Commission Report (2002): Czech Republic

Anti-corruption measures

Since the previous Regular Report, a number of steps have been taken to combat corruption.

As a consequence of amendments to the Criminal Proceedings Code, the Police Presidium has been undergoing an internal reorganisation since 1 January 2002. Two services have responsibilities in the field of the fight against corruption and economic crime: the Service for Criminal Police and Investigation and the Office for Financial Crime and State Protection. Their respective competencies still need to be more clearly defined and co-ordination with related agencies should continue to be improved. Corruption within the police is directly investigated by specialised state prosecutors.

The new specialised police unit for witness protection, which was established following the entry into force of the Act on Witnesses, is fully operational. This unit provides protection measures for witnesses, particularly in cases concerning corruption, economic crime and organised crime.

The establishment of specialised units on corruption and economic crime at the Supreme Public Prosecutor`s Office in Brno, with branches at the High Public Prosecutor's Offices in Prague, Ostrava and Olomouc, represent a major positive step. During 2001, there were a number of high-profile prosecutions and convictions for economic crimes. Between 5 October 2000 and the end of May 2002 the specialised offices at the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office noted the following results: 139 investigations were opened, of which 99 are still under investigation, while 40 investigations have been completed. Regarding corruption within the police force, the Government report notes that the traffic police and aliens police services remain particularly affected. The Act on the Status of Members of the Security Forces, which also included a code of ethics for police officers was rejected by Parliament in 2002 and will need to be resubmitted.

Each Ministry is required to draw up its own anti-corruption programme and appoint a co-ordinator responsible for its implementation. The Ministries of the Interior and of Finance have developed such programmes for police and customs officers. The Ministry of Finance is putting in place a regulatory framework which empowers specialised police services to obtain access to data concerning taxation, and is appointing officials from regional tax authorities to permanent joint teams. Several ministries are developing public awareness campaigns and a telephone hotline and e-mail address have been established.

As regards public procurement, an amendment was adopted in May 2002 which strictly limits the use of emergency ``fast-track` procedures. This is welcome as it should significantly contribute to the transparency and predictability of future decisions in this field.

The adoption of the Civil Service Act (see above on the executive) should, as it is gradually implemented over a lengthy transition period, help increase transparency and standards in public administration. It should reinforce the requirements of the 2001 Code of Ethics on the basic obligations, rights and duties of civil servants. However, much will depend on the spirit in which the Act is implemented, including implementing regulations.

Figures made available by the Ministry of Justice indicate the following results for 2001: as regards corruption, there were 200 prosecutions (compared to 160 in 2000) and 117 convictions (also 117 in 2000). As regards ``abuse of the position of public officials'', there were 262 prosecutions (compared to 232 in 2000) and 99 convictions (100 in 2000). As regards ``fraud'', there were 9,486 prosecutions (9,445 in 2000) and 5,491 convictions (6,034 in 2000); for ``credit fraud'' there were 1,592 prosecutions (619 in 2000) and 652 convictions (243 in 2000), for ``legalisation of proceeds from crime'' there were 40 prosecutions (15 in 2000) and 3 convictions (6 in 2000).

The government report of April 2002 on progress in implementing the National Programme for Combating Corruption concludes that one of the main reasons why anti-corruption policy is not successful is that the efforts of the public administration do not have sufficient political support, as there is not sufficient parliamentary consensus on a comprehensive anti-corruption programme.

The report also notes that present capacities to combat corruption are inadequate, although the merger of the police and investigators and the concomitant strengthening of the role of the public prosecutor represent a major achievement. At present, even though the number of convictions for corruption is increasing, it remains low in relation to the total number of crimes detected. The next step to be taken by the Czech authorities is to intensify training in order to strengthen and further specialise the skills of the personnel working in these specialised departments. Additional human and technical resources also need to be made available.

The Czech Republic is a party to the Council of Europe Convention on Money Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, as well as to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. It has signed but not ratified the Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption. The Czech Republic continues to participate actively in the monitoring of anti-corruption measures adopted by the OECD Working Group on bribery in international commercial transactions. In February 2002, the Czech Republic joined GRECO, the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption. A GRECO evaluation mission to the Czech Republic is scheduled for October 2002.

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