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Group of States Against Corruption publishes report on the Czech Republic

Strasbourg, 29 April 2011 – The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) today published its Third Round Evaluation Report on the Czech Republic, in which it stresses the importance of the effective application of the legislation on corruption and more substantial and pro-active supervision of political financing.

Regarding the criminalisation of corruption [Theme I], GRECO concludes that the provisions on corruption in the new Criminal Code of January 2010 are largely in line with the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ETS 173) and its Additional Protocol (ETS 191). However, a limited number of quite specific deficiencies need to be addressed, in particular by clarifying that bribery of all categories of employees in the public sector is covered and by ensuring that bribery of foreign arbitrators and foreign jurors is adequately criminalised.

The new Criminal Code provides a sound basis for the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of corruption offences; however, the main challenge lies with the effective application of this piece of legislation.

Concerning transparency of political financing [Theme II], the applicable Czech legislation reflects several of the principles of Recommendation Rec(2003)4 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Common Rules against Corruption in the Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns.
However, GRECO criticises the lack of substantial and pro-active monitoring of the financing of political parties and election campaigns and finds that the establishment of an effective supervisory mechanism and adequate enforcement of the rules in this area must be a matter of priority.

In addition, further measures need to be taken to ensure easier access by the public to the financial reports of political parties and movements, to increase the transparency of the funding of election candidates (who campaign separately from political parties and movements) and to provide for more flexible sanctions for violations of the legislation.

GRECO addresses 13 recommendations to the Czech Republic. In the first half of 2013, GRECO will assess the implementation of these recommendations through its specific compliance procedure.

Link to the report: Theme I (Incriminations) / Theme II (Transparency of Party Funding)