INTERAMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION

(CICC-OEA)

CIVIL SOCIETY FOLLOW UP COMMISSION FOR THE APPLICATION OF

THE INTERAMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION IN THE

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ANSWER TO THE CUESTIONNAIRE REGARDING DISPOSITIONS

SELECTED BY THE EXPERTS ON THE FOLLOW UP MECHANISM

COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERAMERICAN

CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION

FIRST ROUND

Matter of answers:

DECLARATION OF INCOMES SYSTEM

Article III, Numeral 4

MECHANISMS FOR THE STIMULATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY’S AND NON

GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS’ PARTICIPATION IN EFFORTS

DESTINED TO PREVENT CORRUPTION

Article III, Clause 11

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

August 2004

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This executive summary gathers the most important conclusions and recommendations of

the brief made by the Follow up Committee for the Implementation of the Interamerican

Convention against Corruption (CICC) Dominican Republic.

For the realization of the jobs that sustain the brief, two Commissions were created which

focused on two fundamental tasks. In the first one the contents of the CICC were made

public to the different sectors of the population, in the Capital City as well as in the

provinces; and in the second one, work was put into the making of the brief which

gathers a well thought analysis of the application, in the Dominican Republic of Article

III, clauses 4 and 11 of the Convention about preventive measures, specifically about the

“System for the declaration of passive and active incomes by people in public duties

assigned by the law and for the publication of such declarations when required”, as well

as those regarding “Mechanisms for the stimulation of civil society’s and non

governmental organizations participation in efforts destined to prevent corruption”,

respectively.

For the recollection of information, different sources such as visitations and consultation

of Web Pages of State Institutions, civil organizations, academic institutions and

international organisms were used, key people were interviewed, the existing laws

regarding the sworn declaration of assets were applied, the answer of the State to the

questionnaire sent by the experts on the follow up mechanism committee for the

implementation of the Interamerican convention against corruption was used, among

others.

When analyzing the System for the declaration of passive and active incomes, article III,

clause 4, we were able to confirm that even though legal and constitutional norms and

state organisms which prevent and sanction corruption exist in the Dominican Republic,

they have within them strong weaknesses.

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The most important norm regarding the declaration of passive and active incomes of

public officials is Law NO. 82 of December 16, 1979. In the analysis, we were able to

verify that this law is insufficient as well as limitative due to the fact that it doesn’t

include the important officials in the governmental train. In this sense, the Chief of State

and the Chief of Police do not have this obligation.

Another weakness relates to the juridical reach that the sworn declaration of assets has,

since the substantiation that the Notary Public makes limits itself to certifying what the

public official “declared under his assets oath”, it doesn’t confirm if those assets belong

to the person or not, or on the contrary if such declaration is in fact real.

In the same sense, the law does not specify the economic and accountable aspects that

make it possible to determine the estimated value of the assets, or the specifications

regarding the amount of intangible actives and passives.

In this same context, according to the law, the declared assets are exempt of all taxes.

This condition can favor the laundering of actives or assets resulting from corruption or

the traffic of narcotics, or in some cases, it would allow any citizen that gets to occupy

duties in the Government amnesty from taxes not paid on the income obtained to acquire

said assets.

The National Treasures is empowered by the law to receive inventory from the public

officials, due to the fact that that he’s the one authorized to retain the salary of those who

have not made the sworn declaration in the established time. However, nowadays which

dependency should register and verify the declarations has been object of confusion,

because the entity linked to said process is the General Attorney’s Office, particularly the

Department for the Prevention of Corruption. Said practice presents some institutional

weaknesses since it is not sheltered by the law and due to the fact that this department has

rendered itself incapable of performing this task.

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The punishments established for those who do not obey what is established in the law are

diverse. On one side, the retention of salary until they comply with their obligations, and

on the other hand an admonition to those who violate the present norm. In this case the

sanction will be applied by his hierarchical superior. Without a doubt, the punishment

does not fit the crime. There would be less violation to this law if the sanctions were

stricter.

The aspects regarding the access to information are of great importance for the correct

application of the law and the attainment of its purposes. This way, citizens can exert

social control over the conduct of the Government and its officials. In reality, the

declarations are not allowed to the public due to the fact that institutions assigned by the

law do not have the mechanisms to correctly verify the information contained within

them. With the purpose of making the standing sworn declaration of assets in the

Dominican Republic better and stronger, we are proposing to modify Law No. 82,

according to existing bills, which should include the following considerations:

Due to the fact that Law No. 82 does not include severe sanctions for those who infringe

it, the punishments should be significantly stronger like it says on the bill now in

Congress. The penalties imposed should be more drastic since the existing ones are not

threatening enough to avoid officials form breaking said Law. In this sense, it would be

convenient a tipification of punishments that contemplate temporary suspension to the

inhabilitation of the public official to assume public positions and his incarceration.

It is imperative to extend the scope of those forced to present this declaration, a the

same time design monitoring mechanisms for the evaluations of the Patrimony of public

officials with the purpose of detecting illicit conduct on time. One of the most effective

measures could be that the sworn declaration of assets be made by no only the public

official but by his wife and descendants and ascendants at least to the first degree.

It is convenient to unify the criterion regarding the public official in charge of follow

up to Law No. 82, since the Department for the Prevention of Corruption exists at

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the present time, organism specialized in the prevention and investigation of

corruption, created by Decree and assigned to the General Attorney’s Office of the

Dominican Republic. Despite this, a bill to modify the Law exists with the purpose

of equipping that department with independence and autonomy in its actions,

conferring it the faculty to keep record of the sworn declarations. An important

goal in the preventive scope is the establishment of a economical and sociological

follow up system for public officials, particularly those forced by Law No. 82 to give

the Sworn Declaration of Assets.

In this sense, for the design and implementation of public politics, preventive as well as

educational, anti-corruption, we propose the creation of the National Office for the

Prevention and Investigation of Corruption as an independent organism with the purpose

of eradicating corruption and improve public administration. Similarly, we suggest to

regulate, with greater precision, the terms for the presentation of the Sworn Declaration

of Assets, as well as to specify the requirements contained within.

With the purpose of achieving a better application and observation of the Law on the

Sworn Declaration of Assets, the number of institutions in charge of verifying said

declarations should be increased to, aside from the National Treasurer, the Attorney

General and the Department for the Prevention of Corruption, make the General

Direction of Internal Revenue an entity which can verify the contents of the Declaration

of taxes. Similarly, when the Ombudsman is instituted and the follow up Commission for

the CICC can constitute monitoring instances for the correct application of the law that

orders the public officials to state the Sworn Declaration of Assets.

As a compliment to what was said above, we recommend that the declaration of

active and passive incomes is made within the frame of the sworn declaration of

taxes that is established in Law No. 11-92, Tributary Code of the Dominican

Republic and its modifications.

