Code of Conduct for the Foreign Service

Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minster for Foreign Affairs, has signed a Code of Conduct for the Foreign Service, to take immediate effect. This is the first Code of Conduct to be issued by an Icelandic Ministry, though the Government has recently set up a working group to establish a general Code of Conduct for the civil service as a whole.

The aim of the Code is to promote further sound working practices within the Foreign Service. The Code deals with, amongst other issues, personal conduct, receipt of gifts, insider trading, human rights issues, conflict of interests and diplomatic immunity. The Code applies to all employees of the Foreign Service, in Iceland and abroad, including locally hired staff.