Hong Kong’s civil servants must uphold national security, constitutional order, commitment to the rule of law and political neutrality, in line with an updated Civil Service Code that took effect on Friday.

The code – which came into effect six months after the government proposed a series of changes – spells out the 12 core values that civil servants should uphold.

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The other values that the civil servants must uphold include passion for public service, dedication to duty, integrity, professionalism, team spirit, outcome-focused, accountability for performance and confidentiality.

The government is committed to enhancing civil servants' awareness of national security and establishing a set of shared values and standards of conduct for the civil service.

Ingrid Yeung, Secretary for the Civil Service, HKSAR 

The Civil Service Bureau issued a circular to all civil servants on Friday promulgating the updated Civil Service Code.

“The government is committed to enhancing civil servants' awareness of national security and establishing a set of shared values and standards of conduct for the civil service,” said Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan.

Pointing out that the special administrative region government completed the consultation on updating the code in January, Yeung said that most of the views received supported updating the code.

She pointed out that having considered the views of various stakeholders, including civil service central consultative councils, staff unions and individual civil servants, the government has finalized and promulgated the updated code.

“As the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance took effect in March this year, we have also set out the relevant parts in the updated code,” she added.

The civil servants also must follow the standards of conduct that conform to the updated code and meet the expectations of society.

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With the updated code taking effect immediately, all civil servants and other government employees, including non-civil service contract staff, post-retirement service contract staff and staff appointed on other non-civil service terms, must observe the code, the government said in a notification.

The secretary stressed that the SAR government is committed to enhancing civil servants' awareness of national security and establishing a set of shared values and standards of conduct for the civil service.

“Following the promulgation of the updated code, we will commence promotion, explanatory and training works by phases, including inviting heads of departments to conduct sharing sessions, holding roving exhibitions at various government offices, and including the content of the updated code in the training for civil servants at various levels, in order to enhance civil servants’ understanding of the updated code.”