Lithuania Prevention of Corruption

Official translation REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION

28 May 2002, No. IX-904 Vilnius (as last amended on 3 April 2003) No. IX-1483 CHAPTER ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS Law on Prevention of Corruption Rūšis: Suvestinė redakcija anglų kalba Numeris: IX-904 Data: 2003-04-03 Kalba: Anglų Publikavimas: Statusas: 2003-04-03 Teisės aktą priėmė - Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas >> Susiję dokumentai Word 2000 dokumentas Eurovoc 4.2 terminai: korupcija, nusikalstama veikla, nusikalstamumo prevencija, sukčiavimas Nauja paieška Jūsų pasiūlymai ir pastabos Versija spausdinimui Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 1 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/2011Article 1.

Purpose of the Law

This Law shall lay down the basic principles, objectives and tasks of the prevention of corruption in both the public service and the private sector, the measures for combating corruption and their legal basis, the corruption prevention bodies, their rights and duties in the sphere of corruption prevention.

Article 2. Definitions 1. Corruption prevention – detection and elimination of the causes and conditions of corruption through the development and implementation of a system of appropriate measures as well as deterrence of persons from the commission of crimes of corruption.

2. Corruption-related offences – acceptance of a bribe, subornation, other criminal offences committed in the public sector by giving a bribe or seeking personal gain: abuse of office, unlawful involvement of an official in the commercial, economic or financial activities of an enterprise, abuse of discretion, misrepresentation, fraud, appropriation or embezzlement, disclosure of an official secret, disclosure of an industrial, commercial or bank secret, abuse of confidence in commercial, economic and financial activities, violation of the public procurement procedure, intentionally fraudulent income or profit statements, money laundering, interfering with a voter in the exercise of his voting rights in an election or a referendum, smuggling, intentional and criminal forgery of an account or entry giving false or inaccurate information or an unlawful failure to register a payment where commission of the above offences is aimed t seeking or soliciting a bribe or subornation or concealing or disguise acceptance or giving of a bribe.

3. State or municipal institution – a state or municipal institution, agency or a public institution where one of its founders is a state or a municipal institution or an agency.

4. Head of an institution - a public servant admitted by tender or on the basis of political/personal confidence to hold the office of the head of an institution also the head of a public institution where one of its founders is a state or a municipal institution or an agency.

5. Non-state agency - legal entities of the Republic of Lithuania other than those referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article.

Article 3. Objectives and Tasks of Corruption Prevention 1. The prevention of corruption shall be targeted at minimising as much as possible its crippling effect on economy, democracy, promoting social welfare, consolidating national security and improving the quality of provision of public services.

2. The key tasks of corruption prevention shall be as follows: 1) disclosure and elimination of the contributing factors and conditions of corru ption; Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 2 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/2011 2) deterrence of persons from the commission of crimes of corruption; 3) securing a workable and effective legal regulation of corruption prevention; 4) setting up of an adequate and effective mechanism of organisation, implementation, oversight and control of corruption prevention through legal, institutional, economic and social measures; 5) involvement of the public and public organisations in the prevention of corruption; 6) promotion of transparency and openness in the provision of public services.

Article 4. Principles of Prevention of Corruption 1. Prevention of corruption shall be implemented on the basis of the following principles:

1) legality - the measures for the prevention of corruption shall be implemented in compliance with the requirements of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, laws and other legal acts, ensuring the protection of the fundamental human rights and freedoms; 2) universal applicability – any person may be an entity of corruption prevention; 3) interaction – effectiveness of the measures for the prevention of corruption may be achieved through co-ordinated efforts of all the entities of corruption prevention, exchange of relevant information and provision of any other assistance; 4) continuity – effectiveness of the measures for the prevention of corruption may be achieved through a continuing oversight and review of the results of implementation of the measures for the prevention of corruption, making proposals about enhancing the effectiveness of the relevant measures to a competent institution authorised to implement such proposals .

CHAPTER TWO MEASURES FOR PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION Article 5. Measures for Prevention of Corruption Measures for the prevention of corruption shall be as follows: 1) corruption risk analysis; 2) anti-corruption programmes; Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 3 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/2011 3) anti-corruption assessment of legal acts or their drafts; 4) provision of the information about a person seeking or holding office at a state or municipal agency; 5) provision of the information to the registers of public servants and legal entities;

6) education and awareness raising of the public; 7) public disclosure of detected corruption cases; 8) other measures for the prevention of corruption provided for by law.

Article 6. Corruption Risk Analysis 1. Corruption risk analysis shall mean anti-corruption analysis of the activities of a state or a municipal institution following the procedure prescribed by the Government, and presentation of motivated conclusions about the development of an anti-corruption programme and proposals about the content of the programme; recommendations concerning other corruption prevention measures to state and municipal institutions which are responsible for the implementation of such measures.

