The main methods and principles of combating corruption, methods of combating this type of offense, legal regulation of anti-corruption activities - all this is regulated by the Federal Law on Combating Corruption. The main points enshrined in the bill will be described in detail in this article.
General characteristics of the bill
The Federal Law "On Combating Corruption" was adopted on December 25, 2008. The bill provides two definitions of the concept of corruption at once. In the first case, he defines the offense as abuse of professional authority, giving or receiving a bribe, commercial bribery or illegal use of his position by an official. In the second definition, corruption appears to be the same set of presented processes, but already committed by a legal entity.
The Federal Law "On Combating Corruption" also defines a concept that is already indicated in the title of the law. Anticorruption offenses are defined as certain activities of federal state bodies aimed at preventing corruption, eliminating its causes, minimizing the consequences of the offenses under consideration, etc.
In addition to the proposed bill (No. 273 FZ of December 25, 2008), it is also worth highlighting some federal and federal constitutional acts, resolutions of the Government and the President of the Russian Federation, as well as some municipal legal acts.
Basic principles
The legal regulation of anti-corruption activities is based on the basic principles specified in article 3 of the draft law under consideration. Here it is worth highlighting the following:
- legality and transparency;
- legitimacy, recognition, protection and ensuring of all freedoms and rights of a citizen of the Russian Federation;
- publicity of the activities of various bodies (federal or municipal level) in the implementation of anti-corruption measures.
- priority in the application of measures aimed at preventing corruption offenses;
- principle of inevitability of consequences for corruption crimes;
- the active use of a variety of measures - information, social, legal, economic and others;
- close cooperation of state authorities with civilian institutions, various individuals, as well as international bodies.
Separately, it is worth talking about a rather important principle in the fight against corruption - international cooperation (Article 4 of the Federal Law). The Russian Federation is a state that actively cooperates with world organizations for the following purposes:
- exchange of information related to anti-corruption issues;
- identification of persons suspected of committing a crime;
- determination of property received in the course of corruption transactions;
- coordination of work related to the prevention of corruption;
- provision for examinations of various substances, samples, items, etc.
Thus, the Federal Law under consideration enshrines a fairly large number of principles of activities aimed at combating corruption.
Organizational Basics
The legal regulation of anti-corruption activities secures the powers of individual authorities and officials. In particular, it is worth highlighting the powers of the President of Russia:
- establishing the competence of federal executive bodies in the fight against corruption;
- definition of the main directions in the field of state fight against corruption.
- the publication of Presidential decrees on anti-corruption issues.
And what actions should the federal authorities of the Russian Federation carry out? According to the draft law under consideration, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation should ensure the development and adoption of laws proclaiming the fight against corruption. The legislative branch should also control the actions of executive bodies. The Russian Government should deal with the distribution of anti-corruption functions between executive authorities, which, in fact, are governed by the Government itself. All other bodies, in particular municipal ones, must deal with the fight against corruption within their powers.
The law enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation are obliged to inform all other instances about corruption crimes in a timely manner. Anti-corruption expertise of normative and legal acts also belongs to the sphere of jurisdiction of law enforcement bodies.
Preventative measures
The legal regulation of anti-corruption activities, in particular, the draft law under consideration (Article 6), establishes the main measures for the prevention of corruption. The following measures should be highlighted here:
- in the information and propaganda sphere - the creation and formation in the public environment of an attitude of intolerance towards corruption;
- conducting anti-corruption expertise of normative and legal acts, as well as their projects;
- timely consideration of the law enforcement practice of various authorities, in particular, judicial instances;
- the presentation of the so-called qualification requirements for Russian citizens who claim to fill government posts; conducting checks of all the information that these citizens will provide;
- the establishment of grounds for dismissal, or for the dismissal of an official in connection with the latter's corrupt activities; checking officials for expenses, incomes, property of the person himself, as well as his relatives, etc .;
- introduction of special rules into the work of the authorities, in accordance with which employees will carry out their work as transparently and efficiently as possible;
- development of institutes of parliamentary and public control over compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation (especially the law under consideration).
Thus, the presented draft law establishes fairly clear and precise measures for the prevention of corruption.
Activities
The legal foundations of the fight against corruption determine important areas of activity of state authorities. Article 7 of the law under consideration suggests that the fight against corruption should take place in accordance with the following functions of the authorities:
- implementation of state anti-corruption policy;
- the creation of special mechanisms aimed at the interaction of state and law enforcement agencies with parliamentary and public commissions on the fight against corruption;
- adoption of administrative, legislative or other measures, the main direction of which is to attract municipal and public servants to the active fight against corruption;
- the formation in society of a negative attitude to the facts of corruption;
- the introduction of special anti-corruption standards, which include a number of restrictions, prohibitions or permissions;
- unification of the rights of municipal and public servants;
- ensuring media independence;
- modernization of public service procedures;
- removal of unjustified economic prohibitions and restrictions;
- ensuring honesty, decency, openness when carrying out procurement by municipal or state bodies to meet needs.
