ISSN Anticorruption. No 5. Bulletin of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, January 2018 ISSN

Transcription

1 Anticorruption Bulletin of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, January 2018 ISSN No 5 ISSN

2 ISSN ISSN CONTENTS: Introductory word Sessions of the Council of the Agency Public opinion survey "Citizens' views on the issue of corruption and familiarity with the work of APC" Ex officio procedures due to suspicion of the existence of a threat to the public interest Control of financing of political entities and election campaigns Control of income and assets Prevention of conflict of interest and restrictions in performance of public functions Anti-corruption campaigns Lobbying Reporting corruption and protection of whistleblowers Education Misdemeanors Monitoring regulations and issuing opinions on regulations from the area of anti-corruption International cooperation Memoranda of cooperation Development of information system Awarded the best art works on the theme Stop Corruption Anticorruption Bulletin of the Agency for Prevention of Coruption, January 2018 No 5 Publisher: Agency for Prevention of Corruption Editors: Ljiljana Jušković and Nina Sekulović Web: antikorupcija.me Adress: Kralja Nikole 27/V, Podgorica Design and press: Printing office "Obod" A.D. Cetinje Copies: 250 2

3 Introductory word Dear readers, In the fifth issue of the bulletin Antikorupcija, the key results of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption in the application of preventive anti-corruption mechanisms were presented, as well as their effects in the second half of Also, the results of regular annual public opinion survey "Public attitudes towards corruption and familiarity with the work of APC", conducted in December, were presented in order to determine perceptions, information, attitudes and experiences of citizens regarding corruption in Montenegro, as well as the level of knowledge and confidence in the work of the Agency. The results of the survey are encouraging for the Agency and confirm the success of this state body in the implementation of its competencies in the first two years of work through the consistent application of three key anti-corruption laws, provision of expert support to thousands of obligors of these laws, and proactive and open approach towards citizens, authorities, international partners, non-governmental sector and all subjects that, through their work, support the prevention of corruption in Montenegro. At the same time, good results also represent a strong impetus for continuation of the consistent implementation of legal obligations, as well as commitments from strategic anti-corruption documents. With the successful control of the financing of election campaigns for the election of councilors in Cetinje, Mojkovac, Petnjica and Tuzi, the Agency has made another contribution to strengthening the integrity of the electoral process, and it readily enters the process of controlling the financing of election campaigns and respecting the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns when it comes to the election of councilors in Berane and Ulcinj, as well as in relation to the elections for the President of Montenegro. The Agency successfully implemented activities in the field of prevention of conflicts of interest, restrictions in exercising public functions and checking of property registers, which are reflected in the number of issued opinions that are binding on public officials, as well as in Sreten Radonjić, Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption the number of issued decisions and imposed sanctions upon requests of the Agency, but also through the practice of better informing and raising the awareness of public officials about the importance of a democratic standard of prevention of conflicts of interest and the reporting of accurate data on income and assets. In the field of prevention of corruption, the Agency continued to monitor corruption risks in certain segments of vacancy and employment advertisement and found significant elimination of these risks in the period August - December, following the procedures initiated by the Agency and the recommendation given to a number of public sector authorities. Through the new institute - the analysis of regulations on the risks of corruption, the Agency gave opinions on the draft Law on Local Self-Government, the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, the Labor Law and on the Law on Mediation in Employment and Rights during Unemployment. In this way, the Agency provides a contribution to the rule of law through the elimination of corruption risks from legal solutions. After the intensive campaign to raise public awareness of the lobbying institute, one of seven candidates who passed the exam for performing lobbying activities received in November 2017 the license from the Agency for performing this activity and was registered in the lobbyist register as the officially first lobbyist in Montenegro. The Agency appreciates that the activities of this state body encountered positive evaluations of the EU expert mission that carried out an analysis of the normative framework and working processes in this body in order to assess the fulfillment of interim benchmarks for Chapter 23 related to the area of prevention of corruption and whose implementation is in the competency of the Agency. During the presentation of the preliminary findings, EU experts praised the progress made by the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and pointed to the importance of informing the public about the achieved results, and, hopefully, the texts on the activities of the Agency presented in this issue of the bulletin Antikorupcija will also significantly contribute. Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is your trusted partner! 3

4 SESSIONS OF THE COUNCIL OF THE AGENCY FOR PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION In the second half of 2017, eleven meetings of the Council of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption were held, at which, among other things, two quarterly reports on the work of APC were considered and the proposal of the Agency's budget for 2018 was adopted. Local elections in the City Municipality of Tuzi, the Old Royal Capital of Cetinje, Municipal Assemblies of Mojkovac, Petnjica, Berane and Ulcinj were in the focus of the work of the Council, both through reviewing the control and surveillance plans, as well as through regular monitoring of the implementation of those plans. Also, the practice of holding the thematic sessions continued, so the three sessions were dedicated to the Agency's handling of reportings and requests for the protection of whistleblowers, with a special emphasis on ex officio procedure, then a presentation of the verification procedure in case of changes in the amount over EUR 5,000 in the Income and Assets Reports of public officials, as well as the presentation of the redesigned website of the Agency. In the framework of international cooperation, the Council had a Study Visit to the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Macedonia in November, during which a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Agency and the State Commission was signed and exchanged experience in the field of controlling the financing of political entities and election campaigns, protection of whistleblowers, integrity plans and checking of property records of public officials. Aleksandra Vojinović, Secretary of the Council of the Agency PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY RISE OF THE TRUST OF CITIZENS IN THE WORK OF THE AGENCY Public opinion survey "Citizens' views on issue of corruption and familiarity with the work of APC" was published on 28 December 2017, on a sample of 1000 respondents in nine municipalities: Podgorica, Niksic, Cetinje, Bijelo Polje, Berane, Pljevlja, Ulcinj, Bar and Herceg Novi. The target population was citizens aged 18 and over, and the survey was conducted in the period from 01 to 07 December The survey was conducted by a public opinion polling agency "DAMAR PLUS". The target population was citizens aged 18 and over, and the survey was conducted in the period from 1 to 7 December The survey was conducted by a public opinion polling agency "DAMAR PLUS". 4 RESULTS OF THE SURVEY: FAMILIARITY WITH THE WORK OF APC 74.3% of citizens heard of APC, which is for a few percentage higher than in 2016 when 71.1% of respondents heard about the Agency. 88.1% of respondents answered that they knew the competence of APC. That is more than in 2016 when 86, 1 % of respondents answered that they knew the competence of the Agency. As an ASK activity, 74% of citizens stated "Prevention/education in the fight against corruption". That is almost 20% more than in 2016, when 54.4% of respondents correctly stated that prevention of corruption is within the competence of APC. Also, it is important that a smaller percentage of respondents, 36.6% believe that the prosecution of corruption cases is within the competence of the Agency, compared to 40.3% of respondents who thought this last year. Citizens' confidence in the work of the APC in the fight against corruption increased, so that 68.4% of citizens (sum of answers) had confidence in it in 2017, while in 2016, 65.4% of respondents had confidence. To what extent do you personally have confidence in the work of the KAS in the fight against corruption? Also in 2017, the most respondents 32.6% would report corruption, which is a better result than in 2016, when

