·Speeches & Papers of the IAACA Annual Conference and General
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·Speeches & papers of the IAACA Annual Conference and General Meeting Beijing China October 22-25, 2006 1 Argentina The First Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Anti- Corruption Authorities. Status of the U.N. Convention against Corruption and Challenges for its implementation. Speech by Abel Fleitas Ortiz de Rozas Head of the Anticorruption Office - Argentina I would like to give my warm thanks to the Supreme Procuratorate of the People’s Republic of China for inviting us to this Conference and for giving us an opportunity to discuss a subject of great importance to all our countries. 1. The UNCAC I believe that, by meeting here today, we are complying with the purposes stated by the U.N. Convention against Corruption: − Promoting measures to prevent and combat Corruption. − Supporting international cooperation and technical assistance, and − Promoting integrity, accountability and proper management of public affairs. Throughout these last ten years, public awareness has increased and significant progress has been made in international anticorruption legislation. In this light, we can mention the Inter-American Convention against Corruption and the (O.E.C.D.) Convention on Bribery of Foreign Officials. The U.N. Convention is one of the recent developments which further advance international understanding and cooperation and it is an instrument of deeper content and wider scope. Since it is the first convention on corruption that is adressed to the whole world. I think that the following items included in the UN Convention are worth remarking: − The importance given to preventive measures, which include the right of access to public information and the control of conflict of interests among public officials, transparency in public procurement systems, among others. - The need of promoting active participation of civil society regarding information, prevention and control of acts of corruption. - The fight against corruption within the private sector, which is not separate from that of the public sector, since they mutually feed and reinforce each other. - The description of acts of corruption which should be criminalized by domestic laws - The incorporation of criminal liability of legal persons - The promotion of international Cooperation to facilitate investigations and the recovery of the 2 proceeds of such crimes. This meeting provides an opportunity to exchange experiences, to focus on obstacles and difficulties, and to improve our action in the struggle against corruption. It is a great challenge to all of us to have the capacity of making significant changes. I mean real and practical changes in order to prevent, control and punish acts of corruption which cause a huge harm to our peoples. I know that there might be successes and failures in the performance of our task. But I strongly believe that we can go beyond written documents, and make positive changes in our societies. And the constitution of I.A.A.C.A. will be helpful in the achievement of that goal. 2. Prevention We should pay close attention to Chapter II of the Convention which is devoted to preventive measures. Any transparency policy should consider, among other things, − A system of reception and supervision of financial disclosure statements filed by public officials. − The analysis and determination of cases involving conflict of interests and incompa-tibilities of officials. − Access to governmental information to all citizens. − Control over money laundering activities. − The provision of counseling to areas of the administration to prevent acts of corruption in public procurements. 3. Corruption and society Corruption causes substantial damage to a government’s public policies, social welfare and economic development. It is a challenge to take effective steps towards integrity and transparency in an accountable and measurable manner. The participation of society is instrumental to achieve such goal. Working on such society, its social culture and values, is a daring aim. There was a time during which in Argentina the public opinion did not conceive corruption as a priority subject. However, that situation has changed (so did international conscience), since the topic of corruption became an item of the public agenda and acquired considerable importance in the political arena. It is in that context that the argentine Anticorruption Office was created. Corruption appears in the political, economic and social spheres, and in some cases, a “culture of corruption” is created. By “culture” I mean the existence of a permanent and repeated practice by social and political actors which becomes a kind of underlying or non written rule. The citizens’ awareness involves not only their concern about corruption but also their commitment towards a demand for transparency. This is an ambiguous perspective: on the one hand, the problem of corruption acquired a privileged 3 place among citizens’ primary concerns, in our country. But on the other, those citizens have not assumed such a strict attitude when it comes to comply with the rule of law. This is a serious fact and it deserves to be taken into account, for corruption is a problem which is not exclusive to the public sector, to the officials, magistrates or representatives. Corruption is a problem which also has foundations in our societies. So, we have to work on the elements which discourage the commission of a corrupt crime. Among such discouraging elements we find, first of all, the own awareness of the public official, the businessman and the citizen himself. Then, we should work on the social reaction to corruption, that is to say, the social disapproval of that kind of acts. Finally, as an ultimate resource whenever the own conscience or social disapproval are not sufficient, we may resort to the punishment as set forth by the criminal law. Corruption exists in all societies, and the possibility of committing a corrupt act exists in every person, but the question is how societies react to corruption. I believe that this is precisely what differentiates the most transparent countries from those which are not. One problem faced while working on such reality, is: How can we measure corruption and the progress accomplished in connection with transparency? I believe there are different perspectives from which to analyze this subject: One is its perception. Sometimes, perception, that is, the sense we have about corruption, differs from reality. Why? Because perception of social actors varies for reasons not related to this subject. Here we face another challenge: How should we measure corruption and transparency in terms of reality? In this meeting we have an opportunity to discuss the development of instruments to fulfil this task. 4. Challenges within the legal system The drafting of anticorruption legislation and the creation of efficient entities of application are necessary. But it takes time for the institutions to build an effective profile in the prevention and fight against corruption. For all our countries, the approval of internacional conventions imply: - A commitment to make legislative reforms. - A frame of reference for interpretation and application of the laws by judges. - A program for joint and coordinated action by public agencies and private entities. - The support of international cooperation for the investigation of crimes and recovery of assets. 5. Investigation and punishment In every anti-corruption policy it is necessary to effectively punish criminal acts. Our investigations area has achieved successes in a great number of investigations conducted during all these years, involving public officials from all levels and governments. 4 I consider it useful to mention some difficulties faced by this area: − The power of defendants: former public officials being accused of having misappropriated millions of dollars, can afford to hire the services of the best law firms and the best experts. − We should increase social awareness regarding the important role played by reporting persons and witnesses, and improve their protection. − Important investigations depend on international cooperation especially on information about bank accounts and off shore companies and it is often difficult and time consuming to access to such information. Whenever we talk about punishment, its consideration by the law is not sufficient: its infliction is what really matters. The term infliction refers to the possibility of setting a case for trial and the entering of a judgment to determine the case. To conclude, I will quote the words of an expert who said that in order to fight corruption effectively it is necessary to make systematic reforms, to facilitate control and investigations and to fry some big fish. In my opinion this is what we need. We are working on systematic reforms, together with other controlling entities, to deepen and facilitate investigations, and to catch and fry some big fish, who obviously offer resistance… The U.N.C.A.C. represents a big step, and this meeting is, without question, an element that will provide support in the carrying out of our task. But this is a never ending task; the important thing is that we are progressing and consolidating efforts to surpass obstacles and to move forward in this fight. Thank you. Australia Speech by Hon Jerrold Cripps QC, Commissioner, Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) New South Wales, Australia. Status of United Nations Against Corruption (UNAC) and Challenges for its Implementation On the 9th December 2003 Australia became a signatory to the United Nationals Convention Against Corruption and on the 7th December 2005 the treaty was ratified by the Australian Government. 5 The treaty obliges Parties, amongst other things, to implement and maintain anti-corruption policies and to establish independent bodies to implement those anti-corruption policies. Like all civilised countries Australia has stringent anti-corruption criminal laws. Bribery is a serious offence. Fraud on the revenue is a serious offence. However experience taught us that confining the fight against corruption to the enforcement of the criminal laws with their practices and procedures was less than successful.