Conference ‘Launch of South-East European Judicial Training Network – Initial Step to the Establishment of Framework for Integrated Anti-corruption Legal Education in the Region’ – April 24-25, 2012 – Sofia, Bulgaria
2012-04-24 08:00 - 2012-04-25 17:00 UTC
The Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) Secretariat and the National Institute of Justice of Bulgaria co-organized the conference on “Launch of South-East European Judicial Training Network – Initial Step to the Establishment of Framework for Integrated Anticorruption Legal Education in the Region”. The event took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 24 – 25, 2012, and implemented the first phase of the project ”Establishment of Framework for Integrated Anticorruption Legal Education in South-Eastern Europe”.
It was attended by experts of judicial training institutions from all RAI member states, representatives of High Judicial Council, Prosecutor’s Office and state courts of the hosting country, as well as representatives of GIZ, SEELS and diplomats from the embassies based in Sofia.
Among the main decisions taken by the participants at the conference were to establish Regional Network for Judicial Training (RNJT) as a tool for strengthening of regional cooperation and exchange of information, experience and best practices in the area with focus on anticorruption legal education; to use the services of RAI Secretariat as Secretariat to RNJT; to serve as national contact points in regard to RNJT unless another person is appointed in two weeks period after the closing of the conference; to prepare and present at the next event their view and ideas on the outcomes of RNJT on one hand and the cooperation among RNJT and SEELS on the other hand.
Agenda
List of participants
Conclusions and Decisions
Presentations
Albanian Magistrates’ School
Public Institution Centres for Judicial and prosecutorial training – Bosnia and Herzegovina
National Institute of Justice – Bulgaria
Judicial Academy – Croatia
Kosovo Judicial Institute
Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors – Macedonia
Supreme Court of Montenegro – Judicial Training Centre
Serbian Judicial Academy
South East European Law Schools Network
Establishment of Framework for Integrated Anticorruption Legal Education in South-Eastern Europe – Project Overview

7th Summer School for Junior Magistrates from South-Eastern Europe – May 28 – June 02, 2012 – Opatija, Croatia
2012-05-28 08:00 - 2012-06-05 17:00
The Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) Secretariat, in cooperation with the Judicial Academy of Republic of Croatia, co-organized the annual Summer School for Junior Magistrates from South-Eastern Europe on May 28 – June 02, 2012, in Opatija, Croatia. Launched in 2006 as a forum for exchange of ideas and practices among young judges, prosecutors and investigators, the event was organized for 7th consecutive year and was dedicated to the “International Standards and Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption”. It consisted of four main training modules:

International standards in anticorruption – the implementation of relevant conventions of United Nations and Council of Europe;
Reform of the judiciary and anticorruption, as challenges of the EU accession process;
Anticorruption policies and preventive measures;
EU experience regarding the international judicial cooperation in criminal matters, stressing on the activity of structures like OLAF and EUROJUST.

In the framework of the event the junior magistrates spent one week in academic environment along the Adriatic coast of Croatia gaining from the knowledge and experience of honorable lecturers coming from public institutions, international organizations and civil society. The young prosecutors and judges were given the opportunity to exchange ideas and experience on the anticorruption field, to comment the weak and the strong points of their daily work, thus building bridges between the people in South–Eastern Europe.
The framework of the Summer School included presentations by experts from UNODC, Council of Europe (GRECO), Vienna University of Economics and Business, the Prosecutor’s Office in Torino – Italy, EUROJUST, Regional Cooperation Council, Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption of Republic of Moldova, the Croatian State Attorney Office and Ministry of Justice of Croatia. During the special outdoor session, the junior magistrates visited the District Court in Rijeka and held a meeting with its president and chiefs of Criminal Department.
The event was closed with final evaluation of the attendants in the form of case study presented by the Judicial Academy of Croatia followed by certificate ceremony lead by Mrs. Nella Popovic – Head of International Cooperation and Projects Service in the Judicial Academy of Croatia, Mr. Davor Dubravica – Head of Independent Anticorruption Sector in Ministry of Justice of Croatia and RAI Chairperson, Mr. Edmond Dunga – Head of RAI Secretariat and Mr. Stanislav Aleksandrov – Anticorruption Expert in RAI Secretariat.
For more information, please, have a look at the attached list of participants and agenda of the Summer School.
Presentations
Summer School for Junior Magistrates from SEE – Stanislav Aleksandrov (RAI Secretariat)
Framework for Regional Cooperation and Sharing Best Practices in Fighting Corruption in SEE – Stanislav Aleksandrov (RAI Secretariat)
UNCAC – The role of the Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC and its Review of Implementation Mechanism – Demosthenes Cryssikos (UNODC)
UNCAC – ChapterIV. International Cooperation – Demosthenes Cryssikos (UNODC)
UNCAC – Chapter V. Asset Recovery – Demosthenes Cryssikos (UNODC)
Respecting International Anti-Corruption Standards – Anna Myers (GRECO Secretariat)
Whistleblowing: International Overview – Anna Myers (GRECO Secretariat)
OLAF – the mechanism for detection and investigation of fraud and corruption within European Union – way of functioning + case studies – Alberto Perduca (Italian magistrate, Former Director of Investigations and Operations at OLAF and Head of Justice Component of EULEX Mission in UNMIK/Kosovo)
The international efforts to set up a sustainable judicial framework in UNMIK/Kosovo – Alberto Perduca (Italian magistrate, Former Director of Investigations and Operations at OLAF and Head of Justice Component of EULEX Mission in UNMIK/Kosovo)
Description of the Functioning of Prosecutor’s Office with the focus on the Recent Changes Regarding EU Accession Process – Diana Pervan (County State’s Attorney of Zagreb)
Functioning of the judicial system in Croatia with focus on the recent changes regarding the EU membership – Maja Grubisin (Ministry of Justice of Croatia)
Austria’s Anti-corruption Laws – Evolution and International Standards, Status and Evaluation – Mag. Guenther Hauss (Institute for Austrian and European Economic Criminal Law)
Anti-Corruption Policies and Preventive Measures – Best Practices from Public and Private Sector – Mag. Markus Hoecher (Institute for Austrian and European Economic Criminal Law)
Corruption Risk Assessment in regard to the Judicial System – Comparative Study – Daniela Railean (Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption)
Joint Investigation Teams – way of functioning + case studies – Mariana Lilova (Eurojust)
Investigation and Prosecution of Cross-border and Organized Crimes – Mariana Lilova (Eurojust)
EU-SEE: Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters – Virgil Ivan-Cucu (Regional Cooperation Council)
Case OFFSIDE – Diana Pervan (County State’s Attorney of Zagreb)

International workshop ‘Integrity concepts: Approaches and new frontiers’ – July 05-06, 2012 – Bitola, Macedonia
2012-07-05 08:00 - 2012-07-06 17:00
The Macedonian State Commission for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC), with the support and assistance of the Regional Anticorruption Initiative (RAI) Secretariat for South-Eastern Europe, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and UNDP, organized the international workshop on “Integrity Concepts: Approaches and New Frontiers” on July 5-6, 2012, in Bitola, Macedonia, in the framework of Integrity Experts network (IEN).
The event was part of the the project “Strengthening the Integrity System in South-Eastern Europe“.
The overall objective of the workshop was to enhance the cooperation between the IEN member institutions through the exchange of information, experience and knowledge on integrity issues. The specific objective of the event was to present and discuss on the legal framework on integrity: existence, format, application in practice, best practices and challenges. Among the main topics included were: integrity systems, anti-corruption strategies, whistleblowing, balance between transparency and personal data protection.
At the end of the workshop the participants discussed the handing over of the Chairmanship-in-Office of IEN. In the days following the event the National Integrity Agency (ANI) of Romania expressed its interest and took the Chairmanship-in-Office of the Network for the next one year.
For more information, please, have a look at the list of attendants and agenda of the event.
Report on realised activities by the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption during its Chairmanship of the Integrity Experts Network (May 2011 – May 2012)

Conference ‘Establishment of Common Forum for Cooperation between Regional Network for Judicial Training (RNJT) and the South-East European Law School Network (SEELS)’ – June 28–29, 2012 – Budva, Montenegro
2012-07-28 08:00 - 2012-07-29 17:00
The Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) Secretariat and GIZ Open Regional Fund for SEE – Legal Reform co-organized the conference on “Establishment of Common Forum for Cooperation between Regional Network for Judicial Training (RNJT) and the South-East European Law School Network (SEELS)” in Budva, Montenegro, on June 28- 29, 2012. The event represented the second phase of the project “Establishment of Framework for Integrated Anticorruption Legal Education in SEE“.
For the first time the conference gathered representatives of law faculties and magistrates schools in SEE on regional level. In this regard it had as main goals to identify the priority areas for cooperation and experience exchange in judicial training capacities; to enhance regional cooperation and exchange of information, experience and best practices regarding anticorruption legal education; to increase the general knowledge and expertise on regional level in the area on focus, and most of all to launch a common forum for cooperation between RNJT and SEELS for setting up the principles and mechanisms for integrated legal education in SEE. The event was closed by signing of Memorandum of Understanding between RNJT and SEELS that will further streamline the partnership among the two networks.
For more details, please have a look at the attached MoU, conference agenda and list of participants.

8th Summer School for Junior Magistrates from South Eastern Europe – June 03-07, 2013 – Novi Sad, Serbia
2013-06-03 08:00 - 2013-06-07 17:00
The Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) Secretariat, in cooperation with the Judicial Academy of Republic of Serbia, co-organized the annual Summer School for Junior Magistrates from South Eastern Europe on June 03-07, 2013, in Novi Sad, Serbia. Launched in 2006 as a forum for exchange of ideas and practices among young judges, prosecutors and investigators, the event was organized for 8th consecutive year and was dedicated to the “Anti-corruption Standards in Practical Means“. It consisted of three main training modules:

Application of the international anti-corruption standards in practice and case studies;
Practical impediments in fighting high level corruption and their overpass (system of immunities, political pressure, etc.);
Asset Recovery. Carrying out financial investigations.

In the framework of the event the junior magistrates spent one week in academic environment alongside the Danube River gaining from the knowledge and experience of honorable lecturers coming from public institutions, international organizations and civil society. The young prosecutors and judges were given the opportunity to exchange ideas and experience on the anti-corruption field, to comment the weak and the strong points of their daily work, thus building bridges between the people in South–Eastern Europe.
The framework of the Summer School included presentations by experts from UNODC, Vienna University of Economics and Business, the Prosecutor’s Office in Torino – Italy, EUROPOL, the Serbian State Attorney Office, London Metropolitan Police, etc. During the special outdoor session, the junior magistrates visited the District Court in Novi Sad.
The event was closed with final evaluation test passed successfully by the attendants. It was followed by certificate ceremony lead by Mr. Radu Cotici – Head of RAI Secretariat.

Forum ‘Regional Anti-Corruption Cooperation in South-Eastern Europe: The Way Ahead’ – July 11, 2013 – Zagreb, Croatia
2013-07-11 08:00 - 17:00
The Secretariat of the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) and the Ministry of Justice of Croatia organized the Forum REGIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COOPERATION IN SOUTH – EASTERN EUROPE: THE WAY AHEAD on July 11, 2013, in Zagreb, Croatia.
The event revealed the major achievements of RAI and identified the main challenges that face the Initiative.
The Forum also provided opportunity to RAI member states and partners to share their views on the benefits and future expectations of the cooperation with RAI.
The main part of the event was dedicated to the signing of the Protocol Amending the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Cooperation in Fighting against Corruption Through the South Eastern European Anti-Corruption Initiative.
It is initially signed by RAI member countries during the South-East European Cooperation Process Justice and Home Affairs (SEECP JHA) Meeting in Zagreb in April 2007.
By signing the Protocol for the Amendment of the MoU, the signatory countries further ensured their cooperation on anti-corruption as well as the financial sustainability of RAI Secretariat.
It was a manifestation of principle of full regional ownership of the Initiative, thus demonstrating the continuing involvement of SEE countries in the fight against corruption.
Besides delegates of the RAI member countries, the Forum was attended by representatives of Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as well as representatives of Embassies of Austria, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States of America.
Agenda
List of Participants
Protocol Amending the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Cooperation in Fighting against Corruption Through the South Eastern European Anti-Corruption Initiative

9th Summer School for Junior Anti-Corruption Practitioners from South Eastern Europe – June 01-07, 2014 – Sibiu, Romania
2014-06-01 08:00 - 2014-06-07 17:00
Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI), in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Romania and National Institute for Magistracy of Romania co-organized the annual Summer School for Junior Anti-corruption Practitioners from South Eastern Europe in Paltinis (Sibiu), Romania.
This annual event is an intensive five-day program designed for familiarizing participants with contemporary insights in selected areas of corruption theory and anti-corruption practice and it took place for the 9th consecutive year. It was focused on the need to enhance the capacity of the authorities in charge with Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery. The young practitioners coming from different countries region wide had the opportunity to increase their knowledge on the subject they work on. The participants also had the occasion to establish informal professional links between themselves, since regional cooperation proves to be especially important in the field of asset recovery and financial investigations.
Trainers, coming from such institutions as The Prosecutor’s Office in Torino, Italy, Basel Institute on Governance, National Asset Recovery Office of Romania, London Metropolitan Police, Institute for Austrian and European Economic Criminal Law, lectured on topics related to international instruments for recovering criminal assets, mutual legal assistance for the purpose of seizing and confiscating assets, returning of confiscated assets, as well as offshore jurisdictions and international money movements.
The event was closed with final evaluation test, followed by graduation ceremony.
RAI Secretariat expresses its gratitude to

Mr. Alberto Perduca
Mr. Cornel-Virgiliu Calinescu
Mr. Pedro Gomes Pereira
Dr. Severin Glaser
Mr. Lawrence Day
Mr. John Burrow
Mag. Markus Hoecher

for their invaluable contributions to the event.

Regional Workshop for validation of the “Methodology on Anti-corruption Assessment (Corruption Proofing) of Legislation” and “Methodology on Corruption Risk Assessment” – September 9 and 10, 2014 – Becici, Montenegro
2014-09-09 08:00 - 2014-09-10 17:00
The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI), in cooperation with the Directorate for Anti-corruption Initiative of Montenegro (DACI), organized the Regional Workshop for validation of the Methodology on Anti-corruption Assessment (Corruption Proofing) of Legislation on September 9, 2014 and the Regional Workshop for validation of the Methodology on Corruption Risk Assessment on September 10, 2014 in Becici, Montenegro.
The purpose of workshops was the review of current situation and experience in countries of the region on corruption risk assessment process and anti-corruption assessment of legislation. The most relevant national experts coming from South Eastern Europe were given an opportunity to share their experiences, know-how, concerns and issues regarding the topics.
The most important goal of both events was to discuss findings of the undertaken researches and the consequent Methodologies, as well as to improve and validate these documents based on expertise and participants’ experience in the related fields.
It was concluded that Anti-corruption Assessment (Corruption Proofing) of Legislation and Corruption Risk Assessment can be recommended as a tool for tackling corruption and boosting integrity in public administration. Based on inputs received during workshops, methodologies are to be updated to further reveal the existing practices within the region and to integrate mechanisms from outside the region as best practices by integrating experts’ inputs.
The countries’ representatives were delegates from National Anti-corruption Agencies/Bodies, Ministries of Justice, Ministries of Internal Affairs and other relevant institutions. The organizers express their gratitude to Dr. Tilman Hoppe, Mr. Goran Klemencic, Dr. Liljana Selinsek, as well as all the participants for their invaluable contributions to both workshops.
For more details, please check the PowerPoint presentations, List of Participants as well as Agendas for both workshops.

