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2009 Assessment

Azerbaijan: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Azerbaijan: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Anti-Corruption Agency
Indicators		Score
74	In law, is there an agency (or group of agencies) with a legal mandate to address corruption?	100
75	Is the anti-corruption agency effective?	56
76	Can citizens access the anti-corruption agency?	38

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there an agency (or group of agencies) with a legal mandate to address corruption?

74: In law, is there an agency (or group of agencies) with a legal mandate to address corruption?

Score:

YES

Comments: Under Article 4.2 of the Law on Combating Corruption, a specialized body in the area of preventing corruption is the Commission on Combating Corruption. Under Article 5 of the Statute of the Commission, the duties of the Commission include participating in formation of state policy on combating corruption, coordination of the work of state bodies and other entities on this area, analyzing efficiency and situation of struggle against corruption, supervising execution of the State Program on combating corruption, gathering, analyzing and summarizing the information on corruption law violations, making recommendations to the relevant state authorities and realization of cooperation with the state and other types of entities for combating corruption. Furthermore, the Presidential Decree on the Implementation of the Law on Combating Corruption was issued on March 13, 2004. Under this Decree, the Department of Combating Corruption under the General Prosecutor's Office was established, which is mainly in charge of investigating and prosecuting all corruption crimes. Moreover, in May 2005, the Unit for Special Investigation Measures on Corruption Crimes under the Ministry of Internal Affairs was established. The Unit is in charge of holding preliminary investigative measures on corruption crimes in close cooperation with the Department of Combating Corruption under the General Prosecutor's Office.

References: The Commission on Combating Corruption [ LINK ]; The Law on Combating Corruption; The Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on implementation of the Law on Combating Corruption; The Statute of the Commission on Combating Corruption [ LINK ]; See also [ LINK ]; [ LINK ]

Is the anti-corruption agency effective?

75a: In law, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments: The Commission on Combating Corruption as a specialized separate agency on combating corruption functions with the structure composed of 15 members. Five members of the Commission are appointed by the president of Republic of Azerbaijan, five by the Parliament (Milli Majlis), and five by Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan Republic. It should be noted that despite the fact that it is a separate body, all 15 members of the Commission are high ranking officials.

References: Statute on the Commission on Combating Corruption [ LINK ]

75b: In practice, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

Comments: Generally, the Commission on Combating Corruption is not protected from political interference. In other words, it is commonly influenced by political incentives. In practice, the Commission cannot compel the government to reveal sensitive information. The Commission is led by the head of the Presidential Administration and is composed equally of presidential, parliamentary, and Constitutional Court appointees who favor the ruling party. Besides, it lacks the participation of civil society. In other words, the government's strong presence in the Commission does not allow it to act independently.

References: 1) 2008 Report of the Commission for Combating Corruption on Implementation of the National Strategy (2007-2011) for Increasing Transparency and Combating Corruption [ LINK ] 2) Freedom House, Nations in Transitions, Report on Azerbaijan, 2008 [ LINK ] 3) Interview with an officer of the Commission for Combating Corruption, September 2009 4) Newspaper materials and articles of the Radio Liberty-Azerbaijan [ LINK ]

75c: In practice, the head of the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) is protected from removal without relevant justification.

Score:

100

Comments: Currently, the director of the Commission for Combating Corruption is the head of the Presidential Administration who is appointed by the president of Azerbaijan. He can also be removed at the will of political leadership.

75d: In practice, appointments to the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) are based on professional criteria.

Score:

100

Comments: Appointments to the Commission on Combating Corruption are based on political considerations rather than professional criteria. The Commission functions with the structure composed of 15 members. Five members of the Commission are appointed by the president of Republic of Azerbaijan, five by the Parliament (Milli Majlis), and five by Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan Republic. It should be noted that despite the fact that it is a separate body, all 15 members of the Commission are high ranking officials. Currently, the director of the Commission is the head of the Presidential Administration, who is directly appointed by the president. Furthermore, the Commission has a permanent Secretariat, which is a public body and has a full-time staff. Appointment procedure is not transparent either.

75e: In practice, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: The Commission on Combating Corruption has a permanent Secretariat, which is a public body and generally has quite qualified full-time staff, sufficient to fulfill its basic mandate. The political nature of appointments to the agency does not exempt professionalism requirements. So, generally, staff should be professional (educated, qualified, etc.) but it should still follow the instructions of political leadership.

75f: In practice, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) receives regular funding.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency (or agencies) has a predictable source of funding that is fairly consistent from year to year. Political considerations are not a major factor in determining agency funding. <p>50 Score Criteria: The agency (or agencies) has a regular source of funding, but may be pressured by cuts, or threats of cuts to the agency budget. Political considerations have an effect on agency funding. <p>0 Score Criteria: The agency\'s funding sources are unreliable. Funding may be removed arbitrarily or as retaliation for agency actions.$

Comments: The Commission on Combating Corruption receives regular funding from the state budget.

75g: In practice, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) makes regular public reports.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, the Commission on Combating Corruption makes annual reports and submits them to the president, Parliament, and the Constitutional Court. All reports of the Commission are available to the public on its website, [ LINK ].

75h: In practice, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) has sufficient powers to carry out its mandate.

Score:

100

Comments: Although under the Charter, the Commission on Combating Corruption has sufficient powers to carry out its mandate, in practice the problem is with its political dependence on the government. Put another way, if there is no top approval, the Commission keeps silent.

75i: In practice, when necessary, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: Under Article 7.8 of the Charter of the Commission on Combating Corruption, if there are complaints of corruption offenses, the Commission shall send materials to the relevant authorities for consideration. The Commission itself does not investigate but it cooperates with other investigative bodies such as the Department on Combating Corruption under the General Prosecutor's Office, the Unit for Special Investigation Measures on Corruption Crimes under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, etc. It should be noted that since there is high political dependency, the Commission is unwilling to take on politically powerful offenders and to do something without the top approval.

Can citizens access the anti-corruption agency?

76a: In practice, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) acts on complaints within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: According to the officer of the Commission for Combating Corruption, complaints to the Commission for Combating Corruption are generally resolved according to the Law on the Procedure for Consideration of Applications from Citizens. They should be reviewed within one month, or 15 days if no additional review or inspection is needed, unless shorter periods are provided for in legislation. However, in practice, some complaints may not be acknowledged, and simple issues may take more than two months to resolve.

76b: In practice, citizens can complain to the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) without fear of recrimination.

Score:

100

Comments: It usually depends on the nature of the complaint. Whistleblowers are sometimes able to come forward without negative consequences if the complaint is about professors, doctors or low-level civil servants. But in other cases, especially if the complaint is about high ranking officials, whistleblowers are punished for disclosing information, either through official or unofficial means.