5 27.4% of respondents reported corruption to the Agency. In case you decide to report corruption, whom would you address, in whom would you have the most trust? STANCES OF PUBLIC REGARDING CORRUPTIO That it is never right to give money to the officer in order to realize some legal right considers 83.8%, a gift 72.8% of them or give a service 73.6%. Have you ever been forced by any employee by being requested a gift/money payment when exercising your rights with state or local government? Most respondents answered that they never offered some kind of gifts or money in order to fulfill their legal rights. Have you ever offered some kind of gifts/money to exercise the right that belongs to you by law (shortened certain procedures or accelerated procedures that are normally awaiting or providing better quality of the requested service)? Most respondents believe that the level of corruption is the same as last year. A positive result is that 25.4% of the respondents (the sum of the answers) believe that corruption was significantly or partially reduced in 2017, while in 2016 this percentage was lower and amounted to 23.5% of respondents. The highest percentage of respondents believe that corruption is the most common in health care. Police that ranked second in 2016 dropped to fourth posit In which areas/institutions corruption is the most prevalent? 40% of citizens believe that the efforts of the authorities in the fight against corruption were successful. The percentage of those who believe that the efforts were unsuccessful is smaller, i.e. 39.4% compared to 40.8% in Assess how successful the efforts of the relevant institutions in the fight against corruption have been so far? What are the main causes of the occurrence/presence of corruption in Montenegro? 38.4% of respondents would report corruption (38% in 2016), while 41.4% would not report it (43.4% in 2016). As the main reasons why corruption would not be reported, citizens said: The lack of confidence that the authorities will act upon the reporting (24.5%), I'm not sure that it could be proven (22.2%) and mistrust that the reporting will remain anonymous (17,9%) What are your expectations in respect of the improvement of the current situation regarding the fight against corruption in Montenegro? RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE SURVEY There is a growing awareness of citizens of APC, but in spite of this, the increase of awareness of citizens of preventive activities of APC should be continued. realized as much as possible via TV, billboards, the Internet It is necessary to continue: raising the awareness of citizens about the importance of their active participation in reporting corruption, raising confidence in state institutions, convincing citizens that the authorities will act upon their reporting and that citizens' reportings, if they wish, will remain anonymous. It is necessary to better inform citizens about the ways in which they can report corruption. Focus of the campaign should be on population ranging from 18 to 24 years. Goran Durutović, Head of Section 5

6 EX OFFICIO PROCEDURES DUE TO SUSPICION OF EXISTENCE OF THREAT TO PUBLIC INTEREST In the second half of 2017, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption initiated 16 procedures ex officio, on the basis of their own knowledge, due to suspicion of the existence of a threat to the public interest. During this period, the Agency ended 13 procedures and issued Opinions in which in 11 cases it established the existence of threats to the public interest in the procedures for advertising a vacant post, as well as the advertising of vacancies for one day and during days of weekend, and in that sense gave 380 recommendations to public institutions to improve transparency and eliminate corrupt risks. All other procedures are ongoing. In the second half of the year, this practice has been reduced, so this action of the Agency will continue in the future. In all the Opinions, the Agency found that the advertising of a vacant oneday job and weekends, in terms of Articles 44 and 72 of the Law on the Prevention of Corruption ( Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 53/14), constitutes a threat to the public interest and may affect the integrity, equity and transparency of the recruitment procedure. Since the beginning of 2017, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has initiated a total of 27 procedures ex officio, due to suspicion of the existence of a threat to the public interest in the procedures for advertising vacant positions, violation of the right to work and related to work and lease of state property on which property powers are exercised by the municipality. This year, 18 procedures were completed, 16 of which revealed the existence of a threat to the public interest while in 2 cases this was not the case. These procedures refer to over 90 public institutions, i.e. public companies, public institutions and other legal entities whose majority owner or founder of the state or municipality. In its Opinions, the Agency has provided over 400 recommendations to public institutions to improve transparency and eliminate corruption risks. Kristina Braletić, Head of Section CONTROL OF FINANCING OF POLITICAL ENTITIES AND ELECTION CAMPAIGNS The Agency, among other responsibilities, oversees the implementation of the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns, and this Law prescribes obligations, restrictions and prohibitions for political entities, the media, the authorities and the Agency in the election campaign, the means of financing political entities and election campaigns and the control carried out by the Agency. For the purpose of efficient implementation of the competencies prescribed by this Law, efforts have been continuously made in respect of the Agency's capacity building as well as training of employees in the Agency and of the responsible persons in government bodies and political entities from the beginning of the Agency's work. Thus, bylaws from the Agency's competence and internal procedures were developed and adopted. After the experience gained in the application of the Law in 2016 and in order to eliminate the noted shortcomings, a new Instruction was prepared, which will primarily include two existing Instructions (for the election of the President and for the election of deputies and councilors) and greatly improved individual forms, and which will be adopted in accordance with the adopted Law on Amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns of 29 December In order to develop a quality Instruction, in accordance with previous practice, the Agency has obtained opinions and proposals from experts and the non-governmental sector. IT system is continuously being developed in order to facilitate the delivery of reports by political entities, their processing and their accessibility to the public through a search on the Agency's website. With the support of the project Horizontal Mechanism of the Council of Europe and the European Union, an Analysis of the needs for the creation of an IT system for controlling the financing of political entities and election campaigns was undertaken, while the preparation of the first phase of the Module for Control of Financing of Political Entities and Monitoring of the Election Campaign has started, which refers to the sevenday and fifteen days reporting to the authorities in the election campaign. In order to efficiently and effectively implement the control of financing of political entities and election campaigns, as well as the transparency of the use of public resources in the election campaign, the Agency regularly monitors and controls compliance with the Law on Financing Political Entities and Electoral Campaigns. Thus, in 6