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Also they should be realized according to the International Audit and Accounting Norms.

Said declarations should be properly accredited by the corresponding institution in the

Dominican Republic, or the values should be estimated by experts. This would be an

interesting point since these last can belong to a state organism that verifies said values.

There should be a mechanism that allows any citizen to access to public servant’s

Sworn Declaration of Assets. At the moment of the making of the brief there was a

Web Page for the Department for the Prevention of Corruption that contained

information on some of the declarations. In that order of ideas the application of

the Law on Free Access to Information, recently approved, should be promoted as a

cross-sectional axis. The direct relationship between free access to information and

the Sworn Declaration of Assets as mechanisms to constrict to a larger rendition of

account rendering on the part of Government officials, constitutes the best antidote

against administrative corruption. Every citizen must have knowledge of such

declarations in order to emit a judgment of the person whose behavior has come to

be doubtful and to act in function of social control.

Regarding the Article III, Claus 11 about the Mechanisms for the stimulation of

Civil Society’s and Non Governmental Organizations Participation in Efforts

Destined to Prevent Corruption, we were able to confirm that the juridical frame to

achieve this is weak, and the majority of mechanisms are established by the

President trough decrees.

Aside from the weakness in the norm, the identified participation mechanisms present the

following weaknesses: lack of strategist plan with short and long term goals, a lack of

systematic operation, the designation of its members by the President, the absence of

key Government officials in the meetings, little understanding of what everyone’s role is,

among others.

As a result, it is not possible to achieve efficiency and at the same time it makes it

difficult for the Civil Society to participate in the process for the prevention of

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administrative corruption due to the fact that the instances created reproduce the culture

of centralization of the decisions in the governmental scope which turn the Civil

Society’s participation in mere acts of presence, used only to legitimize certain processes.

Te majority of these mechanisms do not constitute spaces for growth or strengthening of

democracy, being the Government itself the one that obstructs it.

The promulgation of Law 200-04 of Free Access to Public Information must solve this

situation and break trough the barriers so that citizenship can be well informed on matters

of interest.

The existence of Web Pages does not solve the problem of access to information by

citizens, among other reasons, because of the low levels of access to it (in the Dominican

Republic there are only 4000,000 registered Internet users), limiting the access to more

privileged and capable sectors (15% of the population is illiterate).

The majority of participation mechanisms that Civil Society has have a deliberative –not

decisive- character which tends to demotivate organizations, which dedicate time and

resources to preparing technical proposals which are obstructed by the Government.

Finally, a lot of the mechanisms pointed out by the Government in its summary, grant

participation to Civil Society Organizations in these instances without establishing

relative tasks to the problem with corruption, but instead it’s about the establishment of

public politics targeted to the corresponding sector.

With that said, and with the purpose of strengthening the mechanisms of participation of

the Civil Society and Non Governmental Organizations in the efforts destined to prevent

corruption, we propose the following:

1. A policy that institutionalizes participation mechanisms in the different branches

of Government should be adopted, establishing the formulation of a handling plan

with clear short and long term goals and the adaptation of the operational

regulations that assure the regularity of the meetings between the Civil Society

and the Government.

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2. To guarantee the implementation of the law of Free Access to Public Information,

creating the international conditions for governmental entities can comply with it.

3. Strengthen the relationship Civil Society-Government towards solving the

problem with corruption, redefining the functions of Non Governmental

Organizations. This plan should include a chronogram that foresees products, as

well as the establishment of responsibilities for each member.

4. Develop processes of transference of technical and economical resources that

allow the fortification of organizations in the underprivileged Civil Society

Organizations in order to make them more productive.

5. Implementation of campaigns divulging the mechanisms for the right fulfillment

of the bill.

6. Implementation of campaigns divulging the existing mechanisms and the right of

every citizen to access information; through strategic alliances with Civil Society

Organizations, strengthen and create instances for citizenship in areas regarding

the demand for information.

7. Establish, by decree, a term for the establishment of Web Pages of public

institutions and create the mechanisms needed to fulfill said term.

8. Promote the creation of information systems about public management and

financial statements including the incorporation of informative portals.

1. PRESENTATION

By Resolution No. 489-98, the National Congress of the Dominican Republic the

Interamerican Convention Against Corruption, CICC, approved on march 29 1996 in the

conference of the OEA in Caracas, Venezuela. Said convention states a juridical

structure to promote and regulate the cooperation between the countries in it with the

purpose of assuring the efficiency of the measures and mechanisms that allow the

prevention, detection, penalization and eradication of administrative corruption in the

entire hemisphere. (Annexed).

The purpose of this document is to create a summary that is independent from the Civil

Society about the level of implementation from the Dominican Government in

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dispositions of article III, clauses 4 and 11 of the Second Chapter of the Convention,

according to the questionnaire from the Experts on the Follow Up Mechanism Committee

for the Implementation of the Interamerican Convention Against Corruption.

2. THE COMMISSION

Civil Society Follow Up Commission for the Application of the Interamerican

Convention Against Corruption in the Dominican Republic is integrated by 34 social

organizations of different nature. This Commission was created in the Firs International

Seminar for the Application of the Interamerican Convention Against Corruption, held in

Santo Domingo on November 2002, and was ratified by the Workshop Seminar of the

Interamerican Convention Against Corruption summoned by Participación Ciudadana on

march 20031. (Annexed).

The Commission’s tasks have concentrated in two fundamental ones:

1. The first one let everyone in the different sectors know about the contents of the

CICC in the city as well as in the provinces.

2. The second one is to work in the making of the present summary, which gathers a

well thought analysis of the application of Article III, Clauses 4 and 11 of the

Convention about preventive measures, specifically about the “System for the

declaration of passive and active incomes by people in public duties assigned by

the law and for the publication of such declarations when required”, as well as

those regarding “Mechanisms for the stimulation of civil society’s and non

governmental organizations participation in efforts destined to prevent

corruption”.

1The Excecutive Commitee is integrated by: Acción Comunitaria por el Progreso Inc. (ACOPRO),

Asociación de Jóvenes Amantes de la Paz (ASOJAPAZ), Centro de Asesoría e Investigaciones Legales

(CEDAIL), Bloque de Organizaciones no Gubernamentales (BONGS), Instituto Nacional de la Salud

(INSALUD), Foro Ciudadano, Foros para la Participación Municipal, Consejo de Juventud de la Republica

Dominicana y Participación Ciudadana. This last one has been selected as the one in charge of organizing

the committee.

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For the making of this summary, two sub commissions were created, which were

occupied independently in the process of recollection of information, socialization,

verification and validation.

The first part of the document answers Article III, Clause 4 of the Interamerican

Convention Against Corruption regarding the System for the declaration of passive and

active incomes on the part of people in Government places. “System for the declaration

of passive and active incomes by people in public duties assigned by the law and for the

publication of such declarations when required”.

