How is Romania fighting corruption?

Transcription

1 How is Romania fighting corruption? CONCRETE EXAMPLES AND ELEMENTS OF PROGRESS from the report addressing the benchmarks in the area of judicial reform and fight against corruption With regard to: Training Module II: Anti-corruption policies and preventive measures-available tools and best practices Training Module IV: Reform of the judiciary and anti-corruption as challenges of the EU accession process I The European Commission's Comprehensive Monitoring Report of the 26th September 2006 established a cooperation and verification mechanism, in the post accession period of Romania to the European Union, regarding the progress of the judiciary reform and of the fight against corruption. Thus, the Commission Decision 2006/928EC of 13 December 2006 establishing a mechanism for cooperation and verification of progress in Romania, to address specific benchmarks in the areas of judicial reform and the fight against corruption, published in the Official Journal of the European Commission nr. 354 from the 14 th of December 2006, identifies 4 benchmarks (BM) which are to be very strictly monitored during the post accession period: - BM1: Ensure a more transparent and efficient judicial process notably by enhancing the capacity and accountability of the Superior Council of Magistracy. Report and monitor the impact of the new civil and criminal procedures codes; - BM2: Establish, as foreseen, an integrity agency with responsibilities for verifying assets, incompatibilities and potential conflicts of interest, and for issuing mandatory decisions on the basis of which dissuasive sanctions can be taken; - BM3: Building on progress already made, continue to conduct professional, non-partisan investigations into allegations of high-level corruption; - BM4: Take further measures to prevent and fight against corruption, in particular within the local government. On 31 st of October 2007 the Romanian Government adopted through GD 1346/2007 the MCV action plan. Between June 2007 and March 2008, there are the following elements of progress in meeting the 4 benchmarks established in the framework of the MCV: Within BM 1: One of the priorities of the Ministry of Justice was finalising the drafting process of the new procedural codes, especially the completion of a new draft criminal procedural code, to replace the current code, in force since The new code aimed to provide long term solutions for problems that arose in the judicial practice; the draft code eliminates the possibility of the courts to send back cases to prosecutors and introduces the preliminary chamber as a pre-trial procedure where the legality of the indictment can be verified, following the model of other European systems of law and the Statute of the International Criminal Court. The efforts were also concentrated on reducing the time discrepancies between the Civil Procedure Code, whose elaboration began at the end of 2005, and the Criminal Procedure Code, whose elaboration began in May Currently, both codes are under public debate, which is mandatory in the process of adopting these complex laws; At the level of the SCM and of the Prosecutor s Office attached to the High Court of Justice, efforts were made for identifying the non unitary practice and for promoting the measures for the unification of the jurisprudence. The main instrument is the appeal in the interest of the law, a procedure which has proven to be useful and effective. Thus, during the reference period the number of appeals in the interest of the law admitted by the High Court of Cassation and Justice was almost double (52) compared to the previous period (27). The human resources policy was on the agenda of high level meetings chaired by the Prime Minister, with the participation of the Minister of Justice and the heads of the judicial institutions involved in the judicial reform process the President of the SCM, the President of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the General Prosecutor. They have agreed to centralize a set of proposals aiming both at establishing the main guidelines of a human resources strategy on long term, and at solving the personnel deficit existing especially at the Prosecutor s offices level. In this context, the final solution proposed was to permit admission to magistracy on the condition of passing an exam. The SCM amended the regulation on the professional evaluation of the magistrates and took measures for preparing and implementing the evaluation process. The Government has amended the procedure regarding the elaboration and adoption of the normative acts, thus allowing the systematic consultation of the SCM during the legislative process. The implementation of the measures improving the functioning of the courts and of the prosecutor s offices attached to them has continued: the automation process is ongoing, infrastructure works have been undertaken.