Regional Conference on Good Governance and Anti-corruption Policy Challenges, November 13-14, 2014, Tirana, Albania
2014-11-13 08:00 - 2014-11-14 17:00
On 13 – 14 November, 2014, the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI), the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), the Ministry of State on Local Issues of Albania and the Southeast Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI) co-organized the Regional Conference on Good Governance and Anti-corruption Policy Challenges. The two-day forum aimed at fostering civil society – state dialog in identifying effective measures to prevent corruption.
The first day event, Monitoring Corruption and Anti-corruption in Southeast Europe: Policy Challenges and the Role of Civil Society, was dedicated to the findings of the Regional Anti-Corruption Report and the National Corruption Assessment Reports for nine countries in Southeast Europe, as well as on specific ideas for countering corruption on a regional scale. Please download the presentations from the first day event here.
The second day event, Preventing Corruption by Assessing Its Risks, targeted at boosting countries’ efforts for corruption risks identification and mitigation in decision making process. The Conference recommended for use the developed by RAI and RCC Methodology on Anti-corruption Risk Assessment of Laws, adopted the 10 Ten Principles of Effective Corruption Proofing as an international standard in this field and recommended corruption risk assessment as a corruption preventive tool. For more information, please see Recommendations of the Regional Conference Preventing Corruption by Assessing Its Risks.
Ms. Eridana Çano, Director of Cabinet, Ministry of State on Local Issues, Albania, opened the event by underlining that the Office of the National Coordinator on Anti-Corruption is working with international partners and will use the best practices to tackle the corruption in the country. She expressed her support to the preventive measures, as well as her hope that the corruption proofing and corruption risk assessment becomes a systematically applied effort in all institutions.
Mr. Sokol Gjoka, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Albania, underlined that CACP is the most important anti-corruption initiative in Albania. In its framework, the Ministry will become a coordination point for more than forty activities. Mr. Gjoka concluded his speech by noting the importance of the conference for providing forum for exchange of ideas on tackling the problem.
Mr. Gazmend Turdiu, Deputy Secretary General, Regional Cooperation Council, highlighted the efforts that the Council has undertaken and their positive effects, but warned that the situation in SEE has been worsened by the economic crisis. These developments made RCC update and finalise its Strategy with a focus on job creation, unemployment, and sustainable growth, similar to the SEE 2020 Strategy. Mr. Turdiu underlined that the fight against corruption has a center place in their Strategy, as it is essential for the economic growth and development. According to him, although the legal framework is important, a key prerequisite for the success of any anti-corruption policy consists of the closer collaboration between government, agencies, law enforcement and the civil society.
Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson of the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) recalled the Joint declaration of the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the SEECP participating states from Bucharest, May 2014, in particular the pledge to foster the stronger regional frameworks for tackling corruption , as well as to allocate adequate resources for implementing efficient preventive mechanisms and programs, as well as proactive measures to enhance institutional transparency and good governance. He warned that laws can also be a source of corruption, and advised all countries to use the Methodology presented by RAI at the event, which was endorsed also at the Workshop in Becici, Montenegro.
Panel 1: Anti-corruption Assessment of Laws
Moderator: Mr. Davor Dubravica, RAI Chairperson
Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of Secretariat, Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) presented the concept of corruption proofing of laws and how effective it could be to prevent corruption. He provided examples on how inconsistent, unclear or contradictory texts of legislation may breed corruption. He expressed interest in learning more about the experience of Lithuania and Moldova, where the corruption proofing tool has been used for almost a decade. He underlined that the Methodology will work only when properly set up as a mechanism, when authorities take a serious approach in carrying it out and civil society stakeholders are involved and enabled to contribute to the review. For that reason RAI has developed its Methodology, as well as the ten principles of effective corruption proofing, that RAI calls to be approved as an international standard in this field. Please download the presentation here.
Dr. Tilman Hoppe, anti-corruption expert, presented a comparative analysis of the anti-corruption assessment of laws in different countries. He noted that little literature and information is available on the subject, which points out to the need of the further development and adaptation of the Methodology. Some of the countries that apply similar methodology include Russia, South Korea, Lithuania, Moldova, and Albania. Mongolia, Poland, Serbia and Turkmenistan are expected to adopt the corruption proofing soon. Dr. Hoppe underlined that although corruption proofing takes resources, it is still necessary. It should be done not only formally, but with the aim of increasing the impact of the law and its compliance. Please download the presentation here.
Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, SELDI Coordinator, noted that the corruption proofing of legislation is an instrument that allows civil society an additional venue to influence policy. This is of particular importance since the civil society has as key mission to be a watchdog and monitor the public policies. He underlined that more attention should be paid to the capacity of the bodies that should implement corruption proofing. According to him, the countries in the region need to achieve impact on the highest corruption levels and tackle the issue of state capture, which is in essence use of the legislative process to serve personal interests. Mr. Stefanov prompted the countries to apply these principles first to the existing legislation, and then proceed with the new ones. He advised that similar Methodology can also be used to enhance the regulatory impact assessment.
Panel 2: Anti-corruption Assessment of Laws: best practices
Moderator: Ms. Eridana Çano, Director of Cabinet, Ministry of State on Local Issues, Albania
Ms. Solėja Karalienė, Chief Specialist, Special Investigation Service, Republic of Lithuania (STT) shared her experience with anti-corruption assessment of legislation in Lithuania, implemented by a team of five people. She explained that though parliamentary group, Commission, parliamentary committee or the President, Chairman of the Seimas or Prime Minister or STT itself can initiate anti-corruption assessment of legal acts, this could leave some important legislation without a corruption evaluation. She warned that despite all good practices, one cannot believe that an assessment will eliminate all corruption factors. Please download the presentation here.
Ms. Cristina Tarna, Deputy Director, National Anti-Corruption Center, Republic of Moldova, stressed that there is a need of stronger corruption proofing mechanisms when an official can use interpretation of the law for own interest or gain. She explained that the corruption proofing process in Moldova was inspired and launched by CSOs in June 2006, and it was later adopted as government decision. It covers all laws and draft laws, except policy and singular use documents. The National Anti-corruption Center is in charge of the proofing implementation, starting from the moment a draft law is finalized. A law can be remedied even after it has been passed. Among the corruption risks assessed are: legal wording, legal coherence, transparency and access to information, exercising individual rights, etc. Currently there are 600 corruption proofing reports produced per year in Moldova, which rely on the help from all stakeholders, including CSOs. Ms Tarna noted that according to her experience there are two key specifics of approving draft laws promoting private interests – urgency for adoption and lack of transparency. In that respect the corruption proofing is the key in securing quality law drafting in the public interest. Please download the presentation here.
Dr. Tilman Hoppe, anti-corruption expert presented RAI’s Regional Methodology on Anti-corruption Assessment of Laws. His speech focused on what are the risks and how to identify them in a legislative text. He made a distinction between corruption of the legislative process and the involuntary discrepancies made in the text that present corruption risk. He expressed hope that the ten principles and the corruption proofing methodology will be adopted in all SEE countries. Please download the Methodology here.
Panel 3. Corruption risk assessment
Moderator: Ms. Cristina Tarna, Deputy Director, National Anti-corruption Centre, Republic of Moldova
Mr. Quentin Reed, anti-corruption expert noted that international standards for an ideal corruption risk assessment methodology are good for inspiration, but still not sufficient. He warned that the same solutions cannot work in the same way everywhere. In that respect, he recommended that the countries look at local problems, find local reasons and find local solutions. Rudeness, arbitrary treatment, obstruction are also factors that go hand in hand with corruption and should be taken into account in any corruption assessment methodology. Among the risk assessment methods that Mr. Reed presented were: use of existing materials, law and regulations, direct observation, proxies, surveys, interviews. Please download the presentation here.
Mr. Mihai Barlici, Head of Anti-corruption Studies and Prognosis Unit, Anti-corruption General Directorate, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Romania presented the methodology, results and efficiency of the self-assessment used by government bodies. As main vulnerabilities he listed the sectors with frequent contact with the public, financial management, public procurement. He presented the good practices in Romania, including formation of corruption prevention working groups, trained in recognising corruption risks. The Unit is trying to evaluate what the potential impact of certain corruption risk would be, including financial impact, public image impact, human resources impact, etc. A new activity for the Romanian Ministry of Interior was the deterrence of the risk, in which it is currently involved. Please download the presentation here.
Mr. Matjaž Mešnjak, Adviser on Prevention and Public Integrity, Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, Republic of Slovenia underlined that Slovenia performs corruption risk assessment almost every day as part of the existing integrity plans, sectoral analyses, and corruption investigations. The key instrument, the Integrity plans, include a matrix of risk factors, existing measures, as well as foreseen measures. The information is stored in a register, which soon will present all current corruption risk and measures in real time, and will allow for statistical and qualitative analysis. Results will be shared among the concerned entities, so that counter-measures can be undertaken. The Commission educated several thousand public sector employees in the last four years, built the e-register, revised integrity plans. It faced as challenges the constantly changing list of public institutions, and the hardships of convincing public sector managers that corruption risk assessment is important issue and that integrity plans should be used. Please download the presentation here.
Ms. Marijana Obradović, Assistant Director of Prevention Sector, Anti-corruption Agency, Republic of Serbia presented Serbia’s experience on the topic. The Law of the Anti-corruption Agency stipulates that all government bodies should develop anti-corruption plans and report on the implementation of these plans to the Agency. The Agency published guidelines for the implementation of the integrity plans in October 2010. These guidelines however proved to be insufficient, and task groups specific for each institution were formed, in parallel with the development of special software. Since there were no sanctions for not adopting the plans, many institutions decided not to do so. In that context the policies applied and the quality of the integrity plans depended on the understanding of the problem by the management of the government institution, as well as on the existence of external assistance provided by CSOs.
Mr. Milos Mojsilovic, Senior Adviser within the Research and Development Unit, Serbian Anti-Corruption Agency complemented the review of the Serbian experience. He explained that the Agency’s staff went and spent some time in each institution to see how it works and if the integrity plan reflects objectively how the institution is functioning. Another issue besides the efficient implementation of the integrity plans is the fact that in Serbia there is no law on whistle-blower protection, and the Agency is trying to provide internal solutions. In 2015 the Agency will monitor the implementation of the integrity plans and further promote the good practices and solutions. Please download their presentation here.
Panel 4. Corruption risk assessment – continuation
Moderator: Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of RAI Secretariat
Mr. Vasilica-Cristi Danilet, Member of Superior Council of Magistracy, Romania presented the history of corruption investigation in Romania. Until 2006 the Ministry of Justice had its own secret service, used to obtain information even of the private life of the judges, information that could be misused. Before the accession, the EU built pressure on the country for achieving results in fighting corruption. As result, Romania changed its Constitution, built special unit of young and clean prosecutors, trained to fight corruption. It formed the National Anti-corruption Directorate – an independent body. For many years after accession the pressure continued under the CVM. In that context Romania expanded its anti-corruption efforts and introduced objective criteria for appointment of judges, including an exam without influence by any political party. The country also introduced IT system in the courts and currently publishes online various kind of data to increase transparency. They try to maintain dialogue and be close to the citizens in order to raise the corruption awareness. The relevant authorities participate in TV shows, and talk with people through the social media. Romania has 1496 offenders convicted of corruption in the period 2005-2014, including 1 former prime minister and 6 ministers, as well as many judges and prosecutors. Consequently, trust in judiciary increased from 22% in 2005 to 44% in 2014. Please download the presentation here.
Mr. Quentin Reed, ACFA Team Leader talked about corruption risk assessment in Albania and presented the preliminary findings of the ACFA Project. The project mainly focuses on assessment of the anti-corruption framework, including asset declarations, conflict of interest, and providing assistance to the Anti-corruption Action Plan. Mr. Reed noted the problems with data exchange between institutions in Albania that obstruct the efficiency of the applied measures. Their analysis also focused on political party and election campaign, noting the insufficient capacity of the authorities to oversee the issue. Please download the presentation here.
Ms. Liljana Selinšek, anti-corruption expert, presented the different models and approached to corruption risk assessment (CRA). She confirmed the statement that no model can work everywhere, but the existing knowledge of corruption risk assessment is enough to identify a common goal. She stressed that the assessment should target not just corruption, but also integrity risks, and the countries need clear measures to eliminate the sources and the risks of ambiguity behaviours. She noted that freedom of information is essential for preventing corruption. Ms. Selinšek presented the integrity plan, the sectoral CRA, and the ad hoc CRA as three key promising approaches that can complement each other and efficiently decrease the corruption risks. According to her, a mixed system including these approached would be best suited for the region. Thus the mixed system can identify which factors drive corruption in each country and institutions, and assess the effectiveness of existing laws. Please download the presentation here.
Ms Daniela Mineva, Center for the Study of Democracy, SELDI Secretariat concluded with listing ten recommendations and conclusions from the conference, inviting the countries to consider introducing the presented corruption proofing tool and methodology.
During the closing statements Mr. Predrag Vujicic, Expert on Justice and Home Affairs, RCC underlined that the Council is trying to make the region a better place for living through joining efforts of all stakeholders. He wished the participants success in their efforts in fighting corruption.
For more details, please check the List of Participants, as well as the final Agenda of the event.

Regional Conference on Trends and Challenges in Implementing Anti-corruption Strategies, November 25, 2014, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
2014-11-25 08:00 - 17:00
Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) and RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia, organized on November 25, 2014, the Regional Conference on Trends and Challenges in Implementing Anti-corruption Strategies which was held in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
The event aimed at recognizing the priorities and needs of the South-East European countries in terms of efficient implementation of the Anti-corruption Strategies and Action Plans, with an emphasis on the monitoring mechanism. In the context of the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative Work Plan 2014 – 2015, its essential goal was to identify the key success determining ingredients and factors of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism. For more information, please see Recommendations and conclusions of the Conference.
Mr. Adnan Jashari, Minister of Justice, Republic of Macedonia, opened the event highlighting that the anti-corruption strategies and plans are more than a declarative expression of the will to fight corruption. They are effective tools to strengthen the national inter-institutional cooperation and international and regional cooperation in combating corruption. He stressed out that he fight against corruption remains a strategic priority and anti-corruption activities do not stop in Republic of Macedonia. Finally he extended his gratitude to RACVIAC and RAI for the actions taken to promote regional cooperation and to support the implementation of anti-corruption events and activities in the member countries, as well as for organization of this event in the Republic of Macedonia.
Mr. Gjorgi Slamkov, President of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, Republic of Macedonia, stated that by carrying out its mission, the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption in December 2011 developed the current National Program for Prevention and Repression of Corruption and State Program for Prevention and Reduction of Conflict of Interests with Action Plan for 2011-2015. Through this strategic document, the SCPC created and directed the social action as a clearly defined continuous process, based on improving and strengthening the legal and institutional capacities, creating a public, collective, and individual awareness of the damaging effects of corruption, the necessity of its recognition and detection, as well as promoting all forms of preventive action along with effective sanctions. Mr. Slamkov finished his speech by highlighting that in the Action Plan of the State Program there are 51 problem/risk factors established and 156 actions to overcome the problems and risks, and for a period of two years 70% of planned activities have been realized or being under implementation.
Ambassador Branimir Mandic, Director of RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation, welcomed the participants to this event by stressing the opportunity for states from the region and all parties dealing with challenges of putting efficient Anti-corruption Strategies and Action Plans in place, to use this event for exchange of ideas on issues of mutual concern and by having a comparative approach to share the lessons learned so far. He pointed out that the lessons drawn out from the experiences of implementing National Anti-corruption Strategies and Action Plans worldwide indicate that key features for a successful anti-corruption policy making include national ownership, knowledge base design, stakeholder participation, strategic priority planning, effective coordination, and monitoring and evaluation. Ambassador Mandic finished by saying that all of these key factors will be discussed during the event, with a special emphasis on monitoring and evaluation.
Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson of the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI), welcomed the audience by highlighting the efforts that countries in the region of SEE are undertaking by implementing the activities from their respective national strategies and action plans, and also emphasized the implementation as main problem in the region and beyond. He stressed the importance of the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms as key dimensions of anti-corruption interventions in general, and reminded the participants about the special attention that should be given to the development of a comprehensive monitoring mechanisms that can allow for civil society’s input not just as a corrector, but also as an active participant in the monitoring and evaluation process.
Morning Session: Anti-corruption Strategies Development and Fulfillment
Moderator: Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson, Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI)
Mr. Kiro Cvetkov, Anti-corruption Expert, Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI), presented the current status of the national Anti-corruption Strategies and Action Plans in RAI member countries. Mr. Cvetkov noted that there is no one-size–fits-all solution when it comes to the design and implementation of anti-corruption strategies. He stated that the experience has shown that the effectiveness of a national anti-corruption strategy will depend to a great extent on whether it has been designed taking into consideration the country’s context and main corruption challenges. Furthermore, political will and coordination with other on-going efforts to fight corruption and improve governance in the country is instrumental. He finished his presentation by concluding that anti-corruption strategies should include a strong and manageable monitoring and evaluation system that provides for participation of civil society organizations and that implementation and evaluation reports should be made public and available on-line.
Ms. Edlira Nasi, Unit on Internal Administrative Control and Anti-Corruption, Prime Minister’s Office, Albania, presented the Albanian experience by explaining the organizational structure of the national anti-corruption network in Albania – as of November 2014. Ms. Nasi also presented the main policy tools: the National Strategy against Corruption 2014-2017 (that was completed by end of March 2014 and is based on three-fold approach: prevention, repression and education), and National Action Plan against Corruption 2014-2017 (that was finalized by October 2014). Both, the Strategy and Action Plan will be adopted in December 2014. She finished the presentation stating the main goals (such as ensuring transparency and accountability through public scrutiny, modernization of procedures, with special focus on improving the quality of service delivery, strengthening inter-agency cooperation by further enhancing proactive investigation, assessing the risks in most vulnerable sectors: health and education and enhancing prevention of corruption in public administration), but also giving examples of the bottle-necks such as limited interest from business sector, and lack of vision on concrete AC measures in long term. Please download presentation of Ms. Nasi here.
Mr. Emir Basic, Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Mr. Zoran Jacev, Team Leader, PAK – Support to anti-corruption, Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke about the Bosnian experience and the challenges of developing new AC Strategy and action plan. Mr. Basic explained the scope and the status of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption, as well as the general purpose and objectives of the Strategy for the Fight against Corruption (2009-2014) and Action Plan to implement the Strategy adopted by the Council of Ministers on 24 September 2009. Mr. Jacev focused his speech on the complexity of the new strategy which contains five pillars and between 150 and 200 activities. Yet, he concluded by stating that the aim of the new strategy is to be implementable and effective, not just as a list of wishes. Please download presentation of Mr. Basic here.
Mr. Rosen Kukushev, Ministry of Interior, Bulgaria, gave a presentation about the role of the Center for Prevention and Countering Corruption and Organized Crime, and the main activities and results of the Bulgarian mechanism for countering corruption. Mr. Kukushev explained the organization and partners of CPCCoC, its matrix organization and role as environment for creating, updating and implementation of intervention systems. In his further elaboration Mr. Kukushev talked about the detailed analysis and preparation of packages of measures for corruption risk areas, including preliminary analyzes of risk areas, analysis of specific laws and others legislation on the issue and proposals for changes in other regulations. Finally, he explained the intervention system, the development of measures, the vulnerabilities (weak spots) and factors of corruption, as well as the effectiveness of the measures depending on the depth of the impact i.e. the causality (Causa finalis). Please download presentation of Mr. Kukushev here.
Ms. Mirela Bakalbasic, Senior Advisor, Directorate for Anti-corruption Initiative, Montenegro, shared the Montenegrin experience by presenting the Strategy for the fight against corruption and organized crime (2010 – 2014) with Action Plan 2010 – 2012, revised in July 2011 – harmonized with the AP for implementation of recommendations provided in the Opinion of the European Commission, and Action Plan 2012 – 2014, harmonized with AP for Chapters 23 and 24 (July 2013). Upon its expiry national anti-corruption objectives and measures in Montenegro will be solely contained in the APs for Chapters 23 and 24. Ms. Bakalbasic stated that APs for Chapters 23 and 24 were adopted in June 2013 and revised in November 2014, with objectives defined in accordance with the recommendations from the Screening Report, and those given in the course of the screening process on the compatibility of Montenegrin legal system with the EU’s Acquis. She also emphasized that regular monitoring process is in place, as a means of identifying, preventing and taking account of non-compliance, making periodic assessments of the overall document and of specific elements so that adjustments can be made. Please download presentation of Ms. Bakalbasic here.
Ms. Maja Baricevic, Ministry of Justice, Croatia, highlighted that Croatian experience is still equally challenging after the EU accession as it was before it. She gave an overview of the development of Croatian national strategic documents in the period 2002-2008, the package of anti-corruption laws and multilateral conventions ratified by Croatia. In the second half of her presentation Ms. Baricevic spoke about the recommendations from the EU anti-corruption report for 2014, such as „to implement a comprehensive strategic approach to prevent and reduce corruption risks in public procurement“ and „to implement effective protection mechanisms and raising awareness for whistleblowers“. Finally she gave her comments on the new anti-corruption strategy which is based on sectorial approach (sectoral working groups), risk assessment, public consultation with interesting parties and action plan development. Please download presentation of Ms. Baricevic here.
Ms. Jelena Deretic, Ministry of Justice, Serbia, pictured the Serbian experience by emphasizing the need for comprehpensive approach in the fight against corruption as an internationally accepted standard. She said that corruption is a major obstacle to social development and state progress in general, and that corruption is marked as one of the key destabilizing factor for the process of European integration. Further she presented the the new National Anti-Corruption Strategy in the Republic of Serbia adopted for the period from 2013 to 2018, which is, inter alia, based on the principles of the rule of law and “zero tolerance” for corruption. Ms. Deretic gave an overview of the roles of each body involved in the implementation and the monitoring system of the new strategy, underlying that the Ministry of Justice is the coordinator in the implementation process, the Council collects information on the experience and obstacles to the efficient implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan and submits a report on this to the Government of the RS, while Monitoring of implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan is under the competence of the Anti-Corruption Agency. She highlighted that coordination is seen as the key factor for better implementation and that is why new organizational unit is formed, which is responsible for coordination of the implementation of the Strategy, and it also serves as a focal point for cooperation with other holders of public powers and with international organizations.Please download presentation of Ms. Deretic here.
Mr. Borjan Gjuzelov, Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, NGO; as a civil sector representative Mr. Gjuzelov spoke about his experience in monitoring the AC Strategies implementation in Republic of Macedonia. He explained the State program for Prevention and Repression of Corruption and Prevention and Reduction of Conflict of Interest 2011-2015 and the 11 different sectors it covers. Also, he presented the SCPC as a coordinative body as well as the Action plan with its 51 problems/risk areas, 156 activities, 220 implementation monitoring indicators, and 156 effectiveness monitoring indicators. He spoke about the web application for collection of data and ideas for future improvement, such as Output vs. Impact indicators, prioritization of certain sectors and risk areas, the need for independent ‘third party’ monitoring, the CSOs as partners in research and expertise, and CSOs as watchdogs or independent evaluators. Please download presentation of Mr. Gjuzelov here.
Afternoon Session: Anti-corruption Strategies Monitoring and Evaluation
Moderator: Ms. Marija Zuzek, Programme Manager, RACVIAC
Prof. Dr. Ömer Faruk Gençkaya, Turkey, presented the Turkish experience from an academic standpoint. He talked about the “Strategy for Enhancing Transparency and Strengthening the Fight against Corruption”, which was issued by the Prime Ministry on December 5, 2009 as a decree (2009/19) and put into the force in February 2010. The professor explained the structure of the strategy, the different type of measures, and gave an overview of similar documents such as National Strategy for Fight against Organized Crime 2010-2015, Action Plan of Strategy for Fight against the Informal Economy 2011-2013, and the Action Plan for 2013-2015 with 10 different guiding principles and 21 strategic objectives with 51 activities. Talking about the compliance with the International Standards, prof. Gençkaya emphasized GRECO’s Third Round Evaluation and Compliance Reports, Review of Implementation of the OECD Convention and Recommendations, Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Public Statements, European Commission Progress Reports, UNCAC Review of Implementation (to be conducted soon in Turkey). He also mentioned the priorities of the AC strategy in Turkey to be: participatory approach, transparency, accountability and public awareness. Please download presentation of Mr. Gençkaya here.
Mr. Vladimir Georgiev, State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, Republic of Macedonia, explained that after consulting with the NGO representatives from Macedonia present at the conference, he will adjust his presentation and focus it on the process of adoption of the Strategy, since the monitoring was already described in the earlier presentation by Mr. Borjan Gjuzelov. Therefore, Mr. Georgiev explained the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) competences, structure and main goals. He explained that the strategic documents, developed under the SCPC, aim at achieving more efficient application of the normative framework for prevention and repression of corruption and conflict of interest in practice, strengthening the institutional capacities through overcoming the specific risks for corruption and conflict of interest, improving the integrity of public administration and ensuring efficient and effective inter-institutional cooperation at national and international level, as well as at raising institutional transparency and the public awareness about the harmfulness of corruption and conflict of interest. Please download presentation of Mr. Georgiev here.
Mr. Valeriu Cupcea, National Anti-corruption Center, Republic of Moldova, presented the situation in Moldova in terms of implementation of national strategies and action plans on anti-corruption. He described the Authorities and institutions responsible for implementation of the Action Plans, the monitoring and evaluation procedures including external and internal monitoring, as well as monitoring and evaluation principles: responsibility, transparency, cooperation and efficiency, and the performance and progress indicators. Mr. Cupcea indicated that adequate and timely implementation of activities, support in implementation of positive practice and elimination of the risk factors, together with Informing about the achieved results and shortcomings that were detected and areas which need attention, are the main purposes of monitoring. Please dowload presentation of Mr. Cupcea here.
Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Coordinator, Southeast European Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI); in his speech, Mr. Stefanov noted that South Eastern Europe as region is constantly under systemic corruption pressure. He said that CSOs are among the most important stakeholders in anti-corruption. However, there is a lack of effectively established formal mechanisms for engaging civil society on the part of the national governments, lack of administrative capacity and clear vision and understanding of the potential of CSOs. According to Mr. Stefanov there is a risk of capturing of CSOs by special interests and corruption systems by absence of mandatory procedures for transparency in the sector, ineffective control of compliance with financial regulations, lack of auditing culture and low level of self-regulation.
Ms. Marijana Obradovic and Ms. Ana Jerosimic, Anti-corruption Agency, Serbia, presented the role of the Anti-corruption Agency in monitoring of the national AC strategy. They explained that the new Anti-Corruption Strategy was adopted by the National Assembly in July 2013, and the Action Plan on Implementation of the Strategy was adopted by the Government in September 2013. The Agency’s mandate is to monitor the implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan and to issue advisory opinions regarding their implementation. Ms. Obradovic and Jerosimic also explained the main features of the new monitoring process and the challenges in the monitoring process such as: Action Plan is not clear in all its parts; the reports of the implementing entities are often not submitted on time; the reports of the implementing entities are of uneven quality and do not provide enough information as well as they may be one-sided and biased. On the end they explained the benefits from the alternative reporting and the alternative reporting pilot program. Please download presentation of Ms. Obradovic and Ms. Jerosimic here.
Mr. Ronan O’Laoire, UNODC, presented the international context in relation to UNCAC’s 2nd Review Cycle, the key considerations in monitoring and evaluating AC Strategies and what are the possible recommendations. He also pointed out about Art. 5 from UNCAC titled- Preventive AC Policies and Practices, which requires the states to adopt effective, coordinated anticorruption policies, aimed at the prevention of corruption, and which should be periodically evaluated. Mr. O’Laoire shared the lessons learned, such as: the development of an anti-corruption strategy should be an indigenous, inclusive and participatory process; adequate resources must be provided; the Strategy should be based on sound research; it must possess an effective policy coordination mechanism; the focus must be on implementation; and the participation of the society is a must. Please dowload presentation of Mr. O’Laoire here.
Mr. Tilman Hoppe, anti-corruption expert, presented the Draft structure of the Regional Methodology on Monitoring and Evaluation of implementing National Anti-corruption Strategies and Action Plans, which he will prepare for the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI).
Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Coordinator, Southeast European Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI), concluded with listing the recommendations and conclusions of the Conference, stipulating to the countries on the importance of setting in place effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism of the national anti-corruption strategy and action plan.
During the closing statements, Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of RAI Secretariat, underlined that the Conference was successful and that the recommendations and conclusions that were brought up will be further uphold. Mr. Cotici thanked the hosts and the co-organizers by giving them as well, recognition for the successful event. Ambassador Branimir Mandic, Director of RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation, gave his final words of gratitude towards the participants for their constructive approach towards the subject of the conference.
For more details, please check the List of Participants, as well as the final Agenda of the event.