The answers were elaborated by the sub commission composed of 6 Civil Society

Organizations: Fundación Institucionalidad y Justicia, Inc. (FINJUS), la Fundación

Federalista, Inc, La Fundación por el Enriquecimiento de los Valores Humanos y la

Ecología Inc, (FEVHE), el Bloque de Organizaciones no Gubernamentales (BONGS), la

Fundación Opción Comunitaria y Juvenil (FUNOCOJ) and the Fundación por la

Educación y Recuperación de la Adicción Inc, (FERA). These are Non Governmental

Organizations and the sub commission was coordinated by FINJUS.

The second part presents the results of the sub commission that worked in the subject of

Mechanisms for the stimulation of civil society’s and non governmental organizations

participation in efforts destined to prevent corruption, Article III, Clause 11 and its

composed of 7 organizations:

Asociación de Jóvenes Amantes de la Paz, Bloque de Organizaciones No

gubernamentales, Consejo de Juventud de la República Dominicana, Consejo Municipal

del Desarrollo del Hábitat, Fundación Dominicana de Ayuda al Anciano, Fundación

Universidad Popular, Fundación para la Reforma y Participación Ciudadana. This last

one was appointed by the Follow Up Commission to coordinate the final details.

3. METHODOLOGY USED IN THE MAKING OF THE SUMMARY

The purpose of this summary is to analyze the answer to the questionnaire regarding

dispositions selected by the experts on the Follow Up Mechanism Committee for the

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Implementation of the Interamerican Convention Against Corruption, given by the

Dominican Government, regarding the level of implementation of the Article III, Clause

4 of the Second Chapter: “System for the declaration of passive and active incomes by

people in public duties assigned by the law and for the publication of such declarations

when required” as well as the “Mechanisms for the stimulation of civil society’s and non

governmental organizations participation in efforts destined to prevent corruption”.

The work that Civil Society Organizations have put into creating spaces of participation

in the eradication of corruption was the inspiration for this summary. We think that every

sector of society should work together to fight this problem.

For the gathering of information and for a deeper analysis we used several sources, which

allowed us to come to the conclusion we make. These were the following:

1. Letters and visitations to different state institutions asking for Sworn Declaration

of Assets made by government official s in the National Congress, the ONAP,

The Supreme Court, the DGII, the Department for the Prevention of Corruption,

the JCE, among others. (Annexed).

2. Interviews with key informants in the public sector, Civil Society Organizations

and academic institutions. (Annexed)

3. Consultation of different Web Pages of governmental institutions and

international organisms. The following institution’s Web Pages were consulted:

Attorney General’s Office, Supreme Court of Justice, and several Ministries as

well. Among the international Web Pages were: Transparencia Internacional,

Banco Mundial, Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), Respondanet y

Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE).

4. Studies born from Civil Society Organizations, and bilateral and multilateral

organisms.

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5. Legal norms existing in the Dominican Republic regarding the subject of Sworn

Declaration of Assets, the participation of the Civil Society in actions to control

corruption in the public administration. (Annexed)

6. Answer to the questionnaire regarding dispositions selected by the experts on the

Follow Up Mechanism Committee for the Implementation of the Interamerican

Convention Against Corruption, given by the Dominican Government.

The brief prepared by Participación Ciudadana for the follow up for the Application of

the Quebec Plan was used also, in the frame of implementation of the monitoring bill to

the agreements in the American President’s Summit. (Annexed). The brief is the result

of discussion and consensus between the 34 organizations that compose the Follow Up

Committee.

FIRST PART

SYSTEM OF DECLARATION OF PASSIVE AND ACTIVE INCOMES

Article III, Clause 4

QUESTION:

Are there laws in your country that establish the system for the declaration of passive and

active incomes and for the publication of said declarations when required?

In case of an affirmative answer, describe them presenting aspects such as who the are

destined to, before who and at what moment should they be presented, what they contain,

the criterions for verification, what they are used for, and they dispositions that contain

them.

The brief we present has two objectives:

1. The analysis of the legal frame that establishes the System for the declaration of

passive and active incomes effective in the Dominican Republic.

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2. The level of application of penal laws to the dispositions of the Interamerican

Convention Against Corruption (CICC) in the aspects regarding the tipification of

corruption acts and the mechanisms used to assure its effective application on the

part of the proper judicial organisms. In this sense, we have laws that identify and

select the acts of corruption committed by government official s, as well as

several dispositions that institute mechanisms with the purpose of guaranteeing

the efficiency and transparency in public management.

Article 102 of the Constitution sanctions anyone who, for personal gain, takes public

funds or obtains economical benefit from his position as well as the persons that have

given advantages to family and friends. Also, the bad use of funds that government

official give.

As a compliment of Constitutional norms mentioned before, we find several dispositions

regarding the subject of administrative corruption. We have, among others, dispositions

contained in Law No. 672 of July 1982 that establishes a Code of Conduct for

government officials, Law No. 14-91, Law 120-01 that institutes the Ethics Code of the

Public Servant, designed to establish honorable conduct and honesty in the performance

of government officials.

The Dominican Republic’s Penal Code identifies and sanctions this infraction. In its

Articles 123 and 124 regulates infractions committed by government officials, Article

166 talks about prevarication, Article 174 anticipates and sanctions infractions by

government officials, Article 175 speaks of infractions by government officials outside

their spectrum, Articles 177 and 179 are about bribery of government officials and

Article 265 talks about malefactors.

Finally, there is a bill to modify the Penal Code and in its second Chapter establishes

attacks to public administration by government officials (passive corruption) and in its

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Third Chapter attacks on the public administration committed by individuals (active

corruption), acting accordingly to the requirements of the CICC.2

ANALYSIS OF THE DISPOSITIONS OF LAW NO. 82 REGARDING THE

SWORN DECLARATION OF ASSETS

The declaration of passive and active incomes of government officials is regulated by

Law No. 82 of December 1979, published in the Official Newspaper No. 09518 of

December 1979.

Who should present the Sworn Declaration of Assets

According to Law No. 82, the following government officials should present a sworn,

legalized and detailed declaration:

1. The President and Vice-President of the Dominican Republic

2. Senators and Congressmen

3. Secretaries and Under-Secretaries of State

4. Governor and Vice-Governor of the Banco Central

5. Administrators and Managers of State Banks

6. Mayor, Councilmen and Municipal Treasurers

7. Judges, members of the Public Ministry and member of the Chamber of Accounts

8. General Administrators and Sub-Administrators, General Directors and Sub-

Directors, Presidents and Vice-Presidents of state institutions

9. Province Governors

10. Presidents and Vice-Presidents, General Administrators y Sub-Administrators of

state institutions controlled by CORDE.