7 2017, following the control of the election campaign for the election of councilors in MA Niksic and Herceg Novi, the Agency conducted control of the financing of election campaigns for the election of councilors held in the territory of Tuzi, Cetinje, Petnjica and Mojkovac, which took place on 26 November. During these election campaigns, 141 reports of political entities and 1,325 government reports were delivered and published. Out of a total of 42 budget spending units, 36 of them were controlled, as well as 10 political entities (for 24 submitted lists) out of 34 submitted electoral lists for these elections. With the support of the projects Horizontal Program of the Council of Europe and the European Union, an analysis of the legislative framework in the field of financing of political parties was carried out, defining the main shortcomings of the legislative framework and defining the recommendations for its improvement. The analysis and concrete proposals for amending the Law were submitted to the Working Group of the Parliament. Bearing in mind the above, it is clear that this area remains one of the key priorities of the Agency in the forthcoming period, and that in the direct cooperation, proactive and concrete work on fulfilling the prescribed competencies in the area of the control of financing the election campaign, will continue with the realization of concrete and clearly measurable and visible results. In this way, a clear message will be made to the public and it will contribute to the further strengthening of the confidence in the electoral system, as well as the trust in the work of institutions, and above all in the work of the Agency. Dušan Drakić, Head of Section ASSETS REPORTING Pursuant to the Law on Prevention of Corruption, public officials and civil servants are obliged to submit a Report on Income and Assets. Reports are submitted electronically and in writing. The Agency checks the data from the report by comparing these data with the collected data on assets and revenues from the authorities and legal entities that have these data at their disposal. During 2017 until 15 December, the Agency received 6945 Income and Asset Reports, on various bases of filing, as follows: regular annual Income and Assets Reports; Income and Assets Reports within the lawful time limit of 30 days upon taking the office; Income and Assets Reports within the lawful time limit of 30 days in the event of increase of assets over 5,000 euros; - 66 Income and Assets Reports at the request of the Agency, in the event of initiating administrative procedure, in accordance with the law; annual Income and Assets Reports within the lawful time limit of 30 days upon the termination of office; annual Income and Assets Reports upon the termination of office. Compared to the previous year, during 2017, 312 or 5% more reports were submitted to the Agency. Namely, until 31 December 2016 there were 6633 Income and Assets Reports submitted on different basis, while during this year 7000 reports are expected. Svi navedeni izvještaji obrađeni su u informacionom sistemu Agencije. U cilju što veće transparentnosti podaci iz svih imovinskih kartona publikovani su na Web sajtu Agencije i omogućeno je pretraživanje istih zainteresovanim licima. The check is carried out in accordance with the Annual Plan of Control, which includes the control of the reports of all deputies, ministers, judges and prosecutors as compulsory categories to be checked, while for other functionaries the check is performed by a random sample method (each tenth public official in the alphabetical order of the last name list of public officials, that is, every tenth civil servant in the alphabetical order of the surname from the list of civil servants who have a prescribed obligation to submit the income and assets report). Pursuant to the Annual Plan of Control, it is envisaged to check 1600 income and assets reports of public officials and civil servants, which are thoroughly checked through the bases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Real Estate Directorate, Tax Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Also, all those who gave their consent to check bank accounts are checked over 14 commercial banks in Montenegro. Namely, in order to check the data from the report, a public official may give consent to the Agency for access to data on all accounts of banking and other financial institutions, and which is used solely for the purpose of verifying the data from the report. When it comes to access to the accounts of banking institutions, 71% of public officials, and 75% of civil servants, gave their approval for access. The Agency initiated administrative procedures for determining the 7