International meeting on Effectiveness of Corruption Prevention Measures, May 18-19, 2015, Zagreb, Croatia
2015-05-18 08:00 - 2015-05-19 17:00
OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (OECD ACN), the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI), and RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation, in cooperation with the host of the conference – Ministry of Justice of Republic of Croatia, organized International Meeting on Effectiveness of Corruption Prevention Measures on May 18-19, 2015, in Zagreb, Croatia.
This meeting was organized around four important anti-corruption themes: (i) the effectiveness of measures to prevent corruption; (ii) monitoring and evaluation of national anti-corruption policies; (iii) corruption risk assessments and action plans in public institutions and sectors; and (iv) – anti-corruption assessment of legislation. The event combined high level keynote speeches, expert presentations and round-table discussions, being practice-oriented and interactive. For more information, please see the event Agenda.
Day 1:
Welcoming remarks
Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson of the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI), opened the meeting by stressing out that the cooperation between RAI, OECD, and RACVIAC, proved to be fruitful and brought together in the same room more than 90 representatives coming from 25 counries, 8 International Organizations and 6 NGOs. Mr. Dubravica presented RAI in its historical context, its member countries and focused on the current activities and objectives of the organization. He said that RAI would keep growing and keep promoting partnerships that will contribute towards effective fight against corruption in the region of SEE and beyond, emphasizing this international meeting as an example of successful cooperation in the field of corruption prevention.
Ms. Olga Savran, ACN Manager, OECD Anti-Corruption Division, stated that by carrying out its mission, OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) acts a regional anti-corruption programme of the OECD Working Group on Bribery. ACN supports anti-corruption reforms and promotes exchange of experience and good practice among the ACN countries, in cooperation with OECD countries and other partners and organizations. She highlighted that the ACN organizes regional expert seminars and conducts thematic cross-country reviews on various issues related to prevention, investigation and prosecution of corruption. Among others, Ms Savran said that this event was especially important due to collaboration with RAI and RACVIAC and thus bringing together countries that not always have the opportunity to exchange views among each other. She invited the participants to use the opportunity this meeting is offering and to engage themselves in active discussions and participation.
Ambassador Branimir Mandic, Director of RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation, welcomed the participants to this event by stressing the opportunity for states from the region and all parties to OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN), to use this event for exchange of ideas on issues of mutual concern and to share the lessons learned so far. He pointed out that this meeting was a continuation of what was announced during the Conference held in Skopje on 25 November 2014. He reminded the participants that last year in Skopje RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation and the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI), in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia organized the Conference: “Trends and Challenges in Implementing Anti-corruption Strategies”. He said that the event had recognized the priorities and needs of the SEE countries in terms of efficient implementation of the Anti-corruption Strategies and Action Plans, with an emphasis on the monitoring mechanisms.
In the context of the conclusions of the last year’s Conference, the key ingredients of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism were determined and would be presented in the publication: “Monitoring and Evaluation of the Implementation of National Anti-Corruption Strategies and Action Plans – Methodology”, shown for the first time in public during this event.
High Level Session: Main Achievements and Challenges in Preventing Corruption
Moderator: Ambassador Branimir Mandic, Director of Centre for Security Cooperation – RACVIAC
Mr. Ivan Crncec, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Justice of Croatia, Welcomed the participants on behalf of the host country and the Ministry of Justice of Croatia. Mr. Crncec praised the role of OECD, RAI and RACVIAC in organizing this international meeting expressing his satisfaction as a representative of the host country to welcome such a big number of relevant professionals dealing with anti-corruption. He presented the latest efforts of the Croatian government in terms of reforms aimed at improving the effectiveness of the anti-corruption measures. Stressing the importance of regional and international cooperation, Mr. Crncec presented the most important measures under the new Anti-Corruption Strategy 2015 – 2020 in Croatia. He stated that for the purpose of creation of the new strategy, a sectoral approach to strategy development had been implemented and sectoral working groups were established for more efficient strategy development and implementation. Mr. Crncec explained the structure of the system of strategic planning by giving an insight into the Strategy’s horizontal objectives, such as: integrity within the political system and administration, local and regional governments, public procurement, trading companies in majority state ownership, prevention of conflict of interest, the right to access to information and the role of civil society organizations, citizens, and the media in fighting corruption. Assistant Minister Crncec finally expressed his gratitude to the participants and organizers and invited all to use this event to learn from each other.
Minister Pawel Wojtunik, Head of the Central Anti-corruption Bureau (CAB), Poland, presented the Polish experience by explaining the organizational structure of the Bureau as a special service which combats corruption in the public and private sector, especially in the state and local government agencies, as well as fights against any activity which might endanger the State’s economic interests. Mr. Wojtunik presented the organization, its structure and historical background. He focused on the links between crime and corruption as two correlated phenomena that cannot be tackled independently. Mr. Wojtunik explained that the CBA is a special service with pre-trial police powers, entitled to conduct: operational activities, investigational activities, control activities, analytical and informative activities (including corruption prevention and information on anti-corruption). In criminal investigation, the CBA officers are entitled to use police powers which may be supported by special measures, such as: operational control, e.g. wiretapping, undercover operations, and technical surveillance. He finished his speech by stating that the CBA informs the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic of Poland and the Parliament about corruption-related matters and any activities which may endanger the State’s economic interests. A special obligation of the CBA is to provide the Parliament with the information on the results of the activities conducted by the CBA as well as to provide the performance report to the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Special Services Committee until 31 March of each year at the latest.
Ms. Elena A. Panfilova, Chair of the Center for Anti-corruption Research and Initiative Transparency International – Russian Federation; and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, Transparency International, spoke about the role of TI in general. She emphasized the importance of public – private cooperation, highlighting that events such as this international meeting, which are offering both governmental and civil society representatives to share their views, are very important for the future of the fight against corruption 2.0 (“two point O”.), as she defined the new sector specific approach. Ms. Panfilova underlined that, unlike years ago, when all the measures against corruption used to be the same – from country to country, from neighbor to neighbor, today we have specific programs built for the specific needs of a country, a city, or a sector. With this approach of tailor-made programs, the fight against corruption is taken to a new level and the effectiveness of the new anti-corruption strategies and action plans must prove to be much higher.
Mr. Marin Mrcela, GRECO President, gave a presentation about the Corruption Prevention measures through GRECO’s Experience. Mr. Mrcela started his presentation by stating the objectives of GRECO – to monitor compliance with the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption standards, identify deficiencies and prompt reforms and promote and share good practices.
He said that today there are 49 member States to GRECO (awaiting EU soon to join). Further in his presentation, Mr. Mrcela explained more on GRECO’s Four Evaluation Rounds done so far and provided some practical real-case examples from recommendations given to states during the different rounds of evaluation. In his concluding remarks, GRECO’s President put a special focus on the role of the media stating that the fight against corruption without public is impossible. Mr. Mrcela finished his presentation by raising the question of the importance of education in building new culture in the fight against corruption, asking the participants to think about the issue of when this new culture should start. Please download presentation of Mr. Mrcela here.
Roundtable Discussion:
This session was dedicated to countries’ high level representatives who gave their own national experiences on: What are the key measures taken to prevent corruption in your countries? What are the key priorities of anti-corruption policies for the coming years? And how to better assess the outcomes and impact of anti-corruption strategies?
Mr. Mevludin Dzindo, Assistant Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the Coordination of the Fight Against Corruption (APIK), Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), shared the BiH experience by presenting the novelties introduced by the Anti-corruption Strategy and accompanying Action plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period of 2015-2019. He highlighted that the Agency faced challenges in the implementation of policies and measures of the 2009-2014 anti-corruption strategy (ACS) and Action Plan (AP).
New approach in preparing the 2015-2015 strategy aims to overcome the identified challenges by being deductive, meaning to go from the general to the specific. First, all obligations from the anticorruption conventions that BiH has ratified, EU standards and best practices in the region in this scope, were identified and enumerated. Second, situation analyses were prepared as a “snap-shot” of the current anti-corruption situation, with major issues that had to be addressed. On the basis of these findings, specific general policies that BiH needs to implement in order to increase the efficiency in the fight against corruption were formulated and specific activities in the AP are created, with defined carriers of obligations and deadlines, indicators for success and financial indicators for their implementation.
Ms. Tatjana Babic, Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency of Republic of Serbia highlighted that Serbian experience is still equally rich and challenging after the new Strategy as it was before it. She gave an overview of the development of Serbian national strategic documents in the past period with the package of anti-corruption laws harmonized with the multilateral conventions ratified by Serbia. Ms. Babic noted that the new anti-corruption Strategy obligates state authorities and other institutions to take a “zero tolerance” approach, and formulates goals to halt corrupt activities in politics, public finance, privatization, the judiciary, police, spatial planning and construction, health care and media. The ACA was established as an institution with a strong preventive role that had been lacking in any authority which had theretofore dealt with corruption. Its main objective is improving the situation regarding this area, in cooperation with other public authorities, the civil sector, the media, and the public in general. Among other things, the ACA is authorized to work on development of integrity plans for, and in cooperation with, state authorities in preventive sense. These plans are aimed at reducing and eliminating risks of the emergence and development of corruption. While the Ministry of Justice is the coordinator in the implementation process, the Agency collects information on the experience and obstacles to the efficient implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan and submits a report on this to the Government of the RS. She emphasized that that the monitoring of implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan is under the competence of the Anti-Corruption Agency.
Mr. Idilir Peci, Deputy Minister of Justice of Albania, pictured the Albanian experience by emphasizing the need for comprehensive approach in the fight against corruption as an internationally accepted standard. He pointed out that corruption is a major obstacle to social development and state progress in general, and that corruption is marked as one of the key destabilizing factors for the process of European integration. Further, the new Albanian Anti-Corruption Strategy was explained highlighting the multi-dimensional interventions of the Government of Albania in the fight against corruption. New international cooperation projects are supporting the implementation of the comprehensive national Anti-corruption Strategy and the related Action Plan with a three-fold objective. Firstly, to improve the capacity of public administration, secondly, to increase private sector engagement, and thirdly, to contribute to changing perceptions of corruption, particularly among civil society with a special focus on youth. The monitoring of the ACS and its AP is done on quarterly basis, performed by the National Coordinator against Corruption – NCAC Secretariat based on the feedback from contact point’s network. Main goals of the new strategy are: ensuring transparency and accountability through public scrutiny; modernization of procedures, with special focus on improving the quality of service delivery; strengthening inter-agency cooperation by further enhancing proactive investigation; assessing the risks in most vulnerable sectors: health and education; and enhancing prevention of corruption in public administration.
Mr. Driton Lajci, Advisor to the Minister of Justice of Kosovo*, spoke about Kosovo*’s experience in monitoring the AC Strategies implementation. He explained the structure of the latest Strategy 2012-2016 which is composed of seven priority areas: Political Sector; Local Government; Central Administration; Law Enforcement, Prosecution and Judiciary; Public Finances and their management; Public Procurement; Private Sector and Business Environment; and Civil Society and Media. As far as monitoring goes, in accordance with the general and specific objectives established for each priority sector in the Strategy, including both horizontal and vertical priorities of the Strategy, the Action Plan was designed to implement these objectives through specific and concrete anticorruption measures. It consists of specific action-plan objectives and measures, together with tangible success indicators and clear and realistic timelines. When the timelines are indicated as „ongoing“, it implies that the progress in such measures is supposed to be reviewed annually, in co-operation with corresponding institutions. Besides the Agency, vital part of Kosovo*’s anti-corruption framework are the Office for good governance, each of the ministries with their own web sites, the public procurement agency, as well as media – press council of Kosovo*.
Mr. Yavor Siderov, Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister for European Policy Coordination and Institutional Affairs, Bulgaria shared the Bulgarian experience by presenting the current situation in Bulgaria in the area of anti-corruption as overhaul in anti-corruption policies. The many changes introduced simultaneously are all aiming at improving the fight against corruption making it efficient and transparent process. The new five-year national Strategy contains 33 specific measures in six primary areas, with the fight against corruption at the highest governmental levels a top priority. The other five target areas include establishing an effective anti-corruption system; combating political corruption; preventing corruption in the judiciary, ministry of the interior and supervisory authorities; eliminating “petty” corruption in everyday life; and creating an environment of public intolerance to corruption. Setting up a special body that will look into assets acquired by senior state officials and possible conflict of interests in their decisions is also part of the Bulgarian Government anti-corruption programme. Legislation defining the powers of the new anti-corruption body, which should resemble the Romanian AC agency, should be approved by parliament by the middle of 2015 and It should start operating at the beginning of next year. According to the strategy, by 2020, Bulgaria hopes to be a country where petty corruption is at European Union average levels, high-level corruption does not remain unpunished, anti-corruption institutions work efficiently and have a real deterrent effect, and perceptions and experiences of individuals and companies regarding the level of corruption in Bulgaria are significantly reduced.
Mr. Goran Milenkov, President of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption of Republic of Macedonia, highlighted that the Commission is autonomous and independent in performing the duties prescribed by law and it has a status of a legal person. Responsibilities of the State Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Prevention of Corruption are: Adopting the National Programme for Prevention and Repression of Corruption and Action Plan for its implementation; Adoption of annual programs and plans for the work of the State Commission; giving opinions on draft laws of importance for the prevention of corruption; Presents proposals to the competent authorities to control the financial and material operations of political parties, unions and civic associations and foundations; On the other hand, responsibilities of the State Commission under the provisions of the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest are: Adoption of the State Program and Action Plan for the prevention and reduction of conflict of interest; give opinions on draft laws important to prevent conflicts of interest and checking declarations of interest; review of cases of conflict of public and private interests determined by law; Submitting a report on its work and on the measures and activities undertaken to fight corruption to the Assembly, and to the Government and the media, cooperation with other state bodies in the prevention of conflict of interests. Other responsibilities of the State Commission are: in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Lobbying and in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Code. Having in mind the setup of the Macedonian legal system for fighting corruption the SCPC is the main body that implements and monitors the AC Strategy and its Action plans on both state and local level.
Mr. Jaroslavs Strelcenoks, Director of Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, Latvia, spoke about Latvia’s experience in Monitoring and evaluation of AC Strategies and Action plans. The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau of Republic of Latvia (KNAB) is the coordinating body for implementing the national programme. KNAB’s strategy for 2013-15 focuses on institutions in charge of significant assets and resources, healthcare, the judiciary, law enforcement, and political party finance. KNAB works in cooperation with the Finance Police, State Border Guard and other institutions. Appropriate standards for the accountability and integrity of elected officials set an example for others, and are a crucial element in preventing high-level corruption. Apart from the Law on Prevention of the Conflict of Interest, MPs in Latvia are also subject to Parliament’s Code of Ethics. The code contains provisions against actual and apparent conflicts of interest, attempts to illegally influence decisions of state and municipal authorities, and use of confidential information for private purposes. Operational since 2003, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau has established a positive reputation. KNAB combines tasks related to prevention, investigation and education, including the control of party financing. KNAB also acts as a pre-trial investigatory body with traditional police powers and access to bank and tax databases.
Mr. Talgar Serikbayev, deputy head of the Preliminary Investigation Department at the Civil Service and Anti-Corruption Agency of Kazakhstan shared Kazakhstan experience by explaining the role of the Agency in Fighting with Economic and Corruption Crimes as the key body responsible for preventing, detecting and investigating different types of economic, financial and corruption crimes. The Agency is obliged to participate in the development of the government’s anti-corruption policy and to monitor its implementation and is responsible for organizing anti-corruption awareness-raising campaigns and anti-corruption education, in addition to ensuring cooperation with international organizations and civil society in the area of fighting corruption. The anti-corruption strategy for 2015-2025 mainly concentrates on measures preventing the conditions that foster corruption rather than fighting the consequences of corruption. It calls for an “eradication of legal nihilism in society.”According to strategy, the leading role should be given to a package of preventive measures aimed at radically reducing the level of corruption by eradicating the causes and conditions that give rise to it in the state and society. The emphasis is placed on eliminating corruption preconditions and not on fighting its consequences. The document also aims at increasing cooperation with various target groups within the civil sector and the business community, as there is a need to develop new relations between the government, citizens and businesses based on an equal and responsible partnership. An anti-corruption road map and specific action plans will be developed for each five-year period. The key goals of the strategy are: forming an anti-corruption culture; fighting corruption in the public, quasi-public and private sectors; introducing the institute of public control; preventing corruption in judiciary and law enforcement bodies; developing international cooperation in fighting corruption; and monitoring the progress of the programme.
Session 2: Trends and Challenges in Monitoring and Evaluation of National Anti-Corruption Strategies
Moderator: Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson of Regional Anti-corruption Initiative
Dr. Tilman Hoppe, anti-corruption expert, presented the Methodology on Monitoring and Evaluation of implementing National Anti-corruption Strategies and Action Plans, published by the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI).
He also presented the “Ten Principles of Effective Monitoring and Evaluation” which were endorsed by the conference as Regional Standards for effective monitoring and evaluation of ACS & APs. Further on, Mr. Hoppe’s presentation focused around three main questions/messages: Message 1: Forget about fancy indicators. Where he explained why there is no perfect indicator and the whole issue over measuring complex social phenomena such as corruption. Message 2: The methodology of monitoring is very easy. And here Mr. Hoppe explained that everything that states should do is easily explained in the ten principles of effective monitoring and evaluation. Yet the human factor and political will are much more complex phenomena that cannot be summarized in a set of principles. And the third message comes as a consequence of what is already said – Message 3: “In monitoring, the methodology is not the main problem, but how it is implemented”. With this Mr. Hoppe sent a clear statement for the states in the region and beyond, that the regional platform can do only that much as showing the best comparative approach, but it remains to the will of the individual states to bring any methodology to life by strictly following its principles. Please download the presentation of Mr. Hoppe here.
Mr. Ronan O’Laoire, Associate Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, UNODC, explained the monitoring impact of anti-corruption strategies. He started his presentation by presenting the status of UNCAC in terms of number of parties to the Convention, which is currently raised to 173 states. Also, chapters of the Convention were explained: Chapter II Preventive measures; Chapter III Criminalization & Law Enforcement; Chapter IV International Cooperation; and Chapter V Asset Recovery. Further on, Mr. O’Laoire gave the key elements of an Anti-Corruption Strategy: Starting with the drafting process, trough preliminary analysis and diagnosis to actual anticorruption policy plan, and then focusing on effective implementation in order to finish with monitoring, evaluating and reporting. He finished his presentation by putting emphasis on the education, promotion of the implementation and increase in public support. Please download the presentation of Mr. O’Laoire here.
Next on the Agenda were different National experiences in measuring effectiveness of public policies
Ms. Anneli Sihver, Advisor at the Public Administration and Civil Service Department of the Ministry of Finance of Republic of Estonia spoke about design of integrity measures based on indicators. Ms. Sihver explained the system of Coordination of Civil Service Ethics and the Coordination role of the Ministry of Finance which consists of: organizing work of Council of Ethics for Officials; developing civil service ethics infrastructure; organizing horizontal and organization-specific training courses; elaboration of central guidelines on ethical issues; advising organizations and officials on individual cases; and monitoring state of affairs of ethics via surveys. She also presented the results of the integrity survey “Roles and Attitudes in Civil Service” which was conducted among 1000 state and local government officials in an interval of 4 years, based on electronic questionnaire (19 questions + background data: age, position, type of institution, location, salary level, length of experience etc). Please download the presentation of Ms. Sihver here.
Ms. Kätlin-Chris Kruusmaa, Advisor at the Ministry of Justice of Estonia gave a presentation on Estonia experience in monitoring anti-corruption strategy and its impact. She explained that the Ministry of Justice is responsible for development and implementation of the AC Strategy, guided by the Anti-Corruption Act. The AC strategy for 2013-2020 has three broader objectives: promotion of corruption awareness; improvement of transparency of decisions and actions; and development of investigative capabilities of investigative bodies and prevention of corruption that could jeopardize national security. Speaking of assessment of the Strategy effectiveness, Ms. Kruusmaa explained that the Strategy results will be assessed on the basis of surveys – primarily the questionnaire survey “Corruption in Estonia: A survey of three target groups”; and international assessments and recommendations to Estonia – GRECO, OECD, UN, Transparency International. Please download the presentation of Ms. Kruusmaa here.
Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy from Bulgaria, gave a presentation titled: Monitoring Anti-corruption Reforms: experience from Bulgaria and the EU Anti-Corruption Report. Speaking of EU AC Report, he stated that while some states have Strategy and AC agency, others do not. Also, he pointed that some European states see themselves as above the corruption problems that others are facing. On the other hand, when the SEE Regional Anticorruption Report on AC Strategies is in question, groups of sample indicators for particular objectives of the anticorruption strategy/programme are emerging. Group 1 includes indicators for assessment of the implementation progress of specific measures, included in the anticorruption Strategy/Programme. Group 2 focuses on monitoring and assessing anti-corruption effects of strategies/programmes; and Group 3 pays particular attention on monitoring and assessing the ultimate impact of the Strategy/Programme on public service delivery. Finally, Mr. Stefanov gave examples of proposed indicators, including measures in the public sphere: prevention and counteraction of corruption in the high ranks of power; measures in the economic sphere: public procurement and concessions; civic control and cooperation with civil society: assessment of the spread of corruption and the effectiveness of anticorruption policies. Please download the presentation of Mr. Stefanov here.
Mr. Zurab Sanikidze, Director of Analytical Department at the Ministry of Justice of Georgia and Secretary of the Anti-Corruption Council of Georgia presented the monitoring and evaluation Methodology of anti-corruption strategic documents through the Georgian experience. Mr. Sanikidze gave an overview of the institutions for preventing and combating corruption in the Georgian legal system. He also presented the structure of the new Anti-Corruption Strategy & Action Plan 2015-2016 and gave overview of their strategic priorities. Speaking of the monitoring process and the monitoring Methodology, Mr. Sanikidze explained it is accomplished in three stages: 1st stage: progress report and monitoring tool; 2nd stage: focused around the monitoring report; and 3rd stage: the evaluation report, aimed at assessing achieved results and their effectiveness/efficiency as well as analysis of existing situation, identification of gaps and challenges in the Action Plan implementation process. Please download the presentation of Mr. Sanikidze here.
Mr. Tilek Saiakbaev, Chief of the Corruption prevention policy department at the Ministry of Economy in Kyrgyzstan gave a presentation on measuring effectiveness of anti-corruption measures in Kyrgyzstan. He presented the role of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) as a component of the anti-corruption policy, and a key analytical tool. Mr. Saiakbaev noted that M&E allows the government to specifically measure the success in achieving the ultimate goals in the field of combating corruption and it strengthens the credibility of the state in front of the public by a clear awareness of the results of the implementation of anti-corruption measures. Mr. Saiakbaev also explained the procedure for assessment of the ACS and its stages. Please download the presentation (in Russian) of Mr. Saiakbaev here.
Day 2
Presentation of the OECD Study “Prevention of Corruption in the Public Sector in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”
Mr. Valts Kalniņš, researcher at the Centre for Public Policy “Providus”, Latvia, presented Commentaries from countries, representatives of partner organizations on the OECD ACN Thematic Study “Prevention of Corruption in the Public Sector in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”. Mr. Kalniņš presented the objectives of the Study and the questionnaires received from governmental and non-governmental parties from 20 different countries. Many common measures and practices can be derived as commonalities and trends, and among them Mr. Kalniņš mentioned: Mandatory or optional screening of (draft) laws; some new sophisticated risk assessment methodologies; usually what is monitored is the output, but not the outcome/impact. Also, institutionalized NGO involvement and monitoring of ACS by NGOs, a lot of training and awareness-raising campaigns whose impact is often unclear, as well as fragmented and limited whistleblowers protection, are commonly found as characteristics of the fight against corruption across countries. Mr. Kalniņš also gave few examples of innovative measures, such as Verification of the implementation of integrity plans with the help of client surveys, and web-based platforms for the elaboration of AC plans in Serbia, as well as thematic evaluation missions on the ACS measures by expert teams which are conducted in Romania. Mr. Kalniņš finished his presentation by presenting examples of well-designed measures such as Single “space” to render public services in Azerbaijan and Georgia, and also by providing a list of selected policy recommendations, which among others included the recommendation to publish budget data online in such detail and form that is relevant and useful for the citizens. Please download the presentation of Mr. Kalniņš here.
Session 3: Corruption risk assessments and institutional and sectorial action plans.
Moderator: Mr. Roel Janssens, Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities/ OSCE Secretariat
Ms. Nadja Kammerzell, Customs Attaché, Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union, presented the share of revenues collected by Customs as a percentage of total revenues across countries, implicating why customs administrations are therefore particularly exposed to corruption. Ms. Kammerzell presented Legal framework for preventing and combating corruption, as well as the criteria for establishing the corruption risk. Ms. Kammerzell showed example from the so called „Risk atlas“ in Germany, as well as the main elements of the internal and external audit. In the end, she concluded that risk mapping is a valuable tool in the fight against corruption. It helps already by preventing corruption instead of being limited to the prosecution of cases. The purpose of risk assessment is to analyze the different working areas with regard to their abstract and concrete risk for corruption, which safeguards are already in place, if these are sufficient or further safeguards need to be installed. Also, often it led to the successful defense and prosecution of attempts of bribery through economic operators. Please download the presentation of Ms. Kammerzell here.
Ms. Inese Rīta, Senior Investigator at the Financial Police department of State Revenues Service in Latvia gave a presentation about the Latvian experience in Corruption prevention measures in tax service and the results achieved. She explained the main tasks of the State Revenue Service, principles of good governance in the State Revenue Service, and the process of managing corruption risks from Identification of the risk of corruption, through risk analysis and assessment of corruption risk and prioritization, to specific actions and assessment. She also listed the nine different Measures to address the opportunities for corruption, and finished her presentation by listing the Internal rules for the prevention of conflict of interest, such as the “Guidelines for the heads of structural units to prevent opportunities for corruption” and the “Guidelines on the Application of staff rotation in the structural units of the State Customs Revenue Service”. Please download the presentation (in Russian) of Ms. Rīta here.
Mr. Valentin Topoloiu, Preventing corruption officer at the Anti-corruption General Directorate of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Romania, had a presentation on Corruption risk assessment in the Ministry of Interior of Romania. He explained the role of the Anticorruption General Directorate and systematically elaborated the scheme of the organizational structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Mr. Topoloiu further explained the role of the Anti-corruption Studies and Prognosis Unit, and noted the difference between Risk – The probability of a crime being committed and the harm it may cause; and Vulnerability – weakness in the regulatory and control system of specific activities and the intention to commit a corruption crime. The Identification and description of risks as well as estimating the probability of risks materializing, assessing the impact, evaluating the efficiency of the measures in place for preventing / controlling corruption risks, assessment of risk exposure and classification and ranking of the risks according to the priority of intervention, were part of Mr. Topoloiu’s presentation. He finished the presentation by explaining the types of control measures they employ. Please download the presentation of Mr. Topoloiu here.
Mr. Audrius Bereišis, Head of Anti-Corruption Assessment Division, Special Investigation Service, Lithuania, presented to the audience the Corruption risk assessment system and achievements in Lithuania by focusing the presentation on aspects of: the corruption risk assessment system, suggestions for eliminating corruption, results of corruption prevention, and as conclusion: what Lithuania has done and what must be done in the future. Firstly, Mr. Bereišis explained the corruption risks and corruption risk factors, followed by the main causes of corruption and eventually he presented the corruption risk assessment structure i.e. its elements and results. In the second part of his presentation the main risk factors suggestions and results of eliminating corruption, in public procurement, supervision of businesses, and land management and construction, were explained. Mr. Bereišis gave a list of completed anti-corruption measures such as: one-stop shop, restrictions on the funding of political parties, the criminalization of illicit enrichment, media owners register, participants of joint stock companies register, quality management system, and anti-corruption education. He concluded by elaborating on the general trends in corruption prevention including increased opportunities for public scrutiny, reduced burden on business, publicize income and expenditure and reduction of conflict of interests. Please download the presentation of Mr. Bereišis here.
Session 4: Anti-Corruption Assessment of Draft Laws and Legal Acts
Moderator: Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of RAI Secretariat
Dr. Tilman Hoppe, Anti-Corruption Expert presented the RAI/RCC Methodology on anti-corruption assessment of laws. He started by showing the map of countries that have corruption proofing in their anti-corruption systems. Next, Mr. Hoppe showcased the cycle of anti-corruption assessment of legislation explaining the key elements of the process of proofing, such as the scope of the legislation that is/will be proofed for corruption risks, prioritizing laws, timing i.e. when or at which moment of the legislative process the proofing is done, entity in charge or which governmental body to undertake the assessment, the structure of the report produced, how to ensure compliance with the report findings, and finally online publicity – which is giving additional power of the report. In continuation of his presentation Mr. Hoppe provided examples of corruption risks including: regulatory gaps, lack of or unclear administrative procedures, or lack of procurement procedures.
Additionally he discussed the risk categories such as ambiguity – which can be ambiguity in language or ambiguity in legal coherence. He finished by explaining the “Ten Principles of Effective Corruption Proofing”. Please download the presentation of Mr. Hoppe here.
Ms. Yeongmi Kim, Assistant Director of Corruption Impact Assessment Division at Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, Korea, had a presentation on the Corruption impact assessment system of Korea. Ms. Kim focused her presentation on the meanings and functions of the corruption impact assessment – CIA in Korea, explained the background of the CIA Division, and how to work with CIA, provided examples on the process of selection of the laws to be assessed, listed the corruption-causing factors and finally presented the achievements of the Corruption impact assessment system of Korea. Ms. Kim explained that the intent behind the legal analysis is to find out and remove corruption-causing factors (CCFs) starting from the beginning of the legislation process. She also highlighted that the adequacy of the burden of compliance is related to the level of costs/efforts which comply with the legal obligations and should be appropriate or else, people would bribe officials. Also, the same applies to the adequacy of the level of sanctions. The level of sanctions should be appropriate, as if it is too lenient, then people do not stop violating, while if it is too severe, people are prone to buying off officials. Ms. Kim closed her presentation by stating the achievements of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of Korea that can proudly state the fact that the corruption impact assessment is easy to start and cheap to operate. Most officials can do it, if trained and they can always get help from experts/professionals of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of Korea. Please download the presentation of Ms. Kim here.
Ms. Maria Popescu, Head of the Legislation and Anti-corruption Expertise Division at National Anti-corruption Center of the Republic of Moldova presented the effects of anti-corruption assessment of laws on legislative process in Moldova. She started by stating that the National Anti-corruption Centre is a specialized body of the Republic of Moldova on prevention and combating corruption. Talking about the success rate of the Centre, Ms. Popescu stated that within four months of 2015, 203 files were transferred to the Centre for processing representing 76% of all legislation. In these 203 cases, 448 corruption factors have been found, of which 290 were excluded by the authors which is 65% efficiency. This figure is too low compared to results in 2014, because it was election year and very small number of laws and regulations has been approved and the efficiency is determined only after their publication. Here, too, Ms. Popescu noted that the Government in 87% of cases eliminates the corruption risks that we have discovered in the course of the anticorruption expertise and the Parliament only in 49% of cases, in other cases, neglecting the conclusions of the Centre. Ms. Popescu concluded by stating that that to a certain extent, the success of the National Anti-corruption Centre is much influenced by the fact that the division for anti-corruption assessment of legislation is working with the Office of the prosecution, on operational and investigative activities, with the Service for Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and the Intelligence Unit. An important factor is that one institution is involved in the prevention of and the fight against corruption. This cooperation gives positive results. Please download the presentation of Ms. Popescu here.
Prof. Mykola Khavroniuk, Centre for Political and Legal Reforms, Ukraine, addressed the attendees explaining the anti-corruption assessment of legislation done by the civil society in Ukraine. Prof. Khavroniuk stated that the purpose of the examinations of the normative-legal acts and draft legal acts is the identification of the factors that contribute to corruption offenses. Examination under the Act may be mandatory or public. Mandatory anti-corruption examination in Ukraine is carried out by the Ministry of Justice, and by the relevant committee of the Supreme Office of Ukraine, as well as by the National Agency for prevention of corruption. Public anti-corruption expertise on the other hand needs the initiative of individuals, associations, legal entities and is carried out by any means other than the budget. The results are subject to mandatory review by the originator of the relevant act. Talking on the results achieved, Prof. Khavroniuk noted that from November 2014 to date total 102 trained expert opinions were given. In 87% of the bills corruption risks were detected, a total of 670 found. The most common corruption-factors are collisions, latitude of discretionary powers, and Gaps in the rules of substantive law. The civil society organizations in Ukraine have developed a detailed methodology of the public anti-corruption expertise which can be downloaded from the following link: http://pravo.org.ua/protydiia-koruptsii/metodolohiia-antykoruptsiinoi-ekspertyzy.html. Please download the presentation (in Russian) of Mr. Khavroniuk here.
As next agenda item a discussion on the subjects – Which are the elements that make anti-corruption assessment of laws a successful preventive measure and why it doesn’t work in certain cases; and which could be the benefits of an effective anti-corruption assessment of laws?, emerged among the participants, preceded by Commentaries from OSCE Office in Tajikistan.
Ms. Munira Shoinbekova, from OSCE’s Office in Tajikistan, gave a speech focused on the issue how to integrate anti-corruption assessment of legislation into the deeper policy of the state. She also presented a Methodology on anti-corruption assessment of laws produced for OSCE by TI experts joint with governmental representatives and independent researchers. Questioners were used for the creation of the Methodology which is making it to be grass-roots material but still remains a challenge how to implement the Methodology and to actually integrate the anti-corruption assessment in the curriculum of the government institutions. Ms. Shoinbekova noted that supporting the integration of anti-corruption assessments into the legal policy of Tajikistan through methodologies for public servants, and through the creation of an inter-institutional working group, will remain one of the priorities of the Office over the next two years in its efforts to assist Tajikistan in fighting corruption.
Wrap-up session
Moderators: Ms. Olga Savran, Manager, OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia; Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairman, Regional Anti-corruption Initiative
During the wrap-up session, all countries and NGOs representatives, speaking in one voice for one entity, answered two main questions asked by the moderators: 1. what is the one thing that they learned, or what left most impressions on them from the conference; and 2. what is the one thing that they think should be in focus for next year’s big event on anti-corruption.
The International Meeting on Effectiveness of Corruption Prevention Measures ended with the moderators of the final session listing the outcomes of the event and possible next steps, accompanied by big thanks for the host country for the great welcoming and gratitude to the participants for their active involvement in the fruitful discussions during the two days fulfilled with questions, discussions, speeches and presentations.
For more information, please see the event Agenda and List of Participants.