11. National Comptroller and Auditor

12. National Treasurer and Internal Revenue Collectors

2 Olivo de Pichardo, Semíramis. Adecuación de la Legislación Penal Dominicana a la Convención

Interamericana contra la Corrupción. Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA). Santo Domingo, 2001.

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How is the sworn Declaration of assets made and at what time?

The declaration of assets must be realized within the first month of functions and a within

the month after he has left office. It is made trough a detailed inventory, sworn and

legalized by a Notary Public.

Contents and criterions of the Sworn Declaration of Assets

The inventory should contain all the assets of the person that is declaring, with estimated

values as well as active and passive incomes. The law does not specify regarding to

amounts of intangible passives and actives.

Who receives the Declaration of Assets? Consequences of this Declaration.

The government officials must submit their declaration to the National Treasurer. If he

fails to do so, the Treasurer can retain his salary until he has fulfilled said obligation.

How to access the declarations and its utilities

The National Treasurer will submit a copy of each inventory to the Attorney General’s

Office, in order to verify them, where third parties can obtain copies without cost.

QUESTION

Mention the results obtained by the application of former norms with statistical

data available in your country

As we pointed out when exposing the methodology used with the purpose of obtaining

information about the results of the use of the Sworn Declaration of Assets, applications

were made through direct visitations and communications to the different state

institutions which officials are under the scope of Law No. 82. (See Annex). The search

for information was focused on Web Page searches, with the purpose of establishing who

had fulfilled the obligations and to verify the availability of information regarding them.

The result of this was scarce and irrelevant, the information given was vague and not

precise, and the help received by the visited institutions was minimal. In the same way,

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the information published through the Internet is outdated, and they only offer the basics

of their organizational structure. However, information from the ONAP was obtained

that point out the fact that 1,017 government officials are forced by law to present the

Sworn Declaration of Assets.

With the purpose of contributing results, we analyzed the answer given by the

Dominican Government to the questionnaire submitted by the Expert’s Committee.

In this sense, the answer is broad, however w considers convenient to enrich it with

the following comments:

The official answer does not indicate the level of commitment of the Sworn

Declaration of Assets of government officials which, judging from what the law

states is very extensive. According to research made by Non Governmental

Organizations, the declarations presented in the period from 2000 to 2004, do not

come to 10% of the total.

By disposition of Law No. 82, government officials’ declaration of assets must be

realized within the first month of functions and a within the month after he has left

office. The reason for this is to make a diagnosis of his incomes with the purpose of

observing their evolution and to verify if they are disproportioned regarding their

initial patrimony. If a difference exists, it could lead authorities to the pertinent

investigations.

Regarding the list of government officials mentioned in Law No. 82, it results limiting

and insufficient, due to the fact that the State has been through multiple transformations

in its functional structure. In this sense, if the Secretary of the Armed Forces is forced to

make a Sworn Declaration of Assets because of his condition of Secretary of State, then

the Chief of State and the Chief of Police should do it also.

Another aspect that should be considered is the juridical reach that Sworn Declaration of

Assets has, since what the Notary Public only states what the government officials have

“sworn under oath” to be his possessions and to certify the signature. In this sense, there

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must be a legal mechanism that can certify or verify the existence of assets declared or

not. In does not specify the accountable and economical criteria that make it possible to

determine the value of the assets.

The law doesn’t state that the declared assets are exempt from taxes. This favors the

laundering of money resulting from corruption or traffic of narcotics, in other words, it

would allow any citizen that gets to occupy duties in the Government amnesty from taxes

not paid on the income obtained to acquire said assets3.

The National Treasures is empowered by the law to receive inventory from the public

officials, due to the fact that that he’s the one authorized to retain the salary of those who

have not made the sworn declaration in the established time. However, nowadays which

dependency should register and verify the declarations has been object of confusion,

because the entity linked to said process is the General Attorney’s Office, particularly the

Department for the Prevention of Corruption. Said practice presents some institutional

weaknesses since it is not sheltered by the law and due to the fact that this department has

rendered itself incapable of performing this task. Said practice presents some weaknesses

since they are not under the law.

This disposition can be modified in the sense that said inventories are remitted directly to

the organisms in charge of penal prosecution, that way the implemented practice can be

regulated, making the process shorter since, according to Article 5 of Law No. 82, the

Treasurer should remit a copy of the inventory to the Attorney General’s Office.

Regarding the retention of salary, it can be solve by a letter from the Treasurer to the

Attorney General.

The established sanctions for those who don’t do what the law states are diverse. On one

hand, is the retention of their salary, on the other is an admonition to those who break the

law, in this case the sanction will be applied by the hierarchical superior. Without a

doubt, these sanctions are weak compared to the infraction committed. 3 Arias Santos, Lázaro. Globalización de la Lucha contra la Corrupción. Santo Domingo, 2003

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Bill that modifies Law No. 82, tending towards the strengthening of the system of

Sworn Declaration of Assets.

On February of 2003, it was submitted to Congress the “Bill that compels government

officials to draw up a detailed and sworn inventory legalized by a Notary Public of the

assets that constitute their patrimony”, where the regulations that allow administrative

and judicial authorities to determine if they have illicitly enriched themselves are

established.

With this, the Dominican Government moves forward towards efforts to adapt the

systems of declaration of active and passive incomes to the dispositions of the

Interamerican Convention Against Corruption, with the purpose of equipping them with

larger efficiency. However, said bill has not yet been approved. In this section, we make

a comparative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the bill, emphasizing in the

juridical aspects of it.

Time limit for the declaration

The project maintains the time limit of 30 days stated in Law No. 82 for the presentation

of the Sworn Declaration of Assets, from the moment the government official takes

possession to the moment he has left office. However, it states that the declaration will

be made every two years and every time he steps up to a new position.

Organism in charge of evaluating inventory

The law entrusts the National Treasurer with this responsibility, which will remit them to

the Attorney General’s Office, which will evaluate the inventories presented by the

government officials.

Extension of the compelled government officials

The principle adopted in the bill is the extension of the obligation to present inventory of

the assets of every government officials that handles public funds. This way the list of

those forced to present the Sworn Declaration of Assets will be largely increased.

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Facts contained in the inventory

The Hill foresees more details and specifications for the declarations; however it doesn’t

establish accountable and fiscal criterions that should be taken into account for the

verification and evaluation of the presented declarations.

Sanction if the government officials does not present inventory

The laws in force states that the sanctions imposed administratively are not the only ones.

There are some contained in the Dominican Penal Code. The sanctions contemplated in

the bill are more drastic and it even contemplates that once the time limit expires on the

Sworn Declaration of Assets, the government official would resign.

Advertising of the declarations

The principle that should rule is the advertising of the information submitted by

government officials. The principle of account rendering, rests on the transparency of

this information and the effective monitoring to the use of public funds on the part of the

citizens. Coherence with the right to free access to information should prevail, because

the bill to modify Law No. 82 would exclude access to this sort of information claiming

that making the value of the assets public, would put them in a vulnerable position.

