E-letter, December 2009
Overview
of current events in scope of the
“KNAB
independence project” implemented by
Transparency International - Latvia
Rīga, December 21st, 2009
On December 9th,
i.e., on the International Anti-Corruption Day, TI Latvia organized a press
conference to present the materials of the 3rd progress report of
the KNAB Monitoring Project incl. the results of a public opinion poll on the
work of KNAB and the current situation regarding corruption during the ongoing
economic crisis.
According to the date processed by the research centre SKDS, on the overall,
the recognisability of KNAB and its work received positive evaluation: 90% of
the respondents had heard about KNAB and the number of respondents who were of
a positive opinion of the work of KNAB in different areas of its
responsibilities exceeded those who were of a negative opinion.
Nevertheless, an alarming trend has been observed as the number of people who,
when personally encountering corruption, would not report to anybody or any
competent authorities, i.e., 27 % of the respondents (as compared to 21.1% of
respondents in 2007 and 18.1% in 2005.)
To mark the International Anti-Corruption Day, on December 9th KNAB organized
a public discussion on the topic "Amendments to the Criminal Law – New
Tools for Fighting Corruption". The goal of the discussion was to inform
the public about the amendments made to the articles of the Criminal Law
regulating liability for corruptive practices both in the public and private
sector, which were adopted by the Parliament during the sitting of November 19th.
In line with international recommendations, the norms and sanctions
incorporated by the Criminal Law have been improved in relation to numerous
types of corruptive practices incl. the following:
- Criminal liability for bribery in the private sector
(commercial bribery) would take effect irrespective of whether the bribe has been offered or
handed over to a competent official or other employee of the respective
company to motivate this person to abuse his/her authority and to act or
to fail to act when it is within the interests of any other person;
- Criminal liability for illegal accepting of any
personal benefits or the offer thereof, from now on, will apply to
employees of any rank working for a private company as well as to
employees of state and municipal institutions who are not public
officials, incl. in cases when no personal benefit has been requested;
- Liability for corruptive practices in both the public and private sector will apply irrespective
of whether any action has been committed or has failed to be taken in the
interests of the person giving or offering the benefit (the bribe) or
those of any other person, and whether the benefits offered or given were
intended for the person receiving them or any other person.
The discussion was attended by
experts and researchers of criminal law, lecturers of universities,
representatives of law enforcement bodies and other state institutions as well
as by representatives of non-governmental organizations and businesses.
In December KNAB had also prepared a special brochure dedicated to the International
Anti-Corruption Day titled "KNAĢIS", which is usually intended for
public officials, but this time around it was addressing entrepreneurs, professional
associations and the general public urging them to be aware of the multiple
forms of corruption and the damage and negative effects caused by them.
On December 16th a meeting of the Public Advisory Board of KNAB was
held, during which issues related to the current legal anti-corruption
initiatives were addressed incl.:
- Amendments to the Criminal Law regulating bribery and commercial corruption;
- Draft Code of Ethics of the Cabinet of Ministers.
In the area of corruption
prevention KNAB informed the public that in December 2009 KNAB had launched
criminal action against an official of a capital company of Jēkabpils municipality
suspected of unlawful practices involving alleged illegal use of financial
means for private needs thus causing substantial damage to the municipality’s
interests.
Contact
information:
Inga
Liepa
Legal
Analyst
+371
67285585
Inga.Liepa@delna.lv
The
project activities are supported by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway in scope
of the bilateral financial instrument of EEA financial instrument and Norwegian
government and by the Latvian state through the Social Integration Foundation.
