Compliance with Anti-Corruption Legislation
Compliance with Anti-Corruption Legislation
The Prosecutor's Office of the Braslaŭ District has conducted an inspection this year regarding the enforcement of anti-corruption legislation at the state enterprise "Braslaŭ-Communalnik" as part of its oversight activities.
Article 5 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated July 15, 2015 No. 305-Z "On Combating Corruption" stipulates that the fight against corruption is carried out by state bodies and other organizations through the comprehensive application of measures, including planning and coordinating activities to combat corruption, as well as restoring the violated rights and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities, eliminating other harmful consequences of offenses that create conditions for corruption and corrupt offenses.
In accordance with the requirements of part 2 of Article 13 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Basics of Activities for the Prevention of Offenses," state organizations are obliged to plan and conduct preventive measures to counteract corruption and to carry out systematic work to form a staff of employees with a stable anti-corruption consciousness and appropriate professional, business, and moral qualities.
Personal responsibility for the measures taken to combat corruption is assigned to the head of the state organization.
At the same time, as a result of the inspection of the enforcement of anti-corruption legislation at the state enterprise "Braslaŭ-Communalnik," it was established that the work of familiarizing state officials with anti-corruption restrictions was organized improperly.
The study of the practice of signing obligations by the analyzed category of persons revealed that their content is not personalized, drafted without regard to the official position of specific individuals, which, in turn, may mislead regarding the scope of restrictions directly applicable to the official.
Furthermore, during the examination of the obligations to comply with the restrictions established by Articles 17-20 of the Law, it was found that all obligations of state officials of the enterprise unjustifiably included restrictions established by the Law dated June 14, 2003 No. 204-Z "On State Service in the Republic of Belarus," which do not apply to the employees of the specified enterprise, as the latter are not state officials. Also unjustifiably included is the prohibition on joint service in the state service for state officials who are spouses, close relatives, or in-laws, as provided in part 1 of Article 18 of the Law "On Combating Corruption," since these prohibitions apply only to state officials.
This, in turn, significantly restricts the rights and legitimate interests of the employees of the enterprise.
According to paragraph 10 of part 1 of Article 25 of the Law "On Combating Corruption," creating obstacles for an individual in exercising their rights and legitimate interests by a state official or an equivalent person is an offense that creates conditions for corruption.
A significant role in countering manifestations of corruption is assigned to commissions for combating corruption; however, as the conducted analysis has shown, there are shortcomings in their activities regarding the organization of the relevant work, including in planning anti-corruption measures.
By the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated December 26, 2011 No. 1732, a Model regulation on the commission for combating corruption (hereinafter – Model Regulation) was approved, which defines the procedure for the establishment and activities of such commissions in republican state administration bodies and other state organizations subordinate to the Government of the Republic of Belarus, regional, Minsk city, urban, and district executive committees, and local administrations of districts in cities.
By the order of the director of the communal unitary enterprise, based on the Model regulation, a commission for combating corruption has been established and is operating, which is guided in its activities by the relevant Regulation on the commission for combating corruption in the communal unitary enterprise of housing and communal services "Braslaŭ-Communalnik" (hereinafter – Regulation), approved by the same order.
However, the aforementioned commission has not ensured the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to it for preventing corruption, as provided in paragraph 5 of the relevant Regulation on the activities of this commission.
In particular, the examination of the commission's work plans and the minutes of its meetings showed that the measures developed for 2019-2021 do not contain specific actions capable of effectively countering manifestations of corruption in the housing and communal services system.
In this regard, the activities of the commission require activation for the effective implementation of the tasks and functions provided for in the Model Regulation in its further work.
The requirements of Article 43 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Combating Corruption" obligate the heads of state bodies and other organizations to hold accountable individuals who have committed offenses that create conditions for corruption or corrupt offenses to disciplinary responsibility, up to dismissal from their positions (termination of employment) in the manner established by legislative acts.
The reasons for the identified violations were the disregard for anti-corruption legislation by certain officials of the enterprise, the insufficient role of the personnel service in counteracting anti-corruption manifestations, which was facilitated by insufficient control from the management of the enterprise in this direction.
As a result of the inspection conducted, the district prosecutor submitted a proposal to the director of the state enterprise "Braslaŭ-Communalnik" requiring the elimination of the identified violations of anti-corruption legislation.
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