The Concepts of Merit and Equal Opportunities in Law No. 30057, Civil Service Law [Los Conceptos de Mérito e Igualdad de Oportunidades en la Ley N° 30057, Ley del Servicio Civil]

Abstract

The human resources management of the public administration is of great importance corresponding to the purposes assigned to the State by constitutional mandate. Hence the need to develop a human resources policy in accordance with the attention to social needs. A State cannot be conceived that maintains within it a heterogeneity of labor regimes with different rights and obligations and, above all, without a single race regime. One of the most important factors raised by Law No. 30057 is merit as a condition for the incorporation of new public servants. However, the aforementioned norm does not adequately develop said factor, which implies the possibility of a discretionary interpretation of its content and, consequently, a selection of applicants who may not adequately meet the needs of suitable human resources. The purpose of this research is to investigate from a theoretical and factual point of view the concept of merit, in order to arrive at a tentative definition that allows us to provide objective elements for its evaluation.