2. Heads, structural units of state or municipal institutions or persons authorised b y the head of a state or municipal institution to undertake the prevention of corruption or its control, shall identify, pursuant to the criteria set out in paragraph 3 of this Article, the areas of activity of a state or municipal institution which are particularly prone to corruption.

3. An area of the activities of a state or municipal institution shall be held particularly prone to corruption if it meets one or several of the following criteria: 1) a corruption-related offence has been committed; 2) its principal functions are control and oversight; 3) there is no detailed regulation of the functions and tasks, operational and decision making procedures or responsibility of individual public servants; 4) the activities are related to granting or restriction of authorisations, exemptions, privileges or any other additional rights;

5) most of the decisions made do not require approval by any other state or munic ipal institution; 6) handling of information constituting a state or official secret; 7) during previous risk analysis checks instances of improper conduct were identified.

4. The areas of activity of a state or municipal institution which are particularly prone to corruption may be subjected to corruption risk analysis.

5. The Special Investigations Service, when determining if there is a need for corr uption risk analysis for certain areas of activity of a state or municipal institution, shall take into account whether the activities of a state or municipal institution meet one or several of Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 4 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/2011the following criteria: 1) there have been attempts, in breach of the procedures prescribed by legal acts, to influence the officials of a state or municipal institution or the decisions they make; 2) corruption-related offences have been identified in other state or municipal institutions performing similar functions; 3) the system of oversight of the activities of a state or municipal institution is in need of improvement; 4) the decisions taken are related to a pecuniary or any other gain of the interested person; 5) breaches of the requirements of a prescribed procedure have been identified (e. g., when making budgetary appropriations, awarding public procurement contracts and making other decisions); 6) a state or a municipal institution is an independent controller of budgetary appr opriations;

7) The State Control, the Seimas Ombudsmen or any other control and oversight institutions have identified breaches in the activities of this state or municipal institution; 8) other information about corrupt practices in the activities of a state or a municipal institution (provided by intelligence, complaints and reports of the public, the mass media or available otherwise) has been obtained.

6. Corruption risk analysis shall cover the areas of the activities of a state or muni cipal institution that are particularly prone to corruption as well as the oversight systems of those areas.

7. Corruption risk analysis shall be carried out by the Special Investigation Servic e following the procedure prescribed by the Government.

8. The procedure for carrying out corruption risk analysis shall be approved by the Government on the recommendation of the Special Investigation Service.

Article 7. Anti-corruption Programmes 1. Anti-corruption programmes may range from the National Anti-corruption Programme of the Republic of Lithuania to sectoral, institutional and other programmes.

2. The National Anti-corruption Programme shall be developed and its implementation shall be organised and controlled by the Government with the participation of the Special Investigation Service.

3. The sectoral (embracing the areas of the activities of several state or municipal institutions), departmental and other anticorruption programmes shall be developed by the state, municipal and non-governmental institutions which have been charged with the development of such programmes by the National Anti-corruption Programme and other regulatory acts. Institutional anti-corruption

Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 5 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/2011programmes may also be developed by state and municipal institutions where after corruption risk analysis suggestions were made to develop such a programme.

4. The development of anti-corruption programmes shall be governed by the present Law, the National Anti-corruption Programme and other regulatory acts, having regard to the proposals made by the Special Investigation Service and other information available.

5. The National Anti-corruption Programme shall be approved by the Seimas on the recommendation of the Government. Other anti-corruption programmes shall require approval by the head of a state or municipal or non-governmental institution which developed the programme concerned. The head of the institution hall bear personal responsibility for the implementation of theprogramme approved.

6. The coordination and oversight of the implementation of the programmes shall be carried out by the heads of the agencies or the structural subdivisions thereof or persons therein who have been authorised by the head of the corresponding institution to conduct corruption prevention and control at the institution. The Special Investigation Service shall monitor the implementation of the proposals made by it.

Article 8. Anti-corruption Assessment of the Existing or Draft Legislation 1. A state or municipal institution drafting or passing a legal act regulating public relations particularly prone to corruption must carry out the anti-corruption assessment of the draft and examine the anti-corruption assessment of the same draft carried out by other

state or municipal institutions.

2. The anti-corruption assessment of the effective legal acts shall be carried out taking into account the practice of their application, and shall be submitted to the state or municipal institution which adopted them or on whose initiative they were adopted.

This agency shall determine whether it would be expedient to amend the legal act in question.

