GRECO regrets slow progress in the prevention of corruption
The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) today expressed disappointment at the slow progress of the Slovak Republic in implementing measures to prevent corruption of parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors.
In a new compliance report assessing the progress of the country in the implementation of the 16 recommendations contained in its 4th Round Evaluation Report, GRECO concludes that half of them have not been fully implemented more than five years after its adoption (see the French and Slovak versions of the compliance report)
As regards parliamentarians, GRECO notes that amendments to the Law on the Protection of the General Interest have entered into force, providing for the obligation to declare gifts or other benefits and the use of movable or immovable property. However, there is no significant progress in terms of asset declaration. GRECO encourages the authorities to finalise and apply a code of ethics for parliamentarians. It regrets that no political consensus has been found yet to enhance transparency in the legislative process, especially as regards lobbying and disclosure of financial interests.
GRECO also regrets a lack of progress regarding judges. While the application of the rules relating to the declaration of assets has been strengthened, the rules of interpretation of the Code of Judicial Deontology remain to be clarified, in particular for conflicts of interest. The threshold beyond which gifts received must be declared remains high. As regards prosecutors, GRECO welcomes legislative amendments which oblige them to publicly disclose their assets above a certain value.
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The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) is a Council of Europe body that aims to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with anti-corruption standards. It helps states to identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, prompting the necessary legislative, institutional and practical reforms. Currently it comprises the 47 Council of Europe member states, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the United States of America.