Corruption Risk Assessment, Public Procurement, and Open Contracting in South Eastern Europe Regional Conference, May 26-27, 2015, Istanbul, Turkey
2015-05-26 08:00 - 2015-05-27 17:00
The regional conference on Corruption Risk Assessment, Public Procurement, and Open Contracting in South Eastern Europe, took place on 26 – 27 May, 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey. The event was organized by United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in cooperation with Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) and co-funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The conference was an opportunity to discuss the following topics: (i) development and implementation of corruption risk assessments and integrity plans in the region; (ii) public procurement: costs that we pay for corruption; and iii) public contracting initiatives. In addition, the conference will be utilized to explore potential regional initiatives in the SEE. For more information, please see the event Agenda as well as the 10 Principles on Effective Corruption Risk Assessment in Public Administration that were endorsed at the conference.
Day 1
OPENING REMARKS
Ms. Shelley Inglis – UNDP Istanbul Hub, Governance and Peace Building Proactive Leader, welcomed all the participants to Istanbul. She thanked the co-organizers of the event and highlighted the strategic direction of UNDP in addressing Corruption in the SEE.
Mr. Radu Cotici – Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative, Head of Secretariat, stated the importance of collaborative efforts in dealing with corruption and welcomed all the participants with expectations of fruitful discussions and presentations from the panelists.
Ms. Alessandra Roccasalvo – UNDP Kosovo Deputy Resident Representative welcomed all the participants and raised the point that the Conference represents an important effort to have organizations work together on a joint front.
Mr. Predrag Vujicic – RCC Justice and Home Affairs Expert, in his opening remarks welcomed all the participants and stressed the importance of addressing corruption in the context of poverty reduction.
PANEL 1: Corruption Risk Assessment and Development of Integrity Plans
Moderator Mr. Radu Cotici – in his opening remarks for the first panel Mr. Cotici welcomed all the panelists and stressed the importance of having strong preventive measures and mechanisms in the institutions.
Mr. Hasan Preteni- Anti-Corruption Agency, Kosovo*
Mr. Preteni thanked the organizers for ensuring the translation because very often his organization is facing with the issue of language barrier. Anti-Corruption Agency of Kosovo* is operational from 2002 and since this is a young organization, it is very much interested in regional cooperation and sharing of the best practices. Agency is in charge of implementation of the Anti Corruption Plan for 2014-2017. In 2014, the Plan specified 270 measures and almost all have already been implemented. Progress reports are made available to the public. Risk Assessment is one of the actions that is being implemented in public sector. Review of the AC Plan is underway to revise and better define upcoming activities. Mr. Preteni urged all present organizations to plan but also to deliver.
Ms. Olga Tiju – National Anti-Corruption Center, Moldova
Ms. Tiju informed the participants that Moldova has been carrying out Corruption Risk Assessment since 2008 starting with self-assessment of the Center. The Center collects information of risk assessments performed in the entire public sector. What is clear from the experiences that the organization gained in the last 7 years is that people working in public sector must be educated about the potential risks. Ms. Tiju concluded her presentation by stating that introducing adequate legislation is important, but implementation and close monitoring is as equally important. For more information, please download Ms. Tiju’s presentation here.
Ms. Dragana Krunic – Anti-Corruption Agency, Serbia
Ms. Krunic focused her presentation on sharing the experiences of Serbia in risk assessment. Serbia started with development of integrity plans in 2005. In the years that followed, approximately 2500 public institutions developed their integrity plans and Agency analyzed the received information. One of the key areas that were recognized as especially prone to corruption is Ethics and Personal Integrity. Implementation reports are produced every three years. Ms. Krunic concluded by stating that the Agency will continue to play a key role in identifying and mitigating the corruption risks in public sector through its consultative and corrective role and competencies, and that risk assessment is a continues and dynamic process. For more information please download Ms. Krunic’s presentation here.
Ms. Rebeca Angela Hagea – Anti Corruption General Directorate, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Romania
Ms. Hagea focused her presentation on IT solutions for assessing and managing corruption risks. She presented the experiences of Romania in application and benefits of the introduced system. The introduced IT system has enabled better communication, strengthened analytical and monitoring capacities and enabled more comprehensive reporting. For more information please download Ms. Hagea’s presentation here.
Mr. Bojan Bajic – Net Consulting, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mr. Bajic opened his presentation by presenting his Company and explaining how it is possible for a private company to perform risk assessment in public institutions. Net Consulting implements ethics methodologies in private and public sector in line with the recently published ISO Standard ISO19600. The methodology has 7 steps: corruption risk assessment, defining ethical rules, setting up compliance procedures, educating staff, testing of the staff, introducing hot-line for whistleblowers, and introduction of other preventive measures. The Company offers a combination of IT solutions, whistleblowing experts and ethic-line system producing innovative tailor-made solutions for organizations. Speaking of their clients clients, Net Consulting is looking for preconditions in order to proceed with implementation of methodology: clear commitment from the top management, dedication to raise ethical and compliance culture among employees, and clear will and inclusion of all-levels of employees. Mr. Bajic finished his presentation by pointing out that it is crucial to include all levels of management, putting a special emphasis on middle-management in order for an institution to have their self-assessment credible.
SESSION 2: Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology for South Eastern Europe
Moderator Mr. Radu Cotici – in his opening remarks Mr. Cotici introduced the process of development of Regional Risk Assessment Methodology and gave an overview of the key challenges. He introduced Ms. Liljana Selinsek, Anti Corruption Expert from Slovenia who developed Regional Risk Assessment Methodology with RAI and RCC.
Ms. Selinsek commenced her presentation by reflecting on value of Corruption Risk Assessment as a preventive tool and how prevention is notoriously difficult to be measured. Developed Methodology reflects on CRA but on Sector RA and targeted ad-hoc RA. She reflected on the fact that some countries have a more developed risk assessment than others such as Moldova and Serbia. However conducted analysis has indicated that even in the same country system is not equally effective and successful in different institutions.
Q&A
Franchesco Checchi UNDP Regional Office raised a question: how is audit linked to risk assessment? Ms. Selisnek emphasized the importance of extending the classical scope of audit to include not only establishing the as-is status but to have audit reports expanded to analyze and evaluate deeper presented information and data.
Following open discussion, the 10 Principles on Effective Corruption Risk Assessment in Public Administration were endorsed.
PANEL 3: Public Procurement – Costs we pay for corruption
Moderator Alessandra Roccasalvo, UNDP Kosovo
Ms. Roccasalvo opened the session by stressing out that countries in the region need effective tools and systems that are realistic and that can be monitored. Public contracts are not awarded fairly and procurement is an area especially prone to corruption in any country.
Mr. Tomo Miljic – State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedure, Montenegro, gave an overview of the current legislative framework in Montenegro regarding Public Procurement. For more information please download Mr. Miljic’s presentation (in Montenegrin) here.
Mr. Faik Ispahiu – Internews Kosova
Mr. Ispahiu presented the work of his organization and key projects. Most prominent activity is the media platform in Kosovo* www.kallxo.com started 10 years ago with the mission to provide 360° approach to corruption that will allow citizens to report cases of corruption that are than taken on by the organization who then reviews the cases, and reports them to authorities. Organization also developed online portal www.gazetajnk.com known as the leader of investigative reporting in Kosovo*. For more information please download presentation here.
Ms. Lorena Sander – UNDP HQ Head of Bureau of Management
Ms. Sander focused her presentation on the efforts UN is undertaking to address corruption risks in the organization. She opened her address by quoting UN Secretary General “vulnerable suffer first and suffer worst”. Bureau is determined to go beyond the plans and pacts and make real change. In the efforts to prevent corruption in procurement UN established Vendor Review Committee and introduced new strict and fair policies. For more information please download presentation here.
Mr. Vlatko Naumovski – Regional School of Public administration (ReSPA)
Mr. Naumovski presented the work of ReSPA in the region. In 2014 organization established public procurement working group focusing on collection and distribution of experiences and good practices. For more information please download presentation here.
Mr. Munir Podumljak – Partnership for Social Development, Croatia
Mr. Podumljak opened his presentation by reflecting on the definition of corruption, more specifically on the lack of adequate and generally accepted definition. First part of the presentation focused on Croatian experiences in curbing corruption in public procurement. There have been many attempts made by the Government and respective authorities that failed or seemed successful but when analyzed showed little impact. In the second part of the presentation, Mr. Podumljak elaborated on the newly introduced system of monitoring public procurement contracts on all levels of Government in Croatia. It is digitalized database where all information is generated in electronic form and there are no papers produced in the process. For more information please download presentation here.
Q&A
Ms. Dzinita Foco – Head of Public Procurement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, commented the presentations stressing that it seems that all public procurement is corrupt. She stated that no system will be good enough if there are no trained professionals and if service lacks moral and ethics. Discussion followed after her comments whereas panelists concurred with Ms. Foco’s comments and shared similar examples from their countries and organizations.
PANEL 4: Open Contracting
Moderator Mr. Franchesco Checchi– UNDP Regional Centre Istanbul
Mr. Checchi moderated the last session of the day by giving a short introduction to open contracting in terms of process and procedures.
Mr. Felipe Estefan – Open Contracting World Bank
Mr. Estefan presented the work that World Bank is doing on open contracting. He opened his presentation by stating that 9.5 trillion dollars in lost annually to procurement fraud and corruption. If only one percent could be saved, it would have an enormous impact. World Bank has established Open Contracting Partnership – initiative that established 10 Open Contracting Principles setting the Open Contracting Data Standards. Mr. Estefan presented examples from Mexico, Georgia, Philippines and Nepal. For more information please download presentation here.
Ms. Eva Vorozova – Fair Play Alliance Slovakia
Ms. Vorozova opened the presentation with an overview of the latest changes in Slovakian public procurement legislation. All public contracts must be published within 90 days of signing or they are considered not viable. Also other stages of contracting must be available to the public. Ms. Vorozova stressed that after 4 years of implementation of the Law, 1/5 municipalities still fails to publish compulsory information and 1/10 do not publish invoices. For more information please download presentation here.
Ms. Mimoza Kusari Lila – Mayor of Gjakova/Đakovica
Ms. Kusari Lila opened her presentation by saying few words about herself and her municipality. She is the first female mayor elected in Kosovo*, two terms of office. Upon her arrival to the office, municipality issued an integrity plan, first of its kind in Kosovo*. In 2011, Municipality opened its data to public. The objectives are to become fist digital municipality in Kosovo*.
Ms. Dorina Cinari – Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Albania
Ms. Cinari presented her organization as a global coalition in which governments, companies and civil society work together for transparency and accountability in management of revenues from natural resources. Member states supply reports annually. For more information please download presentation here.
Brief Q&A session followed where all panelists participated.
Day 2
PANEL 5: Possibilities for Regional Initiatives in the South Eastern Europe
Moderator: Mr. Predrag Vujicic, Regional Cooperation Council
Mr. Vujicic opened the second day of the conference stressing the importance of strengthening regional collaboration between anti-corruption actors; this session explored the potential initiatives in South Eastern Europe. He invited International organizations and donors to briefly present their work up to date.
Mr. Francesco Checchi from the UNDP Regional Hub Istanbul presented the work on anti-corruption that Regional Centre is doing. He also invited colleagues from national offices in the region to present state of affairs in their respective countries.
Mr. Thomas Dedeurwaerdere, UNDP Brussels
Mr. Dedeurwaerdere started his presentation by stating that EU is an external driver of anti-corruption efforts in South East Europe. He made a clear link between economic growth and anti-corruption schemes. However countries in the South East Europe all have very negative annual progress reports produced by the Commission. Numerous recommendations presented in the reports are usually not complied with or partly complied with. Region as a whole is seen as especially prone to corruption.
Ms. Jasna Panjeta, Program and Outreach Officer, RAI
Ms. Panjeta presented the key work performed by Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative in the last two years as well as plans for the future and activities that are already in the pipeline. In terms of possibilities for cooperation she stressed that RAI is looking to network with other organizations, and is looking for partners, experts and funding. For more information please download presentation here.
Ms. Zorana Markovic, Regional Advisor on Anti-corruption, UNODC
Ms. Markovic presented the work of UNODC in the region. She focused her presentation on UNCAC and its role in eradicating corruption in the South East Europe. Ms. Markovic was discouraged by the fact that in the day 1 of the conference no one mentioned UNCAC although all the countries ratified the Convention. She concluded her presentation by inviting participants of the Conference to take a more active role in monitoring and evaluation of UNCAC Declaration.
Ms. Cornelia Abel, Transparency International, Regional Office for SEE
Ms. Abel opened her presentation by stating the mission of TI “all persons to live in fair societies”. She then proceeded with presenting the work of TI in the region. She also explained the legal status of the main office and TI national chapters in the region. TI is the biggest nongovernmental organization fighting corruption in the world. In the region, there are numerous activities that TI works on and all partners are welcomed. For more information please download presentation here.
Mr. Stefan Karaboev, SEE Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI)
Mr. Karaboev opened his presentation by presenting the SELDI network its structure and members. The focus of his presentation was the study SELDI produced titled Corruption and Anti-corruption Dynamics 2002 – 2014. The participants of the Conference were presented with some interesting findings and trends from the SELDI Regional Anti-Corruption Study. For more information please download presentation here.
Mr. Edmond Dunga, Administrator/Project Advisor at Council of Europe
Mr. Dunga focused his presentation on the Council of Europe technical assistance and cooperation against economic crime related activities in beneficiary regions and countries including South Eastern Europe. He presented organizational structure and mechanisms of project implementation focusing on the methods as well as monitoring data collected. For more information please download presentation here.
CLOSING SESSION
Mr. Rastislav Vrbensky, Manager, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub
Thanked all the participants for coming to Istanbul. Regional Hub was honored to host such a big event. Mr. Vrbensky stressed that cooperation with national governments and cooperation on regional level is extremely powerful tool in anti-corruption and must be on the agenda in the future. He also invited present organizations to count on Regional Hub support and partnership.
Ms. Alessandra Roccasalvo, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Kosovo
Ms. Roccasalvo thanked everyone for their participation and inputs. She also pointed out that good information and quality data is the key to setting the targets correctly “what you cannot track, you cannot measure”.
Mr. Gazmend Turdiu, Deputy Secretary General, RCC
Mr. Turdiu greeted all the participants and used the opportunity to present the tool Regional Cooperation Council developed called SEE Development Score Board. The tool is interactive web platform that can be utilized for analysis and better understanding of different development trends. One of the points Mr. Turdiu raised is that all organizations and society in general needs to work more on making people aware of the risks of corruption.
Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of the Secretariat, RAI
Thanked all the participants for active participation and encouraging work whishing everyone success with their anti-corruption efforts. Mr. Radu invited all the representatives to explore further opportunities for cooperation and partnerships with peers in the region.
For more information, please see the event Agenda and List of Participants.