8 accuracy and completeness of the reported data in the property records of public officials and, on the basis of the conducted procedures until 15 December 2017, issued 42 decisions for failure to present accurate and complete data. Also, if the Agency determines in the control procedure that the income and assets of public officials and related persons with a public official are higher than real Maja Karas-Bošković, Head of Section The Agency has been implementing the Law on Prevention of Corruption for two years, which regulates the conditions and manner of performing public control over the activities of public officials, thus eliminating possible conflicts of private and public interest. The implementation of anti-corruption activities by the Agency in the field of prevention of conflicts of interest is evident through the progress and mobilization of all social forces in the processes of preventive fight against corruption, as well as the high level of responsibility of public officials in compliance with the legal provisions related to the conflict of interest. The Law on the Prevention of Corruption is a specific regulation that regulates not only the institutes that try to prevent and suppress the conflict of interest of public officials in the performance of public functions, but primarily focuses on creating the preconditions so that there is no occurrence of the 8 incomes, a public official is obliged, at the request of the Agency, to provide within 30 days detailed information on the basis of acquiring assets and income. In this regard, the Agency initiated and completed 25 procedures related to verification of the acquisition and source of income and assets, in which it was established that public officials provided detailed information on conflict of interest and is part of the overall fight against corruption. The specific nature of the Division for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest is to act in accordance with the Law, which is based on principles that are legal, but also moral standards of conduct. The law prescribes adequate legal mechanisms related to more efficient implementation of conflict of interest rules, which in broader terms also include rules on the incompatibility of functions, all with the aim of preventing conflicts of private and public interest, and creating and maintaining citizens trust in the conscientious and responsible exercise of public functions. In the past period, the Agency has successfully implemented anticorruption activities in the area of prevention of conflicts of interest, which are reflected in the progress in public official s understanding of the importance of conflict of interest, greater awareness and commitment to respect of the law, as well as in the number of opinions that are binding on public officials, decisions made and sanctions imposed on the Agency s requests. Preventing a potential conflict of interest is an initial link in the fight against corruption, which is reflected not only in legal and systemic changes, but also in specific cases. Starting from this, the Agency issued 55 Opinions, in the period July- December 2017, in order to prevent situations of potential conflict of interest and to reduce the number the basis of acquisition of assets and income, or justified the basis of acquisition. Due to the failure to submit the Income and Assets Report, 92 administrative procedures were initiated and ended before the Agency. Stefan Radunović, Head of Section PREVENTION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND RESTRICTIONS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC FUNCTIONS of cases in which private or group interests threaten the public interest in order to prevent preventive action following the requests of public officials and authorities. The activities of the Department for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest were also related to the control of respecting restrictions in the exercise of public functions in connection with the performance of incompatible functions, membership in the management bodies of companies, working bodies and receiving gifts. In this regard, 31 administrative proceedings were concluded, where a violation was found for 26 public officials. The activities concerned the control of the documentation on the received 368 donations and 104 sponsors in order to ensure impartiality in the exercise of public functions, removal and least doubt in the objective exercise of authority, raising the level of trust, spreading democratic political culture, adhering to ethical norms and codes of conduct, and at the same time performing the institutional control of public officials when performing public functions. These and similar activities will contribute to the creation of conditions for the development of the overall awareness of public officials and citizens about the importance of performing public office and profiling the personality that will become less and more subordinate to the private, and more and more the state interest.

9 ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGNS Protection of whistleblowers and reporting corruption APC has prepared 20,000 flyers on the topic Protection of Whistleblowers and Reporting the Endangering of Public Interest Indicating Corruption. Flayers contain a legal definition of public interest threats, ways of reporting the threat to the public interest that indicates corruption, legal obligations of APC in protecting whistleblowers and acting upon reportings, an example of good reporting practices and contacts of APC to which threats to the public interest indicating corruption can be reported. 6,200 flyers were inserted in the daily press. Flyers were also delivered to municipalities in the following circulation: Tivat (2,000 pcs.), Niksic (5,000 pcs.); APC, in cooperation with the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office and the Police Directorate, has prepared Citylight posters with the contacts of all three institutions to which corruption can be reported. In November 2017, 20 Citylight posters were placed in 12 cities. APC prepared billboards Report Corruption that were mounted in October at 15 locations in eight municipalities. 98 Within the campaign Not a Cent Bribery video of 30 seconds in the second half of 2017 was broadcasted 79 times on four televisions with national coverage before central information, kao i u emisijama informativnog karaktera. Spot sadrži kontakte ASK na koje se može prijaviti korupcija. Lobby lawfully APC has prepared 20,000 copies of the Lobbying flyer. In October, 10,000 flyers were inserted in the daily press. Flayers were also delivered to the municipalities in the following circulation: Tivat (1,000 pieces), Niksic (2,000 pieces), Podgorica (2,000 pieces). APC prepared billboards Lobby Lawfully, which were mounted in October in 15 locations in 11 municipalities; 9

10 On 30 locations across Montenegro, Citylight posters on the subject of lobby lawfully were mounted. Prevention of conflict of interest APC prepared flyer Prevention of conflict of interest. 12,400 flyers were inserted in the daily press; Prevention of corruption in education APC, in cooperation with the Directorate for Inspection Affairs (Department for Inspection for Education and Sport) and NGO Center for Civic Education - CGO, prepared 20,000 flyers on the topic 10 Report corruption in education. APC provided NGO CGO 3,000 flyers for distribution by the NGO at round tables, seminars, conferences and other events that it organizes. The insertion of 5,000 flyers in the daily press was performed. In the first quarter of 2018 APC will deliver 10,000 flyers to the Ministry of Education for distribution in educational institutions. Prevention of corruption in public procurement ASK, in cooperation with the Public Procurement Directorate, prepared billboards Report Corruption in Public Procurements, which were mounted in October in 10 municipalities.. Campaign Effects According to the results of the survey Public attitudes towards corruption and familiarity with the work of the ASK, 58.2% of respondents were familiar with the campaign Not a cent for bribery, while 69.2% of respondents believe that such campaigns encourage citizens to fight corruption. Goran Durutović, Head of Section

