Fighting Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia Anti-corruption reforms in Azerbaijan 4th round of monitoring of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan OECD ANTI-CORRUPTION NETWORK FOR EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA Anti-Corruption Reforms in AZERBAIJAN Fourth Round of Monitoring of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan 2016 About the OECD The OECD is a forum in which governments compare and exchange policy experiences, identify good practices in light of emerging challenges, and promote decisions and recommendations to produce better policies for better lives. The OECD’s mission is to promote policies that improve economic and social well-being of people around the world. Find out more at www.oecd.org. About the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Established in 1998, the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) supports its member countries in their efforts to prevent and fight corruption. It provides a regional forum for the promotion of anti-corruption activities, the exchange of information, elaboration of best practices and donor coordination via regional meetings and seminars, peer-learning programmes, and thematic projects. ACN also serves as the home for the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP). Find out more at www.oecd.org/corruption/acn/. About the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan The Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan is a sub-regional peer-review programme launched in 2003 in the framework of the ACN. It supports anti-corruption reforms in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan through country reviews and continuous monitoring of participating countries’ implementation of recommendations to assist in the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption and other international standards and best practice. Find out more at www.oecd.org/corruption/acn/istanbulactionplan/. This report was adopted at the ACN meeting on 15 September 2016 at the OECD in Paris. This report is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. © OECD 2016 2 Table of contents Acronyms.....................................................................................................................................................4 Executive summary....................................................................................................................................5 Summary of compliance rating.................................................................................................................11 Introduction................................................................................................................................................12 Chapter 1. Anti-corruption policy.............................................................................................................14 Key anti-corruption reforms and corruption trends.................................................................................14 Impact of anti-corruption policy implementation....................................................................................18 Anti-corruption public awareness and education.....................................................................................26 Anti-corruption policy and coordination institutions...............................................................................28 Chapter 2. Prevention of corruption.........................................................................................................33 Integrity in the civil service.....................................................................................................................33 Integrity of political public officials........................................................................................................40 Integrity in the judiciary and public prosecution service.........................................................................41 Accountability and transparency in the public sector..............................................................................54 Integrity in public procurement...............................................................................................................59 Business integrity.....................................................................................................................................63 Chapter 3. Enforcement of criminal responsibility for corruption........................................................68 Criminal law against corruption...............................................................................................................68 Procedures for investigation and prosecution of corruption offences......................................................75 Enforcement of corruption offences.........................................................................................................80 Anti-corruption criminal justice bodies....................................................................................................82 Chapter 4. Prevention and prosecution of corruption in education.......................................................85 Introduction..............................................................................................................................................85 Sectoral anti-corruption policy and bodies...............................................................................................87 Prevention measures.................................................................................................................................92 Enforcement and results, impact..............................................................................................................97 Annex. Fourth monitoring round recommendations to Azerbaijan.....................................................101 3 ACRONYMS ACD Anti-corruption Directorate, Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan ACGS Azerbaijan Corporate Governance Standards ACN Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Action Plan National Action Plan for 2016-2018 on Promotion of Open Government ASAN Azerbaijani Service and Assessment Network AZN Currency of Azerbaijan CC Criminal Code CCC Commission on Combating Corruption CEC Code of Ethical Conduct CoE Council of Europe CPC Criminal Procedure Code CPI Corruption Perception Index CSC Civil Service Commission EBRD European Bank of Reconstruction and Development EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative EU European Union FMS Financial Monitoring Service FIU Financial Monitoring Unit FOI Freedom of information GRECO Group of States against Corruption IAP Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan IT Information technologies JLC Judicial-Legal Council LCC Law on Combatting Corruption LCJ Law on Courts and Judges Milli Majlis Parliament of Azerbaijan MLA Mutual legal assistance MoE Ministry of Education MoU Memorandum of understanding MP Member of Parliament NAR Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic NGO Non-governmental organisation NIS National Integrity System OGP Open Government Partnership OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PGO Prosecutor General’s Office PG Prosecutor General POA Prosecutor’s Office Act POSA Act on Service in the Prosecutor’s Office PR Public relations SEC State Examination Centre SIGMA Support for Improvement in Governance and Management, OECD/EU joint initiative SMEs Small- and medium-sized enterprises SOEs State-owned enterprises TI Transparency International UNODC United National Office on Drugs and Crime USAID United States Agency for International Development VET Vocational Education and Training 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report analyses progress made by Azerbaijan in carrying out anti-corruption reforms and implementing recommendations of the IAP since the adoption of the Third Monitoring Round report in 2013. The report focuses on four areas: anti-corruption policy, prevention of corruption, enforcement of criminal responsibility for corruption and prevention and prosecution of corruption in education sector. Anti-corruption policy Azerbaijan has made progress in preventing corruption in several sectors, such as public services delivery, traffic police and public education. Reforms have started in customs and business licencing. However, serious and complex corruption challenges have yet to be tackled. Addressing the corruption-prone areas requires stronger political will, efforts and healthy environment for broad stakeholder participation in the fight against corruption. Azerbaijan developed National Action Plan for 2016-2018 on Promotion of Open Government (Action Plan), fourth policy document addressing anti-corruption, through public consultations taking into account proposals of several Non-governmental organisations (NGOs). While mainly preventive focus of the Action Plan is welcome, it is regrettable that the policy document does not have clear anti-corruption goals and is not evidence-based. Recent work of the Anti-corruption Directorate (ACD) to identify corruption problems and risks and to propose recommendations to specific agencies is commendable.