COSTA RICA RECEIVES ON-SITE VISIT OF THE OAS ANTICORRUPTION MECHANISM (MESICIC)

From October 2 - 4, 2012, Costa Rica received, with its consent, a visit by the Subgroup of the OAS Anticorruption Mechanism (Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption – MESICIC), as part of the review process of that Mechanism, carried out in accordance with the Methodology adopted by consensus by its Member States.

The Subgroup was composed of the Head of the Legal Unit of the Directorate for the Persecution of Administrative Corruption, Mr. Julio Simon Castaños, and the Solicitor General of Grenada, Mr. Darshan Ramdhani, both of whom represent their countries before the Mechanism, and who were also supported by the General Secretariat of the OAS in the visit, through its Department of Legal Cooperation, which serves as Technical Secretariat to the Mechanism.

During the three days of work, the members of the Subgroup met with representatives of the Public Ethics Prosecutor, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Public Ministry, and the Judicial Branch, in order, among others, obtain objective and complete information and reveal potential difficulties in the implementation of the Inter-American Convention. It also provided an opportunity to facilitate the obtaining of information related to best practices, and provided Costa Rica with the opportunity to benefit from or to request technical assistance.   

The Subgroup also had the opportunity to meet with civil society organizations, private sector organizations, professional associations, academics and researchers, in order to address issues related to the challenges facing the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of acts of corruption in Costa Rica; and cooperation between the private sector/civil society and the public sector in the fight against corruption, and access to information in Costa Rica.   

The results of this visit forms part of the review process that is currently being carried out by the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC, and which will conclude with the adoption of the country report on Costa Rica by the Committee at its next plenary meeting to be held in March 2013, at OAS Headquarters in Washington D.C.

The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between States, with the participation of civil society organizations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal/institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption as well as the objective results achieved therein. The incorporation of on-site visits as a stage and integral part of the MESICIC review process represents an innovative and pioneering initiative in the context of the OAS, especially for a peer review mechanism and the importance of the issues it addresses.  

For more information on the MESICIC, please visit the Anti-Corruption Portal of the Americas at www.oas.org/juridico/english/fightcur.html