THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN:

Resolution AG/RES. 1397 (XXVI-O/96), in which the General Assembly decided "to instruct the Permanent Council, through the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics and taking into consideration the pertinent provisions of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, the respective national legal systems, the documents presented by the Chair of the Working Group and by the Secretary General, and any other contributions it deems relevant, to draw up a draft program for cooperation in the fight against corruption and submit it to the General Assembly at its next regular session"; and

The report of the Permanent Council on the draft resolution entitled "Inter-American Program for Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption" (AG/doc.3476/97);

CONSIDERING:

That the Charter of the Organization states in its preamble that "representative democracy is an indispensable condition for the stability, peace and development of the region" and that "juridical organization is a necessary condition for security and peace founded on moral order and on justice";

That the member states, in signing the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, stated, in the preamble, that they were "convinced that corruption undermines the legitimacy of public institutions and strikes at society, moral order and justice, as well as at the comprehensive development of peoples";

That the heads of state and government, meeting at the Summit of the Americas held in December 1994, stated that "the problem of corruption is now an issue of serious interest not only in this Hemisphere, but in all regions of the world" and added that "corruption in both the public and private sectors weakens democracy and undermines the legitimacy of governments and institutions. The modernization of the state, including deregulation, privatization and the simplification of government procedures, reduces the opportunities for corruption. All aspects of public administration in a democracy must be transparent and open to public scrutiny";

That on March 29, 1996, the Specialized Conference on the Draft Inter-American Convention against Corruption adopted the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, a unique international legal instrument that represents an important step forward in action taken within the purview of the Organization of American States;

That the purposes of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption are to promote and strengthen the development by each of the states parties of the mechanisms needed to prevent, detect, punish, and eradicate corruption, and to promote, facilitate, and regulate cooperation among the states parties to ensure the effectiveness of measures and actions to prevent, detect, punish, and eradicate corruption in the performance of public functions and acts of corruption specifically related to such performance;

That the Organization of American States has also been carrying out other activities to help fight the scourge of corruption, in areas such as the drafting of model laws on illicit enrichment and transnational bribery and the compilation of laws of the member states;

That, in response to the mandate issued by the General Assembly, the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics has been considering the measures which should be adopted by the Organization of American States to achieve more effective international cooperation in fighting corruption;

That the priority interest shown by member states in pursuing the objectives set forth in the Convention, the activities under way in other international organizations, and the efforts of institutions representing civil society have given impetus to anticorruption requirements and opportunities to which the Organization should respond in an appropriate and timely manner; and

That the Organization of American States is an appropriate forum for exchanging information on the challenges faced by the countries of the region as they fight corruption and for implementing such cooperation mechanisms as the member states consider necessary in this important area,

RESOLVES:

1. To adopt—on the basis of the report of the Permanent Council on the Inter-American Program for Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption (CP/doc.2897/97 corr. 1), which contains the report of the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics that is attached as an integral part of this resolution—the following:

The member states of the Organization of American States (OAS), within the framework of the purposes and principles set forth in the Charter of the Organization, bearing in mind the commitment made by the heads of state and government at the Summit of the Americas in 1994 to fight the scourge of corruption, and on the basis of the provisions of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, the international legal instrument that serves as the general framework for the commitments assumed by member states, have decided to adopt the following Inter-American Program for Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption, the implementation of which will call for the following measures:

1. IN THE LEGAL AREA
   1. Adopt a strategy, through the Permanent Council and its Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics, to secure prompt ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

   2. Continue to compile national laws on matters related to fighting corruption and identifying corrupt acts.

   3. Conduct comparative studies of legal provisions in the member states, identifying similarities, differences, and any loopholes.

   4. Examine the legal definitions of illicit enrichment and transnational bribery on the basis of the work of the Inter-American Juridical Committee, including its proposals on model laws in this area.

   5. Identify other avenues toward the drafting of model laws that include the most advanced anticorruption approaches. Such model laws could cover both general and specific aspects of this activity.

   6. Begin to draft codes of conduct for public officials, as provided in Article III.1 of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, as member states so request. Account should be taken here of recent work at the United Nations.

   7. Consider the problem of the laundering of assets or proceeds derived from corruption, providing for activities allowing the states to criminalize the laundering of assets derived from corruption, if they have not already done so, in fulfillment of the commitment assumed under Article VI.1.d of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

   8. Organize the information produced by these activities, promoting the use of electronic media, so as to make the Organization a source of legal information and, in general, a publicity and training tool for anticorruption efforts.

