In its latest report, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO, part of the Council of Europe) described 2017 as a “dark year” for anti-corruption. GRECO’s ‘activity report’ covers Europe and the United States of America.
Marin Mrčela, Vice-President of the Supreme Court of Croatia, and President of GRECO, said in a foreword: “Many allegations of corruption or actions against probity in public and private organisations have eroded people’s trust in them. Judges have been dismissed or imprisoned and the independent and impartial work of many prosecutors has been undermined; election campaigns have been polluted by corruption allegations; and journalists covering corruption have been silenced, imprisoned or killed.”
Mr Mrčela pointed to a tendency to over-rely on the repressive aspects of fighting corruption, ‘too often underestimating the strength and effectiveness of preventive mechanisms. Yet, measures such as an effective asset declaration system, proper regulation of outside business activities, transparency about interactions with those seeking to influence the activities of public officials or elected representatives, help the latter fulfil their public service mandate with integrity’.
In some countries, he warned, new laws have reversed reforms previously undertaken to comply with GRECO’s recommendations. He said: “Let there be no doubt; corruption is a very real, serious threat to our institutions and to the human fabric. It breaks down our democratic set up, undermines the rule of law, threatens the enjoyment of human rights, and damages economic growth and social development.”
In 2017 the Committee of Ministers invited Tunisia to join GRECO as the 50th member state. The report said GRECO’s country-specific analyses and recommendations reinforce the fact that rules that support high standards of conduct – when developed, reviewed and maintained – are important tools and resources for MPs, and so is the requirement of transparency in public life. Regularising asset reporting, clarifying the restrictions on outside business activities, and ensuring MPs are open about their interactions with those seeking to influence legislative agendas or reforms, help them to fulfil their public service mandate.
For the 46-page report visit https://rm.coe.int/eighteenth-general-activity-report-2017-of-the-group-of-states-against/16807c0e91.