10th Summer School for Junior Anti-Corruption Practitioners from South Eastern Europe – June 01-05, 2015 – Varna, Bulgaria
2015-06-01 08:00 - 2015-06-05 17:00
Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI), in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and National Institute for Justice from Bulgaria co-organized the annual Summer School for Junior Anti-corruption Practitioners from South Eastern Europe in Sts. Constantine and Helena (Varna), Bulgaria.
This annual event is an intensive five-day program designed for familiarizing participants with contemporary insights in selected areas of corruption theory and anti-corruption practice and it took place for the 10th consecutive year. It was focused on the need to enhance the capacity of the authorities in charge with Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery. The young practitioners coming from different countries region wide had the opportunity to increase their knowledge on the subject they work on. The participants also had the occasion to establish informal professional links between themselves, since regional cooperation proves to be especially important in the field of asset recovery and financial investigations.
During the official opening of the Summer School, Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of the RAI Secretariat expressed an honor and pleasure to organize the Summer School for 10 consecutive years. He also pointed out that RAI is honored and grateful to have highly esteemed trainers, whom participants will have a chance to learn from during the course of the event. Mr. Cotici concluded by stating that the purpose of the event is not only sharing knowledge and enhancing capacities, but also creating links and networks that will serve to all participants in their future work and endeavors.
Mr. Dragomir Yordanov, Director of the National Institute of Justice expressed pleasure to host the event, emphasizing the importance of the topic of asset recovery for the current moment. He pointed out his confidence that participants will have a chance to learn a lot during the week from the trainers who will add value and share their expertise and knowledge.
Trainers, coming from institutions as The Prosecutor’s Office in Torino, Italy, Basel Institute on Governance, London Metropolitan Police, Institute for Austrian and European Economic Criminal Law, lectured on topics related to international instruments for recovering criminal assets, mutual legal assistance for the purpose of seizing and confiscating assets, returning of confiscated assets, as well as offshore jurisdictions and international money movements.
The event was closed with the final evaluation test, followed by graduation ceremony.
RAI Secretariat expresses its gratitude to

Mr. Alberto Perduca
Mr. Pedro Gomes Pereira
Dr. Tilman Hoppe
Mr. Lawrence Day
Mr. John Burrow
Mag. Markus Hoecher

for their invaluable contributions to the event.

International Whistleblowing Research Network Conference, June 18-19, 2015, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2015-06-18 08:00 - 2015-06-19 17:00
International Whistleblowing Research Network Conference, organized by the International Whistleblowing Research Network and administered by Middlesex University – London, UK, in collaboration with the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI), and sponsored by Blueprint for Free Speech, took place on 18 – 19 June, 2015 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Please check event Agenda and List of Delegates for more details.
The second day of the event brought a special session dedicated to the region of Southeast Europe. The session was titled: Whistleblowing in Southeast Europe – cooperative planning session for governments and NGOs. This session, organized by RAI and Blueprint for Free Speech, was dedicated to the developments in the field of whistleblowing in RAI member countries and on finding possible links between the Governments and the NGO sector. During the session, RAI publication, Whistleblower Protection in Southeast Europe – An Overview of Laws, Practice, and Recent Initiatives, developed in cooperation with Blueprint for Free Speech was presented. For more details, please see this session’s Agenda and List of Participants.
Day 1
OPENING REMARKS

Prof. David Lewis (moderator) – Middlesex University, UK
Welcomed all the gusts and colleagues. He pointed out there are over 70 participants from 30 countries. Acknowledging South East Europe as a vibrant region in the field of WB protection, the Conference has moved from its traditional location in London to Sarajevo.
Mr. Marinko Cavara – President of the Federation of BiH
Mr. Cavara stated his excitement with the Conference taking place in Sarajevo. He raised the point of being member of the working group for State WB Law that is in force in BiH. He stressed his commitment to pass the Law at the Federal level as well. Mr. Cavara invited all experts to help FBiH in this process with providing comparative expertize and best practices.
Mr. Davor Dubravica – Chairperson of RAI
Mr. Dubravica welcomed all the participants by stresing out the importance of the topic that has become for the region of Southeast Europe. The fact that whistleblowing and whistleblowers protection is an important and demanding area of work, was the reason why RAI engaged into projects related to whistleblower protection. Mr. Dubravica finished his speech by stating happiness of RAI to support the event and to welcome all participants in Sarajevo, where the Secretariat of the RAI is located.
Presentation by Mr. A.J. Brown, Professor of Public Policy & Law, Centre for Governance & Public Policy , Griffith University, Australia; and Director of Transparency International Australia
Organizational Procedures and Communication Practices to Encourage Internal Whistleblowing. Learning from Australian Experience, Mr. Brown stated that whistleblower protection is increasingly important for detection and rectification of wrongdoing in and by organisations, and enforcement of citizen and worker rights. Howeve, the form of legal protection remains contentious, with the search for ‘ideal’ or ‘model’ laws complicated by the diversity of approaches attempted by jurisdictions. Research covered 115 different Australian public sector organizations at all levels of Government to establish gaps and points for improvements. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Presentation by Ms. Suelette Dreyfuss, Executive Director of Blueprint for Free Speech, moderated by Mr. Mark Worth, Blueprint for Free Speech
Whistleblower protection laws in G20 Countries:the methodology of international comparisons of legislative and institutional context.
Mark Worth also informed the participants of the new South East Europe anti corruption coalition SEAC in development. The coalition is envisaged to gather NGO, activists, new media, jurnalists and governments representatives.
Presentation by Ms. Constanze von Soehnen, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, Corruption and Economic Crime Branch, UNODC
UNODC prepared the Anti-Corruption Tool Kit is to help governments, organisations and the public to understand the insidious nature of corruption, the damaging effects it can have on the welfare of entire nations and their peoples. Ms. Soehnen also gave an overview of UNCAC and the review process that is undeway, with some 100 countries already being reviewed. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Presentation of Dr. Kate Kanny – Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland
Whistleblowing in banks and the role of time – presentation was focused on time as a social constraint in the life of a whistleblower and related time as a resource in people’s construction of self-esteem. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Presentation by Mr. Radu Ionescu, PhD Candidate at University of Bucharest
Whistleblowing as risk reduction for critical infrastructure. Mr. Ionescu presented the role that whistleblowing can have in disaster management. The organizations establish risks on the basis of algorithms that are fed inaccurate information. Inadequate preparation leads to high risk of failing therefore WB can become key in flagging the risks. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Presentation by Mr. David Lewis, Middlesex University and Mr. Wim Vandekerckhove, University of Greenwich
Whistleblowing in the NHS: lessons from the qualitative and quantitative research for the Francis Review
NHS whistleblowing report based on survey conducted by Professor David Lewis and colleagues from Middlesex University with over 20,000 NHS employees. ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ review of whistleblowing in the NHS was published in February 2015. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Presentation by Ms. Angie Ash, – Whistleblowing in the wind? An ethical response to contexts of complicity in health and social care. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Presentation by Ms. Marianna Fotaki, Professor of Business Ethics at Warwick Business School: Whistleblowing and mental health: a new weapon for retaliation?
Presentation by Dr. Richard Hyde, Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham, and Dr. Ashley Savage, Senior Lecturer in Law, Northumbria University – Whistleblowing without borders: the risks and rewards of transnational whistleblowing networks. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Presentation by Ms. Flutura Kusari – Whistleblower’s rights in international missions: the case of Maria Bamieh and EULEX Leaks. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Day 2

Presentation by Mr. Tom Devine Legal Director for the Government Accountability Project, USA – Whistleblowing and the national security loophole
Mr. Devine elaborated on “sensitive jobs loophole” metastasizing rapidly across the US federal government.Agency by agency, they’re starting to make all their employees sensitive, noncritical sensitive. Organisations where there are some of the most significant whistleblowing disclosures, will all be noncritical sensitive. The government is being transformed from the rule of law to a national security spoils system. Mr. Devine gave insightful examples from FBI and other organisations.
Presentation by Mr. Mark Worth, Blueprint for Free Speech – Introduction to afternoon session on presentation of publication of Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative – Whistleblower protection in South East Europe: an overview of laws, practice and recent initiatives. Mr. Worth opened floor to representatives of different NGOs coming from SEE who attended the conference to present the state of affairs regarding whistleblower protection in their countries.
Presentation by Ms. Lenka Frankova, NGO Bez Korupce Checz Republic – Presentation of the report About Us With Us
Analyses of whistleblower protection in the V4 countries and Estonia point to shortcomings in the legal framework that make it very difficult to provide adequate or effective protection of whistleblowers reporting unethical or illegal behaviour. The deficiencies of these laws have been analysed extensively. Despite that, all countries show a certain effort to strengthen the laws on whistleblower protection. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Whistleblowing in Southeast Europe – cooperative planning session for governments and NGOs
After opening remarks by Ms. Suellete Dreyfuss, Executive Director of Blueprint for Free Speech and Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson of Regional Anti-corruption Initiative, this session started by presentation of Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative’s publication Whistleblower Protection in Southeast Europe – An Overview of Laws, Practice, and Recent Initiatives. The presentation was made by the author of the publication, Mr. Mark Worth, Blueprint for Free Speech.
This interactive session attended by representatives of governments and NGOs from SEE was an opportunity to share experiences across countries, discuss all challenges, opportunities, and effectiveness of measures for protection of whistleblowers. Having in mind that countries from SEE are currently extensively working on the laws and other activities related to whistleblowing and protection of whistleblowers, this was a great opportunity to learn more on different approaches to this issue, pros and cons of different measures, and deliberate on all obstacles they have. All participants agreed that discussions of this kind on a regional level are extremely important and that it opens door for sharing invaluable experiences, knowledge and facilitates cooperation between and across countries. Presence of NGO representatives made discussions even more fruitful, as they shared their view, challenged governments’ representatives with questions and presented their opinion on the activities taken by governments.
PART 1
Moderator – Mr. Davor Dubravica, RAI Chairperson
Mr. Dubravica opened floor for countries’ representatives to present the state of affairs in their countries and possibly reflect on the content of the publication. He raised two questions for speakers to reflect on:

What do you see as main challenges and opportunities regarding whistleblowing in your country?
How could these challenges be overcome and these opportunities maximised?

Romania: Ms. Otilia Filip, Head of the Projects Implementation Unit at Anti-Corruption General Directorate, Ministry of Internal Affairs, presented the situation in Romania by giving a short presentation. For more information, please download the presentation here.
Bulgaria: Mr. Yavor Siderov, Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs, stated that Bulgaria is breaking new grounds on whistleblowing. First Law is passed and Strategy for implementation is developed. This is not a major step in a right direction but it is a building block for the future. He also raised cultural context as an important factor to be considered in Southeast Europe.
Albania: Mr. Idlir Peci, Deputy Minister of Justice, informed about the draft law that is currently being developed in Albania with assistance of experts from University of Utrecht, Netherlands. Albania passed the anti-corruption law in 2006 but it is deemed not to be effective since there was not a single case trailed under the provisions of this Law. The new Law is with the line Ministries for consultation at the moment and it is expected to go to Parliament mid June 2015.
The session was joined by Dr. Srecko Sladoljev, whistleblower from Croatia who told his story. He was at the Steering Board of a Public Health Institution when H1N1 virus broke out worldwide. He had denounced the lack of transparency in Institution’s decision-making regarding a purchase of virus vaccine, and said he thought the situation was likely to cause severe harm to both the company and the public, as the producer was accepting no responsibility for the potential undesirable effects of the vaccine. After warning the owner and the general public about these risks, Dr. Sladoljev was then suspended and banned from entering the Institution, with the explanation that he revealed a business secret about the contract between the company and the Board. Mr Sladoljev finished his presentation by stating that, although he had been subject to pressure and ordeal, he would repeat the same process again due to his conscience and commitment to public health.
PART 2
Moderator – Mr. Bojan Bajic, Coordinator of Whistleblowers Protection Programme, NGO LUNA
Mr. Bajic gave an introduction to the discussion by stating that whistleblower protection Laws in Southest Europe are anti-retaliation laws and as such represent the first generation of laws. Consequently, the second generation of laws must be about rewards systems as well as protection. He asked the speakers to focus on concrete measures that they deem efficient in addressing whistleblower protection. The question raised for participants to reflect on was:

What are the most effective measures to protect whistleblowers and the main challenges in their enforcement?

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mr. Mevludin Dzindo, Assistant Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the Coordination of the Fight against Corruption, gave a short overview of the 3-step process for granting a “protected whistleblower” status in BiH. A whistleblower in BiH can make a request towards the Agency or any other relevant body regardless of whether the employee claims that detrimental actions have been taken or only suspects that they could be taken within the organization. The most challenging step for the Agency is to decide if the whistleblower request was made in a good faith or not.
Mr. Dzindo presented a recent success story from BiH, first of this kind in the region. Namely, an employee at the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH, after reporting corruption in the organization, got his contract with the organization terminated as a result of internal disciplinary proceeding. The Agency, who had granted the status of a protected whistleblower to this person in 2014, has determined that this was a detrimental action committed against the protected whistleblower and gave an instruction to the organization to reinstate the employee in accordance with Law on Protection of whistleblowers in the institutions of BiH and in accordance with the Handbook on granting the whistleblower status in BiH. As a result, the organization acted in accordance with the instruction, and the employee has been reinstated, and consequently retaliation against him was prevented. In the end, Mr. Dzindo stated that in BiH, financial penalties as a preemptive measure have proved to be effective measure in protection of whistleblowers.
Montenegro: Ms. Grozdana Lakovic and Ms. Marina Micunovic, Senior Advisors at Directorate for Anti-Corruption Initiative, pointed out similar context of Montenegrin Law on Prevention of Corruption with BiH Law on Protection of Whistleblowers which is administrative protection or protection in administrative procedure. Other main characteristics of MNE Law on Prevention of Corruption (adopted in December 2014 and will enter into force in January 2016) which regulates also whistleblowers’ protection are: broad definition of WB as any natural or legal person that report the threats to public interest that indicate the existence of corruption; protection that is guaranteed for broad spectrum of reported irregularities or unethical behavior (due to broad definition of threats to public interest that indicate the existence of corruption); establishment of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption as an external independent body for reporting irregularities and protection of WBs; possibility to report threats to public interests directly to the Agency without mandatory internal reporting to the organization which would have to precede reporting to the Agency. In that way, the retaliation against whistleblower could be prevented; reporting in “good faith” in the law is presumed and it does not need additional verification.
Serbia: Ms. Marijana Sarac, Adviser at the Ministry of Justice, and Ms. Maja Matic, Chief of Division in charge of complaints at the Anti-corruption Agency, gave a brief presentation of the current state in Serbia. Ms. Sarac stated that they have new Whistleblowers Protection law that is in force since recently. The law will provide whistleblowers in Serbia with more effective judicial protection, and speed up the response of the state and society. They have developed a Handbook for Enforcing the Law on Whistleblower Protection and they are currently in the process of training and licensing judges on the new law. Ms. Sarac pointed out that 900 judges have already gone through the training process.. New legislation provides that persons who report corruption or any abuse in connection with their employment, regardless of the status they have in the organization, cannot suffer any detrimental action. In case the whistleblower claims a detrimental action, there is a new procedural rule for judicial protection of whistleblowers according to which the burden of proof is on the employer to prove that the activity is not in causal relation to whistleblowing.
Croatia: Ms. Maja Baricevic, Head of the Anti -Corruption Sector, Ministry of Justice, explained the legal framework related to whistleblower protection in Republic of Croatia – stressing out that currently there is no single law that prescribes all instruments for WB protection. Having that said, she underlined, that WB are protected through provisions of the various Acts: Criminal Act, Labour Act, Criminal procedure Act, Civil Service Act, Trade Act and Data Protection Act.
Mrs. Baricevic stressed out some of most important WB protection instruments – banning of the firing of employees that reports the corruption and putting the burden of proof to the employers. Also, Criminal Act is prescribing up to three year punishment for the employer who fires worker for reporting corruption.
Currently as a part of developing new AC strategic framework (strategy was adopted in February 2015 and AP is expected to be adopted in July), she pointed out that AC Strategy and accompanying Action plan envisages activity that has the aim to analyze existing legal framework and practices to protect WBs. As an outcome of these activities, is is expected to determine if there should be changes in legal framework, or it will be necessary to take institutional strengthening measures only.
CLOSING REMARKS
Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative Secretariat, thanked Blueprint for Free Speech and all the participants on excellent presentations and discussions. Mr. Cotici announced future work and activities of RAI in the field of whistleblower protection.
Mr. Mark Worth, Blueprint for Free Speech, thanked everyone for coming and their invaluable inputs. Mr. Worth stressed the importance of taking the positive changes in the region as a basis for developing the work further.