Presumption of illicit enrichment

Just like in Law No. 82, the bill reverses the principle of the presumption of innocence in

the cases of illicit enrichment imposing the weight of proof on the government officials.

This should be analyzed form the perspective of the principle of presumption of

innocence incorporated to the proper process.

Tipification of illicit enrichment

In Law No. 82, as well as on the bill, the fact could indicate a violation of the principle of

innocence, deriving from the illicit origin of the assets obtained by government officials

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that does not comply with the presentation of inventory of the assets that form his

patrimony.

Confiscation of assets and transfer of confiscated assets

This is one of the most rigorous sanctions proposed on the bill in case a government

official is brought to justice for illicit enrichment.

Conspiracy

A new aspect that is introduced in the bill is the fact that accomplices are punished the

same way as the government officials that have broken the law.

CONLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The fundamental problem with administrative corruption has been the tolerance to it on

the part of the authorities appointed to persecute and sanction it. There is a high level of

rejection for it in the Dominican Republic, generating a broad process of construction of

proposals that make it possible to adopt mechanisms and tools to decrease the levels of

corruption and its incidence on the growth of democracy in the country.

The intention to control the fraudulent actions that lead to illicit enrichment of those

government officials that act in detriment of the State’s assets is obvious. However, the

absence of mechanisms for the application of norms, laws and regulations added to the

vulnerability of the institutions pointed for the application and fulfillment of them,

manifest the weaknesses that stop the effective application of Law No. 82, as well as the

lack of an operational system which allows the realization of activities of prevention and

control.

Due to the fact that Law No. 82 does not include severe punishments for those who

infringe said law; the sanctions should be significantly increased just like the bill

proposes. The punishments imposed should be more drastic, since the existing ones

don’t provoke enough fear to force government officials to respect the law. In this sense

20

it would be convenient to determine the sanctions that are contemplated from the

suspension of his functions to his inability to assume public positions.

It is essential to broaden the spread of those forced to present this type of declarations, at

the same time designing monitoring mechanisms for the evaluation of the government

officials’ patrimony with the purpose of detecting illicit conduct in time. An effective

measure could be that the sworn declaration of assets be made by no only the public

official but by his wife and descendants and ascendants at least to the first degree.

It is convenient to unify the criterion regarding the public official in charge of follow up

to Law No. 82, since the Department for the Prevention of Corruption exists at the

present time, organism specialized in the prevention and investigation of corruption,

created by Decree and assigned to the General Attorney’s Office of the Dominican

Republic. Despite this, a bill to modify the Law exists with the purpose of equipping that

department with independence and autonomy in its actions, conferring it the faculty to

keep record of the sworn declarations. An important goal in the preventive scope is the

establishment of a economical and sociological follow up system for public officials,

particularly those forced by Law No. 82 to give the Sworn Declaration of Assets.

Similarly, we suggest to regulate, with greater precision, the terms for the presentation of

the Sworn Declaration of Assets, as well as to specify the requirements contained within.

With the purpose of achieving a better application and observation of the Law on the

Sworn Declaration of Assets, the number of institutions in charge of verifying said

declarations should be increased to, aside from the National Treasurer, the Attorney

General and the Department for the Prevention of Corruption, make the General

Direction of Internal Revenue an entity which can verify the contents of the Declaration

of taxes. Similarly, when the Ombudsman is instituted and the follow up Commission for

the CICC can constitute monitoring instances for the correct application of the law that

orders the public officials to state the Sworn Declaration of Assets.

21

As a compliment to what was said above, we recommend that the declaration of active

and passive incomes is made within the frame of the sworn declaration of taxes that is

established in Law No. 11-92, Tributary Code of the Dominican Republic and its

modifications.

Also they should be realized according to the International Audit and Accounting Norms.

Said declarations should be properly accredited by the corresponding institution in the

Dominican Republic, or the values should be estimated by experts. This would be an

interesting point since these last can belong to a state organism that verifies said values.

There should be a mechanism that allows any citizen to access to public servant’s Sworn

Declaration of Assets. At the moment of the making of the brief there was a Web Page

for the Department for the Prevention of Corruption that contained information on some

of the declarations. In that order of ideas the application of the Law on Free Access to

Information, recently approved, should be promoted as a cross-sectional axis. The direct

relationship between free access to information and the Sworn Declaration of Assets as

mechanisms to constrict to a larger rendition of account rendering on the part of

Government officials, constitutes the best antidote against administrative corruption.

Every citizen must have knowledge of such declarations in order to emit a judgment of

the person whose behavior has come to be doubtful and to act in function of social

control.

22

MECHANISMS FOR THE STIMULATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND NON

GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN EFFORTS DESTINED TO PREVENT

CORRUPTION

Article III, Clause 11.

MECHANISMS OF GENERAL PARTICIPATION

QUESTION

Are there juridical mechanisms in your country to stimulate participation of Civil Society

and Non Governmental Organizations in the efforts destined to prevent corruption? In

case of an affirmative answer, describe it briefly, narrate and enclose a copy of the

dispositions and documents in which they are contemplated.

ANSWER

Dominican Civil Society has positioned itself as an important actor in the processes of

strengthening democracy. At the present time, there are about 15,000 organizations

extended in the different provinces and social spaces4. This growth implies the

assumption of a more compromising role and relationship with the State, making it

essential to ponder the different mechanisms that sustain this relationship.

The proliferation of Civil Society Organizations is precise with the acceptance of the

citizenship and the importance attributed to the need of creating different ways of civil

participation, as indicated in the Democracy, Cultural and Political Study made in the

country.5 Said study revealed that 95% of Dominicans agree that the most important

mechanism towards democracy is the creation of new mechanisms of civil participation.

The existence of mechanisms of regarding the relationship between the State and Civil

Society is relatively new in Dominican society. “It’s in the 90’s when there’s a twist in 4 Quezada, Tirsis: Participación de la Sociedad Civil en la Cumbre de las Américas: La Experiencia Dominicana. Centro de Estudios Sociales Padre Juan Montalvo, Participación Ciudadana, Alianza Ongs. 2001. 5 Duarte, Isis, Brea, Ramonina: ¿Hacia dónde va la democracia dominicana? PUCMM-PROFAMILIA 2001.

23

Dominican rules to incorporate an organized Civil Society in deliberative spaces

(councils, consulting organisms) as mechanisms of representation and participation”.6

The Dominican Government pointed out in its brief, seven mechanisms to stimulate the

participation of Civil Society and Non Governmental Organizations in the efforts

destined to prevent corruption, 4 Presidential Decrees (Nos. 322-97, 407-01, 783-01, and

39-03), Law No. 124-01, as well as a bill on Social Participation. It’s important to

indicate that only two of the four decrees establish the participation of Civil Society: Nos.