11 LOBBYNG MONTENEGRO GOT ITS FIRST REGISTERED LOBBYST One of the seven candidates who passed the examination for performing lobbying activities with the Agency for Prevention of Corruption received the approval for performing this activity and was registered in the lobbyist register as the officially first lobbyist in Montenegro. Approval for carrying out the activity of lobbying is issued with a validity period of three years and can be extended at the request of a lobbyist under the same conditions. The Agency has published a total of 15 public calls for exams for performing lobbying activities, and the exam so far has been passed by seven candidates. We remind that the activity of lobbying can be performed by a natural person who has been In the second half of 2017, the Agency received 48 reports of endangering public interest that indicate the existence of corruption. Out of that number, ten applicants submitted a report anonymously (a total of seventeen since the beginning of the year). Of the total number of reports in 2017, two were submitted by employees in the institutions to which the reports relate to (five in total since the beginning of the year). In the second half of 2017, there were 21 procedures on reporting of endangering public interest that indicate on the existence of corruption from this year and the previous year. In this period, in two cases was found that there was endangering of the public interest in the authority, and the Agency made recommendations in its Opinion for the elimination of corruption risks, while the other procedures are ongoing. From the beginning of until 15th December 2017, Agency received 68 whistleblower reports. approved by the Agency for performing this activity (lobbyists) and a commercial company, that is, a non-governmental organization that fulfill the conditions prescribed by the Law on Lobbying. One of the conditions that a natural person has to fulfill in order to gain approval is to pass a special exam organized by the Agency. Candidates who receive the certificate on the passed exam can submit a request to the Agency for the issuance of a license for performing lobbying activities, and on the day of issuing the license, the lobbyist is registered in the lobbyist register, which is managed by the Agency for Prevention of Corruption. The lobbyist's register is public and available at the Agency's website. CORRUPTION REPORTS AND WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION N.S. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 34 procedures have been completed: 21 procedure on the whistleblower reports from and 13 procedures on reports transmitted from (14 reports were submitted in work from 2016.). Since the beginning of the year, on the basis of the whistleblower reports, the Agency found in 4 cases endangering of the public interest that points to the existence of corruption and gave a total of 13 recommendations for the elimination of corruption risks. A total of 9 reports were submitted to the competent prosecutor's offices, namely: 6 reports from and 1 report in total and 2 in the part of the case from 2016, while in the remaining part, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption took action. According to the latest information from the competent prosecutor's offices, three applications have been rejected, three are in the phase of the investigation and three are waiting for feedback. In regards to the reports transmitted to the competent prosecutor's offices in 2016, there are four more ongoing proceedings, out of which three are in the phase of the investigation, while in one case an indictment was filed. In this period, seventeen whistleblower reports were transmitted to other competent institutions, the largest number to the inspection bodies and the Police Administration, out of which irregularities were determined in two cases, in six cases were not determined, while the rest are waiting for a feedback. The highest number of reports was from the field of labor relations (38%), followed by the private sector (11%), the treatment of state authorities (8%) and local authorities (7%), as well as reports of suspicion on the existence of a criminal offense (11% ). One request for the whistleblower protection has been filed, for which a procedure had a positive result, ie the Agency has granted protection 11

12 to the whistleblower, while the remaining procedure is in progress (since the beginning of the year two protection requests have been submitted). In 2017, the authorities, companies, other legal entities and entrepreneurs set 257 persons for acting on whistleblower reports. EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION In the second half of the year, activities were continued in relation to the education of persons designated for the handling of the corruption reports, which were conducted in cooperation with CRNVO within the project Let your voice be heard. In that regard, three more trainings were held, two for the representatives of local self-government bodies and administration, while one was organized for media representatives. On these trainings, the Head of Department presented legal obligations in the procedures on whistleblower reports, the duties of the authority bodies in cases of reports filing and the Agency's experience in this field. Also, a round table dedicated to the handling of reports and whistleblower protection in Montenegro was organized, as a final event of the successfully realized project. Within the SE Horizontal Mechanism for the Western Balkans and Turkey, two workshops were held for representatives of the judiciary and prosecution on whistleblower protection in civil and criminal law. Kristina Braletić, Head of Section EDUCATION In the second half of 2017, representatives of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption held two trainings on the topic Competencies of the Agency and obligations of authorities in the implementation of anti-corruption laws. The trainings are intended for the heads of local self-government bodies, public companies and public institutions. The aim of the training is to effectively fulfill all obligations of the authorities that are foreseen by anti-corruption laws. The trainings were attended by 25 persons. Within the framework of the training program conducted by the Human Resources Administration, four seminars were held: Integrity in Public Administration and Implementation of Integrity Plans, Designing and Implementing Public Campaigns, Fighting Corruption and Preventing Conflict of Interest in Public Administration. The training, at which representatives of the Agency had lectures, was attended by around 60 representatives of state bodies, as well as representatives of local self-governments. Also, in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Agency and the Public Procurement Administration, regarding the raising of public awareness of the preventive mechanisms of the participants in public procurement procedures, a seminar was held on the subject of Public Procurement and Prevention of Corruption for Public Procurement Officers. The training was attended by 60 participants. A representative of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, in cooperation with the Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO), held three lectures within the project Let Your Voice Be Heard, which is fully dedicated to the whistleblowers. The training, attended by 60 participants, is intended for representatives of local governments and self-governments and representatives of the media. In accordance with the measures from the Action Plan for Chapter 23, representatives of the Agency and the Ministry of Education held a lecture on the topic Prevention of Corruption for students from the secondary school Braća Selić in Kolašin. The lecture was attended by 30 students, as well as by several representatives of teaching staff. Also, in accordance with the measures from the AP, representatives of the Agency held four lectures on anticorruption measures for members of the Border Police at the Police Academy in Danilovgrad, organized by the Police Directorate, the MIA of Montenegro and the Police Academy. 12