15 Years of reforms: What worked best? Chisinau, 28 September 2015
2015-09-28 08:00 - 17:00
On the occasion of 15 years of Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI),in cooperation with with National Anti-corruption Center of Moldova, RAI Secretariat organized a Regional Conference titled 15 Years of reforms: What Worked Best), in Chisinau, Moldova on September 28, 2015.
More than 60 experts in the field of anti-corruption, media freedoms and justice as well as states and NGOs representatives, all friends of RAI, gathered to review the results of reforms on anti-corruption in Southeast Europe during the past 15 years. The discussion revolved around the challenges faced and lessons learned.
The discussion took place in three panels followed by closing remarks:
Panel 1: Reforming Anti-corruption in SEE: Acknowledging Main Bottlenecks
Panel 2: Ethics and Integrity – a Challenge for Corruption Prone Areas
Panel 3: Innovation vs Classics in Preventing Corruption
Opening of the Conference
Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of Regional Anti-corruption Initiative Secretariat as a moderator of the first session opened the Conference and wished a warm welcome and fruitful day to all the participants.
Opening statements were also made by:
Mr. Viorel Chetraru, Director, National Anti-corruption Center, Moldova: congratulated to RAI on its 15th anniversary. Mr. Chetraru stressed that he is especially proud that Moldova is hosting the Conference. Moldova is in the drafting stage of new national strategy and there are several regional issues and common interests that we identified such as whistle- blowers protection and asset disclosure and conflict of interest. NAC will be working with RAI in these fields. NAC is committed to RAI and regional efforts to curb corruption.
Mr. Corneliu Gurin, Prosecutor General, Moldova: Issue of corruption is a priority in Moldova. This is not an easy struggle since in corruption you fight against yourself. We need all the help and specially cooperation in the region. Our colleagues from the region can share their good practices and experiences.
Mr. Vladimir Cebotari, Minister of Justice, Moldova: great occasion to be in Chisinau celebrating 15 years of RAI. Conservatives estimates of World Bank state that 1 trillion dollars go to corruption annually. Eradication of corruption is our goal. Justice system reform will take us to fair and efficient system. We are developing a zero tolerance culture. Introducing new mechanisms for transparent system. Looking forward to very active and in depth discussion with colleagues from the region
Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson, Regional Anti-corruption Initiative: Thanked Moldova Authorities for hosting the event. Mr. Dubravica stressed that all the countries went through a period of legislative stampede and it was difficult for all segments of Governments. All of our countries suffer pressures from inside and from the outside. The swift reform processes often show lack of knowledge as well as lack of capacities and funds. RAI role was positive in this process – sharing the experiences, identifying common issues and developing common approaches. Curbing corruption never stops and we need to learn how to identify new challenges. RAI wants discussions to reach common ideas and common conclusions about what worked best in the Region.
Panel 1: Reforming Anti-corruption in SEE: Acknowledging Main Bottlenecks
This Session looked into the main barriers that policy makers from SEE encountered when designing and implementing anti-corruption reforms. The obstacles vary from weak political will or lack of capacities, to the independency of anti-corruption actors and (ab)using human rights as an argument to protect the corrupt.
Vasile Botnaru, Director, Radio Free Europe, Moldova – Moderator: Opened the session welcoming the guests and provided a unique poetic insight into the corruption phenomena in the region.
Mr. Constantine Palicarsky, UNODC presented the key notes: UNODC conducted an overview of anti-corruption measures and reforms in the region. Last 10 years showed us that we need to be even more decisive and determined in our work.
We need to learn from the past, countries that failed to establish solid governance structure have disappeared. We forgot that it can happen. Preventing corruption enables functioning of the government. Member states of UN understand this, and as a result of this understanding, UNCAC came as a last instrument in a set of instruments in the Region and worldwide. 177 parties signed UNCAC to date. We have 6th Summit of Countries in November in St. Petersburg.
Transparency is a broad concept and must be clarified. Countries in the region are at their third and fourth generation AC strategies. Some produced results, some not. Why? There was an assumption that if we produce the AC Strategy, or new law, or new Institution there will be drop in corruption. This was a wrong assumption. The real challenge is how to make old institutions aware of their needs to introduce AC measures. Mr. Palicarsky provided more interesting insights and conclusions available in the Presentation.
Discussion proceeded with:
Mr. Idlir Peci, Deputy Minister of Justice Albania: Reflected on the UNODC Presentation. Poor and bad implementation of strategies is a serious danger. Albania is also facing the same problem. Information from line ministries gets collected and strategies are developed, usually poorly budgeted and numerous problems appear. In Albania, Ministry of State on Local Issues holds the competency over curbing corruption. They are capable and skilled Institution, but it is not enough for one institution to be handling and holding all the responsibility. Curbing corruption must be a collaborative effort with measures and actions assigned and adopted by all state Institutions. Further on, Mr. Peci touched upon an issue regarding Anti-Corruption Agencies that can be seen as a pressure point. Independence of AC Institutions can sometimes be misused or misconstrued. AC Agencies can be seen isolated for purpose – so they don’t do the job properly or so that they can be used as a pressure point.
Decentralizing administration also decentralizes corruption. Albania is seeing the same problem – there are about 300 municipalities in Albania and the country is undergoing public administration reform and the number will decrease to 60+. State has also established a public administration school but the key is to have a stable solid administration so that the turnover is not as frequent.
Finally, Mr. Peci referred to disciplinary measures – focus should not be on the disciplinary actions but on prosecution, although the whole machinery of criminal law is much more difficult to move. Prevention is very important as well as enforcement. Fear is the best guardian of the vineyard.
Ms. Cristina Tarna, Deputy Director, National Anti-corruption Centre, Moldova: Agencies must uphold independence and instruments for curbing corruption. UNCAC has set ground rules and even some standards in this respect. Curbing corruption is indeed two steps forward one step backwards process and sometimes even vice versa. Politicians adopt strategies only if they are honest, stupid or under pressure. Since the first two are rare, we are left with having to create pressure or use opportunities when there is an outside pressure created. Establishing the National Integrity Commission was also EU conditionality, meaning pressure. Than process deteriorated. The step forward was restoring the independence of NAC and restoring the NIC competences was also pressured process. Moldova had a new Government in 2009, but the reforms took place 3 years later, there was neither drive, nor political will left to proceed with the implementation. In 2014-2015 – package of AC laws was passed in Parliament.
Ms. Tarna also referred to a human rights perspective, since it can be used as an excuse to diminish the strength of AC policy, this must be taken in consideration when policies are developed. A balance must be found between the best interest of the citizens and human rights.
Mr. Cornel-Virgiliu Calinescu, Ministry of Justice, Romania: Regretfully there is no magic stick for corruption. However, most of the things don’t need to be reinvented and other countries need to be looked at. In Romania we now have a declaration of political will to address corruption. Also, the AC authorities are prompted to achieve the objectives. Having gone without track record in started / settled / sent to court and finally sentenced cases, Romania now has a solid track record, and it will be strengthening further in the future.
“I know you do this like we do, we need to be sharing the experiences and knowledge so that we can learn why there are positive outcomes and not so positive outcomes in different countries.”
Mr. Calinescu also stressed that corruption and crime is done with money and for money. The Government must be equipped to address corruption. Romania recently had a forensic study conducted with persons serving time for corruption. Survey was conducted among 1300 convicted individuals, 300 of them were in prisons and they were able to speak to them. They determined that there is an imbalance of legal instruments and culture and personal values. People don’t see the corruption as a serious issue, they do not feel guilty for speaking to their friend judge, or for hiring their daughter to be their secretary etc. This perception is changing since Romania has recently had convictions regarding cases of nepotism in public office. This will send the message to all public officials in Romania and hopefully move things forward.
Mr. Calinescu finally touched upon the issue of recovery of assets concluding that corruption raises money, this money raises more money and we need to find ways to address it effectively.
Ms. Londa Esadze, Anti-corruption Expert: It is difficult to generalize and it would be more comfortable discussing individual cases or articles. Ms. Esadze stressed her rich knowledge to the region where there are commonalities but each state has its own specific issues. Each anti-corruption institution in the region is unhappy in its own way.
TI Scores of the region in 2014 are considerably worse than rest of the Europe. 70% of EU citizens believe that institutions of EU are corrupt. There is a trend that anti-corruption is becoming a commercialized and so much money is poured into projects and capacities, with what outcome?
There is a need to look at system networks of corruption pyramids. Horizontal and vertical corruption structures. There is a need to address political powers – oligarchies. Corruption and bribery on middle and lower level corruption is tackled but high level corruption and white collar crime is growing.
Ms. Esadze also stressed that significant progress was made in the region in the last couple of years. Law Enforcement Units and AC Agencies are in place in almost all countries and legislation is improving. She concluded by stating that Corruption Prevention is high return investment and we all need to be investing heavily.
Questions & Answers
Mr. Vasile Botnaru, Director of Radio Free Europe Moldova – reflected on what has been said and concluded that corruption seems to be a crime and not a sin in our cultures. Perhaps we need to work on cultural changes and addressing social norms that led us to where we are now.
Ms. Esadze also stated that some nations produce results and some produce impressions. That it is indeed a social and cultural issue as much as a legal one.
Mr. Palicarsky reflected on what Mr. Paci said regarding potential misuse of independence by AC authorities. This issue needs to be recognized and monitored so that institutions do not become tool of abuse or worse, so isolated from other agencies and they fail to cooperate and produce results. Independence is not a goal but a tool.
Very often when we speak of independence it is independence from executives, but agency must be independent from all that it investigates, from economic powers, any sort of undue influence. Influence of organized crime groups and oligarchs is livelier than pressure from the Prime Minister. Key notions to be considered are cooperation, coordination and accountability.
Another question referred to Ms. Esadze was about her presence in Moldova during the justice reform as an expert. The position was that salaries of judges will increase and that will in return decrease corruption. But they continued to be corrupted. Ms. Sadze gave a direct answer stating that if there is a chance for a official to gain 20K or more per month than increase in regular salary is not that relevant.
Panel 2: Ethics and Integrity – a Challenge for Corruption Prone Areas
This Session focused on challenges related to transparency, codes of conduct and integrity risks in the most corruption affected areas, such as politics, judiciary, healthcare or education. The panellists deliberated on the best ways to reduce corruption, based on the lessons learned in the past 15 years, in the areas vulnerable to corruption.
Mr. Pedro Gomes Pereira, Senior Specialist, Basel Institute on Governance moderated the session.
Mr. Quentin Reed, Anti-corruption Expert presented the key notes. Mr. Reed pointed out that we can ensure that the conduct is and will be good only when public officials believe that corrupt practices are wrong. Incentives that promote good conduct must also have a part in the process. Problem is how we get from here to there. It is evident that we will have to deal with many more issues than monopoly and political pressures.
It is also evident that there are numerous codes, meaning legal provisions, meaning laws that regulate the area of ethics. We must realize that there should be positive codes of conducts, since not all situations can be legally described to detail. Region needs to look at any sector specific issues but also sectors need to be examined in the wider context. Technical assistant has not caught up to this yet. For more details, please download the outline.
Moderator Mr. Pereira also raised the question of how can we use the prevention tools more effectively since we are called in when something goes wrong.
Discussions proceeded with:
Mr. Todor Yalamov, SELDI / CSD Bulgaria: procedural ethics are coming forward. What is unethical in London is standard in Sofia. In Macedonia there was a massive culture of bribing teachers. Our societies differ so much. It is important to recognize that some actions have a systemic impact on the whole society. For example open data can prevent corruption. Prevention can be turned into enforcement if all citizens are utilized to act.
Probably in 5 to 10 years prevention will equal enforcement if there is enough technology and data available and if citizens are used to raise misuses.
Ms. Shelley Inglis, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub: UNDO is working in sectors. Ownership of anti-corruption must be by all professionals in their respective sectors. There is evidently more traction for anti-corruption efforts. This is a positive sign. UNDP has its traditional sectors such as health, education, water. There are some specific examples in each of these sectors.
In Serbia we had success with working with health centres since patients did not know their rights. Informing the citizens has empowered them to demand service and not resort to other options.
Moldova – work with 22 high school to develop innovative solutions to addressing corruption. Competition was organized with awards for most innovative idea. This was done with the purpose to educate youth and to turn attention to the ethics.
Uzbekistan – water management system. Collection revenue towards new billing system. UNDP helped authorities to introduce a fairer and less corruption prone billing system for citizens. These are some sector examples.
UNDP also had positive examples of interventions at the local level – In Macedonia Code of Conduct was developed for municipal workers together with the local authorities. Trainings for administrators and civil servants were instigated. In Djakova Municipality, Kosovo, an open procurement data system was put in place ensuring transparency of the procurement system. Open data is indeed another way, a tool to address corruption. Open data platform for the region was established this year.
Mr. Zorislav Antun Petrovic, Anti-corruption Expert: started by stating that in principle nobody wants to be a thief. In Croatia, when soccer teams play, referee cannot be from their towns. Is this right since not all people from one town support one team? This seems to be a cultural norm. But politicians’ brother bidding for a contract in his institution seems to be OK. This behaviour is not seen as a conflict of interest. So conflict of interest can have different meaning in different spheres of life.
We had so much difficulty to make assets declarations public. Today Croatia has one of the most sophisticated laws in the world and data is in most cases very visible. Encouraging trend is that people are paying much more attention to conflict of interest today than in the recent past. We need to enable public officials to be responsible and to want to meet public expectations.
Ms. Dalija Oreskovic, President of the Commission for Resolution of Conflicts of Interest, Croatia: stated that we all have similar conflict of interest institutions. Prohibition in sitting in management and supervision boards have been implemented in all countries. Croatian Commission has power to issue sanctions. The Law also describes what conflict of interest is, this is very important. Track record is good and public responded positively.
On the other hand, some decisions read that official did not behave ethically but Commission cannot pass sanction in this respect since there is no adequate sanction prescribed. This situation is something we need to work on and improve.
Ms. Oreskovic also posed a rhetorical regarding the code of conduct – the debate will show how it was done in practice. Do we focus on citizens and public or do we have an institution to pass the rulings? In one year Commission exceeded the tract record of all previous Commissions put together. But we need to push forward with concepts that need to be addressed. Unethical behaviour being the key – what is the experience of other countries. We need institutions that will promote positive, good behaviours. There has to be multiple approach that will include different institutions. One institution alone cannot make a long-lasting impact.
Mr. Reed also added that corruption happens in the context of institutions. Organizational culture is also key to this behaviour. If the organizational culture in some institutions is that corruption is not accepted and is not a norm there will be very limited corruption. In other organizational cultures peer pressure is so strong and if you do not engage in corruption you become an outcast. We do not sanction people who are in conflict of interest. We sanction people who do not disclose conflict of interest and who do not manage the conflict of interest.
Leading by example – if managers are not example than staff will not follow.
Silviu Popa, National Integrity Agency Romania: gave a Romanian example of conflict of interest – from 2007 to 2012, Agency identified 22 cases of members of Parliament hiring relatives as Cabinet staff. After investigations were finalized, Agency issued a public statement and sent the cases to Prosecutor’s office. Media went to parliamentarians, and they did not see the problem in hiring a daughter as a secretary since it is a trusted person. They failed to understand the gravity of the offence. After several months prosecutor sent the files to courts. Prison time with suspension from 6 months up was sentenced in most cases.
It can be concluded that if you do not have an impact than you cannot talk about efficiency of AC policy. Since Romania had different policies but nothing happened until the Agency was established.
Panel 3: Innovation vs Classics in Preventing Corruption
The session tried to answer What Worked Best in the last 15 years, examining the effect of common preventive policies, such as management of conflict of interest, codes of conduct, or public procurement, as well as those of relatively new for SEE prevention measures, such as corruption proofing of legislation or integrity testing.
Moderator: Mr. Sergiu Ostaf, Director, Resource Center for Human Rights, Moldova
Keynote Address: Ms. Cristina Tarna, Deputy Director, National Anti-corruption Center, Moldova – introduced the topic by delivering a presentation on Innovation versus Classics in Preventing Corruption. She emphasized the importance of prevention and that it should be treated with the highest priority. The reality is that an agency can have only 1% of actual corruption investigated, while the 99% remain un-investigated. The 1% that is investigated has to be carried out in a way to impress the public and to prevent other potential corruption crimes happening. So, are the classics in prevention enough to have this done? Ms. Tarna emphasized that UNCAC provides a wide range of classic corruption prevention tools that need to be used in order to have long-term effects and results, but the experience shows that these are not enough and that there are many bottlenecks, including lack of commitment on behalf of a corrupt public administration, lack of outside supervision on fulfillment of prevention requirements, lack of sanctions, and the opinion that prevention should not cost money. So, having these bottlenecks in mind, how to innovate? Ms. Tarna gave response to this issue by answering three questions from a classical and from an innovative perspective:

Can we determine public administration to behave? – classics predicts ethics as a prevention tool in this regard, while the innovative approach would use corruption risk assessment (CRA) as a tool. Speaking of CRA, Ms. Tarna mentioned methodology on corruption risk assessment that was developed in cooperation with RAI. The Methodology has a regional approach, and therefore takes into account different conditions, circumstances and assumptions, while offering a wide number of approaches and paths to take when introducing CRA in national agendas
Can we predict future corruption risks? – classics advocates surveys and conflict of interests regime as a tool for prediction, while corruption proofing of draft laws is being used by countries as an innovative and effective tool in predicting and preventing future corruption. Ms. Tarna highlighted the Methodology on anti-corruption assessment of laws developed in cooperation with RAI as a comprehensive tool in this regard.
Can we motivate public officials to break the corruption chain and report on the bribe givers? – classical approach to prevention predicts whistleblower protection and good faith as a tool, while the integrity tests are being used as an innovative tool to break the corruption chains and prevent corruption. As a good basis in this regard, Ms. Tarna emphasized Whistleblower protection in South East Europe: an overview of laws, practice and recent initiatives publication developed by RAI.

In the end, Ms. Tarna stressed out that innovative tools are effective and proved to be giving results, but that they need to be innovated as well. In other words, all new tools need to be continuously improved and adjusted with gained experience and to all counties’ needs. For more details, please see Ms. Tarna’s presentation.
Discussions proceeded with:
Mr. Pawel Wojtunik, Head of Central Anti-corruption Bureau, Poland: Presented the work of Central Anti-corruption Bureau (CAB) of Poland, emphasizing the fact that they have become champions of online education. Mr. Wojtunik highlighted that CAB implements online training, online education tools and social media as an innovative approach to reaching their target group, educating and training people in the field of anti-corruption, and therefore contributing to prevention of corruption. Mr. Wojtunik continued his speech by presenting educational website the CAB has developed, containing audio and electronic books and having millions of visits per year. Also, CBA has a comprehensive e-learning/training platform, dedicated to representatives of public administration, business, and youth and having different learning topics and modules. The CAB has trained more than 33,000 public officials until the day and from the experience that they gained, can say that this approach to anti-corruption is not only innovative, but effective and cheap as well.
Ms. Marijana Obradovic, Assistant Director of Anti-corruption Agency, Serbia
Ms. Obradovic gave a brief introduction on the work of Anti-corruption Agency (ACA) in the light of innovative approaches to corruption prevention. Corruption risk assessment as a tool for corruption prevention has been used and advocated the Agency in the recent years and they have very good results. The Agency developed 69 models of integrity plans, suitable for different institutions and provided trainings to public institutions on what model to employ, how to use it, and assisted them all the way through process. During the 1st cycle, more than 2000 public institutions in Serbia have developed their integrity plans. Also, as part of the obligation, they had to go through quality assessments and external assessments. The Agency has made high number of field trips in assessing the quality of the integrity plans, and it has been diagnosed that these plans do not meet quality criteria. Consequently, this issue needs to be worked on in the future. All institutions need to understand that corruption prevention is their own job, not exclusively the job of the Agency. Therefore, changes need to come internally in order for integrity plans as a powerful tool to have its effects.
Mr. Mevludin Dzindo, Assistant Director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, Bosnia and Herzegovina:
In the opening of his speech, Mr. Dzindo presented Strategy for fight against corruption for the 2015-2019 period developed by the Agency. Also, he emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina has adopted the whistleblower protection law at a state level, and that this law is one of the solutions to the problem wide spread corruption and lack of trust in public institutions. In the light of this law, Mr. Dzindo emphasized state-registered and protected whistleblowers as one of the success stories from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Answering the “What worked best?” question, Mr. Dzindo highlighted that it is crucial to have action plans for implementation of national strategies for fight against corruption. These plans need to be concrete operational documents that turn the Strategy into specific activities to be implemented.
Mr. Radu Cotici, Head of RAI Secretariat:
Mr. Cotici gave an overview of regional trends when it comes to classical versus innovative approaches to corruption prevention. He emphasized that there are numerous studies touching upon both classical and innovative anti-corruption tools. In this regard, classical tools are those that advocate monitoring as a tool for prevention, while corruption risk assessment and corruption proofing of laws are considered as innovative tools and trends. Speaking about the region of Southeastern Europe, Mr. Cotici highlighted that the region has tried and experienced all types of classical tools with less or more success, and that it is surely turning towards innovative tools. The experience shows that both classical and innovative tools have their strong potential in prevention, but it is the strong and shared will and commitment that is a crucial and decisive condition that has to be in place in order for those tools to be effective and bring long-term results.
Conclusions and Closing Session
Conclusions: The challenges the region is about to face and the possibilities to address them
Ms. Cornelia Abel, Transparency International was a key note speaker: Western Balkans has a range of challenges in the field of corruption. The key ones revolve around good governance and we all have a pretty good idea by now of what should be done.
There are number of key issues that are very much shared and those are:
Governments and political parties – political power has an undue influence on all branches of government.
The relationship between the public and private sector – domestic business powers have a significant power over government decision, at times they are even controlling the institutions.
Gross weakness of the two other pillars of state, the judiciary and legislative. We have a recent example from Montenegro whereas Government is not complying to Parliament decisions. There is an example from Serbia where the Prime Minister told the MPs that they will “eat, sleep and wash” in the Parliament until they pass all the reform laws planed by the Government.
Ms. Abel proceed with stating that there are some good news too. Welcoming and positive trends are setting up of independent institutions such as Commissions, Ombudspersons, and Agencies. All of the new institutions exercise relative independence, and capability to tackle issues at hand. It also recognized that their decisions can be sidelined and they are often not close to decision making process.
There are two more trends that need to be stressed out:

Trend towards media in the region is not good at all. The ownership of media is under attack as well as their role is minimized. There are numerous growing examples from the region where journalists were attacked, threatened, prosecuted etc.
Global trend of limited space for civil society. These attacks are more sophisticated and targeted. There are recent examples from Macedonia and Serbia.

