OAS recommends independent prosecutor

Mon, Apr 6th 2015, 10:57 PM

The Bahamas should consider establishing an independent prosecutorial service, adopt a timetable for the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Action Plan and identify and mitigate the underlying difficulties in obtaining the cogent evidence required to detect corrupt acts, according to the report of the Committee of Experts in the Fourth Round of the Mechanism for follow-up on Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC).

The Organization of American States (OAS) anticorruption mechanism has issued its report on The Bahamas as part of the fourth round of the MESICIC and the recommendations in the report suggest important changes to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and other instruments of government.

At the 25th Meeting of the Committee of Experts, from March 16 to 20, 2015 in Washington, D.C., those experts issued the report, which contains the comprehensive review of the implementation in The Bahamas of Article III, paragraph 9, of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, covering "oversight bodies, with a view to implementing modern mechanisms for preventing, detecting, punishing, and eradicating corrupt acts". This specific provision was selected by the MESICIC Committee of Experts for the Fourth Round.

The committee also considered the follow-up of the implementation of the recommendations formulated to The Bahamas during the First Round.

The MESICIC report reviewed the Office of the Attorney General, the Public Disclosure Commission, the Department of the Auditor General, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Compliance Commission.

Among the main outcomes of the report, the committee of experts recommends that The Bahamas provide the proper resources needed for the proper performance of the functions for the oversight bodies in general.

Office of The Attorney General
The committee recommended that, subject to the Constitution and the fundamental principles of the Bahamian legal system, The Bahamas should consider establishing an independent prosecutorial service.

The report contained a number of recommendations focused on the Department of Public Prosecutions. The committee of experts recommended that OAG update the Manual for Public Prosecutions, and include in the updated manual an overview on practices and policies relevant to prosecution of acts of corruption, including that of transnational bribery.

According to the experts, the OAG should implement mechanisms to ensure that there is adequate coordination between and oversight of police prosecutors by the Department of Public Prosecutions, in the event that police prosecutors are assigned to prosecute corruption offenses.

The experts also recommended that the annual reports of the OAG be made more readily available online, that they be issued yearly, and that authorities "establish uniform criteria and parameters in respect of the basic contents of the annual reports of the Office of the Attorney General, while also ensuring that they contain relevant content that informs the public of the work undertaken by this oversight body, such as its budget allocation, expenditures, training provided as well as statistics on its work."

Anti-Corruption Plan
The Bahamas should also establish an internal audit unit within the OAG, and an Anti-Corruption Unit within the Royal Bahamas Police Force to investigate reports and allegations of corruption against government officials and public servants, the experts said.

Authorities ought also to adopt a timetable for the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Action Plan, setting out priorities, actions to be carried out, deadlines for executing them, and annual targets to be met, and disseminate that schedule so that the public can appreciate the efforts by the country under review to move forward with its implementation.

The committee added that authorities should establish on the webpage of the OAG a section for receiving complaints by the public on the work carried out by this oversight body, and implement a mechanism whereby the OAG provides feedback to government bodies regarding the outcome of the referrals and investigations of wrongdoing received by this office.

The MESISC committee recommended the establishment of a prosecutor and police advisory team for acts of corruption, so as to improve coordination and case preparation on these offenses. Authorities should also conduct an analysis of the causes that could be underlying difficulties in obtaining the cogent evidence required to detect corrupt acts, with a view to identifying challenges and implementing corrective measures, as necessary.

Result and Statistics
The experts also recommended that Bahamian authorities maintain results indicating the total number of cases investigated that were ready for a decision to be adopted; the number of decisions adopted in connection with them; the number of those decisions in which responsibilities were established or penalties were imposed; and the number of those decisions in which no responsibilities were found or acquittals were given in order to identify challenges and recommend corrective measures for the OAG.

In addition, authorities should maintain results that differentiate between cases prosecuted as indictable offenses and those as summary conviction, statistics on the surcharges recovered by the OAG as a result of a violation of the Financial Administration and Audit Act, and statistics on the fines recovered as a result of a violation of the Prevention of Bribery Act and the Public Disclosure Act.

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