II. CORRUPTION PREVENTION COMMISSION

Transcription

1 II. CORRUPTION PREVENTION COMMISSION (extract from the Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act, 26 May 2010) 1. Definition, composition and supervision of the Corruption Prevention Commission Article 5 (Position of the Commission) The Corruption Prevention Commission (hereinafter: the Commission) is an independent government body independently executing powers and performing tasks set out herein and in other legislation, within the scope of the law and based thereof, with the aim of strengthening the efficiency of application of the rule of law and preventing its threatening by corrupt practice. Article 6 (Funds for the operation of the Commission) Funds for the operation of the Commission shall be provided by the budget of the Republic of Slovenia at the Commission's proposal. The Commission shall decide independently on the use of the budget funds. Article 7 (Appointing functionaries of the Commission) (1) The Commission shall have the chair and two deputy chairs. The chair and the deputy chairs are functionaries. (2) The chair and the deputy chairs shall be citizens of the Republic of Slovenia, have education with at least a second-level degree or a corresponding degree in line with the act governing higher education, and at least ten years of experience in performing tasks requiring such education, and shall not be finally sentenced to prison. (3) The chair and the deputy chairs shall be persons from whom it can be reasonably expected, based on previous work, conduct or behaviour, to perform their duties in the Commission in a legal and professional manner. (4) The office of the chair or deputy chair shall be incompatible with an office or work in another entity of public or private law operating in areas where the Commission has powers in accordance herewith. (5) The chair and deputy chairs shall cease to perform work or hold office referred to in the previous paragraph hereunder within one month after assuming the office. (6) The chair shall be appointed for six years and deputy chairs for five years; they may be appointed to the office twice in a row. Article 8 (Conditions for the operation of the Commission) (1) The office of the chair and deputy chairs of the Commission shall be a full time job. (2) The Commission shall employ the necessary number of civil servants. The types and number of civil servant jobs shall be determined by job classification. 2. Selection procedure, appointment, operation, tasks and powers of the Commission Article 9 (Appointment of the Commission) (1) Six months prior to the expiry of the term of office of the chair and deputy chairs, the chair of the Commission shall notify the President of the Republic and the President shall call upon the proposers for members of the selection committee to appoint the members within 30 days from receiving the notice from the President of the Republic. The President of the Republic shall at the same time when calling for appointment of members of the selection committee also make a public invitation for collecting candidacies for the chair and deputy chairs of the Commission. A deadline of not less than 14 and not more than 30 days shall be set for collecting candidacies. The received candidacies shall be forwarded to the selection committee. (2) The selection procedure for suitable candidates for the chair and deputy chairs shall be carried out by the selection committee consisting of five members. The following shall each appoint one member of the selection committee: - the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter: the Government); - the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter: the National Assembly); - non-governmental organisations engaged in corruption prevention from their members; - the Judicial Council from its members; - the Civil Servants Council from its members; and notify the appointments to the Office of the President of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter: the Office of the President). (3) The first meeting of the selection committee shall be convened by the secretary-general of the Office of the President within seven days after expiry of the deadline specified in the third sentence of the first paragraph hereunder. The committee shall at its first meeting set the manner of its work and shall be chaired by its oldest member unless the members of the selection committee decide otherwise. (4) If the proposers for members of the selection committee fail to appoint their members to the selection committee within the deadline specified in the first paragraph hereunder, the secretary-general of the Office of the President shall call upon them to do so within five days from receiving the call with a notice that should they fail to do so, the selection committee would begin its work with the already appointed members. The selection committee shall in such a case decide with a majority vote of the appointed members. (5) The selection committee shall check meeting of the conditions set out in the second paragraph of Article 7

