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ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA RECEIVES ON-SITE VISIT OF THE OAS ANTI-CORRUPTION MECHANISM (MESICIC)

From October 7 – 9, 2014, Antigua and Barbuda received, with its consent, a visit by a Commission of the OAS Anti-Corruption 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 The Bahamas and Chile, as States Parties of the review sub-group for Antigua and Barbuda. In this sense, the delegation from The Bahamas was composed of Mr. Franklyn Williams, Lead Expert of the Bahamas to the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC and Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions. The delegation from Chile was composed of Mr. Luis Felipe Sepulveda, Advisor of the International Conventions Unit of the General Government Internal Audit Council; Ms. Maria Loreto Gutiérrez Alvear, Public Prosecutor at the Judicial Court of Appeals of Santiago; Mr. Felipe Aliaga Hernandez, Attorney at the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic; and Ms. María Isabel Mercadal, Attorney at the Department of Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Commission was supported by Mr. Luiz Marcelo Azevedo, Legal Officer in the Department of Legal Cooperation of the General Secretariat of the OAS.

During the three days of work, the members of the Commission met with the top authorities and other representatives of Antigua and Barbuda’s Integrity Commission; the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs; the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions; the Office of the Director of Audit; the Public Service Commission; and the Office of the Commissioner of Information, among others, in order to obtain objective and complete information and reveal potential difficulties in the implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

The Commission also had the opportunity to meet with civil society organizations, private sector organizations and professional associations, in order to address issues related to civil society’s views on the role of oversight bodies in Antigua and Barbuda; conflict of interests; sworn declarations of income, assets and liabilities; as well as access to public information.

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 first Antigua and Barbuda report by the Committee at its next plenary 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° 197 - October 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.

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