Know about United Nations Convention against Corruption Article 5 to 12 Part 3

Know about United Nations Convention against Corruption
Article 5 to 12 Part 3

Article 5. Preventive anti-corruption policies and practices

1.
Each State Party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles
of its legal system, develop and implement or maintain effective, coordinated
anti-corruption policies that promote the participation of society and reflect the
principles of the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public
property, integrity, transparency and accountability.



2.
Each State Party shall endeavour to establish and promote effective
practices aimed at the prevention of corruption.

3.
Each State Party shall endeavour to periodically evaluate relevant legal
instruments and administrative measures with a view to determining their
adequacy to prevent and fight corruption.

4.
States Parties shall, as appropriate and in accordance with the funda-
mental principles of their legal system, collaborate with each other and with
relevant international and regional organizations in promoting and developing
the measures referred to in this article. That collaboration may include partici-
pation in international programmes and projects aimed at the prevention of
corruption.

Article 6. Preventive anti-corruption body or bodies

1.
Each State Party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles
of its legal system, ensure the existence of a body or bodies, as appropriate, that
prevent corruption by such means as:
(a) Implementing the policies referred to in article 5 of this Convention
and, where appropriate, overseeing and coordinating the implementation of
those policies;
(b) Increasing and disseminating knowledge about the prevention of cor-
ruption.

2.
Each State Party shall grant the body or bodies referred to in para-
graph 1 of this article the necessary independence, in accordance with the fun-
damental principles of its legal system, to enable the body or bodies to carry out
its or their functions effectively and free from any undue influence. The nec-
essary material resources and specialized staff, as well as the training that such
staff may require to carry out their functions, should be provided.

3.
Each State Party shall inform the Secretary-General of the United
Nations of the name and address of the authority or authorities that may assist
other States Parties in developing and implementing specific measures for the
prevention of corruption.

Article 7. Public sector

1.
Each State Party shall, where appropriate and in accordance with the
fundamental principles of its legal system, endeavour to adopt, maintain and
strengthen systems for the recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion and retire-
ment of civil servants and, where appropriate, other non-elected public officials:
(a) That are based on principles of efficiency, transparency and objective
criteria such as merit, equity and aptitude;
(b) That include adequate procedures for the selection and training of
individuals for public positions considered especially vulnerable to corruption
and the rotation, where appropriate, of such individuals to other positions;
(c) That promote adequate remuneration and equitable pay scales, taking
into account the level of economic development of the State Party;
(d) That promote education and training programmes to enable them to
meet the requirements for the correct, honourable and proper performance of
public functions and that provide them with specialized and appropriate train-
ing to enhance their awareness of the risks of corruption inherent in the11
performance of their functions. Such programmes may make reference to codes
or standards of conduct in applicable areas.

2.
Each State Party shall also consider adopting appropriate legislative
and administrative measures, consistent with the objectives of this Convention
and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to
prescribe criteria concerning candidature for and election to public office.

3.
Each State Party shall also consider taking appropriate legislative and
administrative measures, consistent with the objectives of this Convention and
in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to enhance
transparency in the funding of candidatures for elected public office and, where
applicable, the funding of political parties.

4.
Each State Party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles
of its domestic law, endeavour to adopt, maintain and strengthen systems that
promote transparency and prevent conflicts of interest.

Article 8. - Codes of conduct for public officials

1.
In order to fight corruption, each State Party shall promote, inter alia,
integrity, honesty and responsibility among its public officials, in accordance
with the fundamental principles of its legal system.

2.
In particular, each State Party shall endeavour to apply, within its own
institutional and legal systems, codes or standards of conduct for the correct,
honourable and proper performance of public functions.

3.
For the purposes of implementing the provisions of this article, each
State Party shall, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental
principles of its legal system, take note of the relevant initiatives of regional,
interregional and multilateral organizations, such as the International Code of
Conduct for Public Officials contained in the annex to General Assembly reso-
lution 51/59 of 12 December 1996.

4.
Each State Party shall also consider, in accordance with the funda-
mental principles of its domestic law, establishing measures and systems to
facilitate the reporting by public officials of acts of corruption to appropriate
authorities, when such acts come to their notice in the performance of their
functions.

5.
Each State Party shall endeavour, where appropriate and in accord-
ance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to establish measures
and systems requiring public officials to make declarations to appropriate
authorities regarding, inter alia, their outside activities, employment, invest-
ments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest
may result with respect to their functions as public officials.

6.
Each State Party shall consider taking, in accordance with the funda-
mental principles of its domestic law, disciplinary or other measures against
public officials who violate the codes or standards established in accordance
with this article

Article 9. - Public procurement and management of public finances

1.
Each State Party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles
of its legal system, take the necessary steps to establish appropriate systems of
procurement, based on transparency, competition and objective criteria in
decision-making, that are effective, inter alia, in preventing corruption. Such
systems, which may take into account appropriate threshold values in their
application, shall address, inter alia:
(a) The public distribution of information relating to procurement pro-
cedures and contracts, including information on invitations to tender and rel-
evant or pertinent information on the award of contracts, allowing potential
tenderers sufficient time to prepare and submit their tenders;

(b) The establishment, in advance, of conditions for participation, includ-
ing selection and award criteria and tendering rules, and their publication;

(c) The use of objective and predetermined criteria for public procure-
ment decisions, in order to facilitate the subsequent verification of the correct
application of the rules or procedures;

(d) An effective system of domestic review, including an effective system
of appeal, to ensure legal recourse and remedies in the event that the rules or
procedures established pursuant to this paragraph are not followed;

(e) Where appropriate, measures to regulate matters regarding personnel
responsible for procurement, such as declaration of interest in particular public
procurements, screening procedures and training requirements.