2 Within BM 2: In May 2007, the Senate adopted Law no. 144/2007 on the setting up, organization and functioning of the National Integrity Agency, modified through GEO no. 49/2007 (approved by Law no. 94/2008) and through GEO no. 138/2007; Within September December 2007, two competitions were organised for ANI s management positions; as results of these competitions, organized in full transparency conditions, the management positions were filled in and a part of integrity inspectors were hired; Following the adoption of GEO no. 138/2007, the operations for ANI s set up and functioning could effectively take place, as following: allocation of a headquarter, the procurement procedures for IT equipment, furniture, logistics etc were completed, contracts for basic utilities were signed, ANI s budget for 2008 was drawn up and approved, the organizational chart was drawn up, job descriptions made and ANI s directorates set up. Within BM 3: One of the priorities of the Romanian Govern was to ensure the institutional stability of the anti-corruption framework was the only year when the act regulating the organisation and functioning of the anticorruption prosecutor s office * was not amended or completed, since its establishment in 2002; Furthermore, In order to ensure legislative stability, the Ministry of Justice concentrated on the completion of a new draft criminal procedural code, to replace the current code, in force since 1969 Special emphasis was put on the training of magistrates dealing with corruption cases, through the organisation of debates including magistrates from other EU member states. * The National Anticorruption Directorate is organized within the General Prosecutor's Office (Prosecutors Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice), it has legal personality and it has exclusive and unrestricted competence in fighting high level corruption including that involving members of the Parliament; NAD has financial autonomy - distinct budget within the budget of POHCCJ, as well as functional autonomy. Within BM 4: Increasing the quality of the public services and reforming the administrative system, with the effect of reducing the opportunities to corruption, were accomplished by reducing the timeframe for issuing certain documents, revising the legislation on issuing authorizations, licenses and notices at central and local level, introducing a unitary system for petitions registration and modalities to solve them, reducing the direct contact between the tax payer and the civil servant by introducing the online payment facilities, reducing the administrative burden and making the business environment more transparent, as well as by increasing the control and enforcing ethics in the public procurement system; In the reference period, the process of monitoring the observance of the codes of conduct on different categories of public office continued, as well as monitoring the observance of the rules on decision making transparency, at central and local level. Simultaneously, corresponding professional training sessions were organized; With a view to inform the citizens and different professional categories on the instruments to prevent and combat corruption, awareness campaigns were organized by the Ministry of Justice and MIAR, the activities carried out within the National Integrity Centre a partnership between MIAR and the civil society. II. Developing cooperation and programmes with institutions, national and internation al nongovernmental organisations 1. Transparency and Integrity in the Judicial System Partners: Ministry of Justice, the Association for the Implementation of Democracy Romania and the UK Embassy Goal of the project: to increase the accountability of magistrates and their active participation in the reform of the Romanian judicial system Budget: approximately Duration: 1 year (November 2007 November 2008) Planned activities: 5 training sessions for 200 magistrates - on integrity, transparency and management of the relation with citizens, Drafting and disseminating a guide for law students and future young magistrates, Organizing 20 regional debates to present the guide and to assess integrity and transparency problems of the judiciary system Drafting 20 studies on the integrity and transparency problems of the judiciary system, at regional level Organizing a national conference on Integrity and Transparency in the Judiciary System, to present the results of the studies 2

3 Implemented activities: May 17-18, the first training session on corruption and investigative journalism, integrity in the social and public life in Romania, measures to promote the integrity in the judiciary, communication and transparency in the judiciary. It was attended by 2 representatives of the National Integrity Agency, 2 representatives of the Ministry of Justice, 11 prosecutors and 1 media representative. 2. Twinning Romania Finland Phare 2004 project IMPROVING THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION Implementation: July 2006 November 2007, extended until November 2008 Partners: The Republic of Finland the Finnish Institute of Public Management Ltd, HAUS, which acts as a Mandated Body The Republic of Romania Ministry of Justice, Department for the relation with the Pubic Ministry, prevention of criminality and corruption, acting as Implementing Authority Beneficiaries: National Anti-Corruption Directorate, National Integrity Agency Component 1 - Assessment of corruption with focus on interaction between public and private sector in the field of controls/inspections of economic agents Objective - To conduct an independent assessment on the institutions that performs controls/inspections of economic agents with focus on the interaction between public and private sector, in the field of controls/inspections of economic agents. Interviews and discussions were carried out with the designated experts from all the five institutions assessed within Subcomponent One: the National Agency for Fiscal Administration, the Financial Guard, the National Authority for Consumer Protection, the Sanitary Inspection the Labour Inspection Component 2: Creating and enhancing a mechanism for supervising the declaration of assets, of interests, the system of incompatibilities and for ensuring the protection of whistleblowers Objective: to enhance the mechanism in supervising the declaration of assets, of interests, the system of incompatibilities and in ensuring the protection of whistleblowers. The main beneficiary of the component is the National Integrity Agency. Under this component the training needs were assessed the training curriculum was established the annual training plan is currently being drafted. the training materials are currently drafted the first training on Job Familiarization and Team Work, for the Agency s personnel, was organized between April 7 and 9, 2008 The study tour was organized between May 11 and 17, 2008 in Estonia and Finland, for NIA personnel and it was also attended by 2 MoJ representatives. Component 3: National Anti-Corruption Directorate Effectiveness (non-it issues) The main beneficiary of the component is the National Anticorruption Directorate (NAD) Objective: to enhance the management, operational effectiveness and functioning of the NAD in the investigation of corruption cases. Activities within component Development of NAD management strategy o The NAD Management Strategy has been drafted and approved by the NAD management council Training of NAD personnel The training activities for NAD personnel (prosecutors, police officers and economic experts) were attended also by judges Fraud against the EU financial interests o September 24-25, NAD participants and 3 judges o September 27-28, NAD participants and 5 judges Tax evasion and economic crime o January NAD participants and 6 judges Misuse of office and examples of corruption cases from other countries o February 14-15, NAD participants and 6 judges Public procurement o April 15-16, NAD participants and 4 judges o April 17-18, NAD participants and 6 judges 3