Providing information on income and expenses is the main method of combating corruption in government bodies. This will be discussed later.
Providing information on income and expenses
The following persons shall submit information on income, on existing property, on property-related obligations, as well as on family income, to their employer:
- citizens applying for seats in government bodies;
- citizens wishing to take jobs in the Central Bank of the Russian Federation;
- persons applying for seats in the municipal service bodies and many other persons, in one way or another, associated with the authorities, included in separate lists established by regulatory acts of the Russian Federation, employees of state corporations, etc.
The procedure for submitting information on income and expenses is established by separate Federal laws and regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation. Moreover, all information received by the state will have limited access. If a citizen could not enter the public office for which he applied, then all the information submitted by him should be subject to destruction. Persons guilty of disseminating information about income and expenses provided by a person will be liable in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
About Conflict of Interest
The problem of corruption in Russia remains relevant for many reasons. One of them is the presence of the so-called conflict of interest in the investigation of corruption. This phenomenon is described in article 10 of the bill in question. What is meant in this case?
Conflict of interest means a situation in which a citizen personally interested in influencing the impartial and objective performance of his duties may violate the current law. Simply put, this is a banal abuse of authority. Obtaining income in the form of property, money or other services based on the results of work performed or obtaining any benefits can sometimes be considered illegal. Settlement of a conflict of interest is the responsibility of the following bodies:
- Central Bank of the Russian Federation;
- public insurance companies;
- Pension Fund of the Russian Federation and some other institutions.
The procedure for preventing a conflict of interest in this case is established by Article 11 of the Federal Law under consideration. Employees of the above instances must take measures to prevent a conflict of interest. They are obliged to warn the employer about the situation and ask for his help. The employer is obliged to take all possible measures to resolve the conflict. If the person concerned has not taken measures to prevent this situation, then it will be possible to speak of a direct violation by the person who is the source of the conflict.
Limitations
The fight against corruption would be simply impossible without the introduction of certain anti-corruption prohibitions, requirements, restrictions on public service, etc. All these elements help prevent corruption as a phenomenon among employees of municipal, state, law enforcement and other bodies. Article 12 of the Federal Law under consideration enshrines the main restrictions that must be imposed on employees of the listed authorities.
So, a citizen, within two years after leaving the government, has the opportunity to perform certain functions of a municipal or federal employee in order to resolve conflicts of interest (but only with the permission of the relevant commission). Also, a person discharged from public service is obliged to submit information about his former place of work. Moreover, the employer, who has accepted the work of a former employee of state bodies, is obliged to promptly inform the last place of work of the worker of certain information (as a rule, regarding the conclusion of an employment contract, duties and responsibilities assigned to a citizen, etc.). If the employer violates this obligation, then such an action can be considered an offense for which liability will follow. It is also worth noting the following:
- persons working in state. bodies should not replace other public positions (unless there are exceptions established in federal laws);
- civil servants are not entitled to engage in entrepreneurial activity - either directly or indirectly.
- employees are prohibited from using the information entrusted to them for non-official purposes;
- employees should not accept awards, fees or remuneration not provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
And this is far from all the restrictions established by the presented Federal Law.
About liability
For committing corruption crimes, Russian citizens, as well as foreigners, may be held administrative, criminal, civil or disciplinary. An individual whose fault in committing corruption is considered proven may be deprived of the opportunity to occupy certain state or municipal posts by court decision.
The dismissal of persons holding public office may be implemented for the following reasons:
- failure to take measures to prevent or resolve a conflict of interest;
- participation of persons in the activities of commercial organizations on a paid basis;
- non-presentation by a citizen of information on income and expenses;
- carrying out entrepreneurial activity by a person;
- the person’s entry into international organizations, if this is not provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
The liability of legal entities for corruption is established by the courts at the request of the relevant authorities. If the guilt of a legal entity is established, the guilty individual is not exempted from liability. Both persons will be liable in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
The Federal Law under consideration does not say much about citizens' responsibility for corruption. Article 13 of the Federal Law "On Combating Corruption" rather makes references to other codes, where punishment measures for the type of offenses in question are specified.
Checks
The Committee on Combating Corruption under the President of the Russian Federation, the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, as well as some other bodies have the right to carry out special checks:
- on the reliability and completeness of information about expenses, incomes, and also property obligations of citizens applying for filling state or municipal posts;
- on compliance by persons working in state bodies, as well as their relatives, with this Federal Law and other legislation relating to the fight against corruption.
It is worth noting that checks of officials by anti-corruption bodies can be carried out independently of other checks carried out by officials, special commissions or units.