Officials Flee Ministries to Avoid Signing Illegal Documents

The silent flight of civil servants unwilling to sign off on corruption

In recent weeks, THE OBJECTIVE has uncovered an unusual movement within the administration: high and mid-level officials in ministries and bodies plagued by corruption cases are requesting transfers to other departments, even accepting less salary and level, just to avoid being compelled to stamp their signature on documents they consider outside the bounds of legality. Political pressure from high office holders has driven this collective to a state of panic, with demands for clear traceability so as not to end up under judicial scrutiny.

Career Civil Servants vs. Appointed Posts: The Key to the Problem

The technical debate underlying this flight is essential for understanding the scope of the phenomenon. It is not the same to be a career civil servant, immovable and protected by the EBEP, as it is to hold an appointed position, nominated personally by a politician and subject to loss of confidence. In the latter case, removal from the post is immediate, and the official can only return to their original posting. But the pressure is not merely administrative: as noted, the antiestéticar of reprisals, of losing benefits associated with productivity, or of family members being affected weighs more heavily than the theoretical protection of the status.

A specific case illustrates the situation: a subdirector appointed personally to a technological role linked to the Society of Information, with a law degree profile instead of the telecommunications engineer usually holding the post, has decided not to sign and has passed responsibility onto a subordinate. This latter official has rebelled and refuses to sign what they consider a difficult situation (marrón). The chain of refusals reveals that the issue is not ignorance of the regulation, but active resistance to participating in decisions that could incur incivil liabilities.

The Supreme Court Ruling on Ábalos and the Colonization of Institutions

The Supreme Court, in its ruling that condemned José Luis Ábalos to more than two decades of prison, already warned that the colonization (politicization) of institutions is one cause of corruption because it eliminates mechanisms for preventing illicit conduct in public administration. This warning now makes full sense: when technical posts are filled with politically aligned profiles, the chain of control breaks down, and resisting civil servants become obstacles to be removed or internal fugitives.

The AEAT (Tax Agency), cited by some analyses as the nucleus of corruption, does not appear to have stirred, while in other bodies like Foreign Affairs, files are reported that cannot be processed according to the law, with consulates handling 100,000 files without sufficient means.
The suspicion that the exception to the rule of General Directors being A1 civil servants has become the norm, with appointments such as that of the Director General of the Treasury to a political figure's husband, reinforces the perception that meritocracy has been replaced by cronyism.

Report or Flee? Two Sides of the Same Coin

The positions regarding this flight are divided. Some maintain that civil servants are shielded precisely to withstand pressure and that their duty is to report irregularities, not escape. Conversely, it is argued that the constant underlying pressure, the antiestéticar of unstated reprisals, and the possibility of being permanently marked in one's professional career make flight the most rational option for those who do not want to end up on trial. The existence of the crime of omission, which punishes silence, adds a perverse incentive: not signing can be a crime, but signing the illegal also is.

Meanwhile, the flight of these officials leaves a trail of uncomfortable questions. What happens to those who remain? How many documents are being signed under duress? The digital traceability of every signature, consultation, and report, which some celebrate as a guarantee, can also be a double-edged sword: everything is recorded, but it can also be hacked or erased. The flight is, ultimately, a symptom that the internal control system has collapsed, and that for many, silent desertion is the only way out.