783-01 and 39-03.

Another one of the mechanisms established by the Dominican Government to guarantee

the participation of Civil Society in the fight against corruption is the Advising Council in

Matters of Struggle Against Corruption (Decree 783-01 of July 2001), who is empowered

to gather information regarding the different ways that corruption presents itself in the

public administration and to present proposals and recommendations to the President to

fight corruption, including legislative initiatives.

Of the 12 members of the Advising Council, 5 are Civil Society Organizations, 1 is a

representative of the Catholic Church, 1 of the Evangelist Church, Participación

Ciudadana, the NGO Alliance and the Association of Peace Loving Youth. The other 7

are high range government officials.

It has been three years since the Council was created and it hasn’t fulfilled its mission, in

fact, its lack of operation induced Participación Ciudadana’s decision to quit7, after

realizing several efforts to make it fulfill the obligations established such as gathering

information regarding the different ways that corruption presents itself in the public

administration and to present proposals and recommendations to the President to fight

corruption, including legislative initiatives.

6 Quezada, Tirsy: Relaciones Estado- Sociedad Civil en la República Dominicana ,2002; cit. Pag12. 7 Movimiento Cívico no Partidista, institución coordinadora de esta comisión de seguimiento.

24

This problem is related to the following weaknesses:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Absence of a strategic plan with short and long term objectives

Lack of a functional system

Lack of key government officials in the meetings

Little understanding of the functions of each member

Integration of Civil Society Organizations that do not have this among their

priorities

And a limited proposal and operational capacity

The only initiatives that the Council exhibits are the promulgation of Decree 39-03 and

the celebration of the International Seminar for the Application of the CICC; however,

the same have been worked accordingly to this mechanism, by the Department for the

Prevention of Administrative Corruption. The promulgation of Decree 39-03 that creates

Social Audit Commissions and its application instructional issued by Resolution 01-03 of

April 2003 is, without a doubt, one of the most tangible mechanisms designed to grant

citizen participation in State actions in matters regarding public buildings. This Decree is

important for the following reasons:

1. It creates social control mechanisms that tend towards strengthening democracy.

2. It contributes to make the use of public funds more clear

3. Makes public management more democratic and efficient

4. It betters the quality of life of the communities and guarantees the safety of public

buildings, as stated in the objectives of said Decree.

In the official organism, the Department for the Prevention of Corruption, there is a lack

of corrective capacity to generate proposals and to solve problems. Of the three

constituted Social Audit Commissions, two have been working hand in hand with the

Department for the Prevention of Corruption and Civil Society Organizations that

participate in the application of decree 39-03, and the third one has been constituted with

the efforts of individuals of one of its Organizations.

25

Another important measure was the promulgation of Decree 407-01 that creates the

National Council for the Follow Up of Non Profit Associations, but this has been

obstructed by government officials that represent the private sector. This Council has not

been summoned since March of 2003. Nevertheless, the budget approved by Congress

for the year 2004 has assigned the biggest part of resources to Non Governmental

Organizations (3,236 institutions) for a total of RD$1,021,582,272.00. it is known that

this subject was object of negotiation between the Executive Power and Congress to

approve the bill of budget, in matters regarding government organizations without the

participation of the National Council for the Follow Up of Non Profit Associations. The

existence of a bill that modifies Law 520 plays an important role towards solving the

problem. The approval of a new Law for Non Profit Organizations would solve, among

other things, the classification of said Organizations and would facilitate the access to

public funds and the monitoring of it.

The existence of a bill for a Social Participation Law is also important. This bill would

regulate citizen participation in matters of public interest. However it has not yet been

turned into a law, despite the fact that it was presented by the executive power and it’s

pending for study in a commission.

The elements described before indicate the lack of effective and efficient mechanisms

that guarantee the participation of the Civil Society in the process of preventing

administrative corruption; even more the instances created for those means reproduce the

culture of centralization of the decisions in the governmental scope.

For this reason, said mechanisms do not constitute spaces for growth or strengthening of

democracy, being the government itself its number one enemy. Taking those aspects into

consideration, we suggest:

1. The adoption of a policy that guarantees the implementation of effective

mechanisms for the participation of the State’s instances trough social audit as

a monitoring application of budgetary executions by the State.

26

2. The creation of a special fund destined to define and implement a

dissemination strategy of decree 39-03 that creates Social Audit Commissions

with the purpose of guaranteeing its implementation.

3. Re-launch the Advising Council in Anticorruption Matters, establishing its

priorities trough the formulation of a work plan with clear short and long term

goals and the adaptation of an operational regulation.

4. Adoption of a legislation that rules Civil Society Organizations taking into

consideration the incorporation of a policy that promotes the right of these

Organizations.

5. Promotion and support of a law of Civil Participation that guarantees it in

matters of citizen responsibility.

OF THE MECHANISMS FOR THE ACCESS OF INFORMATION

QUESTION

Do mechanisms that regulate and facilitate Civil Society and Non Governmental

Organizations’ access to the information Under the control of public institutions?

ANSWER

On July of this year, General Law for Free Access to Information was promulgated, and

the Constitution states in its Article 108, for mass media, the access to news sources

about individual and social rights.

General Law for Free Access to Information No. 200-04 should be in force 90 days after

its promulgation, and after the operational regulations have been emitted. Said law will

guarantee the right of every citizen to receive information of any State Organism in

matters regarding acts of public administration. It constitutes an important tool for

citizens to motivate account rendering and guarantees them access to information.

Although in its answer to the questionnaire, the Dominican Government cites initiatives

that guarantee free access to public information, a well thought analysis of each initiative

27

allows us to evaluate its results; some of them were regrouped to make the following

analysis.

A. WEB PAGES

The most important source of information that citizens have on government actions is

trough Web Pages of State Organisms. However, these only offer basic orientations

about their structure and functioning and lack useful information or facts that contribute

to the transparency of public management, such as planning, budget, budgetary

executions, among others, with the exception of very few Ministries such as the Ministry

of Education. This one is equipped with an informational portal where aspects regarding

the institution’s finances are detailed, including purchases and contracts.

A relevant fact is that at the moment that this brief was drafted, out of 15 different

Ministries, 4 did not even have a Web Page. On another 4 was impossible to access them

and in the rest the information supplied was very limited or not updated.

B. MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE BUDGETARY EXECUTION

Among the existing laws, No. 101 compels the National Budgetary Office to monthly

publish a detailed amount of public incomes and expenses. This law’s objective is to

provide information regarding the execution of public funds and allow a follow up to

compare what was planned with was is actually done.

Te main difficulty of the mechanism is the lack of information regarding this publication.

It limits itself to the name, the State’s and the assigned amount. Law 384 establishes that

autonomous State institutions should publish a monthly status of their economical

condition. This is not fulfilled.