Media and Civil Society play a key role in a democratic society. Without media and civil society it is impossible for governments to and institutions to operate for and with citizens, which is the essence of democracy.
Ms. Abel pointed out that she referred to a handful of challenges and that there are others that need to be reflected as well.
Addresses:
Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson, Regional Anti-corruption Initiative
Thanked the participants for active and constructive attendance. Mr. Dubravica expressed his gratitude to Moldova and its authorities for hosting this important event. RAI will continue its efforts, will continue to organize gatherings that will bring us closer together, and he promised that RAI will deliver new things and new ideas to its member countries.
Christina Tarna, Deputy Director, National Anti-corruption Center, Moldova: NAC is honoured to have hosted the Conference in Moldova. Ms. Tarna is especially glad that her colleagues from the NAC had an opportunity to be exposed to this interesting experiences. She also thanked RAI for keeping an eye on all the countries and stressed that NAC is and will be using all of the materials produced by RAI. Ms. Tarna used the opportunity to thank the interpreters and concluded her address by stating that she is looking forward to many other RAI birthdays and a message to all the participants: Reform! Dare! Innovate!
Please download List of Participants and final event Agenda for more details.

Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, St. Petersburg, Nov 2-6, 2015
2015-11-02 08:00 - 2015-11-06 17:00
Pursuant to article 63 of the Convention, the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption was established to improve the capacity of and cooperation between States parties to achieve the objectives set forth in the Convention and to promote and review its implementation.
Report of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption on its fifth session (St. Petersburg, 2-6 November 2015)
Final List of Participants
Conference Programme
Sixth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (St. Petersburg, 2-6 November 2015) Documents

Southeast Europe Coalition on Whistleblower Protection 1st Meeting – November 9-10, 2015 – Belgrade, Serbia
2015-11-09 08:00 - 2015-11-10 17:00
A report by the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative and Blueprint for Free Speech shows that Southeast Europe is among most active regions in the world in developing, passing and implementing whistleblower protection laws. Leadership by governments and NGOs has been the key to these advancements, together with growing public support and guidance from regional and international organizations.
Within the improving environment, we are seeing more cases of victimized whistleblowers regaining their jobs, receiving financial compensation and being cleared of defamation charges. Citizens and the media are starting to recognize the value of whistleblowers and are approaching them with less skepticism. The progress is further supported by the many anti-corruption efforts being carried out by international and regional organisations. Each country within greater Southeast Europe has at least one NGO that focuses on whistleblowing – and some countries have several groups.
In the midst of the said exciting developments it has been recognized that national NGOs need to establish regional coalition. Regional Anti-corruption Initiative in collaboration with Blueprint for Free Speech and with funding by the Regional Cooperation Council under implementation of RCC’s South East Europe 2020 Strategy, held a coalition-forming event in Belgrade, Serbia, on November 9-10, 2015.

The Southeast Europe Whistleblower Coalition will be the world’s first regional initiative dedicated to Whistleblowing. The Coalition will serve an umbrella function for policy-making, advocacy and awareness-raising efforts as well as a network for exchange of knowledge, experiences and support.
The Agenda of the event is available here and list of participants is available at the following link.
Day 1
The Conference was opened by Mr. Davor Dubravica, Chairperson of RAI, who welcomed all the participants and expressed gratitude to Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and Blueprint for Free Speech for their collaboration and support in organization of the event.
Mr. Dubravica stressed out the importance of the topic for the region of Southeast Europe. He emphasized the role of non-governmental organizations and journalists in the area of whistleblower protection. At the end of his speech, Mr. Dubravica expressed commitment of RAI to support the event and NGOs in future activities in this field.
Mark Worth, Blueprint for Free Speech, welcomed all the participants and expressed thank to RAI and RCC for their efforts in organization of the Conference. Mr. Worth presented briefly the role and mission of the Blueprint for Free Speech. He pointed out on whistle-blower protection as the general human right and topic of significant interest for all countries. Mr. Worth stated that the Southeast Europe Whistleblower Coalition will be the world’s first regional initiative dedicated to Whistleblowing.
After opening remarks, all participants introduced themselves and gave a brief introduction into their organization, current involvement in whistleblower protection, current work, upcoming actions, needs and future plans.
Ms. Veronika Nad from Blueprint for Free Speech, presented the draft of Mission Statement, that has been previously distributed to all participants.
Ms. Jasna Panjeta, Program and Outreach Officer in RAI Secretariat, and Mr. Mark Worth jointly elaborated general Coalition priorities and objectives, but also expectations from the Coalition in the future. It was stated that the Southeast Europe Whistleblower Coalition will be the world’s first regional initiative dedicated to Whistleblowing. The Coalition will serve as umbrella function for policy-making, advocacy and awareness-raising efforts as well as a network for exchange of knowledge, experiences and support. Ms. Panjeta stressed out the importance of the Mission Statement in terms of setting the joint direction of the Coalition as well as the outreach and fundraising activities. Participants expressed their initial views on the form of the Mission Statement, by proposing amendments and addenda to the Statement.
The attendees also explored new ideas and suggestions for the Coalition work. These are:
Building of capacities in area of whistle-blower protection in the Southeast Europe;
Identification of gaps/vulnerabilities;
Strengthening the civil society role;
Establishment of the partnership with public sector;
Enhancing of informal discussion with private sector;
To provide the expertise to the relevant bodies;
Legal aid and assistance to whistleblowers;
Establishment of the cooperation/partnership with UNCAC review Coalition;
Advocacy campaigns on regional and local level;
Keeping record on relevant cases in the region;
Fostering of investigating journalism;
Organization of the public hearing of whistleblowers;
Need to include whistleblower area as objective in all applicable action plans and reports;
To organize regional meetings of whistleblowers;
Setting the platform for whistleblowers, consisting of four pillars: education, reporting tool, research/online surveys, advocacy;
Providing the list of pro-bono lawyers.
Day 2
Upon brainstorming and reviewing of all ideas from the first day, the shortlist of Project ideas for Coalition has been developed. Furthermore, key priorities have been identified and composed within four main pillars: 1. Legal framework, 2. Media,3. Public outreach and 4. Whistleblower protection modalities.
Through the moderation and introduction remarks by Mr. Arjan Dyrmishi, participants discussed on the Coalition one-year plan, in particullar on:

a) projects and fundraising,
b) roles and responsibilities & appointing interim coordinator,
c) coalition development/expansion.

It has been stressed out the role of Blueprint for Free Speech as the leading actor in the Coalition further work.
Revised draft Mission Statement was presented to participants by Ms. Veronika Nad. Participants also discussed on the possible name of the Coalition, model of visual identity (logo), engagement of the Coalition coordinator and possible Coalition funding.
Participants agreed on the following conclusions:
Mission Statement will be submitted to all participants/organizations for the final consideration and electronic signature;
To continue activities in forthcoming period, by: supporting of new/improved national laws and practices on whistleblower protection in Southeast Europe, engagement with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) process, regular publishing of whistleblower stories and key whistleblower cases.
The Conference was closed by RAI Chairman Mr. Davor Dubravica, who thanked all the participants for active participation and encouraging work whishing success in further Coalition work. Mr. Dubravica also expressed readiness and RAI commitment to support the Coalition in the future.

Regional Meeting of the Oversight Bodies for Conflict of Interest and Asset Disclosure – December 15-16, 2015, Zagreb, Croatia
2015-12-15 08:00 - 2015-12-16 17:00
Regional Anti-corruption Initiative, in collaboration with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and Commission for the Resolution of Conflict of Interest of the Republic of Croatia organized the Regional Meeting of the Oversight Bodies for Asset Disclosure and Conflict of Interest, which took place on 15-16 December in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia.
The event was attended by the high level representatives from South Eastern Europe, who are in charge of the conflict of interest prevention and asset disclosure policy implementation. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the most relevant and challenging topics in the area of conflict of interest and asset disclosure, in particular how the conflict of interest violations can be detected, how to calculate unjustified wealth and how to overcome existing impediments in achieving effective verification. Special attention was paid to the existing issues related to personal data protection, access to information and registers, usage of open source information and cooperation among relevant bodies within countries.
Moreover, participants exchanged views and practical examples of international cooperation in conflict of interest prevention and asset disclosure verification. The best practices in this regard were presented by the representative of the World Bank, Ms. Ivana Maria Rossi, who expressed support to the initiative of building the regional network and enhancing cooperation among South Eastern Europe countries in the field of conflict of interest and asset disclosure.
The meeting resulted in outlining the most demanding common challenges and needs that oversight bodies from South Eastern Europe face in undertaking their mission, but also in identifying the steps to address those challenges and needs from a regional perspective. Sharing of experiences and presentation of practical cases enabled better understanding of existing practices and mechanisms on the national level.
Representatives of the oversight bodies for conflict of interest prevention and asset disclosure expressed need to improve regional cooperation and data exchange in this area. Continuation of regional activities and promotion of positive practical examples were proposed as well.
Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative stressed out its commitment to support countries in their efforts, in particular by strengthening regional cooperation on data exchange in asset disclosure and conflict of interest.
Additional information
Meeting Agenda
List of Participants

Workshop on Corruption Reporting and Whistleblower Protection – May 10-11 2016 – Rakitje, Croatia
2016-05-10 08:00 - 2016-05-11 17:00
Workshop on Corruption Reporting and Whistleblower Protection, organized by RAI – Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative in cooperation with RACVIAC – Centre for Security who hosted the event, ReSPA – Regional School for Public Administration, and RCC – Regional Cooperation Council, took place on 10-11 May 2016 in Rakitje, Croatia.
The objective of this Workshop was to increase capacity of relevant public institutions about protection of whistleblowers, as well as to increase awareness about needed legal solutions in South East Europe. The event was attended by representatives of institutions from South Eastern Europe, in charge of implementation of whistleblowing policies at respective national levels. Participants had an opportunity to discuss the most relevant aspects of whistleblowing and to gain better understanding of the specific elements in corruption reporting and whistleblower protection, such as reporting channels, identity protection, confidentiality, protection mechanisms, etc. Sharing of experiences and presentation of practical cases enabled better understanding of existing practices and mechanisms on national levels.
Implementation of international instruments and standards in this field was also in the focus of discussion among participants.
The workshop resulted in outlining the most demanding common challenges in the field of whistleblower protection, but also in identifying the future steps in addressing those challenges and needs from a regional perspective.
For more details, please see the workshop Agenda and List of Participants.
Day 1
The workshop was opened by His Excellency Ambassador Haydar Berk, Director of RACVIAC, who welcomed all participants and expressed appreciation to RAI, RCC and ReSPA for cooperation in organizing the event, as well as to other organizations which contributed to the event, particularly to UNODC, OECD and Blueprint for Free Speech. He also emphasized the importance of whistleblowing as a strong tool and mechanism in the fight against corruption and highlighted objectives of the workshop. Regional cooperation and development of synergies have been identified as significantly important in this respect.
Mr. Davor Dubravica, RAI Chairperson, expressed gratitude to RACVIAC, ReSPA and RCC for collaboration in organizing the workshop. He pointed out the importance of whistleblower protection, and expressed RAI commitment to support national authorities in capacity building and further work in this field. Implementation of laws on whistleblower protection is crucial in the overall anti-corruption efforts.
Mr. Dragan Djuric, Programme Manager from ReSPA expressed pleasure to cooperate with partners in organizing the workshop. He underlined that the workshop is a good opportunity to share experiences and best practices, which would lead to progress in anti-corruption field.
After opening remarks, all participants introduced themselves and expressed their workshop expectations.
First panel of the workshop was about Key legal principles for corruption reporting, and it was led by Mr. John Devitt, Anti-Corruption Expert from Transparency International Ireland.
Mr. Devitt stressed that challenges are universal and not only regional and pointed out that whistleblowing plays an important role in anti-corruption efforts. He also emphasized the importance of whistleblowing promotion and advocacy. Several important aspects of corruption whistleblowing were touched upon, such as “good faith” principle, potential risks for whistleblowers, unreliable whistleblowers, opportunities and challenges in corruption reporting. Mr. Devitt denoted that focus should be on information received by whistleblowers, rather than on the person. He also emphasized role of the CSOs in whistleblower protection.
Ms. Constanze Von Soehnen, UNODC Expert, led the presentation and discussion on UNCAC Requirements and Key Review findings. She indicated how legislation is important to understand the difference on whistleblower protection and protection of formal witnesses in the criminal proceeding. Ms. Von Soehnen underlined that countries of the region finalized 1st cycle of UNCAC review. Almost all countries were recommended to strengthen the whistleblower protection systems, while only one country requested technical assistance.
She informed participants about the UNODC Resource Guide on Good practices in the Protection of Reporting Persons, available HERE.
During the next session, led by Mr. Tomislav Curic, Anti-corruption Expert from RAI, national representatives shared their experiences, best practices and lessons learned. They also informed on the most recent developments on national level and presented practical cases on whistleblower protection. It was concluded that all countries have made a progress in the field of whistleblower protection. However, there is still a lot of potential for improvement and work to be done, particularly in terms of implementation of national legislation.
Day 2
The session on Improving Implementation and Enforcement of Whistleblower Protection was opened by Mr. Mark Worth, Blueprint for Free Speech. Mr. Worth drew attention to the case of Tuzla Kvarc in Bosnia and Herzegovina that confirmed the need for stronger legislation to protect whistleblowers in private sector. He informed the audience about Southeast Europe Coalition on Whistleblower Protection, its roles and how the Coalition can support governments in their efforts in protection of reporting persons
Ms. Liz Owen, OECD Expert, underlined two main instruments: Recommendation on Improving Ethical Conduct in the Public Sector and Anti-bribery Recommendation. She emphasized the fact that 59% of OECD countries guarantee anonymity to whistleblowers, and stressed some important points like education and awareness in raising, implementation and tone from the top.
Dr. Stelios Andreadakis, from University of Leicester, shared the results of the study on whistleblower protection in the USA and UK. He elaborated on money rewards for whistleblowers in private sector in the USA, which ensures anonymity, better encouragement and less retaliation. He also provided some ideas and suggestions on how to improve whistleblower protection in South East Europe.
During the final session of the Workshop, led by Mr. Tilman Hoppe, Anti-corruption Expert, participants had an opportunity to work in groups and discuss the most challenging and practical topics regarding whistleblowing, such as anti-retaliation measures, features of good legislation, working with whistleblowers in practice, and activities that could enhance whistleblower protection in the region. Each group presented its findings and recommendations for the future activities.
In the closing statements, Mr. Dragan Djuric expressed gratitude to everyone and pointed out that the workshop has broaden the picture of further work and it will help to improve system of anti-corruption policies.
Mr. Davor Dubravica expressed appreciation to all participants for attending the workshop and for sharing experiences. He stressed out commitment of RAI to work in the field of whistleblower protection and to support the SEE Coalition. He reiterated the importance of joint cooperation with other regional organizations, particularly with RACVIAC, ReSPA and RCC.
At the end of the workshop, Ambassador Haydar Berk pointed out the importance of whistleblower protection, which is one of the biggest challenges in SEE. He also underlined that the workshop was very successful and it will be helpful for participants in terms of how to maximize benefits of whistleblowing. Mr. Berk expressed readiness for further collaboration with regional organizations in this field.

Regional Meeting of the Oversight Bodies for Asset Disclosure & Conflict of Interest – May 23, 2016 – Tirana, Albania
2016-05-23 08:00 - 17:00
Regional Anti-corruption Initiative, in collaboration with the High Inspectorate of Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interest in Albania, and supported by the Austrian Development Agency, organized the Regional Meeting of the Oversight Bodies for Asset Disclosure and Conflict of Interest on May 23, 2016 in Tirana, Albania.
The main objective of the event was to strengthen regional cooperation in the field of asset disclosure and conflict of interest by discussing the mechanism enabling data exchange between the Oversight Bodies of the South East Europe. High level representatives of ministries of justice and oversight bodies from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo*, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia discussed a draft legal instrument on exchange of data for verifying asset declarations.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Flori Karaj, Secretary General of the High Inspectorate of Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interest, who welcomed all participants and stressed out the importance of the regional cooperation in the field of conflict of interest prevention and asset disclosure. He also informed about recent developments and results in Albania, particularly in terms of public communication improvement, increase of public trust and effectiveness in sanctions imposing. Mr. Karaj underlined the need to exchange data on regional level, as well as to discuss all challenges and obstacles in this regard.
Mr. Davor Dubravica, RAI Chairperson, welcomed all participants and emphasized that the event was a follow-up to the Meeting held in Zagreb in December 2015. Mr. Dubravica pointed out that the initiative to develop a legal instrument on data exchange between Oversight Bodies in the South East Europe is unique even at the global level.
On behalf of the Basel Institute on Governance, Mr. Pedro Gomes Pareira expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the Meeting and stressed the importance of the legal instrument which could enable exchange of data and lead to a more effective cooperation in the field of asset disclosure. He also elaborated on the main elements with regard to asset disclosure system, such as checking accuracy of the information, verification of typology, and identification of potential wrongdoing. It was specified that communication and information sharing enabled better prevention and quicker identification of wrongdoing.
Mr. Constantine Palicarsky, UNODC, presented main principles and provisions on cooperation in administrative matters, stipulated by the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), referring to the Article 43 in particular. Mr. Palicarsky pointed out the Resolution 6/4, adopted at the sixth Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP), which called upon enhancing the use of civil and administrative proceedings against corruption, including through international cooperation, in the framework of the UNCAC. He informed participants about UNODC efforts, available tools and resources, which could be helpful for state parties in the implementation of the UNCAC.
The first draft of the Regional Legal Instrument on Data Exchange in the field of Asset Disclosure and Conflict of Interest was presented by Dr. Tilman Hoppe, Anti-corruption Expert. Dr. Hoppe reflected upon the OECD “Agreement on Exchange of Information on Tax Matters”, as an effective model of transnational cooperation in civil matters which had been used by more than 100 states. He elaborated on the main elements of the Draft Instrument, such us exchange of information, possibility of declining a request, data protection and confidentiality etc. Additional clarifications were provided to the participants upon their questions and remarks. Several concerns were raised by respective countries’ representatives, such as confidentiality and classified data, consistency of the Draft Instrument with the national legislation, bank secrecy, eligibility to use data in different proceedings, personal data protection and sharing of data on tax matters.
During the next session, within thematic focus groups, participants discussed different aspects of the Draft Instrument, focusing on the following:
1) Categories of data that can be exchanged;
2) Confidentiality of data;
3) Procedural aspect of data exchange;
4) Grounds for refusal to provide data.
Each group presented outcomes of their discussions, including specific recommendations and proposals for the Draft Instrument. Special attention was given to issues such as random and targeted checks, list of data to be requested, access to information and registers, usage of open source information, dual citizenship, language to be used in requests to obtain data, cooperation among relevant bodies within countries, need for definitions within the Draft Instrument etc.
Main conclusions of the Meeting read that the Draft Instrument would be revised according to the comments and proposals at the meeting and would be sent again to all participants. The Draft Instrument should be also shared with ministries of justice in respective countries. RAI Secretariat engaged to prepare an analysis of databases the asset declaration/conflict of interest agencies have access to. Particularly, it will examine whether those databases are public or private (free or paid access) and what is required to access them; what language(s) those databases provide information in and what are the search parameters in databases. Participants also stressed the need to involve international organizations and NGOs in the further process of development of the Draft Instrument.
The meeting was closed by Mr. Davor Dubravica, RAI Chairperson, who thanked all participants for the active collaboration and contribution to the meeting’s discussion. He also informed that the next meeting would be organized by RAI in the second half of 2016.

For more details, please download Meeting Agenda and List of Participants.

