OAS ANTICORRUPTION MECHANISM TO CONDUCT ON-SITE VISITS TO ITS STATE PARTIES

Beginning in 2012, the Mechanism for Follow-up on Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) will include on-site visits to its member countries as part of its review process. That decision was adopted by the MESICIC Committee of Experts last March at its Eighteenth Meeting, in accordance with one of the recommendations extended to it by the Third Meeting of the Mechanism’s Conference of States Parties, held in Brasilia in December 2010.

As a part of this decision, the Committee of Experts unanimously agreed on a methodology for conducting those visits, which may be found at the Anticorruption Portal of the Americas: http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/met_onsite.pdf.

This methodology will govern the preparation and execution of the on-site visits, along with the consideration of the information they produce and other related issues. It also includes provisions for ensuring that the states receive equal and impartial treatment, and that their consent for a visit to be conducted is granted. Moreover, it covers other aspects such as its funding and other organizational and logistical considerations for visits, as well as the possibility of including meetings with civil society organizations, the private sector, professional associations, academics, or researchers.

The inclusion of on-site visits as an integral stage in the MESICIC review process represents a pioneering and innovative initiative within the OAS, particularly in that it involves a peer-based evaluation mechanism and on account of the importance of the topics with which it deals.

In accordance with this methodology, States Parties are currently in the process of formally expressing their consent to carry out on-site visits and the Technical Secretariat will submit a report in this regard at the start of the next meeting of the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC.

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…