C. PUBLICATION OF MEMOIRS AND BRIEFS OF STATE DEPENDENCIES

The dissemination of memoirs and briefs is pretty limited and its contents are, in the

general sense, of promotion more than of information.

28

D. MECHANISMS OF THE DPCA, SUCH AS A BULLETIN, HOTLINES,

MEETING WITH THE CIVIL SOCIETY AND AN EVALUATION OF THE

NATIONAL PLAN

Although the Department for the Prevention of Administrative Corruption has made

some efforts to offer information, in the majority of the bulletins information is published

about activities realized in coordination with Civil Society Organizations.

E. LAW 82-79

The Sworn Declaration of Assets Law exists for government officials. Trough this,

citizens have access to the patrimony of high government officials at the time they

assume their functions and at the time they leave office. However, it has been approved

by the Chamber of Delegates, a proposal to modify it, which will exclude the access to

this information, claiming that it would put the official in a vulnerable position.

One of the problems with this law has been the lack of knowledge on the part of the

citizens of its existence and the absence of sanctioning mechanisms for those government

officials that do not obey it.

On another hand, information regarding the development of indicators in the institutions

inside the Social Security System, were not available, and the little information provided

in insufficient. A lot of the facts disseminated about these companies are oriented to

advertise instead of actually discosing the amounts.

Since the law has not yet been approved, Civil Society does not count with the

mechanisms to effectively access public information. The obtainment of said information

is a slow, burocratic and discriminatory process. The promulgation of Law 200-04 of

Free Access to Public Information should solve this problem, but a strong sense of

political will power will and the creation of adequate means that can make it possible for

the Government to fulfill this obligation will be necesary.

MAIN RECOMENDATIONS

29

1. Guarantee the implementation of the Law for Free Access to Information,

creating the conditions that put government entities in the capacity to obey

the law, this include campaigns of information to the different powers of

the State.

2. Produce campaigns of disclosure of the few existing mechanisms and the

right that citizens have to access them trough strategic alliances with Civil

Society Organizations.

3. Strengthening and creating instances that connect citizenship with the

active demand of information areas.

4. Establish by decree a time limit for the establishment of Web Pages of

every public institution.

5. Promote the creation of information systems regarding public management

and financial states.

6. Creation of a program of transparency to inform the State’s assets and who

has them.

OF THE MECHANISMS FOR CONSULTATION

QUESTION

Do mechanisms for government officials to carry out consultations to the Civil Society

and Non Governmental Organizations in matters regarding their functions and that can be

used for the purposes of preventing, detecting, sanction and eradicate corruption exist in

your country?

ANSWER

Without a doubt, Civil Society’s participation sets out to achieve transparency in State

institutions is growing, generating a larger compromise on the part of all the different

sectors and the acknowledgement of the existence of a Civil Society as an important actor

in the search of solutions to the problems affecting the Dominican Republic.

30

In a study of the Strengthening of Non Governmental Organizations Program,

implemented by INTEC and financed by the BID (2002), indicates that “permanent

cooperation and exchange as mechanisms of consensus and the decision to search for a

shared management and to build a democratic government, require 2 fundamental

conditions: will power and trust between the actors”8

In the case of the Dominican Government, achieving both objectives has been hard. The

study about “Cultural Politics and Democracy in the Dominican Republic, 1977”, made

by Isis Duarte and Ramón Tejeda Holguín, established that Dominicans have the

understanding that democracy is an enjoyment individual freedom, order and authority.

In this sense, the non existence of consulting mechanisms is not casual.

In its answer to the questionnaire, the Dominican Government emphasized within the

existing mechanisms:

1. The Development Councils

2. The Decree No. 783-01 that creates the Advising Council in Matters of

Struggle Against Corruption

3. Public Views made by the Congress

4. National Plan for the Prevention and Struggle Against Corruption

The existence of these mechanisms has not allowed an optimal integration and

participation by Civil Society Organizations, preoccupied with solving problems of

corruption in the public administration. Regarding the Development Councils that are

called by the President, to listen to the communities’ demands they are realized without

logistic organization or planning and the promises are often not fulfilled.

The public views are spaces where Civil Society fixates its position regarding consulted

bills. They are instituted in the Regulations for the Chamber of Delegates, Chapter III.

In its article 3 it establishes that public views are events summoned by the members of a

commission to listen to every person’s opinion interested in participating on the

8 Programa de fortalecimiento de la Sociedad Civil. Las relaciones Estado – Sociedad Civil.

31

announced subject. They will be written and handed in. Although said views should be

previously notified in the newspapers or the Internet 3 working days before, this

disposition is not carried out.

Usually, participation in these instances is given by governmental designation and the

criterions of participation are given according to public popularity of the institution or the

person designed, without offering space for Organizations in the sector where its election

is made. Since this is one of the most important subjects, we would like to present a

comparative chart with the results suggested by the Dominican Government in its answer

to the questionnaire and our observations.

Comments on the results presented by the Dominican Government, regarding the

mechanisms for the stimulation of Civil Society’s participation and the Non

Governmental Organizations in efforts to prevent corruption

SUBJECT RESULTS PRESENTED BY THE

DOMINICAN GOVERNMENT

COMMENTS FROM THE CIVIL

SOCIETY FOLLOW UP

COMMITEE

Mechanisms to stimulate

the participation of Civil

Society and Non

Governmental

Organizations in the efforts

to prevent corruption.

Sprouting of social organizations

destined to prevent corruption

(Action Against Corruption,

Volunteers for the Prevention of

Corruption)

The sprouting of these organizations

was the result of initiative from

sectors linked to churches, Non

Governmental Organizations among

others.

The first of these organizations

existed for a short time and its field

of action was very limited and has

not yet found the support of

Governmental Organizations.

That some important organizations

agree on terms with the Attorney

General’s Office and the Department

Although these cases exist, the

impact has been limited.

32

for the Prevention of Corruption to

prevent corruption (Participación

Ciudadana, Federación Dominicana

de Municipios, Centro Nacional de

Educación a Distancia, Asociación

Dominicana de Radiodifusores,

among others)

In the case of Participación

Ciudadana it has only functioned for

the promotion of the Decree 39-03 in

a limited way because it doesn’t have

sufficient resources to impel the

Decree.

The making of a national diagnosis

about corruption.

The participation in said diagnosis

was consulting and with no visible

results.

Enrichment of the proposal of the

Department for the Prevention of

Corruption about the Social Audit

Commissions, as well as the

elaboration of the project of decree

which will instill them.

It can be considered as a result of the

enrichment of the proposal. However,

the decree proposal remained in the

Juridical Consultancy for over a year

without being promulgated.

Making the projects for laws of

Social Participation, Non Profit

organizations, the Penal Procedure

Code, Ombudsman, among others.

