EASTERN CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES SEEK TO STRENGTHEN COOPERATION IN COMBATTING CORRUPTION 

            Six Eastern Caribbean States (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) will meet in Castries, St. Lucia, on December 6, 2002, to promote the ratification and implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACC) among the regions’ countries that have not yet ratified or implemented the 1996 treaty.   

            The principle authorities in this field, which include the Attorneys General, Parliament Members, from both the governing and opposition parties, and the Permanent Secretaries from each of the participating countries will come together to generate the necessary consensus in order to attain the ratification and legislative implementation of the IACC. 

The December 6 meeting in Castries is being organized in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General of St. Lucia, and is part of a hemispheric initiative in which the OAS has been at the forefront.  

The cooperative initiative to promote the ratification and implementation of the anti-corruption treaty is a continuation of the programs executed by the OAS Secretariat for Legal Affairs. Furthermore, the Chair of the Permanent Council of the OAS, Ambassador Denis G. Antoine of Grenada, will offer opening remarks to the plenary. St. Lucia’s Attorney General Senator the Honourable Petrus Compton will deliver the keynote address to inaugurate the meeting, to which OAS Director Alphonsus Antoine will deliver a message from the Secretary General. 

            At the centerpiece of the conference is an anti-corruption study and regional draft model legislation for the Eastern Caribbean Region, to be presented by Grenadian consultant, Judge Monica Theresa Joseph. 

            To date, 28 out of 34 OAS Member States have signed and ratified the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.