2 herein and assess suitability of candidates in line with the third paragraph of Article 7 herein. The selection committee shall submit to the President of the Republic within 30 days after the expiry of the deadline specified in the previous paragraph hereunder a list of candidates meeting the conditions and suitable for appointment. (6) The President of the Republic shall appoint within 30 days from receiving the candidacies the chair and deputy chairs of the Commission from the candidates submitted by the selection committee. (7) If the President of the Republic appoints no candidate for the chair and deputy chairs of the Commission from the proposed candidates, the selection committee shall be notified and the procedure of the public call for candidacies shall be immediately repeated. The deadline for collecting proposals shall be in such a case not less than 14 and not more than 30 days. The selection committee shall carry out the procedure for selecting suitable candidates within 14 days from expiry of the deadline for collecting candidacies. If the repeated procedure is unsuccessful, it shall be repeated until the chair and deputy chairs of the Commission are appointed, accounting for the deadlines specified hereunder. (8) An functionary of the Commission who s term of office has expired shall perform his/her duties until a new functionary is appointed to replace him/her. (9) The tasks in accordance herewith necessary to collect candidacies and select suitable candidates shall be performed by the Office of the President. Article 10 (Powers of the chair of the Commission) (1) The chair of the Commission represents the Commission and manages and organises its work. (2) The chair of the Commission shall set the first and the second deputy chair from the appointed deputy chairs. (3) The chair of the Commission may authorise a deputy chair to organise and manage the work in individual areas. (4) When absent or unavailable, the chair of the Commission shall be replaced by the first deputy chair and if both the chair and the first deputy chair of the Commission are absent or unavailable, they shall be replaced by the second deputy chair. If the chair of the Commission is discharged in accordance with Article 22 herein, the first deputy chair shall perform his/her duties until a new chair is appointed. Article 11 (Method of operation of the Commission) (1) The Commission shall operate and decide as a collective body consisting of functionaries referred to in the first paragraph of Article 7 herein. It shall discuss cases on meetings where it adopts opinions, positions and other decisions, which must be adopted by at least two votes. (2) The Commission shall regulate its operation by rules of procedure and other general documents. The Rules of Procedure shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. Article 12 (Tasks and powers of the Commission) (1) The Commission: - prepares expert bases for strengthening integrity and for training programmes; - trains persons responsible for integrity plans; - prepares template integrity plans with representatives of the same type entities of public law or their associations; - advises in strengthening of integrity and prevention and elimination of the risk of corruption in the public and the private sector; - monitors and analyses data regarding the situation and accomplishment of the tasks aimed at preventing corruption in the Republic of Slovenia; - monitors affairs regarding international corruption; - performs tasks related to lobbying; - issues opinions in principle, positions, recommendations and explanations regarding the issues related to the contents hereof; - provides for implementation of the resolution on prevention of corruption in the Republic of Slovenia; - prepares amendments to the resolution on the prevention of corruption in the Republic of Slovenia and submits them for discussion to the Government who submits them for adoption to the National Assembly; - gives consent to the plans regarding the implementation of the resolution on the prevention of corruption in the Republic of Slovenia to individual bodies specified in the resolution; - draws attention of the responsible authorities in the Republic of Slovenia to meet the obligations deriving from international documents relating to the prevention of corruption, and issues proposals as regards the method of implementation of these obligations; - cooperates with responsible government bodies in the drafting of legislation relating to prevention of corruption; - monitors implementation of the legislation referred to in the preceding indent hereunder and takes initiatives for their amendments and supplements; - may give opinions on draft laws and other regulations before their discussion by the Government with regard to alignment of draft laws and other regulations with the laws and regulations governing the prevention of corruption and prevention and elimination of conflict of interest; - may submit initiatives to the National Assembly and the Government for amendments to the laws and other regulations falling within the scope of its powers; - cooperates with similar bodies in other countries and international institutions as well as international nonprofitable organisations engaged in the prevention of corruption;