2. IN THE INSTITUTIONAL AREA
   1. Identify public institutions in each member state that are engaged in anticorruption efforts, with special attention to the constitutional structure that sustains and organizes the group of institutions in each case, and the role of each, including the Judiciary, parliaments, comptroller's offices, public prosecutor's offices, institutions of the executive branch, police forces, and any specialized anticorruption bodies in those countries that have established them.

   2. Promote the sharing of experience with a view to providing services for improving existing anticorruption institutions and systems.

   3. Establish, if possible and advisable, a support system for government institutions charged with fighting corruption, with the participation of the Organization of American States.

   4. Determine what the public institutions charged with fighting corruption need in order to carry out their functions more effectively; and provide, at the request of the member states, advisory services relating to existing experience at the institutional level, as well as assistance in training staff at those institutions.

   5. Provide advisory services to help member states develop educational programs in the area of ethics and other matters related to the conduct of public officials and members of the private sector.

   6. Publicize OAS anticorruption activities, using electronic and all other available media.

3. IN THE INTERNATIONAL AREA

   Implement, if appropriate, a system of consultations by which to share experience and information with the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Inter- American Development Bank, among others, so as to enhance the understanding of each organization as it fights corruption, avoid duplication of efforts, and assess the prospects for joint projects.

4. IN CIVIL SOCIETY

   In order to create, maintain, and strengthen mechanisms for enlisting civil society and nongovernmental organizations in efforts to prevent corruption, under Article III.11 of the Inter- American Convention against Corruption, the following activities are envisioned:

   1. Conduct media publicity campaigns to secure the signature and ratification of, or accession to, as appropriate, the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

   2. Share experience on the role of the press in fighting corruption.

   3. Formulate programs to complement the formal education efforts the states might undertake through the educational system to promote the ethical values that underlie the fight against corruption.

   4. Identify professional organizations whose activities could be linked to anticorruption efforts, so as to enlist the support of bar associations and associations of accountants and auditors, among others.

   5. Establish means of enlisting, maintaining, and strengthening the participation of civil society and nongovernmental organizations in anticorruption efforts.

2. To instruct the Permanent Council to supervise the implementation of this Program.

3. To instruct the General Secretariat to implement the measures provided for in this Program, through the Secretariat for Legal Affairs, within allocated resources approved in the program-budget and other resources, and to report to the General Assembly at its next regular session on the measures taken and progress made.

4. To express its special appreciation to the Chair of the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics, Ambassador Edmundo Vargas Carre�o, Permanent Representative of Chile, for an excellent job in making it possible to adopt the Inter-American Program for Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption.

1. BACKGROUND
   1. On January 22, 1996, the Chair of the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics submitted to that Group for consideration the document entitled "Fundamentals of a Possible Program for Inter-American Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption" (CP/GT/PEC-39/96). In that document, he stated that "the Organization is currently focusing its efforts on drafting the Inter- American Convention against Corruption, and it should continue in this vein." He subsequently presented his views on the procedure that should be followed within the Organization once the Convention was adopted and the areas in which the OAS should work.

   2. On March 29, 1996, the Inter-American Convention against Corruption was adopted in Caracas, Venezuela. The Convention is the keystone of cooperative inter-American efforts to prevent, detect, punish, and eradicate corruption. The purposes set out in that legal instrument provide the overall framework for activities to be undertaken by the member states in this area with the support of the General Secretariat.

   3. At its meeting of May 9, 1996, the Working Group took up the document "A Plan of Action against Corruption" (CP/GT/PEC-60/96), prepared by the Office of the Secretary General. This document contains several points of interest regarding the actions that the Organization should take.

   4. The General Assembly of the Organization adopted resolution AG/RES. 1397 (XXVI- O/96) at its twenty-sixth regular session. The third operative paragraph reads:

      To instruct the Permanent Council, through the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics and taking into consideration the pertinent provisions of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, the respective national legal systems, the documents presented by the Chair of the Working Group and by the Secretary General, and any other contributions it deems relevant, to draw up a draft program for cooperation in the fight against corruption and submit it to the General Assembly at its next regular session.

