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National Integrity System Assessment Latvia TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL Sabiedriskā labuma biedrība SABIEDRĪBA PAR ATKLĀTĪBU Atlantic Ocean North Sea Bay of Biscay NATIONAL INTEGRITY SYSTEM ASSESSMENT Black Sea LATVIA Mediterrarean Sea www.delna.lv NATIONAL INTEGRITY SYSTEM ASSESSMENT LATVIA 2011 Evidence - Based Action against Corruption: The European Integrity Systems Project (HOME/2009/ISEC/AG/010) is supported by: Researcher, Assistant Researcher, Project Coordinator The National Integrity System (NIS) Assessment in Latvia has been conducted by a Lead Researcher, Valts Kalniņš, Assistant Professor of the University of Latvia and Senior Researcher of the Centre for Public Policy Providus and assisted by Sigita Ķirse, NIS Project Coordinator and Assistant Researcher. Research review and quality control Research review was done by Līga Menģelsone, Director General of the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia. Quality control was accomplished by Suzanne Mulcahy, Transparency International Secreatariat. Research timeline The National Integrity Study for Latvia was carried out in a period from January to August 2011. The assessment represents the current state of integrity institutions in Latvia, using information cited from the last three years (2008-2011). It reflects all major legislative changes as of 31 August 2011. All the web sites/links in the references last accessed on 31 August 2011. ISBN - ISBN 978-9984-9717-8-0 © 2011, Transparency International – Delna This project has been funded with support from Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme European Commission – Directorate-General Home Affairs. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 4 TABLE SATURSOF CONTENTS Lists of the titles and page numbers of tables and of charts 6 List of acronyms and abbreviations 7 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 II. ABOUT THE NIS ASSESSMENT 14 III. COUNTRY PROFILE – THE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE NATIONAL INTEGRITY SYSTEM 20 IV. CORRUPTION PROFILE 24 V. ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTIVITIES 28 VI. THE NATIONAL INTEGRITY SYSTEM IN LATVIA 30 1. Legislature 30 2. Executive 45 3. Judiciary 58 4. Public Sector 74 5. Law Enforcement Agencies 87 6. Electoral Management Body 98 7. Ombudsman 106 8. Supreme Audit Institution 116 9. Anti-Corruption Agencies 126 10. Political Parties 142 11. Media 152 12. Civil Society 164 13. Business 173 VII. CONCLUSION 183 VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY 186 Annexes 193 5 LISTS OF THE TITLES AND PAGE NUMBERS OF TABLES AND OF CHARTS Chart 1. Number of Public Officials Convicted in the Court of First Instance 80 Chart 2. Number of convictions of police officers for corruption-related offences in the court of first instance 94 Chart 3. Number of criminal cases and the number of prosecuted persons sent to the court on bribery-related charges 97 Chart 4. Recommendations of the SAO and their implementation 124 Chart 5. The number of criminal cases that the CPCB forwarded for prosecution and the number suspected persons 140 Chart 6. Structure of CSOs’ Revenue in 2009 166 6 LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CC Constitutional Court CEC Central Election Committee COM Cabinet of Ministers CPCB Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau CSOS Civil Society Organisations CSR Corporate Social Responsibility EU European Union EUI Economist Intelligence Unit GCB Global Corruption Barometer GDP Gross Domestic Product GRECO Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption HDI Human Development Index ISB Internal Security Bureau of the State Police LCPCB Law on Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau MP Member of Parliament NEMC National Electronic Media Council NGO Non-governmental organization PG Prosecutor General PGO Prosecutor General’s Office PPO Public Prosecutor’s Office PSB Procurement Supervision Bureau RP Rules of Procedure SAO State Audit Office SAOL State Audit Office Law SC Supreme Court SCH State Chancellery SP State Police SRS State Revenue Service ST State Treasury TI Transparency International 7 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OVERVIEW Latvia ensures fair protection for civil and political rights of citizens and guarantees the basics of a democratic political process. International organisations have acknowledged all elections since 1991 as free and fair. Most interest groups have at least some representation in the organized part of the civil society. Hence the country’s political and societal foundations are rather strong. On the downside, a financial crisis undermined the socio-economic foundations in 2009-2010 when many institutions forming the National Integrity System (hereinafter – NIS) were subject to drastic budget cuts. A part of the Latvian population