3. The Special Investigation Service shall carry out the anti-corruption assessment of the effective or draft legislation on its own initiative or on the proposal by the President of the Republic, the Chairman of the Seimas, the Prime Minister, a parliamentary committee, a commission, a parliamentary group or a minister.

Article 9. Provision of Information about a Person Seeking or Holding Position at a State or Municipal Institution 1. The provision of information about a person seeking or holding a position at a state or municipal institution shall mean furnishing, at the request of the head of a state or municipal institution or on the initiative of the law enforcement and control institutions, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 6 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/2011with the exception of positions referred to in paragraph 2 of this Law, following the procedure laid down in legal acts, of objective and legally gathered information held by the law enforcement and control institutions about a person seeking or holding a position at a state or municipal institution, to the head of the institution who has appointed or is appointing the public servant in question, or to a state politician in order to ensure that only persons of high moral standing hold office at a state or municipal institution.

2. The provision of information shall be obligatory about a person seeking a position at a state or municipal institution which is

subject to the appointment by the Seimas, the President of the Republic, the Chairman of the Seimas, the Government or the Prime Minister as well as to the positions of heads of state and municipal institutions or their deputies, vice ministers, secretaries of state at the ministries, under secretaries of the ministries, the appointed deputies of mayors of municipalities, heads of institutions subordinate to the ministries and their deputies.

3. A decision to request the Special Investigation Service for the information about a person shall be made by the head of a state of municipal institution who is appointing or has appointed that person, or a state politician. When making the decision, account shall be taken of the office, character of the duties and the information available about the person seeking or holding a position at a state or municipal institution. The need for such a decision and its motivation shall also be taken into account.

4. A request in writing to the Special Investigation Service for the provision of information about a person holding a position at a state or municipal institution must be motivated and substantiated by the information raising serious doubts as to the credibility of the person in question.

5. The information about a person seeking or holding a position at a state or municipal institution shall be provided by the Special Investigation Service upon receipt of a request in writing from the head of an institution which is appointing or has appointed the person in question, or a state politician. The Special Investigation Service shall gather and submit in writing the information it holds as well as the information held by the Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior, the Register of Civil Servants and, if necessary, the information held by other law enforcement and control institutions. The law enforcement and control institutions may also provide

the information available to them to the head of the agency or a state politician on their own initiative.

6. The head of an institution or a state politician shall, within three days from the performance of the appropriate actions, notify the person about whom information has been provided or requested, of the decision to request information or of the information supplied by the law enforcement or control institutions.

7. The person about whom information has been provided shall be acquainted with the information with the exception of its part which contains classified information.

8. The person in respect of whom a decision to request information was made, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 7 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/2011may contest in court the decision and/or the information provided about him.

9. The information provided shall be one of the grounds for judging about the credibility of a person seeking or holding a position at a state or municipal institution. The person who has lost credibility may be refused appointment at a state or municipal institution or may be dismissed from office in accordance with the procedure set out in the Law on the Public Service and other legislation.

10. The head of an institution or a state politician may use the information provided to them only for the purpose of judging about the credibility of the person seeking or holding a position at a state or municipal agency.

The head of an institution or a state politician shall not pass the information provided to them by the law enforcement and control institutions to third parties, except in circumstances provided for by law.

11. The Special Investigation Service, in compliance with the laws and on the basis of the information specified in the request and

provided by the other law enforcement and control institutions, may initiate investigation in accordance with the procedure established by law.

12. The procedure for the provision of information about a person seeking or holding a position at a state or municipal institution shall be determined by the Government.

Article 10. Education and Information of the Public 1. Anti-corruption education is an integral part of raising public awareness with a view to promoting personal integrity, civic responsibility, understanding of human rights and duties to society and the State of Lithuania, and ensuring the implementation of the aims of corruption prevention.

2. Anti-corruption education of the public shall be carried out at the educational institutions of all types and levels in accordance with the appropriate educational programmes, through media and by other means.

3. The state and municipal institutions shall inform the public through the media or by other means about their activities in the fight against corruption.

Article 11. Provision of Information to the Registers of Civil Servants and Legal Entities.

1. The Register of Public Servants shall be provided the information about public servants who, by a final and effective court judgement, have been charged with the commission of corruption-related criminal acts, or against whom administrative or disciplinary proceedings have been initiated for serious misconduct in office, related to the violation of the provisions of the Law on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in the Public Service and committed in pursuit of illegal gain or privileges for themselves or other persons.

Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 8 of 22

http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/20112. The Register of Legal Entities shall be provided the information about legal entities who, by an effective court judgement, have been charged with the commission of corruption-related criminal acts, or whose employee or an authorised representative has, by an effective court judgement, been found guilty of corruption-related criminal acts while acting for the benefit or in the interests of the legal entity concerned.

