Impartiality

As an employee at DTU and a public employee you are covered by the provisions on disqualification set out in the Danish Public Administration Act. It appears from sections 3-6 of the Act when an employee may not make decisions/participate in making decisions or otherwise be involved in the processing of a case/task because there are circumstances which are suited to raise doubt about the employee’s impartiality. This is for example the case where the employee or a related party of the employee has a particular personal or financial interest in the case/task.

There is a prohibition against a number of situations which in themselves may present a risk of bias and unfairness and which may be perceived by the public/society as presenting a risk of such bias and unfairness and thus destroy the trust in DTU and the public administration.

When you are to be involved in a new task, you must therefore assess whether there is a risk that you are disqualified, or whether there may otherwise be interests that may raise doubt about your ability to come to a neutral and sound result. In the event of such disqualification/interests existing or potentially existing, you must discuss this with your manager as set out in the Danish Public Administration Act.

Similarly, special personal relationships, such as intimate relationships formed between employees or between a manager and an employee in a unit, may raise doubt about impartiality, disqualification, special interests, etc. It is therefore recommended that you inform your immediate manager of the existence of such relationships and conditions.