PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION

Transcription

1 PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION

2 Institutional set up-anti-corruption Agency Law on Аnti-Corruption Agency Autonomous and independent state body Accountable to the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia The Agency s bodies: Board and Director Primary competences: public officials control (control of their assets and conflict of interest), control of political subjects funding, corruption prevention, international cooperation in terms of fight against corruption, education and cooperation with civil sector Anti-Corruption Agency s staff: 73 Average annual budget amounts to approx. 152 million RSD (i.e. approx. 1,320 million )

3 Conflict of Interest Law on Anti-Corruption Agency - Public Officials Conflict of Interest Official" is every person elected, appointed or nominated to the bodies of the Republic of Serbia, autonomous province, local self-government unit and bodies of public enterprises and companies, institutions and other organizations the founder of which or member is the Republic of Serbia, autonomous province, local self-government unit and other person elected by the National Assembly; Conflict of interest" is a situation where an official has a private interest which affects, may affect or may be perceived to affect actions of an official in discharge of office or official duty in a manner which compromises public interest

4 Conflict of Interest Sanctions: measure of caution; measure of public announcement of recommendation for dismissal, measure of public announcement of the decision on the violation of the Law on Anti-Corruption Agency, termination of the latter office by force of Law GRECO recommendations pertaining to Joint First and Second Evaluation Rounds in terms of conflict of interest - fulfilled Periodical education with regards to conflict of interest prevention Publication ml

5 Asset declaration and verification Law on Anti-Corruption Agency Total of registered public officials (active 24515) Total of Asset and Income Declarations Anti-Corruption Agency shall exercise control over public officials asset and income declaration The reports are publicly available ( Failure to report property or reporting false information on property is criminal offence 2011 (1 criminal charge and 8 requests for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings) 2012 (2 criminal charges and 10 requests for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings) 2013 (7 criminal charges + 14 reports submitted to prosecutor s office and other competent bodies on other criminal offences and 154 requests for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings)

6 Measures envisaged by the National Anti-Corruption Strategy With the aim of achieving more efficient conflict of interest prevention as well as asset and income declaration of public officials: Amending the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency Established Catalogue of public functions Increased number of the parties obliged to submit asset declaration Creating an efficient infrastructure for data exchange Education of employees in the public administration and political parties Proactive approach to the control of property Conducting a campaign for informing the public about the implementation of provisions of the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency Established legal and institutional framework for the implementation of a system for a unique tax identification number for natural persons and legal entities

7 Financing of political parties and electoral campaigns Law on Financing of Political Activities - June 2011 Law on Anti-Corruption Agency The First Report on Oversight of Election Campaign Costs- May of_political_entities_2012_election_campaigns_costs.pdf The Report on oversight of regular work financing December 2013 Serbia has fulfilled all 10 GRECO recommendations pertaining to the transparency of political parties funding within the Third Evaluation Round in a satisfactory manner. (GRECO report - October 2012)

8 Measures envisaged by the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Measures envisaged with the aim of achieving more efficient control of political activities funding: Amending the Law on the Financing Political Activities Amending the Law on the State Audit Institution Amending the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration Building institutional capacities Continuous training

9 Whistle-blower protection: existing provisions Article 56 of the Law on Anti-Corruption Agency Rules on Protection of Persons reporting Suspicion of Corruption (Rules on Whistleblowers) July requests for whistleblowers' protection were submitted to ACA; total of 58 persons were granted whistleblowers status, total of 49 persons were not granted protection; ACA discontinued to provide protection regarding 1 person and decision on providing whistleblowers' protection was not made in terms of 3 cases In 2011, 2012 and 2013 there were 6, 35 and 70 requests for protection, respectively

10 Anti-corruption measures in the public administration 1) Integrity Plan mechanism for institutional integrity strengthening Self-assessment of institution s exposure to the risks for occurrence and development of corruption and other irregularities Entails measures for prevention, reduction and elimination of the identified risks All state bodies, organizations, territorial autonomy and local self-government bodies, public services and public enterprises 4483 institutions In the first drafting cycle, integrity plan was drafted by 2121 institutions, i. e. approx. 50 %

11 Anti-corruption measures in the public administration 2) Methodology for Corruption Risk Assessment in Legislation Agency s internal act Objective: identification and elimination of unclear, ambiguous, imprecise, contradictory and similar formulations entailed in legislation text 23 opinions pertaining to draft laws, two reports pertaining to corruption risk assessment in terms of the existing legislation framework and one initiative in terms of by-law compliance The respective opinions are submitted to the proposing body (competent ministry), Government and National Assembly by the Agency as well as published on the Agency s website 3) Trainings for civil servants with regards to fight against corruption

12 Measures envisaged by the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Measures envisaged with the aim of establishing mechanisms pertaining to corruption risk assessment: Corruption risk analysis in terms of especially corruptionprone and delicate processes and areas within the public sector Adopting a Methodology for the analysis of the risk of corruption in regulations Adopting anti-corruption action plans pertaining to local selfgovernment units and autonomous province Amending relevant legislation and introducing provisions in terms of conflict of interest and asset and income declaration for civil servants

13 Vulnerable Areas Health care system: Analytical report with recommendations pertaining to methods and measures for risk elimination 5 integrity plans models for all types of institutions within the health care area 105 institutions within the health care area drafted its integrity plans (28%) Verification of risks in integrity plans within the health care system Opinion in terms of draft Law on patients protection Coordination meeting: concrete measures for solving the problem pertaining to by-work Education: Analytical report with recommendations pertaining to accreditation and procurement of textbooks in primary and secondary schools Opinion in terms of draft Law on textbooks and other teaching aids 6 integrity plans models for all types of institutions within the еducation area 1196 institutions within the education area drafted its integrity plans (54%) Coordination meeting: two working groups forming

14 Vulnerable Areas Judiciary: 7 integrity plans models for all types of institutions within the judiciary area 198 institutions and bodies within the judiciary area drafted its integrity plans (84%) Verification of integrity plans within the judiciary system Analysis of draft Law on the execution of criminal sanctions in terms of corruption risks Police: Integrity plans model for the police

15 Vulnerable Areas Public procurement: Drafting Anti-Corruption Plan pertaining to public procurements Local self-government: 3 integrity plans models for all types of institutions within the local selfgovernment area 124 bodies within the local self-government system drafted its integrity plans (56%) Verification of integrity plans within the local self-government system Corruption risk analysis within the local self-government system is envisaged by the new Action Plan Corruption risk analysis in terms of draft Law on employees in autonomous provinces and local self-government units, draft Law on objects legalization, draft Law on special conditions for registration of property entitlement in terms of facilities constructed without building permit

16 Free access to information Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection is an autonomous public authority, who exercises his/her powers independently and protects the right to free access to information of public importance Website:

17 REPUBLIC OF SERBIA The Negotiating Team for Accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.