International cooperation in combating corruption - The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation
- 9 june 2021, 17:47
The special session of the UN General Assembly against corruption, which was organized in a remote format from the United Nations Headquarters in New York (USA), was held recently. Pursuant to the results of the special session, a political declaration reflecting the intentions of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption in the field of combating corruption and international cooperation in this sphere was adopted.
The work on the draft declaration had been carried out since September 2020. There had been discussions pertaining to such issues as the recovery of assets from corruption offences, participation of civil society in international anti-corruption cooperation, and further functioning of the review mechanism for the implementation of the Convention.
The representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation as part of the Russian delegation, which also included the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation and competent agencies, took an active part in the preparation of the declaration and promotion of directions, relevant to the Russian Federation, therein. One of them was cooperation on the subject of the detection of corruption offenses outside the framework of criminal prosecution.
In order to draw attention of the global community to this topic, the representatives of the Department of Supervision over Compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), organized and held a special event on the margins of the UN General Assembly against corruption on the topic “International Cooperation regarding Corruption Prevention”. The meeting took place on June 3, 2021, in the format of a videoconference in the English language with the participation of more than 60 representatives of the delegations from the various States Parties to the Convention.
On behalf of the Russian Federation, the meeting was opened by the Head of the Department of Analytical and Organizational and Methodological Support of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Combating Corruption and the Plenipotentiary Ambassador-at-Large for International Anti-Corruption Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The central report concerning the practice of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation regarding international cooperation in the field of corruption prevention was made by the Deputy Head of the Department of Supervision over Compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation. He was a moderator of the event as well.
Presentations were made by the representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Department of the National Supervisory Commission of the People’s Republic of China, the Central Investigation Bureau of the Government of India, as well as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA).
In their reports, they maintained the initiative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation in connection with the relevance of the chosen topic of the event, highlighted the main provisions of national laws governing international anti-corruption cooperation outside the framework of criminal prosecution, as well as problems arising out of the organization of international cooperation in this sphere.
As a result of the event, there was an understanding of the need to use the Convention as a direct legal basis for organizing international cooperation (regardless of the existence of special bilateral or multilateral agreements). The importance of the development of cooperation pertaining to the issues of more than just criminal investigations, but civil and administrative investigations as well, in the field of corruption was noted. It was proposed to conduct a scientific research on the issues considered on the basis of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA).
Furthermore, the participants pointed to the expedience of the development of international communication channels enabling to speed up the consideration of international requests.
As one of such communication channels, it was proposed to use the operational network of law enforcement authorities pertaining to combating corruption, which was launched in compliance with the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the margins of the UN General Assembly against corruption. The representatives of the Department of Supervision over Compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation took part in the elaboration of the options of the functioning thereof within the framework of special expert working groups.
The Prosecutor General's Office
of the Russian Federation
The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation
9 june 2021, 17:47
Representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation organized and held a special event on the margins of the UN General Assembly against corruption
The special session of the UN General Assembly against corruption, which was organized in a remote format from the United Nations Headquarters in New York (USA), was held recently. Pursuant to the results of the special session, a political declaration reflecting the intentions of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption in the field of combating corruption and international cooperation in this sphere was adopted.
The work on the draft declaration had been carried out since September 2020. There had been discussions pertaining to such issues as the recovery of assets from corruption offences, participation of civil society in international anti-corruption cooperation, and further functioning of the review mechanism for the implementation of the Convention.
The representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation as part of the Russian delegation, which also included the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation and competent agencies, took an active part in the preparation of the declaration and promotion of directions, relevant to the Russian Federation, therein. One of them was cooperation on the subject of the detection of corruption offenses outside the framework of criminal prosecution.
In order to draw attention of the global community to this topic, the representatives of the Department of Supervision over Compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), organized and held a special event on the margins of the UN General Assembly against corruption on the topic “International Cooperation regarding Corruption Prevention”. The meeting took place on June 3, 2021, in the format of a videoconference in the English language with the participation of more than 60 representatives of the delegations from the various States Parties to the Convention.
On behalf of the Russian Federation, the meeting was opened by the Head of the Department of Analytical and Organizational and Methodological Support of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Combating Corruption and the Plenipotentiary Ambassador-at-Large for International Anti-Corruption Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The central report concerning the practice of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation regarding international cooperation in the field of corruption prevention was made by the Deputy Head of the Department of Supervision over Compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation. He was a moderator of the event as well.
Presentations were made by the representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Department of the National Supervisory Commission of the People’s Republic of China, the Central Investigation Bureau of the Government of India, as well as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA).
In their reports, they maintained the initiative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation in connection with the relevance of the chosen topic of the event, highlighted the main provisions of national laws governing international anti-corruption cooperation outside the framework of criminal prosecution, as well as problems arising out of the organization of international cooperation in this sphere.
As a result of the event, there was an understanding of the need to use the Convention as a direct legal basis for organizing international cooperation (regardless of the existence of special bilateral or multilateral agreements). The importance of the development of cooperation pertaining to the issues of more than just criminal investigations, but civil and administrative investigations as well, in the field of corruption was noted. It was proposed to conduct a scientific research on the issues considered on the basis of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA).
Furthermore, the participants pointed to the expedience of the development of international communication channels enabling to speed up the consideration of international requests.
As one of such communication channels, it was proposed to use the operational network of law enforcement authorities pertaining to combating corruption, which was launched in compliance with the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the margins of the UN General Assembly against corruption. The representatives of the Department of Supervision over Compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation took part in the elaboration of the options of the functioning thereof within the framework of special expert working groups.