PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

100 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
The last two points on this list raise a number of issues that have proved
recurrent in the development of codes of conduct. One is that, without consensus
among parliamentarians themselves, any code proves exceedingly difficult
to enforce. And consensus is often difficult to reach because of the complexity
of some of the issues, and a number of ‘grey areas’ where precise interpretation
of a code proves controversial. A consideration of some of these ‘grey
areas’ under the rubric of conflicts of interest will provide a useful way of
exploring this important aspect of parliamentary accountability.
Public and private interests
A central feature of all principles and codes of parliamentary conduct is the
distinction between the public interest and private or personal ones. This distinction
is fundamental to the democratic idea that the purpose of elective
office is to serve the public, not the enrichment of the office-holder or his or
her personal connections. In common parlance the abuse of public office for
personal gain is termed ‘corruption’; in parliamentary language it is termed a
‘conflict of interest’, as defined, for example, in this extract from the code of
the Irish Dail:
A conflict of interest exists where a Member participates in or makes a
decision in the execution of his or her office knowing that it will
improperly and dishonestly further his or her private financial interest
or another person’s private financial interest directly or indirectly.
A conflict of interest does not exist where the Member or other person
benefits only as a member of the public or a broad class of persons.
The phrase ‘or a broad class of persons’ is a source of some difficulty, however.
Are parliamentarians who belong to a class of large landowners, say, or
shareholders in oil, pharmaceutical or media companies, any less disinterested
when legislating in a manner that benefits these groups than if they are acting
to advance their individual private interest? The distinction may not seem so
obvious to the public. It is for this reason that many parliaments require
members to register a list of their financial interests and/or assets, and to
appoint an impartial registrar who can give advice and adjudicate on potential
conflicts of interest. Typical items included in a register of financial interests
are: ownership of shares in public and private companies; ownership of land
and property; remunerated directorships and partnerships.
These items do not exhaust the potential sources of conflict of interest,
however. Another ‘grey area’ concerns outside bodies to which a member may