220 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Financing of political parties must be fully transparent, which requires political parties, in particular: i. to keep strict accounts of all income and expenditure, which must be submitted, at least once a year, to an independent auditing authority and be made public."
- "Requests States parties to cooperate closely with each other, consistent with their domestic legal and administrative systems, in order to enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement action to combat the offences covered by the United Nations Convention against Corruption."
- "Urges Member States, consistent with chapter V of the Convention, to ensure that they have adequate laws and mechanisms in place to prosecute those involved in acts of corruption, to detect the illegal acquisition and transfer of assets derived from corruption and to ensure that there are suitable mechanisms in place - conviction- and, where appropriate, non-conviction-based - to recover through confiscation the identified proceeds of corruption, and that such laws and mechanisms are vigorously enforced."
- "Calls upon States parties, where appropriate and in accordance with domestic law, to take proactive measures to ensure that individuals who have been entrusted with prominent public functions, their family members and close associates, cannot hide their illicitly acquired assets, by making relevant enquiries to determine the identity and ownership of illicitly acquired assets, freezing suspected criminal proceeds and undertaking efforts to initiate other national mechanisms of recovery, as consistent with the Convention and under domestic law, when appropriate, and encourages States parties to work with well-established networks of financial intelligence units to identify methodologies for coordinated approaches to such measures."
- "Urges States parties to remove barriers to asset recovery by ensuring that financial institutions and, where applicable, designated non-financial services and professions adopt and implement effective standards to ensure that such entities are not being used to hide stolen assets, which may include such measures as customer due-diligence requirements, the identification and enhanced scrutiny of assets belonging to individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions and to their family members and close associates, and the collection and provision of beneficial ownership information, and by ensuring, in accordance with the Convention and domestic law, through robust regulatory action, that they adequately implement those requirements."
- "Urges States parties to ensure that their anti-corruption authorities or other relevant bodies have sufficient resources to fulfil their mission, have an appropriate level of investigative and prosecutorial independence, are trained sufficiently and on a regular basis, have the requisite authority, legislative and otherwise, to identify, trace, freeze and confiscate corruption proceeds, including in terms of access to the financial and other information necessary to do so, and have the authority to share information, cooperate and coordinate corruption investigations with other domestic agencies and other Governments, when appropriate."
- "Reaffirms that, while the implementation of the Convention is the responsibility of States parties, the promotion of a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability and the prevention of corruption are responsibilities to be shared by all stakeholders and sectors of society, in accordance with articles 7 to 13 of the Convention. "
- "Recognizes the importance of ensuring that anti-corruption bodies have the necessary independence to enable them to carry out their functions effectively and free from any undue influence."
- "Calls upon States parties to devote special attention to strengthening integrity across the entire criminal justice system, including the police, prosecution, defence counsel, judiciary, court administration, prison and probation services, and notes with appreciation the assistance provided by the Secretariat to States parties upon request in the integration of anti-corruption measures in institutions of the criminal justice system."
- "Urges States parties to ensure that their public service is aligned with the principles outlined in the Convention, including, inter alia, efficiency, transparency and objective criteria in recruitment, the promotion of integrity, honesty and responsibility and adherence to codes of conduct for public officials."
- "Requests States parties to promote training and education at all levels of the public sector and, where appropriate, of the private sector in the prevention of corruption and to make such training and education an integral part of national anti-corruption strategies and plans."
- "Calls upon States parties to use the Convention as a framework for the development of specific and tailored anti-corruption safeguards in sectors that may present an increased vulnerability to corruption."
- "Encourages States parties, in accordance with article 8, paragraph 5, of the Convention, to endeavour, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of their domestic law, to establish and strengthen asset declaration systems applicable to public officials, aimed at the identification and resolution of conflicts of interest, and requests the Secretariat to continue its support to States parties in this regard."
- "Calls upon States parties to put effective processes in place to promote transparency, competition and objective decision-making in public procurement systems, in line with article 9 of the Convention, and to take into consideration the anti-corruption-related recommendations contained in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Law on Public Procurement."
- "Urges States parties, in accordance with articles 10 and 13 of the Convention, to continue to take measures to enhance transparency in public administration, including through the introduction of effective measures facilitating access by the public to information, and requests the Secretariat to provide technical assistance upon request to States parties seeking to introduce or enhance measures in this area, in cooperation, where appropriate, with interested donors. "
- "Urges States parties, in accordance with article 13 of the Convention, to continue promoting the participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, in the prevention of and the fight against corruption, and encourages States parties to enhance the capacity of such individuals and groups in this regard. "
- "Reaffirms that States parties should continue to strengthen awareness-raising measures throughout all sectors of society and that special attention should be devoted to work with young people and children as part of a strategy to prevent corruption. "
- "Calls upon States parties to promote the business community's engagement in the prevention of corruption by, inter alia, developing initiatives to promote and implement, where appropriate, anti-corruption measures within public procurement, consistent with article 9 of the Convention, and by working with the business community to address practices that generate vulnerability to corruption in the private sector."