Of the cited examples, at least four

are initiated by Civil Society

organizations.

Of the 5 cited, at least three have

become laws. Civil Society

disagreed with the contents of the law

for Public Ministry and in the case of

the Ombudsman; although it’s been

promulgated for over two years it

hasn’t been made effective.

Taking these elements into consideration, the organizations that integrate the Follow up

Committee for the Implementation of the Interamerican Convention against Corruption

present the following recommendations:

33

1. The establishment of decisive channels in the decrees and laws that promote the

consultation.

2. The creation of follow up mechanisms to the proposals presented by the Civil

Society.

3. Higher levels of publication of the existing mechanisms and the formulation of

tangible and viable plans that allow its strengthening.

4. Definition of a general policy in the relation between the State and the Civil

Society that serves as a reference to the decrees, conventions and laws that

embody the organisms of the Civil Society.

5. The realization of account rendering briefs of the existing mechanisms and of the

Civil Society Organizations that integrate them.

6. The establishment of Civil Society Organization selection policies that

fundamentally judge the levels of tangible and strategic contributions in the

sectors where the mechanisms will be conformed.

OF THE MECHANISMS TO STIMULATE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN

PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

QUESTION

Do mechanisms that facilitate, promote and obtain an active participation of the Civil

Society and the governmental organizations exist in your country in the process of

adopting policies and decisions, with the purpose of preventing, detecting, sanctioning

and eradicating the acts of public corruption? In case of a positive answer, describe them

briefly, narrate and enclose a copy of the dispositions and documents in which they are

established.

ANSWER

The Dominican Civil Society has made noticeable efforts to actively participate in the

adoption of policies that prevent and sanction administrative corruption from the public

34

morality, movement issued in 1986 to fight corruption, to the most recent initiatives such

as the anti-corruption platform proposals presented by FINJUS, as well as the ten

postulates presented by Participación Ciudadana to fight corruption.

In answer to the questionnaire, the Dominican Government indicates 15 mechanisms that

contemplate the participation of the Civil Society in the adoption of policies destined to

prevent, detect, sanction and eradicate corruption. However, in a study made by Civil

Society’s Organization Strengthening Program it is emphasized that the majority of

existing mechanisms, including laws and decrees that include the participation of the

Civil Society, do it with a deliberative or conclusive nature and in doing so the spaces

where the Civil Society’s Organizations can participate are scarce.

It must be added to this that many of the mechanisms cited by the government give

participation to Civil Society Organizations in these instances without establishing

relative functions to the problem of corruption. The permanence of the same entities and

or people that are representing the sector in these mechanisms, generally provoke a

dependency towards governmental organisms and, in other cases of transaction for the

obtainment of institutional benefits, around their functions of representing the sector.

The Civil Society’s Organization Strengthening Program and the Civil Society Follow

Up Commission for the Application of the Interamerican Convention Against Corruption

in the Dominican Republic, propose the following recommendations:

1. The approval of the Social Participation Law and that this law states explicitly the

right that Civil Society Organizations have to participate in the public

management in order to prevent or sanction administrative corruption.

2. The creation of stable and permanent mechanisms that procure account rendering

from the governmental organisms.

3. The existing strengthening organisms should be declared, their composition and

the role played by the Non Governmental Organisms that integrate it should also

be revised, as well as their work plans and evaluation mechanisms. Said plan

should include a work chronogram that foresees products and termination dates,

35

as well as establishing responsibilities for which each member of the mechanisms

should account for.

4. Transfer process of technical and economic resources should de developed as to

allow the strengthening of the weaker Civil Society Organizations so they are

conditioned to be an active part of the created mechanisms.

OF THE MECHANISMS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE PUBLIC

MANAGEMENT FOLLOW UP

QUESTION

Do mechanisms that allow the participation of the Civil Society and of the Non

Governmental Organizations in the public management follow up? Do you have the

means to prevent, detect and sanction public corruption in your country? In case of an

affirmative answer, describe it briefly, narrate and enclose a copy of the dispositions and

documents in which they are contemplated.

ANSWER

The country does not have enough mechanisms that allow the participation of Civil

Society Organizations in the public management follow up in order to achieve the goals

established in the Interamerican Convention Against Corruption. In a study by Casal &

Associates the absence of mechanisms to monitor public functions is stated, as well as the

limitations that citizens and Civil Society Organizations have to face in order to fulfill

that role.

Aside from the fact that in your answer to the questionnaire, the Dominican Government

identifies the participation of the Collegiate Direction of public management instances as

a mechanism, the failure of this type of mechanism has been recurrent, due to the fact that

they are structured to guarantees the decision making from the governmental

representatives.

36

Although decree 685-00 creates the National Planning and Decentralization System

exists, one of the objectives of said decree is to reach a higher control of the public

sector and it establishes it’s first article the creation of institutional procedures and

mechanisms that bind and coordinate between public institutions, the Civil Society and

the private sector, the actions of the National Economic, Social and Administrative

Planning System, haven’t worked out and are now paralyzed and blocked from the

organism responsible for its implementation.

The weaknesses of the identified mechanisms are the same that were established in other

answers, their performance is going to depend on:

1. The political will of the public official that coordinates it.

2. A favorable junction that can be used by the government be it as an immediate

promotion or to obtain a purpose outside the agenda.

3. The need for a legitimate strategy or action from the governmental organism.

The consequence of this situation is a lack of adequate functioning of the existing

mechanisms, and above all, the non fulfillment of the functions assigned at the time of its

constitution. The Civil Society Follow Up Commission for the Application of the

Interamerican Convention Against Corruption in the Dominican Republic suggests:

1. That a follow up function to the public management of the organisms that are

believed to have the participation of the Civil Society.

2. That the Dominican government divulges the participation mechanisms and

instruments with which the Dominican State counts.

3. To make the existing mechanisms more efficient, giving them rules that allow

their well functioning with the participation of the interested sectors and those that

create then establish a sanction for those who interrupt their performance.

4. The public officials must be asked to create account rendering mechanisms in

which Civil Society representatives have participation.

37

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Montalvo, Participación Ciudadana, Alianza Ongs. 2001.

39

18. Departamento de Prevención de la CORRUPCIÓN administrativa “Diagnostico

de la Corrupción en la República Dominicana: Recomendaciones para su

Reducción Progresiva”, Santo Domingo 2003.

19. OEA “Convención Interamericana Contra la Corrupción”, 1996.

20. Participación Ciudadana “Informe de Seguimiento al plan de acción de Québec”

Santo Domingo, 2004.

21. Participación Ciudadana “Veinte Años de Impunidad: Investigación de Casos de

Corrupción en la Justicia Dominicana 1993-2003”, Santo Domingo, 2004.

22. Congreso Nacional “Ley General de Libre Acceso a la Información Pública”,

Santo Domingo, 2004.

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