Online version of this Newsletter:
http://www.oas.org/juridico/newsletter/nl_en.htm

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

From September 30 to October 2, 2014, Venezuela received, with its consent, an on site visit by the Commission 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 said Mechanism, carried out in accordance with the Methodology adopted by consensus by its Member States.

The Commission was composed by the delegations of Peru and Haiti, as States Parties of the sub-group of review for Venezuela.  In that regard, the delegation from Peru was comprised of Supreme Court Justices, Mr. Victor Prado Saldarriaga and Mr. Hugo Príncipe Trujillo; and Senior Prosecutors, Mr. Rafael Vela Barba and Mr. Edgar Alfredo Rebaza Vargas.  The delegation from Haiti was comprised of Colonel Antoine Atouriste, Director General of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) and Lead Expert to the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC; Mr. Joseph Figaro, Director of Operations of the ULCC; and Ms. Yvlore Pigeot, Head of the Legal Department of the ULCC.  The Commission was supported by the General Secretariat of the OAS, through the Department of Legal Cooperation, acting in its capacity as Technical Secretariat of the MESICIC.

During the three days of work, the members of the Commission met with the top authorities and other representatives of the Office of the Comptroller General; the Office of the Attorney General; the Supreme Court; the National Office of Internal Audit, and the Office of the Ombudsman, in order to obtain objective and complete information regarding the implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption in Venezuela.   

The Commission also had the opportunity to meet with representatives of civil society and private sector organizations, as well as academics, in order to address issues related to civil society participation in public administration; mechanisms of access to information; and the role of oversight bodies in the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution and punishment of acts of corruption in Venezuela.

This on site 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 Venezuela report by the Committee at its next meeting to be held in March 2015, in Washington DC at OAS Headquarters.

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.
Edition N° 194 - September 2014

What is the MESICIC?

The Mechanism For Follow-up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, known as MESICIC for its Spanish acronym, is a tool to support the development of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption through cooperation between States Parties.

Read more here


 

 

 

Click here to subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter.

Department of Legal Cooperation
19th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington DC 20006