3 - cooperates with scientific, professional, media and non-profitable organisations engaged in the prevention of corruption; - prepares grounds for codes of conduct; - publishes professional literature; - performs against payment expert tasks related to preparation and development of integrity plans and preparation of measures for the prevention of corruption for private sector users; - keeps records in accordance herewith; - performs other tasks set out herein or in other laws. (2) As regards performing of the task specified in the sixth indent of the previous paragraph hereunder, the police, the public prosecutor s office and the courts shall inform the Commission on any completed dealing with the criminal offences of corruption of which Slovenian and foreign citizens or legal persons with registered office in the Republic of Slovenia and abroad have been simultaneously suspected, charged, indicted or convicted, within 30 days from the case completion, namely the police by a notice on the manner of the case completion, the public prosecutor's office by a document on dismissing the charges or abandoning prosecution and the court by a judgement or decision. (3) The pricelist for the tasks referred to in the twenty-first indent of the first paragraph hereunder shall be set by the Commission and published on its website. Charging of costs and the manner of payment for the aforementioned tasks shall comply with the regulations adopted on the basis of the act governing public finance. Article 13 (Opinions in principle of the Commission) (1) The Commission shall at its own initiative or based on reports of cases of suspected corruption prepare opinions in principle regarding certain acts which does not constitute deciding on the responsibility of involved natural or legal persons. (2) No personal data shall be specified in the opinions in principle referred to in the previous paragraph hereunder. A draft opinion in principle shall be submitted before its publication to the person discussed in the opinion with a request that a reply to the draft opinion be given within 14 business days. The Commission shall discuss the reply and if an opinion in principle is issued, it shall be presented to the public together with the reply of the discussed persons with no personal data revealed. (3) The Commission shall issue an opinion in principle referred to in the first paragraph hereunder also based on a request from a body, organisation or natural person. (4) The Commission shall inform the applicant referred to in the previous paragraph hereunder on the deadline in which an opinion in principle is to be submitted within 30 days from receiving the request. (5) The Commission shall prepare opinions and explanations on other matters within the scope of its work based on a request from a body, organisation or natural person referred to in the third paragraph hereunder. Article 14 (Anti-corruption clause) (1) Any contract with regard to which a person on behalf or for the account of another contractual party promises, offers or gives any undue benefit to a representative or agent of a public-sector body or organisation for the purpose of: - winning the contract; or - concluding the contract under better terms & conditions; or - omitting due supervision over meeting of contractual obligations; or - other acts or omissions causing damage to the public-sector body or organisation or enabling undue benefit to a representative or agent of the public-sector body or organisation, other contractual parties or their representatives, attorneys and agents; shall be deemed void. (2) The public-sector bodies and organisations shall include in contracts exceeding the value of 10,000 euros concluded with providers of goods and services or work contractors the contents of the preceding paragraph hereunder as a compulsory element of the contract, accounting for the case at hand, and may include additional provisions on the prevention of corruption or other acts contrary to morale or public order. The provision shall also apply to concluding contracts with providers, vendors or contractors for work or services outside the Republic of Slovenia. (3) A public-sector body or organisation concluding the contract shall based on their findings on alleged existence of the actual situation referred to in the first paragraph hereunder or a notice from the Commission or other bodies concerning alleged existence commence to determine the conditions for contract voidness specified in the previous paragraph hereunder or other measures in accordance with the law of the Republic of Slovenia. (4) The Commission shall in the case of suspected irregularities in implementation of the second paragraph hereunder request from the public-sector bodies or organisations to submit all contracts concluded in a period or with a contractual party. If the Commission finds a violation of the second paragraph hereunder or alleged existence of the actual situation specified in the first paragraph hereunder, it shall inform the body or organisation concluding the contract and other competent bodies thereof. Article 15 (Rules of the procedure) (1) The Commission shall apply in its proceedings the act stipulating the general administrative procedure unless specified otherwise herein. (2) There shall be no appeal against a decision of the Commission; however, an administrative dispute shall be possible. Article 16 (Obligation to submit data and documents to the Commission)

