Introduction

A working meeting of the Anti-Corruption Network (ACN) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was held in Paris, France, on 14-16 September 2016, where the monitoring report on the fourth round of implementation of anti-corruption reforms in Georgia was discussed and adopted. Both governmental and non-governmental representatives participated in the working meeting.

The report on the fourth round of implementation of anti-corruption reforms in Georgia (hereinafter “the report”) contains the following four major chapters: 1) Anti-corruption policy; 2) Prevention of corruption; 3) Enforcement of criminal responsibility for corruption; 4) Prevention and prosecution of corruption in a selected sector - procurement for infrastructure projects. Each chapter contains matters distributed according topics and assesses the anti-corruption situation in Georgia over the past three years.

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association was actively engaged in the development and discussion of the report. In the report, the OECD recommendations have been taken into consideration on adopting a new law on the freedom of information, on the execution of norms related to conflict of interests in public service, on the reduction of exemptions from the Public Procurement Law and on the reduction of direct contracting, on the transparency and accountability of state-owned enterprises, and on the continuation of the judicial reform.

This document aims to review the achievements and problems in the implementation by Georgia of anti-corruption reforms on the basis of the report prepared by OECD, and to analyse the recommendations prepared by ACN experts.  The document also highlights the issues of development and use in practice of actions necessary for the implementation of the recommendations by Georgia.

The OECD report recommends that Georgia:

1. Develop an Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan at the level of ministries, public agencies and local self-government bodies based on risk assessment;

2. Boost the enforcement of conflict of interests and integrity rules in the Parliament, Ministries and within the system of public agencies;

3. Reduce exemptions from the Public Procurement Law and the volume of direct contracting performed by public agencies;

4. Study business integrity risks, train companies and public officers, and introduce anti-corruption programmes and actions in state- and municipally-owned enterprises;

5. Adopt a modern law on the freedom of information;

6. Strengthen the autonomy of the anti-corruption unit of the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia and consider divesting the State Security Service and the Prosecutor’s Office of their anti-corruption investigative powers;

7. Increase the role of the prosecutorial self-governance in the decision-making on careers of prosecutors, and regulate in the primary disciplinary procedures and dismissal of prosecutors;

8. Continue reforms aimed at strengthening independence and integrity of judges, namely: enhance the transparency and accountability of the High Council of Justice; improve the procedure for selection, appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary liability and dismissal of judges; introduce an automated random case assignment among judges.

We hope that the Government of Georgia will ensure the implementation of the recommendations presented in the report in the context of commitments under the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan.

Please see the attached document for the full version of the review, while the full version of the report is available at the following link