   5. During its twenty-sixth regular session, the General Assembly of the Organization also adopted resolution AG/RES. 1398 (XXVI-O/96), which expressed satisfaction at the adoption of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, and decided:
      3. To urge any member states that have not yet done so to sign the Inter-American Convention against Corruption as soon as possible.

      4. To call upon the member states that signed the Inter-American Convention against Corruption to ratify it so that it may enter into force.

   6. The General Assembly of the Organization also adopted resolution AG/RES. 1395 (XXVI-O/96), operative paragraph 4 of which decides:

      To instruct the Inter-American Juridical Committee, as a follow- up to its contribution to the adoption of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, to develop model laws regarding illicit enrichment and transnational bribery, which member states may draw upon.

   7. The Inter-American Juridical Committee, at its regular session in February-March 1997, approved a resolution entitled "Elements for Preparing Model Legislation relating to Illicit Enrichment and Transnational Bribery" (CJI/RES-I-1/97), and intends to give further consideration to the topic at its sessions in August 1997.

   8. The Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics met on November 25, 1996, and considered the document presented by the Chair, entitled "Proposed Program for Inter-American Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption," which had been circulated to the missions for any observations they might see fit to make. The observations and commentaries submitted on that occasion were incorporated into a new version of this document, which was considered at a meeting of the Working Group on February 24, 1997. In light of the comments made at that time, the document was again considered by the Working Group at meetings held on April 8 and May 1 and 6, 1997. The version that is now submitted incorporates the observations presented at that last meeting.

   9. The Inter-American Convention against Corruption entered into force on March 8, 1997, thirty days after deposit of the second instrument of ratification, pursuant to the provisions of Article XXV of that instrument.

2. RESOURCES
   1. The Working Group considered it desirable that sufficient resources be allocated, within the regular OAS budget, for proper implementation of the program. This means that the annual program-budget will have to include resources for activities planned under this program.

   2. Additionally, thought could be given to the possibility of coordinating efforts with other multilateral organizations, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or the Council of Europe, so as to channel resources for activities under a cooperation program such as this. Efforts to secure additional resources could also target public institutions in the member states or third countries, or private institutions, that have an interest in supporting such activities, as decided by the competent OAS bodies.

3. PROGRAM APPROACH

   The Program for Inter-American Cooperation in the Fight against Corruption is designed with a view to the purposes stated in the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, which sets out the general legal framework for activities that the member states, with the support of the General Secretariat, decided to conduct to fight the scourge of corruption.

   2. Activities under the proposed program are in line with Article II of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, which states the purposes of that international instrument as follows:

   1. To promote and strengthen the development by each of the States Parties of the mechanisms needed to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption; and

   2. To promote, facilitate and regulate cooperation among the States Parties to ensure the effectiveness of measures and actions to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption in the performance of public functions and acts of corruption specifically related to such performance.

   3. Achieving the purposes set forth in the Convention and implementing this Program involves activities undertaken by both the Organization of American States and each individual member state. Within the Organization, the coordination of activities to implement the Program will be in the hands of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs, under the supervision of the Permanent Council.

   4. In order to put into effect the provisions of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, it is essential to design and apply a strategy for encouraging the signature and ratification of this legal instrument among the member states of the Organization or, if appropriate, accession by third countries. For that reason, one of the priorities under this program should be to prepare and implement such a strategy.

   5. As regards national activities, the Organization of American States should stand ready to provide advisory assistance to the appropriate public agency, when so requested by an interested state, and to support exchanges of information and experience among such agencies by way of seminars and other activities, as available resources allow. Another type of international cooperation activity will also be executed, according to the requests submitted by the member states to the Organization. All these activities are closely linked and mutually supportive.

   6. The advisory assistance and information exchange tasks carried out by the Organization will be approached in a special way as regards the national activities provided for in the Inter- American Convention against Corruption, in keeping with the provisions of that legal instrument.

4. SUBJECT AREAS
   1. Legal questions
      1. The legal aspects of this program relate both to the internal law of the member states and to the international instruments establishing means of international cooperation to fight corruption, including cooperation among states on judicial matters.

      2. The commitments assumed by the states under the Inter-American Convention against Corruption relate to preventive measures (Article III), to adoption of the necessary legislative or other measures to establish as criminal offenses under their domestic law the acts of corruption described in Article IV and to facilitate cooperation among the states parties (Article VII), to the provisions on transnational bribery (Article VIII) and illicit enrichment (Article IX), and to consideration of establishing as offenses under their laws the acts to which Article XI on progressive development refers.