4 Capital market and privatization o will be organized in May 29-30, NAD participants and 5 judges Protection of the human rights during the criminal trial o will be organized in June 5-6, NAD participants and 5 judges To sum up - 6 seminars attended by 90 NAD representatives and 30 judges - 2 seminars in May June 30 NAD representatives and 10 judges A training strategy and training needs assessment, elaborated within the programme, was used to plan and organize these seminars. NAD communication strategy The NAD Communication Strategy has been drafted and adopted by order of the Chief Prosecutor Component 4 : Increasing awareness on corruption among professionals within the public sector Under this component, 2 conferences were organized: The role of transparent administration in ruling out corruption (December 18, 2007) attended by: the Finnish Ambassador to Romania, the General Secretary of the Government, the General Secretary of the Romanian Ministry of Justice, the General Director of the National Institute for Administration, the Vice-president of the National Integrity Agency, the President of the National Integrity Council, Finnish experts and other officials. The second conference The role of investigative journalism in the fight against corruption (May 12-13, 2008), attended by the ministers of Justice from Romania and Finland, the President of GRECO, the minister of Interior and Administrative Reform, the Finnish Ambassador to Romania, the president of the Superior Council of Magistracy, other high level officials. 3. NO BRIBE! national awareness campaign, organized within 2004 Phare project Improving fight against corruption Duration: Between October 16, 2007 and the February 27, 2008 Partners: the Romanian Ministry of Justice, Rambøll Management, Transparency International Romania, Concept Foundation and SC Cap Srl Romania, public institutions at central and local level The goal of the campaign: to stimulate debate on vulnerabilities to corruption in the public administration and th e judiciary; to identify best practices and to promote the means to fight against corruption, developed in recent years. The communication strategy of the media campaign: The first phase of communication in the media campaign consisted of a series of instruments (4 TV spots, 3 radio spots, 3 print ads, outdoor indoor layout, 3 internet banners, one generic poster). The key message of this phase was By bribing, you get poor and they become rich. The second phase addressed a younger, educated public who needed to have their eyes opened on the long term consequences of the bribing act and to show them how petty corruption leads to grand corruption. The main tool used was the 3D video for the Internet. The third phase addressed a target public with a higher income status. The communication tools were: 1 TV spot (the old lady) and two radio spots, appealing to other type of emotions and pulling other triggers in order to affect change. The fourth phase encouraged the refusal of bribe, glorifying the ones who can resist it and those who can defeat it. The main communication instruments were the NO BRIBE! TV shows. Apart from the TV shows, radio spots were produced in order to promote the show. Components: The media component consisted of TV and radio spots, TV shows, indoor-outdoor display, print ads, and constant information to the media on the campaign. The direct information component: anticorruption caravan in 17 cities in Romania, press conferences at central and local level, five seminars for public institutions (for the judiciary, labour, public administration and interior, health care, education sectors), three roundtables (for representatives of the business sector), five informative reunions (for journalists, representatives of diplomatic missions, key social actors and opinion leaders), educative micro-campaigns in universities and high schools. The Internet component: the no bribe website ( Campaign materials: informative guides and posters designed and disseminated to public institutions, NGOs and citizens. The impact of the campaign NO BRIBE has been assessed through a sociologic analysis conducted in February 2008: The awareness on the negative consequences of corruption has increased: If in April 2007 the target groups of the survey were aware of only two negative consequences of corruption, (corruption leads to the enrichment of the ones already rich and corruption determines the decrease of trust in public institutions), in February 2008 three other consequences were identified (corruption infringes the legal right of equal access and treatment in relation with the public institutions, corruption leads to discrimination of the poor ones who cannot benefit of their rights and corruption broadens the existing social cleavage, the poor becoming poorer). 4

5 The social tolerance of practices which lead to corruption has decreased the percentage of those who stated that they would offer gifts, out of their own initiative, in exchange for having public services carried out for them, has decreased by 5%. The level of awareness on the legal means to counter corruption has increased. The percentage of those who stated that there is no measure to take when a public servant asks for a bribe has decreased by 14%. Also, the percentage of those who know the fact that the law protects those who denounce acts of corruption has increased by 8 %. Regarding the effectiveness of the campaign, approximately 1 out of 2 citizens consider it effective, the average of the grades given being The campaign message passed through the communication instruments was very clear for 1 out 2 citizens, the average of the grades given being 8,74. More than half of those who have seen the campaign instruments consider that their content was very good, the average of the grades given being 8,30. It can be noticed that the highest average was given to the clar ity of the campaign message passed through the informative materials. 5