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Resolution 1943 (2013) Final version
Corruption as a threat to the rule of law
1. The Parliamentary Assembly recognises
that corruption remains a major problem in Europe, which poses a
serious threat to the rule of law.
2. Corruption jeopardises the good functioning of public institutions
and diverts public action from its purpose, which is to serve the
public interest. It disrupts the legislative process, affects the
principles of legality and legal certainty, introduces a degree
of arbitrariness in the decision-making process and has a devastating effect
on human rights. Furthermore, corruption undermines citizens’ trust
in the institutions.
3. The Council of Europe, its Parliamentary Assembly and its
member States must remain at the forefront of the fight against
corruption.
4. The Assembly, recalling, inter
alia, its recommendations and resolutions on fighting
corruption (Resolution
1214 (2000)), good practice in electoral matters and
concerning political parties (Resolution 1264 (2001) and Resolution 1546 (2007)),
conflict of interest (Resolution
1554 (2007)), the state of democracy and human rights
in Europe (Resolution
1547 (2007) and Recommendation
1791 (2007)) and lobbying in a democratic society (European
code of good conduct on lobbying) (Recommendation 1908 (2010)), welcomes the
Council of Europe’s efforts in this field. In particular, it welcomes
the intensified implementation of the Criminal Law Convention on
Corruption (ETS No. 173), its additional protocol (ETS No. 191)
and the Civil Law Convention on Corruption (ETS No. 174). It calls
on Council of Europe member States which have not yet signed or
ratified these legal instruments to do so without delay.
5. The Assembly welcomes the decision of the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe to make the fight against corruption one
of the priority activities of the Council of Europe for 2014-2015,
also as part of a broader effort to restore public confidence in
the efficiency of democratic institutions.
6. The Assembly also welcomes the work carried out by the Group
of States against Corruption (GRECO) and the Committee of Experts
on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing
of Terrorism (MONEYVAL), and urges the Council of Europe member
States to implement their recommendations and to encourage non-member
States and other relevant institutions to do likewise. The Assembly
further calls on parliaments to contribute to the implementation
of these recommendations by setting up specific parliamentary scrutiny
procedures, with special emphasis on the implementation of recommendations
emanating from GRECO’s Fourth Evaluation Round, focusing on the
prevention of corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges
and prosecutors. The Assembly welcomes GRECO’s intention to address
the gender dimension of corruption and to mainstream gender equality
into its anti-corruption monitoring activities, as a part of the
overall effort to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and human
rights for the benefit of all.
7. The Assembly invites all Council of Europe member States to
step up international co-operation in the fight against corruption,
including by:
7.1. co-operating
more efficiently in following the “money trail” left by electronic
transfers of funds, with a view to helping each other recuperate
funds generated by corrupt practices;
7.2. taking vigorous action against banks, which still aid
and abet corrupt practices by assisting perpetrators in hiding and
laundering their illegal profits;
7.3. take vigorous action against the accrual of illegal gains.
8. The Assembly also invites all member States to review their
legislation concerning the fight against corruption, keeping in
mind the following guiding principles:
8.1. all acts of active and passive corruption shall be incriminated.
Offences relating to corruption shall be clearly defined and distinguished
from other offences, such as abuse of power or abuse of authority;
8.2. the legislation shall ensure the independence of the judiciary
through transparent appointment and promotion procedures and, if
need be, the use of appropriate disciplinary measures, applied by bodies
free from political interference and other undue influence;
8.3. the legislation shall ensure a maximum of transparency
in political, administrative and economic life, through:
8.3.1. the publication of information on the identity of owners
and managers of legal persons, or similar structures, and on transfers
of funds abroad, in particular to notorious tax havens;
8.3.2. strengthening the information rights of minority shareholders
in private companies and the democratic accountability for the management
of publicly owned companies;
8.3.3. a determined crackdown on insider trading and other forms
of abuse of inside knowledge obtained by politicians, civil servants
and members of supervisory bodies;
8.3.4. the adoption and general implementation of sound rules
on the declaration of assets, income and financial and other interests
by members of government and parliament, by leaders of political
parties and political movements and by civil servants, judges and
prosecutors, and the setting up of independent supervisory bodies
and the regulation of lobbying activities;
8.3.5. facilitating the confiscation of assets of natural or
legal persons or similar structures who are unable to establish,
on a legally sound basis, that they were obtained legally.
9. The Assembly stresses that the necessary legislative improvements
must be accompanied by an evolution of the general cultural attitude
towards corruption, which must be clearly recognised as an intolerable practice
and a major threat to the rule of law. It is committed to continuing
to detect new trends regarding transparency and corruption risks
in parliaments, in partnership with non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) and civil society, and to providing national parliaments
with suitable safeguards.
10. The Assembly, recalling its Resolution 1214, asks once again
its Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by
Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) to
assess the progress made in the fight against corruption, considering
corruption’s negative impact on the upholding of the Council of
Europe’s standards by its member States.
11. It recognises the important role of the media and NGOs in
contributing to the evolution of the general attitude towards corruption
and in tracking and denouncing this phenomenon.
12. In order to set a good example, the Assembly resolves to pay
special attention to the effective implementation of its own code
of conduct.
13. The Assembly resolves to strengthen the interparliamentary
dimension of the fight against corruption, by promoting a co-operation
platform with the aim of:
13.1. promoting
the ratification and implementation of Council of Europe conventions
and recommendations on the fight against corruption, in particular
GRECO recommendations, among national parliaments;
13.2. taking stock of national anti-corruption initiatives,
sharing good practices and brainstorming together on new working
methods and approaches to tackling corruption effectively;
13.3. collecting information about the ongoing activities of
the Council of Europe anti-corruption bodies, the initiatives of
other key international players in the anti-corruption field, and
statistical and correlation data from NGOs and civil society related
to a given country or corruption trends in specific areas.