Cumul public-private: the admission of a public service under pressure

The executive decree published in Algeria’s Official Journal No. 38 regulates private paid activity for certain university teachers, researchers and specialist public health practitioners. The rule is precise: prior written authorization, five years of professional seniority except in specific southern and high plateau areas, a single host body, activity carried out in Algeria, and territorial limits for doctors. On the surface, it is an administrative measure. In reality, it is a social admission.

Law orders an already existing reality

The state does not legislate in a vacuum. If it regulates dual activity, it is because dual activity exists, has expanded and affects sectors where public expertise is scarce: universities, research and hospitals. The decree tries to draw a line between lawful complementary work and the private capture of skills trained and paid for by the public sector.

The question is therefore not only moral. It is material. Why would a lecturer, permanent researcher or hospital specialist seek private activity? Because salary, institutional recognition, working conditions and career prospects are no longer always enough to keep skills inside the public framework alone.

The private sector as an income valve

The ban on working for several bodies and the obligation to declare authorized activity to tax and social security authorities matter. Informality undermines equality between public agents, blurs responsibility and can weaken services. But an administration cannot solve by authorization alone what also belongs to a devalued public labour market.

In health care, the risk is visible: the public doctor also becomes a private resource. In higher education, expertise and consultancy may create useful bridges, but they may also divert time and energy. The decisive boundary is the service owed to the public institution.

Retaining skills or merely monitoring them

The decree may reduce abuses. It will not be enough to restore the attractiveness of the public sector. If the state wants to retain skills, it must deal with pay, careers, equipment, administrative burden, applied research and professional dignity.

Dual activity is not only a deviation to be controlled. It is a symptom. It says that public service still trains, employs and legitimizes expertise, while struggling to offer it a complete horizon. Administrative order can close certain breaches. It cannot replace a public policy for qualified labour.

Yaqoub Mellali