Indecisiveness of Public Officials: The Problem and Solutions

This study aims to provide legal solutions for the problem of indecisiveness by comparing the criminal liability of a civil servant with the civil responsibility of the board members of joint stock companies. Findings suggest that a legislation is needed to protect public officials and employees from being penalized for their decisions, provided that the relevant conduct is legitimate and does not entail corruption. The study shows that articles 115 and 116 bis of the Penal Code on the crimes of profiteering and causing intentional and unintentional damage to public funds/ property and interests should be amended. These two articles are the efficient cause of indecisiveness as they call for penalizing the public official, even if the latter does not benefit from the entailed crime.