Georgia should focus on combating high-level and complex corruption | WPN World People News

Georgia has achieved remarkable progress in eliminating petty corruption in the public administration and should now focus on combating high-level and complex corruption, according to a new OECD report.

The report commends Georgia's mechanism for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of its Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan as well as the important role given to civil society in this process. It also welcomes the adoption of a new Law on Civil Service and recommends that the remaining legislation, necessary for the implementation of civil service reforms, is adopted without delay. The Civil Service Bureau and Human Resources units in state bodies should be strengthened in order to ensure the implementation of the required reforms.

The report highlights Georgia's good track record in prosecuting corruption crimes and in using modern methods to confiscate criminal proceeds. It recommends that Georgia step up enforcement of corporate liability and the prosecution of foreign bribery in order to address the perception of alleged corruption among local self-government officials as well as at the political level.

The report further recommends that Georgia:
● Develop anti-corruption actions in line ministries, agencies and local self-governments under the framework of the national Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan and based on risk assessment;

● Boost the enforcement of conflict of interests, anti-corruption restrictions and integrity rules among MPs, ministers, executive bodies and at the local self-government level;

● Reduce the list of exemptions from the Public Procurement Law and the volume of direct contracting, and take measures to prevent corruption in procurement for infrastructure projects;

● Study business integrity risks, train companies and public officials, and implement anti-corruption programmes for state- and municipally-owned enterprises;

● Adopt a modern access to information law;

● Strengthen the autonomy of the anti-corruption unit of prosecutors within the Prosecution Service and consider divesting the State Security Service and the Prosecution Service of their anti-corruption investigative powers;

● Increase the role of the prosecutorial self-governance in the decision-making on careers of prosecutors; regulate in the primary disciplinary procedures and dismissal of prosecutors;

● Continue reforms aimed at strengthening independence and integrity of judges, enhance the transparency of the High Council of Justice and integrity of its members, improve regulation in the primary law of the procedure for selection, appointment, promotion, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary liability of judges, introduce an automated random case assignment in courts, exclude discretionary payments to judges.

Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development