2.
Each State Party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles
of its legal system, take appropriate measures to promote transparency and
accountability in the management of public finances. Such measures shall
encompass, inter alia:

(a) Procedures for the adoption of the national budget;

(b) Timely reporting on revenue and expenditure;

(c) A system of accounting and auditing standards and related oversight;

(d) Effective and efficient systems of risk management and internal con-
trol; and

(e) Where appropriate, corrective action in the case of failure to comply
with the requirements established in this paragraph.

3.
Each State Party shall take such civil and administrative measures as
may be necessary, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic
law, to preserve the integrity of accounting books, records, financial statements
or other documents related to public expenditure and revenue and to prevent
the falsification of such documents.

Article 10. Public reporting

Taking into account the need to combat corruption, each State Party shall,
in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, take such
measures as may be necessary to enhance transparency in its public administra-
tion, including with regard to its organization, functioning and decision-
making processes, where appropriate. Such measures may include, inter alia:

(a) Adopting procedures or regulations allowing members of the general
public to obtain, where appropriate, information on the organization, function-
ing and decision-making processes of its public administration and, with due
regard for the protection of privacy and personal data, on decisions and legal
acts that concern members of the public;

(b) Simplifying administrative procedures, where appropriate, in order to
facilitate public access to the competent decision-making authorities; and

(c) Publishing information, which may include periodic reports on the
risks of corruption in its public administration

Article 11. Measures relating to the judiciary and prosecution services

1.
Bearing in mind the independence of the judiciary and its crucial role
in combating corruption, each State Party shall, in accordance with the funda-
mental principles of its legal system and without prejudice to judicial independ-
ence, take measures to strengthen integrity and to prevent opportunities for
corruption among members of the judiciary.
Such measures may include rules with respect to the conduct of members of the judiciary.

2.
Measures to the same effect as those taken pursuant to paragraph 1 of
this article may be introduced and applied within the prosecution service in
those States Parties where it does not form part of the judiciary but enjoys
independence similar to that of the judicial service.

Article 12. Private sector

1.
Each State Party shall take measures, in accordance with the funda-
mental principles of its domestic law, to prevent corruption involving the
private sector, enhance accounting and auditing standards in the private sector
and, where appropriate, provide effective, proportionate and dissuasive civil,
administrative or criminal penalties for failure to comply with such measures.

2.
Measures to achieve these ends may include, inter alia:
(a) Promoting cooperation between law enforcement agencies and
relevant private entities;

(b) Promoting the development of standards and procedures designed to
safeguard the integrity of relevant private entities, including codes of conduct
for the correct, honourable and proper performance of the activities of business
and all relevant professions and the prevention of conflicts of interest, and for
the promotion of the use of good commercial practices among businesses and
in the contractual relations of businesses with the State;

(c) Promoting transparency among private entities, including, where ap-
propriate, measures regarding the identity of legal and natural persons involved
in the establishment and management of corporate entities;

(d) Preventing the misuse of procedures regulating private entities, in-
cluding procedures regarding subsidies and licences granted by public authori-
ties for commercial activities;

(e) Preventing conflicts of interest by imposing restrictions, as appropri-
ate and for a reasonable period of time, on the professional activities of former
public officials or on the employment of public officials by the private sector
after their resignation or retirement, where such activities or employment relate
directly to the functions held or supervised by those public officials during their
tenure;

(f) Ensuring that private enterprises, taking into account their structure
and size, have sufficient internal auditing controls to assist in preventing and
detecting acts of corruption and that the accounts and required financial state-
ments of such private enterprises are subject to appropriate auditing and certi-
fication procedures.

3.
In order to prevent corruption, each State Party shall take such meas-
ures as may be necessary, in accordance with its domestic laws and regulations
regarding the maintenance of books and records, financial statement disclosures
and accounting and auditing standards, to prohibit the following acts carried
out for the purpose of committing any of the offences established in accordance
with this Convention:

(a) The establishment of off-the-books accounts;

(b) The making of off-the-books or inadequately identified transactions;

(c) The recording of non-existent expenditure;

(d) The entry of liabilities with incorrect identification of their objects;

(e) The use of false documents; and

(f) The intentional destruction of bookkeeping documents earlier than
foreseen by the law

4.
Each State Party shall disallow the tax deductibility of expenses that
constitute bribes, the latter being one of the constituent elements of the offences
established in accordance with articles 15 and 16 of this Convention and, where
appropriate, other expenses incurred in furtherance of corrupt conduct.

Reality Views by sm –
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Tags Keywords - United Nations Convention against Corruption