4 (1) Government bodies, the local authorities and holders of a public authorisation and other legal persons governed by public and private law must submit free of charge to the Commission, upon its substantiated request, notwithstanding the provisions of other laws and irrespective of their form, within 15 days following a call from the Commission, any data, including personal data, and documents required for the performing of legal tasks of the Commission. If the addressee of a request is the Bank of Slovenia, data exchange shall comply with the law of the European Union governing exchange of supervisory and statistical information and protection of professional secrets and with the regulations binding on the Bank of Slovenia as regards the relevant matter. (2) A substantiated request from the previous paragraph hereunder shall include the legal grounds for obtaining data and the reasons and purpose for which data have been requested. (3) The first paragraph hereunder shall not apply to data obtained in their work in a confidential relationship by attorneys-at-law, physicians, social workers, psychologists, priests or other persons under legal obligation to protect data from a confidential relationship and to data obtained by competent bodies by applying the law governing police or intelligence powers and the act governing the criminal procedure. (4) If it can be substantively concluded that a person is hiding his/her property or income for the purpose of avoiding supervision in accordance herewith and the Commission has no other means to perform its tasks under Section V herein, a notice shall be given to the competent law enforcement and supervision bodies in the Republic of Slovenia with a call to determine the actual situation regarding property within the scope of their powers. The bodies shall inform the Commission on their findings. (5) At the Commission s request, the public sector employees and the managers shall attend the Commission s meetings and give explanations and answer the questions of the Commission within the scope of its powers. 3. Cooperation with non-profitable organisations from private sector engaged in the prevention of corruption Article 17 (Non-governmental organisations) (1) The Commission shall for the purpose of implementing the purpose hereof and to strengthen integrity cooperate with non-profitable organisations from private sector engaged in the prevention of corruption and with representative trade unions of the public sector (hereinafter: the trade unions). (2) The Commission may within its budget finance non-profitable organisations from private sector engaged in the prevention of corruption in performing of tasks related to training, informing and raising awareness of the general public and public-sector bodies and transfer of good practice related to implementation of the purpose hereof. 4. Supervision of work and operation of the Commission Article 18 (Informing the public) (1) The Commission shall inform the public of its work. (2) The Commission shall inform the public by publication of its opinions in principle, positions and decisions and convocation of meetings and the minutes thereof. (3) The Commission may invite to its meetings representatives of non-profitable organisations engaged in the prevention of corruption and the trade unions referred to in the previous article herein. Article 19 (Reporting obligations of the Commission) The Commission shall report to the National Assembly on its work once a year. The annual report shall be submitted by 31 May for the previous year. Article 20 (Supervision over the Commission) The National Assembly shall supervise the work of the Commission. The chair of the Commission shall report annually to the National Assembly, without stating data enabling identification of the processed natural or legal persons, on the contents and scope of work, the decisions, findings and opinions of the Commissions related to its powers and give an assessment of the current situation in the prevention of corruption and prevention and elimination of conflict of interest. Article 21 (Competencies of the National Assembly in supervision) The National Assembly shall by applying mutatis mutandis this Act supervise assets, receiving of gifts, conflict of interest and incompatibility of office with commercial activities of the chair and deputy chairs of the Commission. Article 22 (Discharge of the Commission) (1) The chair or deputy chair of the Commission shall be discharged by the President of the Republic. - upon a request of the chair or deputy chair; - if (s)he has been finally sentenced to prison; - due to permanent loss of capacity to hold the office; - if not acting in accordance with the fifth paragraph of Article 7 herein. (2) In the case of facts referred to in the second or third indent of the previous paragraph hereunder, the chair or deputy chair of the Commission shall inform the President of the Republic of such facts within three business days from their occurrence. (3) If it is found that the chair or deputy chair of the Commission acted contrary to the fifth paragraph of Article 7 herein, the President of the Republic shall discharge him/her based on a proposal from the National Assembly. (4) The President of the Republic may on a proposal from the National Assembly discharge the chair or deputy

5 chair of the Commission if (s)he does not hold the office in line with the Constitution and the law. (5) When the chair or deputy chair of the Commission is discharged early, a new functionary shall be appointed for the remaining term of office of the Commission, in accordance with Article 9 herein.