13 The objective of the lecture is to improve professional competencies and acquire new knowledge of the participants on prevention of corruption and anti-corruption institutions in Montenegro. The lecture was attended by around 60 participants. In cooperation with the Regional Anti- Corruption Initiative (RAI), with the support of the Austrian Development Agency, representatives of APC held three trainings in Podgorica, Budva and Kolašin for persons performing coordination tasks in implementing measures from integrity plans in Montenegrin institutions, so-called Integrity Managers. The lecture was attended by around 220 participants. Ljiljana Jušković, Senior Advisor MISDEMEANORS In the period from the beginning of July until the 15 December 2017, the Division for initiating misdemeanor proceedings and issuing misdemeanor orders filed a total of 103 requests for initiating misdemeanor proceedings, i.e. 97 requests for violation of the provisions of the Law on Prevention of Corruption and 6 requests for violation of the provisions of the Law on financing of political subjects and electoral campaigns. Due to violation of the provisions of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, 19 requests for initiation of misdemeanor proceedings were filed in the area of prevention of conflicts of interest and restrictions in the exercise of public functions. Furthermore, due to non-submission of the report, on various legal bases, the Division submitted 43 requests for initiating misdemeanor proceedings, i.e. 16 requests for initiation of misdemeanor proceedings for failing to submit a report within 30 days from the date of termination of public office, and 25 of them for failing to report in within 30 days after entering the public office, as well as 2 requests for failure to submit a income and assets report due to a change in the value of the property over 5, Also, due to the submission of the Report on income and assets with incorrect and incomplete data, during this period, 35 requests for initiating misdemeanor proceedings were filed. Altogether, 173 sanctions were imposed, of which 38 were warnings and 135 were fines in the total amount of EUR 56, More specifically, in the area of conflict of interest, 12 fines were imposed in the total amount of EUR 2,260.00, in the area of registration of property 103 fines, with a total amount of EUR 26,050.00, while in the area of financing political entities and election campaigns, 20 fines were imposed in the total amount of EUR 28, Since the beginning of 2017, the Division filed 19 appeals against the first instance decisions of the competent minor offense courts, to the High Court for Misdemeanors, of which 10 appeals were accepted, 6 appeals still have not been decided, while 3 appeals have been rejected. During this period, the authorized officers of the competent Division attended 295 hearings before the competent courts for misdemeanors all over Montenegro. Review of misdemeanor practice: Establishing a parallel between the initiated misdemeanors during the two-year work of the Agency, there is a noticeable positive decline in the violation of certain legal provisions in 2017, and in comparison with the previous one. In particular, in 2016, 272 requests were filed for non-submission of a regular annual report, out of which 183 were filed against local public officials and 89 against state public officials, while in 2017, 145 requests were filed against local and 48 against state public officials. Based on the above, it can be concluded that there is increased awareness among public officials when it comes to their legal obligation to present a regular annual report, in accordance with Article 23 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption. Also, progress has been noticed in applying the provisions of the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, especially considering that in the past year, during the parliamentary elections, a total of 405 requests for initiating misdemeanor procedures have been filed since the election day. In 2017, only 10 requests for initiation of misdemeanor proceedings were submitted during the elections in 6 municipalities. It is indisputable that last year's high number of misdemeanor requests, along with other activities of the Agency, influenced the obligors of the Law, primarily educationally, resulting in a positive decline, i.e., a reduction in the violation of the legal provisions of the aforementioned anti-corruption laws. Education Independent Adviser Dragana Šuković from the Division for initiating misdemeanor proceedings and issuing misdemeanor orders participated in November in the training Investigation and prosecution of corruption in the public sector at the CEELI Institute (Central and Eastern European Legal Initiative) in Prague, at the invitation of the US Embassy in Podgorica, that is the Bureau for Combating International Drugs and Enforcement (INL) of the State Department. Intensive fiveday training was intended for prosecutors, investigators, judges, representatives of anti-corruption bodies and other relevant institutions in order to exchange experiences and acquire new knowledge and skills. Dragana Šuković, Senior Advisor 13

14 MONITORING OF LEGISLATION AND GIVING OF OPINIONS ON REGULATIONS IN THE FIELD OF ANTI-CORRUPTION In the second half of 2017, the Department for monitoring of legislation and giving of opinion on anti-corruption regulations continued to monitor the intensive legislative activity of Montenegrin institutions and react to their own opinions on possible risks of corruption in, first of all, Draft Laws: Draft Law on Civil Servants and State Employees and the general regime of labor relations through the Draft Labor Law and the Draft In the analysis, the Agency put a special emphasis on issues that were problematized by the Public Administration Reform Strategy for this area and the documents that served as the basis for its creation, such as: organization of public administration, civil service system, separation of political and professional, merit system in employment, vocational training and training of civil servants and state employees, human resources the integrity and transparency of procedures in the implementation of subject matter of the Law, as defined in Article 1 of the Draft. When it comes to the general regime of labor relations, the Agency has adopted Opinions on the Draft Law on Labor and the Draft Law on employment mediation and unemployment rights. In relation to the Draft Law on Labor, provisions that were Opinions for the improvement and prevention of corruption Article 79 The Agency may, at its own initiative or at the request of the authorities, a company, a legal entity, an entrepreneur or a natural person, give an opinion in order to improve the prevention of corruption, reduce the risk of corruption and strengthen ethics and integrity in the authorities and other legal entities, which contains the corruption risk analysis, measures to eliminate the risk of corruption and to prevent corruption. Law on employment mediation and unemployment rights. In this period, the Agency adopted the Opinion on the Draft Law on Local self-government. The emphasis is placed on those Draft laws that, by their subject matter, and even in ideal theoretical and factual circumstances, can by their norm or implementation lead to the endangering of public interest, transparency and integrity. The main risks in analyzing legal texts are: uncertainty and imprecision of legal norms, individual drafts, broad discretionary powers of decisionmakers, regulation of rights and obligations of individuals with bylaws that can lead to unequal treatment of individuals and legal uncertainty. The draft Law on Civil Servants and State Employees is analyzed as a whole and represents an important instrument for strengthening of integrity and prevention of corruption in the state administration system through systematic regulation of the rights, obligations and responsibilities of civil servants and state employees in order to improve the quality of work, impartiality, transparency and confidence building in the work of state bodies. management in order to optimize the number of employees in the public sector, assessment of employees etc. In its opinion, the Agency calls on the importance of establishing a transparent and merit-based civil service system in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption. In June 2017, the Agency brought an opinion and gave recommendations in relation to the in force Law on Civil Servants and State Employees and the part relating to the conflict of interest and restrictions. It is important to note that through the Draft Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, the Department monitored the implementation of recommendations from the Opinion given in June and pointed out the need for their consistent implementation in the Draft. In relation to the Draft Law on Local self-government, in its Opinion, the Agency analyzed provisions related to the selection and dismissal in municipal bodies, legal status and responsibility of local officials, civil servants and state employees. Also, the analysis indicated that certain provisions could cause problems in their implementation and violate analyzed are related to: conditions and establishment of employment, conclusion and type of labor contract, changes of contracted working conditions and temporary work, rights and obligations of employees, overtime work, redistribution of working hours and work absence and standstill of rights and obligations, and their compliance with international standards in this field to which the proposer is called in the Explanation. In regards to the in force Labor Law and the Law on employment and exercising the right of unemployment insurance of Montenegro, the Agency brought Opinions in April and June It is also important to note the interest of the media for the mentioned opinions, which are brought by the Department and the fact that they are expertly and objectively traced in all printed and electronic media, which is certainly a significant confirmation of the results achieved by the Department. Grozdana Laković, Head of Section 14

