mac_aca09

Republic of Macedonia

State Commission for Prevention of Corruption Workshop on Country-Owned Assessment Tools and Monitoring Processes in support of National Anti-Corruption Strategies Oslo Governance Centre, UNDP 27 – 29 October, 2009

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State Commission for Prevention of Corruption - SCPC  SCPC is autonomous specialized body for prevention of corruption and dealing with conflict of interests, with legal competences and position, as prescribed in the UNCAC  SCPC has also indirect repressive competence (raising initiatives) and direct in pronouncing measures in conflict of interests cases and in instigating misdemeanor procedures  SCPC is not subordinated to the Government www.dksk.org.mk

State Commission for Prevention of Corruption Legislation

The State Commission was established by the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia on November 12, 2002, according to the Law on Prevention of Corruption (Official Gazette No. 28 adopted on April 26, 2002) (Amendments to the Law of Prevention of Corruption – Official Gazette No. 46/2004; 126/2006 and 10/2008)

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State Commission for Prevention of Corruption Legislation Law on Prevention of Corruption Article 1 (1) The Law shall regulate measures and activities for prevention of corruption in exercising of power, public authorizations, official duty and policy, measures and activities for prevention of conflict of interests, measures and activities for prevention of corruption in performing matters of public interests by legal entities related to exercising public authorizations.

(2) For implementation of the measures and activities referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, a State Commission for Prevention of Corruption shall be established.

Definition of corruption In terms of this Law, corruption denotes using of function, public authorization, official duty and position for the purpose to gain any benefit for oneself or for other person.

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State Commission for Prevention of Corruption Legislation

ď Ż The State Commission is also responsible for the implementation of the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interests, adopted in June 2007 ď Ż According to the Law on Lobbying (adopted in 2008), the State Commission supervises the lobbying

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State Commission for Prevention of Corruption Status  SCPC is composed of seven members appointed by the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, with a term of office of five years, without right for re - appointment.  Parliament announces an competition for appointment of the members  The members of the SCPC perform their duties simultaneously with their own professional engagements, i.e. they are not professionally employed in the Commission

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State Commission for Prevention of Corruption Status

Parliament

SCPC’s

MEMBERS

Secretariat

With the amendments to the Law of Prevention of Corruption in 2004, the Commission has a status of a legal entity and Secretariat for implementing professional and administrative matters

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Secretariat of the State Commission Status

SECRETARY GENERAL

DEPARTMENT FOR PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION AND CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

UNIT FOR SUPRESSION OF CORRUPTION

UNIT FOR MAINTAINING RECORDS OF AND MONITORING THE PROPERTY SITUATION OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS

UNIT FOR SUPRESSION OF CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

DEPARTMENT FOR PROGRAMS, ANALITICS, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

UNIT FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND ANALITICS

UNIT FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS AND SESSIONS

UNIT FOR FINANCE, HUMAN RESOURCES AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

The INTERNAL ORGANISATION OF WORKING POSTS OF THE SECRETARIAT IS PREDICTED TO 35 with the status of civil servants.

Currently the Secretariat is filled with 14 employees. The process of employment of 5 civil servants is ongoing.

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Competences of SCPC Pursuant to the Law on Prevention of Corruption, SCPC has the following competences:  adopts a State Program for Prevention and Repression of Corruption and Action plan for its realization;  adopts annual programs and work plans for implementation of the State Program;  provides opinion on draft laws of importance for the prevention of corruption;  raises initiatives for instituting and conducting procedures before competent bodies for dismissal, assignment, removal, criminal prosecution or implementation of other measures of accountability of elected or appointed functionaries, officials and responsible persons in public enterprise and other legal entities disposing with state capital,

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Competences of SCPC  acts in a case of conflict between the public and private interest, in accordance with the law  maintains records and oversee the property situation and changes in property situation of elected or appointed functionaries and other officials in a manner defined by this Law,  cooperates with other state bodies (Protocol for cooperation 2007) and with corresponding national bodies of other states, and with international organizations active in the field of prevention of corruption,  undertakes activities in the area of education of competent bodies to detect and prosecute corruption and other types of crime. Also they can be target group for trainings www.dksk.org.mk

Competences of SCPC SCPC also implements the Law on Conflict of Interests, adopted in 2007 and is competent for:      

adopting a State Program with Action Plan for Prevention and Reduction of the Conflict of Interests; providing opinion on draft laws of importance for the prevention of conflict of interest; considering cases of conflict of public and private interest determined with this or other law; raising initiatives for implementation of measures of responsibility of the civil servant determined with this law in cases when conflict of interest occurs; submitting a report on its work and measures/activities undertaken to the Parliament, and forwarding it to the Government and the media; cooperating with other state bodies in the prevention of conflict of interest and undertaking activities in the area of education for identification of cases of conflict of interest in accordance to this or other laws; etc

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STATE PROGRAM for Prevention and Repression of Corruption  The State Program – creates, but also implements the efficient anti-corruption policy  The first State Programme for Prevention and Repression of Corruption, was adopted by SCPC in June, 2003. An Action Plan Matrix is a constituent part of the State Programme – it defines the measures and activities that should be implemented. (the Action plan was mainly directed towards drafting necessary legislation and strengthening the control mechanisms).  The second State Program and Action plan was adopted in May 2007. The Action plan contains activities and actions for improving the performance of the institutions and indicators for measurement of the performance. Improvement of the performance of the institutions leads towards narrowing the risks for corruption. In June 2007 the Government adopted Action plan for combating corruption extracted from the State Program. This express the strong commitment of the Government for the implementation of the State Program. www.dksk.org.mk

STATE PROGRAM for Prevention and Repression of Corruption 2007 

SCPC coordinated all activities in developing the Strategy

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The Government allocates budgetary resources within the institutions for the implementation of the activities set in the State Program

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Participatory approach: representatives from all institutions of the National Integrity System. This approach is more comprehensive but it gives better results and sustainability The following areas (or pillars) were addressed:

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Political system, Parliament, Political Parties Judiciary Public administration and Local Government Law Enforcement Agencies Economic and financial system and Private Sector; Civil sector, media and unions.

