A new report from the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) includes 16 recommendations to improve anti-corruption measures in parliament and for judges and prosecutors.
Although plenary meetings of the legislature are open to the public and proposed bills are published, lobbying is not regulated and no clear rules define conflicts of interest, such as gift giving and other benefits to MPs. GRECO recommends that a code of ethics be adopted. Moreover, the existing regime of asset declarations with respect to MPs requires reform so that it covers all forms of assets. Monitoring of such declarations should preferably be carried out independently from the House of Representatives, according to the report. Furthermore, GRECO supports on-going discussions in Cyprus to reduce the scope of MP immunity protection where it goes beyond the protection of free speech, opinions and voting in parliament. (more...)
See also:
Cyprus and the Council of Europe