From 5 to 9 October, 2014 the Director of Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau ( Bureau) Jaroslavs Streļčenoks took part in the 65th Plenary Meeting of the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in Strasbourg, France.
The Director of Bureau informed about the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Latvia`s Fourth Evaluation Round, the monitoring of political parties’ compliance with party financing regulations and about the possibility of the situation evaluation relating with Bureau existence and functions to prevent and combat the corruption in Latvia.
The Director of Bureau introduced the audience to:
1. The proposals for amendments in the Law on Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau made by working group of State Chancellery.
2. Evaluation made by working group of the Ministry of the Interior about the Bureau` working results (first half-year of 2014).
3. Decision made by The Bureau Public Consultative Council (2, October 2014) during its 50th meeting to conceptually support to save the status of KNAB and strengthen the independency of Bureau.
4. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 presented by „Transparency International” (The Global Coalition against Corruption) serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world. The Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Latvia reaches the 49th place with the score- 53.
5. Research Company „Latvian Facts” made the survey (2014.) about the attitude to the corruption in Latvia. The positive trend shows the level of corruption has reduced.
GRECO expressed concern regarding recent developments in Latvia and the possible dismantling of Bureau: reiterated its position, consistently expressed in its reports on Latvia, as to the need to ensure that the Bureau works free of political interference so that it can perform its functions in an independent and impartial manner and asked the Latvian Delegation to provide a further update on this worrying matter at GRECO 66 and asked the Secretariat to bring this matter to the attention of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
65th GRECO Plenary Meeting DECISIONS (Strasbourg, 10 October 2014, Greco (2014) 13E)