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STATE PROGRAM for Prevention and Repression of Corruption 2007  The State Program encompasses a total of 34 problems and 140 activities with activity indicators to overcome those problems  The SCPC monitors the entire process of implementing the State Program and every six months collects data from the participating institutions and processes those data within the framework of the system for monitoring the implementation of the activities determined in the State Program  Annual Conferences on the assessment of the implementation – conclusions and recommendations  SCPC encourages the International Community to get involved in supporting of particular projects (donors conferences) www.dksk.org.mk

Expenditures during the electoral campaigns  SCPC monitors the expenditures of the political parties during the electoral campaigns – recommends amendments to the Electoral Code  Parliamentary elections 2009  Work on 369 cases  Institutions inquired opinions on spending public funds during pre-election process (public procurements, constructions, employments)  Four initiatives submitted to the Public Prosecutor for bribing of voters www.dksk.org.mk

Assets declaration 

Elected or appointed officials, submit Assets Declaration to the State Commission and the Public Revenue Office; reporting on their property and any change in their assets` status

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Amendments to the Law from 2004 introduced an obligation for submitting an Assets Declaration following the termination of function

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The Commission has received more than 3500 Assets Declarations and more than 500 Declarations for changes in assets

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Amendments to the Law from 2006 introduced publishing of the data of the Assets Declaration on the WEB page of the SCPC, in compliance with the Law on Protection of Personal Data

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SCPC developed and created database of assets declarations and established network connection with PRO

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Requests for examination of the property status submitted to the Public Revenue Office

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Work on cases - complaints filed by citizens and legal entities (repressive competence)

ď Ż On the annual basis, the State Commission receives more than 700 complaints with allegations on corruption

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Initiatives raised by the State Commission SCPC has submitted more than 150 Initiatives and recommendations to the relevant state bodies:    

to the Public Prosecutor Office for initiating a criminal charge for persons involved in criminal/corruptive cases; to the Public Attorney for annulling contracts for privatization when there were indications of corruption; recommendations to the Government and the Parliament to determine the liability of certain officials for abusing their positions, and recommendations for their dismissal; Other (recommendations, suggestions).

A number of these initiatives resulted with criminal charges or removal of Public officials from their positions.

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Work on cases / statistics 2008 ď ą in 2008 the Commission acted on a total of 713 cases, as follows: o corruption 567 cases; received complaints 767; o conflict of interests 29 cases; worked on 44 cases; o election related cases 117; ď ą Other statistics: o received 357 assets declarations; o instigated 33 misdemeanor procedures related to assets declarations; o submitted 19 requests to the Public Revenue Office to instigate procedures for examining the assets; o submitted 27 initiatives for criminal prosecution to the Public Prosecution Office; www.dksk.org.mk

Cooperation  Horizontal cooperation: o Precondition for effective combating and prevention of corruption o Protocol for cooperation, signed in 2007 o Accelerated exchange of information o deliver of the case to another competent institution o working groups on drafting/amending laws o feed-back information on particular case o cooperation (joint work) on complex cases o Challenge: in practice – the manner how the cases submitted by SCPC are treated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. PPO is the main in the investigation and in some cases SCPC inquires more in-depth investigation of suspicions o Cooperation with media and NGOs  The international cooperation among the anti-corruption agencies is very important – on bilateral level, and also during regional or international conferences or meetings for exchanging experiences  Cooperation with international organizations

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Challenge ď Ż In the State Anticorruption Program it is assessed the situation of high (undue) influence of the political parties over the institutions and vital segments of the public life. This reflects over the results of fighting corruption

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PROBLEMS during the work on concrete cases  During the work or after announcing the findings on particular cases and decisions, there were some reactions by concerned political parties. They have made press conferences or press releases with comments on decisions and initiatives, even disqualifications on the work of SCPC / some members. (political pressure)  Pressure by some of the media, which are under the influence of some political parties / business interest groups, through diminishing the work of the SCPC or releasing incorrect articles  Lack of well trained and competent investigative journalists on corruption (project developed by UNDP Macedonia / SCPC)

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PREVENTIVE MEASURES DIFFICULTIES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES

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General problem is insufficient financial resources for conducting i. public awareness campaign ii. regular researches on corruption (in-depth, victimization analysis and focus groups) iii. anticorruption / conflict of interests conferences, seminars, trainings 2. Direct approach to different registers and databases is still not developed 3. Sometimes the competent institutions do not react on due time regarding initiatives of SCPC

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Next steps  SCPC has ability to perform the competences, but it lacks adequate resources for the capital projects  Need to cooperate with international organizations aimed to achieve the competences  Cooperation may be achieved in two ways  SCPC develops / organizes the projects / events supported by donors  International organizations develops the projects and invite SCPC to participate www.dksk.org.mk

Next steps  SCPC is in the faze of maturity and can give support to other ACAs through study visits, trainings, exchange experiences.  Support of donors directed to SCPC is three way:  Put more weight to the projects  Supports insufficient budget of SCPC  Donors benefits in the sustainability of the projects by involving the state institution www.dksk.org.mk