Belgrade,
21:53,
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Beta
The Council of Europe's Civil Law Convention on Corruption, which MPs debated a week ago, requires the state to provide its citizens and companies with reimbursement for damages caused by corrupt state officials and bodies.
According to what Transparency Serbia Executive Director Nemanja Nenadic tells us, this issue could become extremely important in government purchases, privatization, and other cases where officials are required to choose among several parties.
Once the Convention is properly implemented, companies will be able to sue to recover profits lost due to a corrupt state body's decision to select another supplier or contractor.
The Convention requires state to provide effective legislation allowing companies and individuals that have suffered detriment through corruption to protect their rights, including seeking damages.
According to Nenadic, the Convention includes a definition of corruption broader than the one commonly used in Serbia. This definition is said to be fit for use in the public and private sector, as well as internationally.
The right to compensation may not be limited by anything other than the level of financial damage incurred in a given case, provided that the defendant committed or approved an act of corruption or failed to take steps to prevent corruption.
The liability of the state as an employer for damages stemming from corruption is treated in a special way since it is not necessary to prove lack of supervision as a cause of corruption.
What this means is that if, for instance, a crooked minister harmed the interests of one firm by favoring another, the company that was passed over would be able to sue both the minister for defamation and the state for damages.
An individual failing to obtain a permit to open a store as a result of an official demanding a bribe would have the right to sue the municipality in question and seek compensation for lost profit.
Experts believe that the Convention is intended to encourage the state to act preventively and keep an eye on its employees to prevent instances of corruption.
While disciplinary action and termination have so far been the norm for bribe-takers, the state now stands to actually lose money.
The signers of the Convention are also bound to enact laws creating an effective process for procuring evidence in corruption lawsuits.
Among other things, the Convention mandates protection for whistle blowers. This is something that the state is already required to do by a set of recommendations from GRECO, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption group.
The law needs to be amended to ensure that people who notify their superiors of corruption receive "proper protection" from unjust sanctions. However, the Convention makes no mention of protecting whistle blowers who leak what they know or suspect to the media.
Furthermore, the state needs to draw up regulations requiring companies to provide clear and truthful information about their financial standing.
Serbia signed the Civil Law Convention on Corruption more than two years ago, in April 2005. The signer was then Justice Minister Zoran Stojkovic.
Parliament is supposed to vote on ratifying the document after discussing 10 more items on its agenda.
The Regulations and Reality section was made possible by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Mission to Serbia. The OSCE Mission is funding all articles posted on this site.
Regulations and Reality takes a look at the implementation of the National Strategy on Fighting Corruption, approved in December 2005, the enforcement of anti-corruption laws passed in the last five years.
It also focuses on the effects of these laws, their limitations, errors that have appeared, and planned changes.
Every article created as part of the project is available free of charge to individuals and media outlets visiting the Argus website. The editors of Argus assume full responsibility for the views and information contained in each article. The articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the organizations supporting the project.
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