- "Also calls upon States parties to use the Convention as a framework for the development of specific and tailored anti-corruption safeguards in sectors that may present a greater vulnerability to corruption, and requests the Secretariat to assist States parties in doing so, upon request and subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources."
- "Urges States parties to raise public awareness of corruption and laws and regulations against it, including the Convention itself, as well as the existing rights of and possibilities for the general public to obtain information on the organization, functioning and decision-making processes of their public administrations."
- "Also urges States parties, in accordance with article 13 of the Convention, to continue promoting the participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, in the prevention of and the fight against corruption, and encourages States parties to enhance their capacity in this regard."
- "Calls upon States parties to devote special attention to the creation of opportunities to involve young people as key actors to successfully prevent corruption at the domestic, subregional, regional and international levels, and requests the Secretariat to assist States parties in doing so, upon request and subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources."
- "Also calls upon States parties, consistent with the fundamental principles of their educational and legal systems, to promote, at various levels of the education system, educational programmes that instil concepts and principles of integrity."
- "Requests States parties to promote training and education at all levels of the public and private sectors in the prevention of corruption and, depending on their national legislation, to make such training and education an integral part of national anti-corruption strategies and plans."
- "Renews the commitment of all States parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption to effective national action and international cooperation to give full effect to chapter V of the Convention and to contribute effectively to the recovery of the proceeds of corruption. "
- "Also calls upon States parties to afford one another the widest possible cooperation and assistance in the identification of stolen assets and proceeds of corruption and in the extradition of individuals accused of the predicate offences, consistent with the Convention."
- "Urges States parties to ensure that procedures for international cooperation allow for the seizure and restraint of assets for a time period sufficient to preserve those assets in full pending proceedings in another State, and to allow or expand cooperation in the enforcement of foreign judgements, including through awareness-raising for judicial authorities."
- "Encourages States parties to remove barriers to asset recovery, including, inter alia, by simplifying their legal procedures and preventing abuse of those procedures."
- "Encourages States parties to remove barriers to asset recovery, including, inter alia, by simplifying their legal procedures and preventing abuse of those procedures."
- "Also encourages States parties to remove additional barriers to asset recovery by ensuring that financial institutions and, where applicable, designated non-financial services and professions adopt and implement effective standards to ensure that such entities are not being used to hide stolen assets, which may include such measures as customer due diligence requirements; the identification and enhanced scrutiny of assets belonging to individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions, and to their family members and close associates; and the collection and provision of beneficial ownership information; and by ensuring, in accordance with the Convention and domestic law, through robust regulatory action, that they adequately implement those requirements."
- "Also urges States parties and signatories to the Convention to strengthen the capacity of legislators, law enforcement officials, judges and prosecutors to deal with matters relating to asset recovery, including in the areas of mutual legal assistance, confiscation, criminal confiscation and, where appropriate, non-conviction-based forfeiture in accordance with domestic law and the Convention, and civil proceedings, and to give the highest consideration to providing technical assistance in these fields, upon request. "
- "Strongly encourages States parties to integrate anti-corruption policies to promote integrity and prevent corruption in broader crime prevention and criminal justice reform strategies, as well as in public sector reform plans."
- "Calls upon States parties that have not done so to ensure the existence of anti-corruption bodies in accordance with article 6 of the Convention, strengthen the capacity and independence of those bodies in dealing with the prevention of corruption and take steps, in accordance with the fundamental principles of their legal systems, to safeguard those bodies from undue influence."
- "Calls upon States parties to promote the business community's engagement in the prevention of corruption by, inter alia, developing initiatives to promote and implement public procurement reform, working with the business community to address practices that generate vulnerability to corruption and identifying elements of optimal self-regulation in the private sector."
- "Urges States parties to raise public awareness of corruption and laws and regulations against it, as well as the existing rights of and possibilities for the general public with respect to obtaining information on the organization, functioning and decision-making processes of their public administration and raise public awareness of the responsibilities of public officials with respect to the performance of their functions, with due regard to the protection of privacy and personal data."
- "Calls upon States parties to enhance dialogue and synergies with other stakeholders outside the public sector in order to promote the involvement and engagement of those groups in the development and implementation of broader national policies and plans for promoting integrity and preventing corruption/"
- "Renews the commitment of all States parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption to effective national action and international cooperation to recover the proceeds of corruption."
