Georgia urged to do more to tackle high-level corruption

By:

Mark Smulian

14 Oct 16

Georgia should focus on combating high-level and complex corruption having achieved remarkable progress in eliminating petty corruption in public administration, an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report has said.

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Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo: Shutterstock

The OECD praised the country for its mechanism for monitoring and evaluating its anti-corruption strategy and action plan, and for the important role given to civil society in this process.

The report, Anti-Corruption Reforms in Georgia, highlighted Georgia's good track record in prosecuting corruption crimes and in using modern methods to confiscate criminal proceeds. It said the country should increase the enforcement of corporate liability and the prosecution of foreign bribery to address “the perception of alleged corruption among local self-government officials as well as at the political level”.

Georgia should also increase enforcement on conflicts of interests, anti-corruption restrictions and integrity rules among members of its parliament, ministers, executive bodies and local government.

To better tackle corruption among businesses that deal with public bodies, the OECD recommended a reduction in the list of exemptions from public procurement law and measures to prevent corruption in procurement for infrastructure projects.

The report also urged continued reforms to strengthen the independence and probity of judges, and to improve the transparency of the High Council of Justice and the integrity of its members.