15 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption Sreten Radonjic and Head of the Department for International Cooperation Marina Mićunović participated on the occasion of the 9th December the International Anti-Corruption Day at the conference Cooperation of Anti-Corruption Institutions in the Region organized by the Anti-Corruption Agency of Serbia. Also, in December, a delegation of the Serbian Anti-Corruption Agency visited the Agency, and in November delegation of the Kosovo Anti- Corruption Agency, and during these visits they were introduced to the work processes of the Agency, exchanged experiences on good practices and agreed on further steps of the joint cooperation with the Montenegrin Agency. At the conference Cooperation of Anti-Corruption Institutions in the Region, which was held on 13 and 14 December in Belgrade on the occasion of the 9th December the International Anti-Corruption Day, Director of the Agency Sreten Radonjic, as a participant in the panel, presented the normative and institutional solutions in the field of prevention of corruption in Montenegro, the results of the Agency in the application of preventive anticorruption mechanisms and their effects, as well as future challenges in the work of this body. The event brought together the leaders of anticorruption bodies from the countries of the region, representatives of judicial authorities of the Republic of Serbia, as well as representatives of civil society organizations and media, and on this occasion experiences in these areas were exchanged and encouraged further cooperation at the regional level. Representatives of the Serbian Agency, led by Mr. Dragomir Trninić, Assistant Director in the Sector for Controlling Property and Income of Officials and Acting upon Applications, also paid a working visit to the Agency on December 25 and 26. During the visit representatives of the Montenegrin Agency presented to the delegation competencies and results of this body, with special emphasis on checking the income and assets of public officials and usage of the Agency's information system for these purposes. Experiences about positive practices in the work of the two institutions were exchanged, and further improvement of mutual cooperation was discussed as well. In November the Agency was visited also by the Delegation of the Anti- Corruption Agency of Kosovo led by Fraser Murtezay, Head of the Division for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest, and Burim Sadiku, Head of Division for Research, Cooperation and Anti-Corruption Mechanism, and the visit was organized after the representatives of the Anti-Corruption Agency of Kosovo had expressed interest in sharing experiences in the implementation of preventive anticorruption competencies. Guests from the Anti-Corruption Agency of Kosovo were particularly interested in the area of integrity plans as an important preventive anti-corruption mechanism, regarding which special meetings were organized with the officials of the Division for Integrity and Lobbying. The subject of these meetings was normative framework which regulates the area of integrity plans in Montenegro, as well as methodology of development of integrity plans in the authorities. Also in the following period, the Agency remains committed to bilateral and regional cooperation in order to exchange good practice and its further encouragement in the area of the prevention of corruption. N.S. BERLIN PROCESS: MEETING OF ANTI-CORRUPTION BODIES IN TRIESTE Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, Sreten Radonjic, took part in a meeting of anti-corruption bodies at which the leaders of anti-corruption bodies from six countries of the region, representatives of the Italian National Anti-Corruption Agency of Italy, as well as the Chairman and Head of the Secretariat of the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative based in Sarajevo (RAI) met. The meeting was organized on the eve of the Summit of Heads of State and Government 15

16 of the Participating Countries of the Berlin Process on 12 July 2017 in Trieste, chaired by Raffaele Cantone, President of the National Anti- Corruption Agency of the Republic of Italy, which is also a partner in the implementation of IPA twinninig project of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption of Montenegro Support to the implementation of integrity measures. Participants presented efforts, results and challenges in their countries within the five topics identified by the agenda: prevention of corruption, transparency, public procurement, whistleblowers s protection and conflict of interest. As a result of the aforementioned Workshop, the COOPERATION Italian and anti-corruption bodies of the Western Balkan countries confirmed their willingness to step out and step up efforts to prevent corruption and improve the entire area of rule of law and business environment by supporting the Joint Declaration against Corruption. The Declaration expressed the will of the participants in strengthening the system for preventing corruption, deepening and increasing transparency, improving the efficiency of the public procurement system, improving the legislative framework for protecting whistleblowers and preventing conflicts of interest, and the effectiveness of controlling reports on income and assets of public officials through regional cooperation. The Berlin Process is a European Union diplomatic initiative that is related to the EU enlargement and provides a platform for strengthening multilateral ties between six EU countries and six Western Balkan countries, as well as a platform for regional cooperation in the Western Balkans in the area of infrastructure, economic development and anticorruption. The next Summit of the West-Balkan Six is planned to take place in London in Marina Mićunović, Head of Department THE AGENCY HAS SIGNED TWO AGREEMENTS AND ONE MEMORANDUM ON COOPERATION In the period between beginning of July and 15 December, the Agency for Prevention of Corruption signed two cooperation agreements with the State Audit Institution and the Public Procurement Office, as well as the Memorandum of Cooperation with the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Macedonia, and these initiatives were undertaken in order to strengthen cooperation, capacity and exchange of good practices among the mentioned institutions. The agreement on cooperation with the State Audit Institution was signed in November by the Agency's Director Sreten Radonjic and the President of the Senate of the State Audit Institution, Milan Dabovic, PhD, with the aim to contribute through joint activities to improving the responsibility of political entities and strengthening the integrity and good governance of public funds. In November, the Agency also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Macedonia, signed by the President of the Agency Council Goranka Vučinić and the President of the State Commission, Igor Tanturovski PhD. Memorandum was signed in order to exchange experiences, information and technical assistance and support in order to improve the work of these institutions, and agreed on activities in the field of training and education, exchange of technical and IT solutions and projects and other activities. In July, the Agency signed another agreement on cooperation with the Public Procurement Directorate, signed by the Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, Sreten Radonjić and the Director of the Public Procurement Directorate, Mersad Mujević PhD, with the aim of intensifying mutual cooperation in the implementation of preventive anti-corruption activities through the effective prevention of conflicts of interest and the elimination of other risks for the occurrence of corruption and violation of integrity in the public procurement system. Previously, the Agency signed agreements on cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tax Administration and the Real Estate Directorate, as well as memoranda of cooperation with three NGOs - CRNVO, CEMI and CDT. Nina Sekulović, Advisor 16