3. A state or municipal agency which has made or revoked a decision that the acts specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article have been committed shall, within 14 days from the date of entry into force of the decision, notify the administrators of the Registers of Public Servants and/or Legal Entities.

4. The information specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be one of the grounds for judging about the credibility of a natural or legal person. The persons who have lost their credibility may be subject to the restrictions provided for in this and other laws.

5. The procedure for the provision of the register data shall be established by the regulations of the appropriate register.

CHAPTER THREE CORRUPTION PREVENTION BODIES, THEIR RIGHTS AND DUTIES IN CORRUPTION PREVENTION Article 12. Corruption Prevention Bodies Corruption prevention as provided for herein shall be implemented by the following bodies: 1) The Government; 2) The Chief Institutional Ethics Commission; 3) The Special Investigation Service; 4) Other state and municipal and non-governmental institutions.

Article 13. The Government When implementing this Law, the Government: 1) shall ensure that the corruption prevention measures are implemented by the ministries and institutions subordinate to the Government; 2) shall allocate the funds necessary for an effective implementation of the corruption prevention measures; 3) together with the Special Investigation Service shall develop the National Anticorruption Programme and submit it to the Seimas for approval, as well as make proposals as to the amendment of the said programme; Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 9 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/20114) shall make proposals to the Seimas as to the enactment and amendment of the laws and other legal acts necessary for the implementation corruption prevention.

Article 14. The Chief Institutional Ethics Commission When implementing the present Law, the Chief Institutional Ethics Commission: 1) shall analyse ethical problems confronting the public servants, and, seeking to eliminate the factors contributing to a conflict between public and private interests, shall make proposals concerning adoption and improvement of anti-corruption programmes and legal acts; 2) shall make proposals to the Seimas, other state and municipal institutions related to the implementation of the provisions of this Law; 3) shall sum up the application of legal provisions setting out the institutional

ethics requirements in different areas, and shall participate in the drafting and codifying such provisions; 4) shall implement the corruption prevention measures assigned to it together with the other state and municipal institutions.

Article 15. The Special Investigation Service While implementing the present Law, the Special Investigations Service: 1) shall participate in the development of the National Anticorruption Programme by the Government, and shall make recommendations as to the amendments thereto; 2) shall put forward proposals to President, the Seimas and the Government as to the introduction and improvement of the new legislation necessary for the implementation of corruption prevention; 3) shall take part in the functions of co-ordination and supervision of the activities of state and municipal institutions in the field of corruption prevention discharged by the Government; 4) shall, together with the other state and municipal institutions, implement corruption prevention measures; 5) shall, together with the other state and municipal institutions, implement he National Anti-Corruption Programme.

Article 16. Other State and Municipal Institutions and Non-Governmental Agencies Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas - Dokumento tekstas Page 10 of 22 http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=212525 11/29/20111. While implementing the present Law, state and municipal institutions as well as nongovernmental institutions of the Republic of Lithuania shall have the right: 1) to establish, following the procedure prescribed by law, units for the prevention and control of corruption in the area of the

activities of the appropriate state or municipal institution or non-governmental agency, or to appoint persons to perform this function; 2) to make recommendations concerning the issues of corruption prevention to state and municipal institutions; 3) to introduce measures encouraging the enforcement of corruption prevention in state and municipal institutions and nongovernmental agencies; 4) to receive methodological information from state or municipal institutions, implementing corruption prevention , on the issues of corruption prevention.

2.While implementing the present Law, state and municipal institutions as well as nongovernmental institutions: 1) shall, within the limits of their competence, implement the national policy in the field of corruption prevention; 2) shall ensure compliance with the requirements of legal acts on corruption prevention in state and municipal institutions and non-governmental agencies; 3) shall, within the limits of their competence, develop and approve anti-corruption programmes; 4) shall promptly eliminate breaches of the provisions of legal acts on corruption prevention; 5) shall, under the procedure established by the Government, provide to the officers of the Special Investigation Service the information necessary for the corruption risk analysis; 6) shall not, by act or omission, create conditions contributing to corruption-related criminal acts; 7) shall educate their employees about the issues of corruption prevention.

3. Prevention of corruption at state and municipal institutions and non- governmental agencies shall be the responsibility of the

head of the institution. When performing this function, the head shall take measures necessary for the implementation of this Law. 4. The measures necessary for the implementation of corruption prevention at state and municipal institutions and nongovernmental agencies shall be financed from their own resources.

CHAPTER FOUR FINAL PROVISIONS Article 17. Recommendation to the Government and Other Institutions Referred to in This Law