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ADVANCES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ANTI-CORRUPTION CONVENTION

The Committee of Experts of the Mechanism for Follow-up on the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (known by its Spanish acronym MESICIC) made significant advances in the process of implementation of the Convention during its 14th meeting, held December 8-12, 2008.

This meeting, at which the Committee adopted reports for Grenada, Suriname, Brazil, and Belize, marked the successful conclusion of the Second Round of Review of the MESICIC. During the Second Round, a total of 28 country reports were adopted, all of which include concrete recommendations to close legal gaps and correct inadequacies of the legal frameworks related to the provisions of the Convention analyzed during the round. In the reports, the Committee gave clear guidance for government hiring and procurement to be based on the principles of publicity, equity, and efficiency; for acts of corruption to be duly criminalized; and for protection to be provided to those who report acts of corruption.

During the Second Round, the progress made by the countries in the implementation of the recommendations formulated during the First Round of review was also evaluated. These recommendations were aimed at states putting effective tools in place to prevent conflicts of interest; conserve public resources; encourage the reporting of acts of corruption; detect illicit enrichment; encourage the participation of civil society in the fight against corruption; strengthen oversight bodies; and improve international legal cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of acts of corruption.

The 28 country reports will be available online on the MESICIC web page (http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/FightCur.html), along with the Hemispheric Report on the Second Round, which was also adopted by the Committee during last week’s meeting. The Hemispheric Report synthesizes the results of the Second Round, highlighting the most common recommendations made and the progress achieved by the countries in the implementation of the recommendations from the First Round.

During the five day meeting, the Committee also adopted the methodology which will be used in the Third Round of Review, as well as the questionnaire which will be used to gather information directly from the states with respect to selected provisions of the Convention. These instruments, also available on the MESICIC web page (http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/FightCur.html), in conjunction with the active participation of civil society, will allow the Committee to continue the review process.

The topics to be reviewed in the Third Round include the denial or elimination of favorable tax treatment for expenditures or payments made in violation of the anticorruption laws; the prevention of bribery of domestic and foreign government officials; the criminalization of translational bribery and illicit enrichment; and the extradition of those who commit acts of corruption.

The General Secretariat of the OAS, through its Department of Legal Cooperation, which serves as the Technical Secretariat to the MESICIC, took advantage of the meeting of Experts to circulate two model laws which can be used by the states parties to the MESICIC to improve legislation dealing with the prevention of corruption, access to public information, and standards of conduct for public servants. In addition, legislative guidelines were also provided, which outline the essential elements that should be included in a legal framework in order to adequately regulate the hiring of public servants; conflicts of interest; preservation of public resources; systems for the declaration of assets, income and liabilities; participation of civil society; oversight bodies; and mutual assistance between states in the fight against corruption.

For more information please visit the MESICIC web page (http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/FightCur.html).

Reference: E-471/08