Gifts in the Public Sector: Regulation and Proposals

Abstract

The objectives of this work focus on analyzing the need for public employees, high-ranking officials, and political representatives to reject gifts that could compromise their impartiality. The methodology employed consists of a comparative study of legislation within major international organizations and Spanish internal regulations, observing the heterogeneity of regulatory approaches to gift acceptance, and verifying how these have been interpreted by case law and commented upon by legal doctrine. As the main results, an administrative regulation proposal is defended based on fully objective economic value criteria, complemented by specific rules regarding hospitality and gifts received by the Administration. Finally, the conclusions underline that this objective delimitation is essential to bolster public integrity and clarify the boundaries of Administrative Law in this matter.