The InterAmerican Convention against Corruption and its FollowUp

The Inter-American Convention against Corruption and its Follow-Up Mechanism (MESICIC) The Inter-American Convention against Corruption, its Follow-Up Mechanism (MESICIC), and the Inter-American Program of Cooperation to Fight Corruption Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council of the OAS Washington, D. C. , February 14, 2013

Scope of the Presentation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The Inter-American Convention against Corruption. The Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC). Legal cooperation tools to support implementation of the Convention. Other developments in cooperation pursuant to the Inter. American Program of Cooperation to Fight Corruption. Recent activities and next steps under resolution AG/RES. 2730 (XLII-O/12).

THE INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION

The Inter-American Convention Origin Purposes • Adoption: Caracas, • To promote and March, 1996. strengthen the development of the • First international mechanisms needed treaty on the subject to prevent, detect, to recognize the punish, and eradicate supranational corruption. dimension of corruption and the • To promote, need for international facilitate, and cooperation to regulate cooperation combat it. among the States to ensure the effectiveness of actions to prevent, detect, punish, and eradicate corruption. Contents and scope • Preventive measures. • Criminalization of acts of corruption. • Provisions to strengthen cooperation among states with respect to: Mutual assistance and technical cooperation, extradition and identification, tracing, freezing, confiscation, and forfeiture of assets, as well as other forms of assistance. States Parties • 33 OAS Member States.

The Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption

The MESICIC Description Purposes • Intergovernmental mechanism to assist the States Parties with implementing the ICAC, through reciprocal peer evaluations on an equal basis, which include specific recommendations. • To promote implementation of the ICAC. • To facilitate technical cooperation activities, exchange of information, experiences and best practices, and the harmonization of legislation. Principles and characteristics • Sovereignty. • No intervention. • Juridical equality of states within the framework of the purposes of the OAS Charter. • Equal treatment. • Impartial. • Objective in its operations and in its conclusions. • Does not label or rank. Organs • Conference of States Parties. • Committee of Experts. • Technical Secretariat (Department of Legal Cooperation) States Parties • 31 of 33 States Parties to the Convention.

The MESICIC • Procedure for review: – Due process: • Document of Buenos Aires. • Rules of Procedure and Other Provisions. • Methodology for conducting on-site visits. – Rounds of review (selection of provisions of the ICAC and followup on recommendations from previous rounds). – On-site visits (with the prior consent of the country under review). – Preparation, consideration and adoption of country reports with specific recommendations.

The MESICIC • Topics by Rounds of review: First Round Second Round Third Round • Conflicts of interest • Conservation of public resources • Obligation to report • Declarations of assets • Oversight bodies • Civil society participation • Technical assistance and mutual cooperation • Central authorities • Hiring of public officials • Government procurement of goods and services • Protection for whistle -blowers • Acts of corruption • Progress in implementing the recommendations of the First Round • Elimination of tax benefits • Preventing the bribing of national and foreign government officials • Transnational bribery • Illicit enrichment • Extradition • Progress in implementing the recommendations of previous Rounds Fourth Round (under way) • Oversight bodies. • Review of progress made with implementing the recommendations of the First Round (new information and developments for gauging their ongoing relevance).

Legal cooperation tools to support implementation of the Convention

Legal Cooperation Tools - National Action Plans: – Technical cooperation project: • The crafting of national action plans to include: – Activities needed to implement the recommendations of the MESICIC – Those responsible for implementing them – Deadlines – Sources of funding – Progress indicators • 17 participating countries

Legal Cooperation Tools - Model laws: – Benchmark legal frameworks formulating, reviewing, and amending laws: • Model law to facilitate and encourage the reporting of acts of corruption and to protect whistle-blowers and witnesses. • Model law on declaration of interests, income, assets and liabilities. • Others: – Conflicts of interest; – Access to administrative information; – Civil society participation.

Legal Cooperation Tools - Anticorruption Portal of the Americas: – Access to national and OAS developments in this field; documents and activities of the MESICIC; other legal cooperation tools. www. oas. org/juridico/english/Fight. Cur. html

Legal Cooperation Tools - Systematization of national legislation: – Classification by subject and country of national legal provisions considered by the MESICIC in order to review implementation of the Convention. - Legislative guidelines: – Basic elements in national legal frameworks, in areas such as: • Conflicts of interest; conservation of public resources; oversight bodies; access to information; consultation mechanisms; technical assistance and mutual cooperation; the hiring of government officials; protection of whistleblowers reporting acts of corruption.

Legal Cooperation Tools - Anticorruption Bulletin and Social Networks: Subscriptions at: Legal. Cooperation@oas. org twitter. com/MESICIC

Other developments pursuant to the Inter -American Program for Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption

Other developments - Training programs: – Mandate of the Inter-American Program for Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption: – 4 areas: • To members of the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC • In ethical values for government officials. • On matters relating to freezing of assets, forfeitures, and the recovery of assets. • In areas relating to cooperation against corruption.

Other developments - Cooperation with other international organizations and initiatives:

Other developments - Hemispheric Conferences: Lima, Peru June 2010 Cali, Colombia June 2011

Recent activities and next steps under resolution AG/RES. 2730 (XLII-O/12)

Recent activities and next steps • First 10 on site visits carried out: – Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. – More than 60 public institutions visited. – Meetings with more than 100 public officials, many of them the highest level officials of the agencies under review. – More than 50 participating civil society, private sector, and labor organizations, professional associations, and academics. • Preparation for visits to the next group of countries

Recent activities and next steps • - Adoption of the first five country reports of the Fourth Round. - Brazil, Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, and Paraguay. • Conclusion of the process of preparing the following five country reports for adoption at the XXI Meeting of the MESICIC Committee of Experts, March 18 to 22, 2013 (OAS headquarters). – Argentina, Costa Rica, Honduras, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago • Adoption of the Second Progress Report on Implementation of the Convention.

Recent activities and next steps • Conclusion of the process of preparing the model laws: – To facilitate and encourage the reporting of acts of corruption and to protect whistle-blowers and witnesses; and – On declaration of interests, income, assets and liabilities. • Technical cooperation project with broad participation by the States Party and civil society organizations. • Adoption by the Committee of Experts at its XXI Plenary Meeting.

Recent activities and next steps • Continuation of the consideration of topics of collective interest by the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC: – Responsibility of the Private Sector in Preventing and Combating Corruption: • Methodology adopted in that regard. – Promoting Citizen Participation in Transparency and in Combating Corruption: • New topic of collective interest.

Recent activities and next steps • Participation of National Experts on the Committee and of the Technical Secretariat of the MESICIC in national and international events such as: – 15 th International Anti-Corruption Conference (Brasilia, November 2012). – Anti-Corruption Symposiums in Ecuador (Quito, November 2012). – Third Central America and Dominican Republic Forum for Transparency (Tegucigalpa, October 2012) – Annual Meeting of the Open Government Partnership (Brasilia, April 2012). – Regional Dialogue on Open Government (Mexico City, March 2012).

Recent activities and next steps • Next event with the participation of National Experts on the Committee and the Technical Secretariat of the MESICIC : – Regional Meeting on Private Sector Responsibility in the Fight against Corruption: • Bogota, Colombia, March 7 – 8 2013. • Organizers: Secretariat for Transparency of the Presidency and the Presidential Agency for International Cooperation of Colombia; with the support of the Technical Secretariat of the MESICIC (SG/OAS), EUROsoci. Al, UNDP and the OECD.

Thank you very much. General Secretariat for Legal Affairs Department of Legal Cooperation Legal. Cooperation@oas. org