SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS RECEIVES ON-SITE VISIT OF THE OAS ANTICORRUPTION MECHANISM

On October 8, an on-site visit to Saint Kitts and Nevis carried out by the representatives from Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago to the OAS Anti-Corruption Mechanism (MESICIC) was concluded successfully. This visit was also supported by the Department of Legal Cooperation of the OAS General Secretariat.

During the three days of the visit, the representatives of MESICIC reviewed, on-site, the principal oversight bodies responsible for combating corruption in this Eastern Caribbean Country. Meetings were held with the senior officers of the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Magistrate’s Department, and the Royal Police Force.

Also, the representatives of MESICIC had the opportunity to meet with civil society and private sector organizations to address cooperation issues between them and public institutions in the fight against corruption; citizen participation mechanisms; and access to public information.

The results and information obtained from this visit are part of the first review process currently being conducted by the MESICIC with respect to Saint Kitts and Nevis, which will conclude with the adoption of a country report by that Mechanism’s Committee of Experts at its meeting in March, 2015 to be held 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 represents an innovative and pioneering initiative of the OAS, which, with the support of the Technical Secretariat, has further strengthened this review process