CORRUPTION IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN ARMENIA
Support A1+!The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has today published its evaluation report on Armenia, with the agreement of the Armenian authorities.The report concludes that in Armenia corruption is considered a major problem.
The judiciary, the police, the customs service, the tax inspectorate, education, healthcare, licensing and privatisations are particularly affected. Despite the adoption of a number of anti-corruption measures, shortcomings still prevail in the existing anti-corruption legislation and its implementation, as well as in the organisation of the justice and law enforcement systems.
The existence of serious obstacles to collecting evidence, depriving offenders of the proceeds of corruption together with the almost total absence of significant results in prosecuting and indicting individuals involved in serious cases of corruption call for substantial efforts. In this respect, problem areas include legislation on banking secrecy, special investigative means, training for members of the law enforcement agencies, witness protection, assets declaration and the anti-money laundering regime. Immunity enjoyed by judges, prosecutors, parliamentary candidates, members of electoral commissions and even candidate mayors and candidates for membership of the council of elders (local council) is also a matter of concern.
As for public administration, there is an urgent need for implementing measures that deal with situations where personal/financial interests or activities may raise issues of conflict or partiality with regard to public officials’ duties and responsibilities. It is also necessary that public officials be informed and, above all, trained on how and when to report instances of corruption, or suspicions thereof, which they come across in their duty and, to establish adequate protection for public officials who report instances of corruption (whistleblowers) in good faith.
The Armenian legal system does not provide for corporate liability, so there is a need to establish it for offences of bribery and money laundering and to provide for effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions, in accordance with the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption.
GRECO has addressed twenty-four recommendations to Armenia and invited the Armenian authorities to report on their implementation by September 2007.
