SDG: 16 Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

Progress:

In progress Partially implemented

During the reporting period, the Secretariat of the Anticorruption Interagency Coordination Council in cooperation with the Anti-corruption Council and the OGP Georgia’s Forum member CSOs has developed the Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology. Afterwards, the draft methodology was presented to the Working Group under the Anti-corruption Council and OGP Georgia’s Forum members for feedback and recommendations, reflected in the final draft of the methodology. The Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology was approved by the Council through the Council’s written procedure on 30 December 2019.

Commencement of the corruption risk assessment in the anti-corruption units was depended on the elaboration of the assessment methodology. The Latter was approved later than anticipated by the action plan. As a result, an assessment of corruption risks in the Anti-corruption Agency under the SSSG and the Division of the Criminal Prosecution of Corruption Crimes at POG during the reporting period was not carried out. Besides, needs were not identified in order to further strengthen the Anti-corruption Agency and the relevant division at the POG.

As for the activities for enhancing the accountability of the Anti-corruption Council, the Secretariat of the latter has prepared the draft amendment to the Decree of the Government of Georgia #309 on approval of composition and the statute of the Interagency Coordination Council, according to which, the Anti-corruption Council shall report on its activities to both the Government and the Parliament. By the end of the reporting period, the draft amendment to the Decree #309 was submitted to the Government for approval and additional consultations were underway.

The following commitment envisaged routine training of the personnel involved in the investigation and prosecution of the corruption-related crimes, including crimes committed by legal persons, as well as investigation and prosecution of international corruption offences.

During the reporting period, 54 staff members of the State Security Service were involved in the educational activities on the investigation and prosecution of corruption-related crimes; corruption prevention; identification, management, assessment, and elimination of corruption risks.

As for the training of the POG personnel, 6 educational activities were conducted in 2019 (including 3 study visits), where 36 staff members completed different study courses on combating corruption-related crimes. Furthermore, 2 study activities were conducted and 25 staff members were trained on corruption offenses committed by legal persons and investigation and prosecution of international corruption offenses. Thirty-eight interns also underwent study courses on the same topics. Moreover, under the EU project on "Support to the Public Administration Reform in Georgia," a training "Integrity in Public Service" was organized. The participants got acquainted with the best international practices of risk assessment.

Along with the representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia, members of the judiciary, Anti-corruption Agency under the State Security Service, Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance, and the Civil Service Bureau were involved in the above-mentioned educational activities. Joint training plays a significant role in defining common approaches to shared challenges.

According to the Secretariat's assessment, the commitment is partially implemented within the planned timeframe. Delayed approval of the Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology on 30 December 2019, by the ACC, hampered the fulfillment of the milestones defined by the commitment and were reliant on the approval.