Formation of the Legal Status of Public Servants of the Greenland Self-Government Greenland Self-Government Civil Servants in 1953−2003

Abstract

The article states that the status of Greenlandic civil servants began to take shape with the incorporation of the island into Denmark as a county in 1953. Its foundations were laid by Act No. 154 of 07.06.1958 on salaries, pensions, etc. in Greenland, as amended in 1969, which established the characteristics and provisions of the Greenlandic civil service. The Public Service Act of 04.06.1971 clarified the duties of employees, suspensions, disciplinary proceedings, libel suits, dismissals, etc. The adoption of the Act on Greenland Self-Government in 1978 led to the introduction of the Act of 25.10.1979 on “conditions of salaries, pensions, etc. for civil servants”. An order of 16.06.1980 regulating the advertisement of civil servants’ posts in Greenland stipulated that the Government and municipalities must be consulted. On 15.12.1983, the Act on Public Servants in Greenland was amended. On 23.12.1988, the “Act on the Salaries of Civil Servants, etc. and the Classification of Public Civil Servants in Greenland” was adopted, and on 18.12.2003, the Act on Greenland Self-Government and Municipal Officials.

The formation of the legal status of civil servants in Greenland can be divided into 2 stages: 1) 1958–1978, when the legal status of Greenland was defined as one of the counties of Denmark, but with some specificity of administration and public service, caused by specific natural and climatic conditions; 2) 1978–2003, the period of the establishment and evolution of Greenland’s autonomy, the most important feature of which was the emergence and quantitative and qualitative development of the institution of civil servants subordinate to the autonomy authorities, which established rules for them based on Danish law.