Transparency International: South Caucasus must do more to fight corruption

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have made little progress in the past year adopting or implementing anti-corruption measures, according to the latest assessment reports released by Transparency International, which calls on the governments of these countries to introduce greater transparency and accountability in all areas of government.

Armenia: The report notes only little change in Armenia throughout 2010, particularly in the areas concerning judicial reform and civil service administration, which are seen to lack independence and transparency and in the case of the civil service administration is highly politicized. Some progress has been made regarding the implementation of some of GRECO recommendations, in particular, the adoption of guidelines for the detection of corruption offences, the abolition of parliamentary immunity and a way to handle complaints about breaches of ethical rules within the public administration. However, in all three areas implementation remains the main challenge. On a positive note a Law on Procurement entered into effect on January 1, 2011.

Azerbaijan: The justice sector suffers from weak enforcement, lack of transparency and limited independence as the executive branch exerts strong control over judicial appointments. The civil service has made some progress regarding recruitment of young professionals and has increased the ethics and integrity training but lack of managerial skills continues to weaken the public sector.

Georgia: Insufficient independence of the judiciary and the civil service is a key factor weakening Georgia’s good governance potential. Especially in the civil service, high politicization remains a major stumbling block, although some progress in technical areas looks promising, such as the recent adoption of an electronic procurement system.