them to submit all documents mentioned in this Order.

Candidates have maximum (5) working days (one week) to submit all of the documents to the Secretariat of Board of Advisory.

Article 17:

Board of advisory shall conduct preliminary review of the documents after expiry of the assigned date for receiving documents, and exclude those candidates from the process who did not complete their documents.

Article 18:

If the Board of Advisory recognizes that the candidate or candidates on the list of the Office of President is not qualified and does not meet the specified minimum required criteria, it may inform the Office of President about it and ask for a new list of candidates.

Article 19:

The evaluation form, which reflects the opinion of members of the Board in respect to the competence and qualification of the candidates, shall be prepared by the Board in accordance with the set criteria and signed by the members. This form carrying the opinion of Advisory Board shall be officially sent to the President.

Article 20:

Board of Advisory shall, after the required evaluations, select two potential candidates as candidates No. (1) and (2) among the eligible candidates and recommend them to the President.

Article 21:

The candidates, who are refereed by Board of Advisory to the President in accordance with Article 19 of this Order, and the president does not appoint them to any posts, their names shall remain in the active list for one year for consideration by the President. In case of expiration of the period and if the individuals included in the list are nominated for any post, it is required that the Office of President re- introduce them to the Board of Advisory for further evaluation.

Article 22:

Documents submitted by those candidates, who after necessary evaluations are excluded from the appointment process, shall be kept with Board of Advisory for period of (4) months and after expiry of the mentioned period, the documents shall be destroyed under supervision of an assigned committee and upon approval of the Board of Advisory.

Article 23:

All debates of the Board of Advisory shall be confidential and remain secret except that the Board deems the presence of an individual or other individuals necessary.

Article 24:

Board of Advisory shall consider positive discrimination in respect to the women candidates during evaluation of competency of candidates, in accordance with the criteria mentioned in this Order.

Article 25:

Board of Advisory shall provide specific email and postal addresses to the public to facilitate obtaining information regarding identification, qualification, work experience and other conditions of the candidates inside and outside the country.

Chapter Four
Conditions and Qualifications of Candidates

Article 26:

Criteria based on which Board of Advisory review the past records of the intended candidates are as follow:

- Qualification, merit and ability, including education and the skills required for the post
- Good reputation, integrity and commitment to the national high values
- Respect to the provisions and high values of the holy religion of Islam
- Non-discrimination against individuals on the basis of gender, language, religion, political opinion, ethnicity, race and social status
- Not being convicted for crimes against humanity, crime or deprivation from civil rights by a competent court.
- No links with the illegal armed groups, trafficking of drugs, history of human rights abuse and bribery

To determine the criteria mentioned in this article, information shall be obtained from the criminal authorities of Ministry of Interior, General Directorate of National Security, Ministry of Justice, Political parties, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Department of Anticorruption and Bribery, Joint Secretariat of Disarmament and Demobilization Commission and relevant Ministries, Independent Election Commission, Attorney General, Supreme Court and other sources.

Article 27:

All candidates must have the ability, capacity and necessary skills for the relevant job, in accordance with the set criteria in this Order.

Article 28:

All candidates shall fill a specific form, which is called the candidacy form. This form shall inquire the following information:

a. Identification of the candidate (name, date of birth, ID number, place of birth and current address)
b. Educational background (all levels of education, what time, where and in what field)
c. Courses and other skills
d. Work experience (positions in which the candidate worked along with its specific dates)
e. Financial details of the candidate and his spouse
f. Acknowledgement and signature that the provided information is true, and if it is proved otherwise, can be subject to dismissal from the post.

The relevant form of Board of Advisory board shall be prepared in the official languages of the Islamic republic of Afghanistan.

Chapter Five
Secretariat

Article 29:

Secretariat of the Board of Advisory shall be established as separate office with appropriate composition within the Office of President to carry out the service and administrative affairs.

Recruitment of staff of the office set forth in this Article shall take place by Board of Advisory through a transparent mechanism.

Article 30:

Secretariat shall carry out all service and administrative works, organizing and archiving of documents.

Article 31:

Staff of Secretariat is restrictedly responsible for keeping the secrets and security of the office and in case of violation they will be dismissed from their duties.

Article 32:

Staff of Secretariat shall report to work in accordance with their daily schedule and in case of emergency report to work as or when they are needed.

Article 33:

Salary scales of the staff of Secretariat shall be decided and paid separately by the Office of President.

Article 34:

Secretariat shall prepare the Job descriptions for its staff and enforce it after approval by the Board of Advisory.

Chapter Six
Final Provisions

Article 35:

Office of President shall provide the Board of Advisory with required administrative, financial and service facilities, including transportation for carrying out the assigned duties. Also the office space for Advisory Board of Appointment with taking necessary security measures shall be organized by President Office.

Article 36:

The rights and privileges of members of Board of Advisory shall be determined and paid by the Office of President.

Article 37:

Any change or amendment to this Terms of Reference is the authority of Board of Advisory and shall be in effect after approval of the President.

Article 37:

This Term of Reference including an introduction; (6) Chapters and (38) Articles shall be enforced upon unanimous votes of the Board of Advisory and endorsement of the President.

July 01, 2007

Tom Perriello: Update on APPA (and the complete terms of reference)

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