Civil servants, if caught patronizing the sex trade or driving drunk, will come under tougher disciplinary measures, under a government move to toughen its crackdown on those crimes, the home affairs ministry said Wednesday.
The central government will create new legal standards for punishing its employees convicted of buying sex in a bid to help eradicate the sex trade, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said in a release.
Officials currently face minor disciplinary actions, including a warning, from the organization where they work, separately from criminal punishment from law enforcement authorities, since the central government has set no clear rules of conduct for its employees.
"We expect the new standards will serve to curb the sex trade in society by spreading a perception among public officials that they can be greatly disadvantaged by buying sex," a ministry official said, requesting not to be named.
To reduce traffic accidents caused by drunk driving, the government also decided to toughen its existing ethics rules for officials, the ministry said.
Officials can be sacked if they are caught by police for driving while their driver's license is suspended due to drunk driving, it added.
For these changes, the ministry plans to begin work to revise related laws in the first half so the revised rules can take effect from the second half.
The tougher rules apply only to officials working for the central government, but local administrations are expected to follow suit, the ministry said.