      3. Activities under this program will need to be directed at supporting actions taken by member states to implement their commitments. The corresponding legislative actions pertain to various branches of domestic law: criminal law and criminal procedure, administrative law, tax law, and civil law.

      4. In order to support the states in fighting corruption, the Organization of American States proposes to carry out the following activities:
         1. The Permanent Council, through the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics, should adopt a strategy to secure prompt ratification of the Inter- American Convention against Corruption.

         2. Continue to compile national laws on matters related to fighting corruption and identifying corrupt acts. The General Secretariat, through the Department of International Law of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs, has begun this work, which will be a continuing task, since laws are updated constantly.

         3. Conduct comparative studies of anticorruption laws, identifying similarities, differences, and any loopholes. This will advance the harmonization of existing anticorruption laws.

         4. Examine the legal definitions of illicit enrichment and transnational bribery on the basis of the work of the Inter-American Juridical Committee, including its proposals on model laws in this area.

         5. Identify other avenues toward the drafting of model laws that include the most advanced anticorruption approaches. Such model laws could cover both general and specific aspects of this activity.

         6. Begin work on draft codes of conduct, provided for under Article III.1 of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, as member states so request. This activity will need to take account of recent work in the United Nations.

         7. Study the problem of the laundering of assets or proceeds derived from corruption. The cooperation program under consideration should provide for activities allowing the states parties to criminalize the laundering of assets derived from corruption, if they have not already done so, in fulfillment of the commitment assumed under Article VI.d of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption. In this task, special attention should be paid to the activities carried out and the progress made by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission and the Working Group in this area, so as to prevent duplication of effort.

         8. Organize the information produced by these activities, promoting the use of electronic media, so as to make the Organization a source of legal information and, in general, a publicizing and training tool for anticorruption efforts. This work should also include a description of the institutions referred to in the following section, and make use of their experience with training materials and other tools.

   2. Institutional matters

      The institutional aspects of the program relate to identifying the institutions responsible for anticorruption efforts and providing support for them in those efforts. The following activities, directed towards both state and civil society institutions, are proposed:

      1. Identify public institutions in each state that are engaged in anticorruption efforts. Special attention should be paid to the constitutional structure that sustains and unifies the group of institutions in each case, and the role of each, including the judiciary, parliaments, comptrollers, inspectors, prosecutors, institutions of the executive branch, police forces, and specialized anticorruption bodies in those countries that have established them.

      2. Promote the sharing of experience with a view to providing services for improving existing anticorruption institutions and systems. Thought has been given to the possibility of establishing a support system for government institutions charged with fighting this scourge, with the participation of the Organization of American States.

      3. Determine what those institutions need to carry out their functions more effectively. The Organization, at the request of the member states, should provide advisory services relating to existing experience at the institutional level, as well as assistance in training staff at those institutions, within the limits of available resources.

      4. Provide advisory services to help member states develop educational programs in the area of ethics and other matters related to the conduct of public officials and agents of the private sector.

      5. Publicize OAS anticorruption activities by producing reports and making use of electronic and other available media.

   3. Coordination with international organizations

      The Organization will implement, if appropriate, a consultative system for sharing experience and information with the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Inter- American Development Bank, among others, so as to enhance the understanding of each organization as it fights corruption, avoid duplication of efforts, and assess the prospects for joint projects.

   4. Relations with civil society institutions

      The Inter-American Convention against Corruption commits the states parties to considering measures, within their own systems of institutions, to create, maintain, and strengthen mechanisms for enlisting civil society and nongovernmental organizations in efforts to prevent corruption, under Article III.11. In this area, the following activities are envisioned:

      1. Arrange for the sharing of experience on the role of the press in fighting corruption.

      2. Conduct media publicity campaigns to secure the signature and ratification of, or accession to, as appropriate, the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

      3. Draft proposals for programs that could complement efforts undertaken by the states under the formal education system to publicize and promote the ethical values that underlie the fight against corruption.

      4. Identify professional organizations whose activities could be linked to anticorruption efforts, so as to enlist the support of bar associations and associations of accountants and auditors, among others.

      5. Establish means of enlisting, maintaining, and strengthening the participation of civil society and nongovernmental organizations in anticorruption efforts.

Documents of the OAS