17 INFORMATION SYSTEM In accordance with the Work Plan and the Development Plan of the Agency Information System, the improvement of infrastructure equipment and integration of the purchased equipment into the existing system was continued in the second half of the year. The aggregate power supply for the server room of Agency for Prevention of Corruption was provided and desired level of redundancy of the complete core equipment in the system was achieved. CREATING RISK FOR A PLAN subordinate authority risk area: delegation and management working places: President and vice-presidents of the Municipality President of the Parliament Heads of authorities Elementary risks an analysis of the submitted plans in order to create recommendations for their improvement. Also, the Module for automatic data exchange with the information systems of other state authorities was introduced and in comparison with the previous period it was improved through linking with the base of stocks and securities of the Central Depository Agency and CRS. The realization of connecting with the Ministry of Justice (Register of criminal records) for the needs of Residual risks Making decisions under extreme influence, contrary to the public interest due to the lack of clear rules of use, discretionary powers; Discrepancies in the implementation of development plans and programs. implementation of further phases of the Project, which will be prioritized in Through the development of new functionalities, and in accordance with the recommendations received, the improvement of the Web site has been completed by allowing a new way of reporting corruption and submitting complaints in the election campaign through Web Form. Also, on the website of Agency for Prevention of Corruption has been implemented the functionality Unauthorized lobbying or other nonpublic influence Disruption of the transparency principle Disruption of institutional integrity Existing measures: Risk assessment Entering of risk evaluation Date Probability? Influence? Evaluation? Status Activities 19. XII ꜜ 11. XII = Reacting and risk reporting Entering of the proposed measure Date of the measure entry Proposed measures to reduce / eliminate risk 13. XII Full transparency in decision-making procedures in areas under the competence of the President of the Municipality, the President of the Parliament and the Heads of Local-Government authorities With the support of the US Embassy, through the procurement of new safety tools and equipment, the level of equipment, as well as the level of information security in Agency for Prevention of Corruption, has been significantly improved. The application software of Agency for Prevention of Corruption was upgraded by the introduction of the Modules for Plans of Integrity and Statistics. This way in future, from 2018, all the authorities obliged to submit Integrity Plans, will submit electronically Plans and Reports on Integrity Plans, while the Agency for Prevention of Corruption in its part of the application will be able to perform the Section for control of political entities and monitoring of election campaigns is in progress. Agency for Prevention of Corruption started with the planning and development of a specialized module for the control of political entities and monitoring of election campaigns. By engaging of an expert, with the support of the Council of Europe through the Horizontal Program, a project task was carried out, which foresees the implementation of this module in 3 phases. The Agency has already begun to develop certain functionalities, while the budget proposal foresees the necessary financial resources for the of RSS, which enables interested visitors, NGOs and media to automatically receive information that a particular news or document has been published on the Agency for Prevention of Corruption website. A significant new feature is the redesign of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption website, as well as the modification of the structure, in order to achieve the best possible visibility for the needs of the visitors of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption website Dušan Polović, Head of Department 17

18 AWARDED THE BEST ART WORKS ON THE THEME STOP CORRUPTION The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption gave the awards to high school students who prepared three of the best art work on the theme Stop Corruption, on 27 December. On November 17 of current year, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption sent a letter to all secondary schools in Montenegro, inviting students of second and third grades to prepare and submit to the Agency art works on the theme Stop corruption. A total of 77 artworks from 12 high schools arrived, after which a three-member commission made by the Chief of Education Department Goran Durutović, the representative of the Ministry of Education Milica Mićunović and the academic painter Katarina Švabić, carried out an overview of all works and, taking into account the criteria of the answer to the theme, creativity and originality, chose the top 12. According to the commission's assessment, with the three first prize awarded, the best works were prepared also by the students: The best art work was prepared by Vuk Šćepanović, student of the Secondary Art School Petar Lubarda from Cetinje. The second position was won by Jovana Đurović, student of the Gimnasium Slobodan Škerović from Podgorica. The third position came to Viktor Mijović, student of Secondary Art School Petar Lubarda from Cetinje. 18

19 4. Aleksa Marković, SGGŠ Marko Radević Podgorica 5. Đorđe Tamindžija, SAS «Petar Lubarda» Cetinje 6. Tijana Popović, SMS BratstvoJedinstvo Ulcinj 7. Sara Avramović, PI Educational Center Plužine 8. Ema Dacić, Secondary vocational school Rožaje 9. Andrija Vujačić, Gimnasium Slobodan Škerović Podgorica 10. Danilo Laketić, Gimnasium Tanasije Pejatović Pljevlja 11. Teodora Bauković, PI Petar I Petrović Njegoš Danilovgrad 12. Amina Ćatović, Gimnasium Miloje Dobrašinović - Bijelo Polje The artwork of these 12 high school students were also published on the Agency's calendar for The Agency will continue to implement anti-corruption education for pupils and to organize similar activities in the following period, in order to further strengthen the level of public awareness of the young population regarding the problem of corruption. Radovi srednjoškolaca na temu STOP KORUPCIJI 2018 Nina Sekulović, Advisor 19

20 YOUR RELIABLE PARTNER Kralja Nikole 27/V, Podgorica, MONTENEGRO