continues to suffer from monetary poverty and therefore social inequality remains high. As for the socio-cultural foundations, a low level of interper- sonal trust and unwillingness to engage in civil society activities characterize strongly. Latvian public has an ambiguous, in some cases tolerant, attitude towards corruption and lack of integrity. The NIS assessment offers an evaluation of the legal basis and actual performance of 13 national governance institutions (pillars) which are responsible for counteracting corruption. The study is based on Transparency International (hereinafter - TI) global NIS methodology and reviews the pe- riod from January 2008 to August 2011. A common trait in most of the pillars is the strength of the legal system and weakness in imple- menting the legislation in practice. This gap between legislation and implementation significantly impacts on the overall integrity of the system. Imperfect as they are, it is the executive and judiciary, which, together with the Corruption Pre- vention and Combating Bureau (hereafter – CPCB) and the State Audit Office (hereafter – SAO), form the stronger part of the state apparatus (see Figure No 1). Particularly the CPCB has managed to strengthen the struggle against corruption to a level unprecedented in Latvia (however, the possibility of a real breakthrough against political corruption is still an open issue). The second best performer – the Central Election Committee (hereafter – CEC) – stands somewhat apart. The CEC appears to have benefited from a lasting consensus of the political class to respect the integrity of elections. Conspicuous weaknesses lie in the party-political sphere and the business sector. Low trust and perceived corruption (even if not always based on hard facts) damage political parties and the legis- lature. The latter manifests itself in the score of the business and, in part, also the media. Many busi- nesses show disregard for corruption issues and struggle in a challenging economic environment. These traits have a negative bearing also on the autonomy and quality of many privately-owned media. The business as well as the public sector and Ombudsman have earned the lowest scores. The principal stumbling block here is the role dimension, whose fulfilment is weakest compared to other pillars. Major drawbacks are lacking educational activities for the general public, little engagement by the business and few initiatives to work with the civil society on anti-corruption matters (for detailed scores see Annex NIS Assessment Scores). 8 Figure 1: NIS Assessment Role Governance Capacity LEG. EXE. JUD. PS. LEA. EMB. OMB. SAI. ACA. P P. MED. CS. BUS. Foundations Politics Society Economy Culture LEG. Legislature SAI. Supreme Audit Institution EXE. Executive ACA. Anti Corruption Agencies JUD. Judiciary P P. Political Parties PS. Public Sector MED. Media LEA. Law Enforcemet Agencies CS. Civil Society EMB. Electoral Management Body BUS. Business OMB. Ombudsman The NIS is focused on the national level of governance, not regional and/or local. Since corruption risks at sub-national levels are often significant, TI is currently developing a meth- odology for the Local Integrity System Assessment. Such assessment, together with the NIS assessment, will help to understand the whole integrity system in a country. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES Strengths Many strengths of the NIS in Latvia are found in the legislative framework. Legal provi- sions provide full independence (i.e. adequate autonomy given the particular status of each of the institutions) of the legislature, executive, the SAO, political parties, civil society and busi- ness. Judicial independence is generally well-respected, too. Despite a number of confirmed or alleged attempts to undermine its independence, the CPCB has managed to keep up a reason- 9 able degree of professionalism and impartiality among its staff. Also overall legal transparency requirements of the executive, judiciary, public sector, law enforcement agencies, the CEC, the SAO, the CPCB and parties are fully adequate. The Parlia- ment practices a level of transparency, which is higher than the minimum standards required by the law. Court sittings are by default open to the public. Latvia has adequate rules governing the general oversight and transparency requirements of the business sector, too. Laws contain most of the relevant elements to ensure public sector integrity, e.g. regula- tions on the conflict of interest and gifts. In the case of the CEC, notwithstanding the limited regulation of integrity, it has succeeded in ensuring a high level of integrity for all elections in Latvia. Despite the major resource cuts, public sector employees maintain a professional profile. Optimisation measures and structural reforms in the public sector allowed for a move to a more cost-effective public
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