- "Also urges States parties to strengthen the capacity of legislators, law enforcement officials, judges and prosecutors on matters relating to asset recovery, and to provide technical assistance in the fields of mutual legal assistance; confiscation matters, including criminal confiscations and, where appropriate, non-conviction-based forfeiture, in accordance with national legislation; and civil proceedings."
- "[States should] ensure transparency of the electoral process, particularly in: 8.2.3. the conduct of the ballot: it is advisable to ensure that polling stations are appropriately designed, that transparent ballot boxes are used, that voting booths are available, that counting takes place in public and that distance voting is well regulated. "
- "Public bodies and relevant private bodies must proactively publish information. "
- "Each public body and relevant private body must publish the following information produced by or in relation to that body within 30 days of the information being generated or received by that body: manuals, policies, procedures or rules or similar instruments which have been prepared for, or are used by, officers of the body in discharging that body’s functions, exercising powers and handling complaints, making decisions or recommendations or providing advice to persons outside the body with respect to rights, privileges or benefits, or to obligations, penalties or other detriments, to or for which persons may be entitled. "
- "The “Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters” highlights that the stability of the law is crucial to the credibility of the electoral process (see CDL-AD(2002)023rev, part II.2.d and paras 63-65). Therefore it should be avoided that rules on politically delicate issues – like the composition of election commissions, the electoral system or the drawing of constituency boundaries –, which are regarded as decisive factors in the election results, are changed frequently or just before elections. “In general any reform of electoral legislation to be applied during an election should occur early enough for it to be really applicable to the election” (CDL-AD(2005)043, para. 5). "
- "In states with little experience of organizing democratic elections, the impartiality of the electoral administration vis-à-vis the executive government can not be taken for granted. This is why the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters makes a strong demand for independent electoral commissions in those countries. In fact autonomous electoral commissions which are independent from other government institutions are increasingly viewed as the basis of impartial electoral management in developing or new democracies throughout the world. "
- "It is commonly accepted that an effective election campaign needs sufficient resources. Parties and candidates would not be able to convey their programmes to the electorate without financial resources. Therefore political funding is considered a necessary condition for elections in modern democracies. Nevertheless, it should be clear that money may lead to corruption and to unfair political competition in the electoral process. Thus, it is important that election (and party) legislation contains clear and comprehensive regulations on party and campaign finances. "
- "Admittedly regulating party and campaign finances is a difficult task. There is a wide variety of regulations in operation throughout Europe and other world regions. Regulations may refer to party funding as a whole (including “routine activities”) or only to electoral campaigns. Some countries apply direct public financing, others allow only private financing. There are systems with contribution and expenditure limits, and others without them. There may be bans on certain types of contributions, as well as on certain types of expenditure. Moreover, electoral and party laws differ considerably with regard to the disclosure of party and campaign funds as well as with regard to the public access to the disclosed information. The variety of regulations makes it difficult to set common standards. "
- "While enhancing transparency is a primary aim of many reforms and reform proposals, it should be noted that there can be specific circumstances under which disclosure of contributions to parties may have unintended side-effects. In the context of prevailing political intolerance, full disclosure may inhibit contributions to opposition parties, and, at the same time may favour the pro-government forces. "
- "Strictly forbidden by law, but rather difficult to prove, is vote buying, i.e. the distribution of goods or money to people combined with the request to vote for a particular candidate or party. This is allegedly common practice in the pre-election period and on election day in some countries, according to international observers. In order to reduce the risk of vote buying on election day, it is important to guarantee the secrecy of the vote. It should also be ensured (and observed) that voters do not leave the polling station without depositing their ballots in the ballot boxes because some voters may try to take blank ballots outside the polling station and give or sell them to other people. As a rule, any unused ballot paper should remain at the polling station. However, in several cases, there were confirmed instances of stamped and signed ballots circulating outside polling stations on election day. "
- "According to the Code of Good Practice in Electoral matters, the votes should preferably be counted at the polling station immediately after poll close, rather than in special counting centers (CDL-AD (2002)023rev, para. 45). This has the advantage of providing quick results for the polling station. Further, counting away from the polling station may raise security problems, since the transport of ballot boxes and accompanying documents is always a security risk. "
- "Contrary to the case of elections, it is not necessary to prohibit completely intervention by the authorities in support of or against the proposal submitted to a referendum. However, the public authorities (national, regional and local) must not influence the outcome of the vote by excessive, one-sided campaigning. The use of public funds by the authorities for campaigning purposes must be prohibited. "
- "Voting procedures must be readily understandable by citizens; ii. voters should always have the possibility of voting in a polling station. Other means of voting are acceptable under the following conditions: iii. postal voting should be allowed only where the postal service is safe and reliable; the right to vote using postal votes may be confined to people who are in hospital or imprisoned or to persons with reduced mobility or to electors residing abroad; fraud and intimidation must not be possible. "