∗ This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

11th Summer School for Junior Anti Corruption Professionals from South East Europe – June 6-10, 2016 – Chisinau, Moldova
2016-06-06 08:00 - 2016-06-10 17:00
Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI), in cooperation with Central European Initiative (CEI) and Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), hosted by the National Anti-corruption Centre of Moldova co-organized the annual Summer School for Junior Anti-corruption Practitioners from South Eastern Europe in Chisinau, Moldova.
The Summer School gathered junior professionals from judiciary, prosecution bodies, and anti-corruption law enforcement bodies, who had an opportunity to obtain additional knowledge and exchange experience and best practices from the region. The event was also used as a platform for developing and fostering relationships among anti-corruption practitioners, since the regional cooperation in the field of financial investigations and asset recovery proved to be significantly important.
Participants passed a five-day intensive program, obtaining theoretical knowledge and practical skills from honorable experts on recovering proceeds of crimes. They learned about innovative approaches and practices in conducting financial investigations, using open sources, management, seizing and confiscating of criminal assets, offshore jurisdictions and international money movements and extended confiscation. Participants also had an opportunity to participate in a mock trial, focusing on confiscating proceeds of crime after a criminal conviction.
Lectures were delivered by respected trainers, coming from institutions as the Prosecutor’s Office in Torino, Italy; AML Consulting Global; Basel Institute on Governance; Department for Crime Prevention – Ministry of Justice of Romania, and the World Bank.
The main outcome of the event, besides obtaining theoretical knowledge and practical skills from highly esteemed trainers, was creating links and networks among the participants and trainers that will serve to all participants in their future work and endeavors.
The organizers RAI Secretariat expresses its gratitude to:

Alberto Perduca,
Lawrence Day,
John Burrow,
Pedro Gomes Pereira,
Andrei Furdui, and
Yee Man Yu

for their invaluable contributions to the event.
Upon an evaluation test, successful participants obtained RAI Summer School Certificates.

Workshop on UNCAC and its Review Mechanism – Vienna, Austria
2016-09-20 08:00 - 2016-09-23 17:00
Cooperation between Governments and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in implementing the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and its second review cycle to prevent and fight against corruption was the focus of a recent multi-stakeholder workshop held at the UN Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Jointly organized by UNODC and the UNCAC Coalition, the workshop brought together 63 participants from 18 African and Southeast European countries to develop the participants’ capacity to contribute to the implementation of UNCAC and its Review Mechanism, as well as specifically encourage them to work together effectively during the second cycle review.
The workshop – supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and opened by Ambassador Dr. Helmut Böck, Austrian Foreign Ministry – was the first multi-stakeholder workshop gathering representatives from two different regions: Africa and Southeast Europe. This transcontinental and multi-stakeholder approach led to successful sharing of experiences, good practices and allowed to build relationships and networks that will shape future work in the arena of anti-corruption. Hence, it was underscored many times that CSOs play a crucial role in the fight against corruption, acting as a bridge between governments and citizens. CSOs were further described as key partners in the development of a country and crucial allies to share information and raise awareness.
In addition to plenary sessions, the Workshop included structured discussions and practical group exercises based on country review simulation and role reversal. When representatives from governments had to play the role of CSOs, it was raised that political neutrality, independent funding, legitimacy, structure, expertise, ability to advocate, closeness to the public, commitment, and common interest were fundamental arguments to persuade governments to involve CSOs in the upcoming second review cycle of the UNCAC.
Good practices were further shared among participants to involve CSOs in the UNCAC review process. From the governments’ perspective, some institutions indicated that they had signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with CSOs in order to advance the fight against corruption. A Government from Western Africa for example, gives quarterly update to CSOs regarding anti-corruption activities and monitoring strategies, while representatives from civil society, including education institutions and the media, have been appointed as Members to the Anti-Corruption Commission Advisory Board. From the civil society angle, many experiences were also presented. One Transparency International (TI) Chapter from Eastern Africa for example, drew the attention to their appointment, together with another CSO, in the national steering committee for the UNCAC review process. It mobilized civil society to complement the work of the committee, which compiled all inputs into an objective final review report, and from which a number of recommendations are currently under implementation. “[Our] experience in the last review was different in the sense that we did not have a governmental process and a civil society process, what we had was really a national process”, said M. Samuel Kimeu, Executive Director of the TI Chapter.
The UN Convention against Corruption is the only legally binding, universal, anti-corruption instrument, and its Article 13 calls on society, including non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and civil society, to actively participate in combating corruption. To date, 286 civil society organizations have been trained worldwide under the UNODC Civil Society Programme with the aim of providing the necessary tools to work with governments and the private sector on implementing the Convention.
Event Agenda
Presentations and materials at the UNODC website

23rd RAI Steering Group Meeting, Sarajevo
2016-09-23 08:00 - 2016-09-24 17:00
23rd Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) Steering Group Meeting took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 23 – 24 September, 2016. It was organized by RAI Secretariat and hosted by the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The meeting is the main forum of the Organisation, which will provide ground to the participants to take the decisions that will be implemented in the framework of RAI in the course of the following period.

The main decisions of the Steering Group were adoption of the Budget for 2017, adoption of amendments to RAI Documents: Terms of Reference of RAI Chairperson, Institutional Mechanism, Office Policies Manual and Finance Management Manual, and decision to re-open the call for the position of Head of RAI Secretariat as of October 1, 2016.
Moreover, the Steering Group took note of the information from the RAI Secretariat regarding the past, ongoing and planned activities and endorsed the Secretariat’s proposal to sign Memorandum of Understanding with the Regional School for Public Administration (ReSPA) and approved proposed text of the MoU.
During the Meeting, the Steering Group (SG)had an opportunity to exchange views with the Agency for Corruption Prevention in BiH which presented its activities as part of the anti-corruption strategy, particularly in regards to integrity plans and online anti-corruption tools.
For more details, please check the documents attached below.
Agenda
Summary, Conclusions and Decisions

Workshop on Implementation of “Regional Programme on Strengthening the Capacity of Anti-corruption Authorities and Civil Society to Combat Corruption and Contribute to the UNCAC Review Process” in BiH, Sarajevo
2016-09-26 08:00 - 17:00
Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) Secretariat organized a Workshop on implementation of “Regional Programme on Strengthening the Capacity of Anti-corruption Authorities and Civil Society to Combat Corruption and Contribute to the UNCAC Review Process“ in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 26 September, 2016 in Sarajevo. The objective of the Workshop was to present Programme potentials, discuss its implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to identify needs and priorities to be addressed with RAI support.

The workshop was an opportunity for RAI experts on Corruption Risk Assessment (Ms. Albena Kuyumdzhieva) and Corruption Proofing (Mr. Tilman Hoppe) to hold a presentation on corruption risk assessment and corruption proofing as effective corruption preventive tools, best models and practices and country benefits.
The Workshop was attended by respective representatives of the national institutions and civil society organizations who discussed further steps in the Programme implementation, particularly in the field of corruption risk assessment and corruption proofing;
Workshop Agenda EN
Workshop Agenda BHS
List of participants

Sofia 20-21 October 2016: Third Regional Meeting of Oversight Bodies for Asset Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
2016-10-20 08:00 - 2016-10-21 17:00
Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) organized the 3rd Regional Meeting of the Oversight Bodies for Asset Disclosure and Conflict of Interest on October 20-21, 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria, in collaboration with Commission for Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest of Republic of Bulgaria and Regional Cooperation Council, and supported by the Austrian Development Agency. The event is organized within the South Eastern Europe Regional Programme on Strengthening the Capacity of Anti-corruption Authorities and Civil Society to Combat Corruption and Contribute to the UNCAC Review Process and is a follow-up to the Regional Meetings held in Zagreb in December 2015 and Tirana in May 2016.
The main objective of the event was to strengthen regional cooperation in the field of asset disclosure and conflict of interest by discussing the mechanism enabling data exchange between the Oversight Bodies in the South East Europe. High level representatives of ministries of justice and oversight bodies from South East Europe discussed the revised draft legal instrument on exchange of data for verifying asset declarations. Additionally, representatives from Slovenian Commission for Prevention of Corruption, Regional School of Public Administration and UNDP Regional Centre/Istanbul Regional Hub participated in the Meeting.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Nikolay Nikolov, Acting President of the Bulgarian Commission for Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest. Mr. Nikolov welcomed all participants and stressed out the importance of the regional cooperation in the field of conflict of interest prevention and asset disclosure and the need to exchange data on regional level. Mr. Nikolov pointed out the need to discuss all challenges for the implementation of the legal instrument and encouraged the participants to present the obstacles for the countries in this regard.
Mr. Davor Dubravica, RAI Chairperson, welcomed all participants and expressed gratitude to the Commission for Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest as well as to the Regional Cooperation Council for their support and cooperation in organizing the event. Mr. Dubravica pointed out that the meeting will serve for discussion and further development of the Draft Instrument and future steps to be taken in these regards. He also reiterated that the initiative to develop a legal instrument on data exchange between Oversight Bodies in the South East Europe is welcomed by several other international organizations.
On behalf of the Regional Cooperation Council, Mr. Radu Cotici emphasized the importance of the legal instrument as a mechanism of enabling data exchange and an advanced regional cooperation of oversight bodies in the field of asset disclosure and conflict of interest. Mr. Cotici mentioned steps already taken in development of the draft Instrument and expressed gratitude to experts who worked on document, but also to all national institutions and other partners who provided valuable contribution in preparing the draft Instrument, such as European Commission, Basel Institute on Governance and the World Bank.
Mr. Tilman Hoppe, RAI Consultant, gave an overview of major updates and changes to the Draft Instrument, as compared to the version presented in May in Tirana. Mr. Hoppe presented relevant cases of the European Court of Human Rights that refer to publishing of asset declarations. Participants provided additional comments and proposals to the draft Instrument. They also discussed about how different countries proceed with asset declarations verification and what would be needed for data access, as well as the possible challenges in implementation of such instrument for each country.
The next session was composed of presentations of national case studies, with the focus on What would the Draft Agreement look like in practice?. Presentations were delivered by Mr. Paskal Boyadiiski, Member of the Bulgarian Commission for the Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest, Ms. Dalija Oreskovic, President of the Croatian Commission for the Resolution of Conflict of Interest and Mr. Anatolie Donciu, Acting President of Moldovan National Integrity Commission.
During the afternoon session, representative of the Commission for Prevention of Corruption of Slovenia, Ms. Mojca Smid presented the best practices and mechanisms for verification of asset declarations and conflict of interest prevention in Slovenia.
Mr. Tomislav Curic, Acting Head of RAI Secretariat, presented the results of RAI’s survey on existing databases for verification of asset declarations in the region, based on questionnaire sent to all participants prior to the meeting. In particular, the survey examined what databases the oversight bodies use for verification purposes and what databases are available to the general public.
Ms. Lejla Sadiku, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub Open Data Specialist, presented opportunities of open data for anti-corruption, with the focus on regional data exchange and public data access, including data on public procurement.
Mr. Bardo Fassbender, RAI Consultant, provided a detailed overview of necessary stages and procedures of getting an international treaty started as well as the differences between the political and the legal process in it, elaborating also on definitions and differences between the term Memorandum of Understanding and International Treaty, their advantages and disadvantages in terms of their acceptance by designated bodies.
Second day of the event was dedicated to further upgrade the draft Instrument, based on the participants’ recommendations and proposals. Furthermore, participants discussed and agreed on further steps in developing the Draft Instrument and potential ways for ensuring political commitment by countries to adopt the agreement.
The meeting was closed by Mr. Nikolov, Mr. Cotici and Mr. Dubravica, who thanked all participants for the active collaboration and contribution to the meeting’s discussion.
Main conclusions and further steps to be taken:

RAI will revise the Draft Instrument in accordance with the comments and suggestions provided by participants of the meeting; the revised Draft Instrument will be the basis for negotiations as the next stage of the process and thus is subject to further changes if need be.
The revised Draft Instrument will be sent by the RAI Secretariat to all participants of the 3rd Regional Meeting, as well as to participants who attended the 1st and 2nd Regional Meetings;
The revised Draft Instrument will be shared with partners, including the European Commission, UNODC, the World Bank, OECD, the Basel Institute on Governance, ReSPA, and UNDP Regional Hub.
The participants agreed that further support by international partners in bringing the draft Instrument to the next level would be highly welcome;
The participants agreed that further support by the Regional Cooperation Council and other regional bodies would be highly welcome in bringing the Draft Instrument to the next level and ensuring the political commitment by the participating Governments through a platform of regional cooperation, such as SEECP;
One of the countries in the region taking the lead in triggering negotiations would be desirable as this would speed up the entire process up to adoption;
National authorities, including oversight bodies and Ministries of Justice, are encouraged to promote on the national level the need for strengthening regional cooperation and data exchange on asset disclosure and conflict of interest;
Civil society organizations on the national and international level are welcome to join and to support the initiative. National authorities are encouraged to review the most suitable opportunities for consulting with civil society organizations in their countries.

For more details, please download Meeting Agenda and List of Participants.
RAI Secretariat
26 October 2016
∗ This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

Sarajevo, 4 November: Workshop on RAI – PCC SEE Cooperation
2016-11-04 08:00 - 17:00
On Friday 4 November a workshop on cooperation between Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe (PCC SEE) and Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) was held at the RAI Secretariat’s offices in Sarajevo, the attendees were Mr. Ottavio Bottecchia and Ms. Jelka Klemenc for PCC-SEE, Mr. Radu Cotici for RCC, Mr. Tomislav Curic, Ms. Jasna Panjeta and Ms. Aida Bulbul for RAI.

The three-hours workshop touched many points of interest for the two organizations, including updates on respective activities and a discussion on new potential areas of cooperation and specific projects ideas, including the establishment of a corruption risk assessment in the Police sector. The delegates from the various organization agreed on the possibility of long-term cooperation between them within the respective areas of expertise.
Rai Secretariat
8 November 2016

Mostar, 7-9 November: Training “Integrity in Public Procurements: Values, Rules and Behaviour”
2016-11-07 08:00 - 2016-11-09 17:00
From November 7th to 9th 2016, the Centre for Security Studies organized a training in Mostar: “Integrity in Public Procurements: Values, Rules and Behaviour”.

The training was held within the project “Integrity Building and Strenghtening Anti-Corruption Practices in the Security Sector – ACroSS” which is financially supported by the European Union. The project aims to strengthen transparency and accountability in public procurement in the security sector and to establish a framework for civilian control of public procurement in the security sector.
In his opening address the General Secretary of the Centre for Security Studies, Denis Hadžović, PhD, stressed the importance of cooperation between civil society and security sector institutions and expressed hope that the aim of the training will be met, to educate employees working on public procurements in the security sector about integrity and anti-corruption measures, as well as the latest changes in normative acts regulating public procurements. Karoly Soos, program manager at the EU Delegation in BiH, said that the European Union will continue to support efforts to combat corruption.
The first part of the training was dedicated to familiarizing participants with ethics in public administration, and with whistleblowers and their protection in BiH and the region. On that occasion, Tomislav Ćurić, anti-corruption expert and Acting Head of the Secretariat of the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative, said that the problem of reporting corruption exists not only in BiH, but in the entire region, and that the Law on Whistleblower Protection in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a good example for the region and beyond, particularly because it is implementable.
Assistant Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption, Mevludin Džindo, said that “the Strategy envisages that a similar law is adopted at the lower levels of governance so that all employees in the public sector have the same rights”, particularly taking into account that this model is praised from international organizations for the protection of whistleblowers, such as Blueprint for Free Speech.
In the following sessions, participants were introduced to three new regulations governing the public procurement process, including the Regulation on conditions and usage of eAuction. This is the first major step in electronic procurements in Bosnia and Herzegovina which increases the transparency of the procedure after the submitted bids. The qualified bidders will be able to through reverse auctions offer lower prices (or other parameters), thus enabling additional savings in public procurement. This approach to public procurement promotes a more economical, effective and efficient implementation of the public procurement process, and therefore the use of budget funds and the management of these funds, as well as contribute to greater accountability and transparency of public procurement procedures.
Event Agenda BHS
Centre for Security Studies – BH
11 November 2016

2nd Annual Meeting of the South East Coalition on Whistleblower Protection – Zagreb 14 November 2016
2016-11-14 08:00 - 17:00
The South East Europe (SEE) Coalition on Whistleblower Protection held its second Annual Meeting organized by the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) and Blueprint for Free Speech (BPfFS) with support of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), in Zagreb’s Double Tree by Hilton on November 14.
The event builds on the results achieved so far, providing additional boost to the promotion and protection of whistleblowers in the region. It contributes to the overall efforts challenging the national governments to seek better legal solutions and to work more intensively on establishing policy implementation mechanisms.
“The regional dimension of the Coalition shall enable its members not only to learn from each other, but most importantly to coordinate and synchronize actions amongst them in order to raise to its highest extent the awareness on whistleblowing importance” said Radu Cotici, RCC expert on Governance for Growth, in his opening remarks, and emphasized: “Civil society can play a crucial role in this regard. It is also a target of the SEE 2020 Strategy and a conclusion of the Survey Public Attitudes to Whistleblowing, which the RCC will release very soon.”
Mark Worth, Coalition Coordinator gives the overall view and impression: „After years of international work on building coalitions and networks across the world, I can underline that this is a most successful coalition building process I participated in. We are thankful for the recognition and the support of RAI and RCC in the Coalition building.”
Dr. Suelette Dreyfus, an academic and researcher from BPfFS, emphasized that the Coalition provides a case study that it is possible to make a difference. “The idea of building the Coalition started some two years ago and the progress to date has been excellent with strong impact in the region,” added Ms. Dreyfus.
Jasna Panjeta, Program and Outreach Officer at said that Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative, as an Anti-Corruption Dimension Coordinator for SEE2020 Strategy, is committed to raising awareness about whistleblowing. “We are especially proud of facilitating the establishment and development of the Coalition. RAI is working with the civil society as well as governments and this year we also branched into producing the Documentary about Whistleblowing with the objective to reach out to general public in SEE economies about the value and importance of whistleblowing”.
The meeting gathered approximately 20 civil society organisations, public-interest activists and investigative journalists, from the SEE. It aimed at fostering sustainability of the Coalition by ensuring a platform for furthering the organizational development and building.
The Coalition, established in December 2015 is comprised of organizations and individuals from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo*, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Czech Republic and Hungary. It is the world’s first regional initiative dedicated to enhancing whistleblower rights and protections, and promoting whistleblowing as an effective anti-corruption tool. It serves as an umbrella for activism, legislation and policy development, whistleblower support and advice, public and media outreach, as well as a network for exchanging expertise and information.
Agenda
List of participants
More info on the Coalition is available at their website.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Riga 15-17 November 2016: Annual Professional Conference and General Assembly of EPAC/EACN
2016-11-15 08:00 - 2016-11-17 17:00
The 16th Annual Professional Conference and General Assembly came to a successful close in Riga on 17 November 2016. Close to 100 delegates representing more than 50 members had a fruitful discussion of latest developments, elected a new President, and adopted the 2016 Riga Declaration.

The Latvian Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) generously hosted this year’s conference, providing a stimulating environment for the delegates. Several plenary sessions and workshops addressed critical issues such as the role of the private sector, the fight against high-level corruption, and revolving doors. Other topics on the agenda included detecting, fighting, and preventing corruption in the police, as well as a comparative analysis of the links between disciplinary and judicial procedures.
Several members shared their stories of successful corruption prevention campaigns while also highlighting challenges, giving delegates a deeper understanding of the issues involved. An equally practical approach characterized a dedicated session on landmark cases, investigation techniques, and international investigations.
The delegates also received updates from the President of the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) on the fifth round of evaluations, and from the European Commission on integrity and anti-corruption policies at EU level. The full programme can be found here.
During the General Assembly the delegates expressed their sincere thanks to Mr. Giovanni Kessler, who had been President of the networks for the last four years, and to Mr. Anthony Duggan, Deputy Vice President (Police Oversight), for their work. Mr. Andreas Wieselthaler, director of the Austrian anti-corruption authority BAK, was elected as the new President of EPAC/EACN. He will be supported by the current Vice Presidents Ms. Dominique Devos and Ms. Anca Jurma, as well as the newly elected Deputy Vice Presidents: Ms. Ruta Kaziliunaite, Head of the Legal and International Cooperation Division of the Special Investigation Services of Lithuania (Anti-Corruption), and Ms. Monique Stirn, General Inspector of Police of Luxembourg (Police Oversight). Mr. Kessler was appointed Honorary Member of EPAC in recognition of his contribution to the network’s development.
The General Assembly adopted the Riga Declaration and accepted the General Inspection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia as a new member, and the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) as an observer.
EPAC/EACN
It is RAI’s belief that a closer cooperation with EPAC will bring an added value for both organisations by enabling them to communicate and exchange experiences, validating the synergies in their activities, and thus deliver better results. RAI is also confident that such a collaboration will effectively support the existing anti-corruption efforts in the region.

Belgrade, 5 December: 24th RAI Steering Group Meeting
2016-12-05 08:00 - 17:00
The 24th Steering Group Meeting of the Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) took place in the Palace of Serbia/Belgrade on December 5, 2016. The meeting was organized by the RAI Secretariat and hosted by Ministry of Justice of Republic of Serbia.
Focus of the Steering Group Meeting was the selection procedure for the new Head of RAI Secretariat.
Main decisions of the Steering Group were acceptance of Georgia as an observer to RAI, adoption of the initiative to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Regional Cooperation Council, acceptance of Secretariat’s initiative to add a new activity to RAI workplan – Raising integrity in law enforcement, and acceptance of proposal for budget reallocation of the approved 2016 budget.
During the meeting Ms. Milica Bozanic, Assistant Director for International Cooperation at the Anti-corruption Agency of Serbia elaborated on the current work of the Agency, with emphasis on the new Law on Anti-Corruption Agency, which is expected to be approved by the Parliament in upcoming period.
Mr. Aleksandre Baramidze, First Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia gave a short presentation of Anti-Corruption Reforms in Georgia with focus on the Anti-Corruption Council, Open Government Partnership and Institutional Framework. Recalling the formal request of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia for joining RAI in the capacity of an Observer, all Steering Group Members acknowledged their consent and granted Georgia an Observer to RAI.
Agenda
Summary, Conclusions and Decisions
