Dear Reader,

We are pleased to present you with the 8^th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana.

This issue opens with the article of Dr. Yoon, Professor at the National Human Resource Development Institute in South Korea. The author presents a brief historical account of COTI’s contribution to public servants’ training followed by suggesting some new strategies for further development of training for the human resources in the country’s public sector.

The next article is written by Naomi Caiden, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Political Science of the California State University in Los Angeles. This paper discusses the importance and necessity of including courses on administrative law in the curriculum of the Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

Jahi Jahija, State Secretary of the Ministry of Information of the FYR of Macedonia and Marija Nikoloska Arsovska, Associate National CAF Coordinator at the Ministry of Information Society and Administration present their findings of the Common Assessment Framework model implementation in public institutions of the FYR of Macedonia.

Last, but not least, Konstantin Belyaev, a lawyer and senior consultant for Korn Ferry/Hay Group in Kazakhstan, examines the benefits of introducing job evaluation methodologies in setting the remuneration levels for civil service jobs with a view to improve civil servants’ performance and human resources management in the public sector.

We hope that the content of this edition of the Journal will be of value to anyone interested in the issues addressed by the above scholars.