Greco Eval IV Rep (2013) 5E Final Spain PUBLIC
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F O U R T Adoption: 6 December 2013 Public Publication: 15 January 2014 Greco Eval IV Rep (2013) 5E H E V FOURTH EVALUATION ROUND A L Corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors U A T I O EVALUATION REPORT N SPAIN R O Adopted by GRECO at its 62nd Plenary Meeting U (Strasbourg, 2-6 December 2013) N D 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 3 I. INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 6 II. CONTEXT .................................................................................................................................................. 8 III. CORRUPTION PREVENTION IN RESPECT OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ................................................ 10 OVERVIEW OF THE PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM ............................................................................................................... 10 TRANSPARENCY OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS ............................................................................................................. 11 REMUNERATION AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS ................................................................................................................. 12 ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND RULES OF CONDUCT .............................................................................................................. 12 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST .......................................................................................................................................... 13 PROHIBITION OR RESTRICTION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................... 14 Gifts ............................................................................................................................................................. 14 Incompatibilities and accessory activities .................................................................................................... 14 Financial interests, contracts with State authorities, post-employment restrictions .................................. 16 Misuse of confidential information ............................................................................................................. 16 Third party contacts ..................................................................................................................................... 16 DECLARATION OF ASSETS , INCOME , LIABILITIES AND INTERESTS ....................................................................................... 17 SUPERVISION AND ENFORCEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 18 ADVICE , TRAINING AND AWARENESS ......................................................................................................................... 20 IV. CORRUPTION PREVENTION IN RESPECT OF JUDGES ............................................................................... 22 OVERVIEW OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM .......................................................................................................................... 22 RECRUITMENT , CAREER AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE ................................................................................................... 25 CASE MANAGEMENT AND PROCEDURE ....................................................................................................................... 27 ETHICAL PRINCIPLES , RULES OF CONDUCT AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ............................................................................. 28 PROHIBITION OR RESTRICTION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................... 29 Incompatibilities and accessory activities, post-employment restrictions................................................... 29 Recusal and routine withdrawal .................................................................................................................. 30 Gifts ............................................................................................................................................................. 30 Misuse of confidential information and third party contacts ...................................................................... 30 DECLARATION OF ASSETS , INCOME , LIABILITIES AND INTERESTS ....................................................................................... 31 SUPERVISION AND ENFORCEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 31 ADVICE , TRAINING AND AWARENESS ......................................................................................................................... 33 V. CORRUPTION PREVENTION IN RESPECT OF PROSECUTORS .................................................................... 34 OVERVIEW OF THE PROSECUTION SERVICE .................................................................................................................. 34 RECRUITMENT , CAREER AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE ................................................................................................... 37 CASE MANAGEMENT AND PROCEDURE ....................................................................................................................... 38 ETHICAL PRINCIPLES , RULES OF CONDUCT AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ............................................................................. 40 PROHIBITION OR RESTRICTION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................... 40 Incompatibilities and accessory activities, post-employment restrictions................................................... 40 Recusal and routine withdrawal .................................................................................................................. 41 Gifts ............................................................................................................................................................. 41 Misuse of confidential information and third party contacts ...................................................................... 41 DECLARATION OF ASSETS , INCOME , LIABILITIES AND INTERESTS ....................................................................................... 41 SUPERVISION AND ENFORCEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 42 ADVICE , TRAINING AND AWARENESS ......................................................................................................................... 43 VI. RECOMMENDATIONS AND FOLLOW-UP ................................................................................................. 44 3 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. In spite of the many measures taken in recent years to introduce regulation to better fight corruption, to strengthen the resources and specialisation of law enforcement bodies dealing with economic crime and ultimately to indict offenders, there has been growing concern about corruption in Spain. The recent scandals besetting political life in the country are severely eroding the credibility of its institutions. The breadth of public disillusionment and mistrust has been further aggravated by the economic crisis. 2. Pollsters reserve the lowest levels of trust for politicians and political parties. Well aware of the lack of confidence they face, the Spanish authorities have initiated several reforms to recast trust levels, i.e. a draft transparency law is currently under debate in Parliament, there is broad access to information regarding the legislative process, a financial declaration system is in place for parliamentarians and open to public scrutiny on the websites of the respective Chambers. The present report takes account of all these positive measures and further supports the on-going reflection in the country as to how to regain institutional credibility. Additional steps are recommended to instill, maintain and promote a strong culture of ethics among parliamentarians, including through the adoption of a code of conduct and the introduction of targeted awareness measures on integrity matters. Likewise, it would also be important to heighten transparency around MPs’ contacts with third parties, to provide more detailed and up- to-date information in financial declarations, and to significantly strengthen supervision and enforcement mechanisms in Parliament. 3. The judiciary and the prosecutorial service in Spain are of high quality and, with the exception of some isolated cases, there is no substantial evidence of corruption of individual judges or prosecutors. However, concern exists about the efficient functioning of the justice system, with its overburdened courts that are thus not always in the best position to elucidate matters with real speed. Likewise there are some weaknesses in the judicial and prosecution systems which have led to reiterated criticism as to risks from political influence. More particularly, while the independence and impartiality of individual judges and prosecutors have been broadly undisputed to date, much controversy surrounds the issue of the structural independence of the governing bodies of the judiciary and the prosecutorial service – the primary