In a new report the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has called for determined measures to prevent corruption in Georgia in respect of persons with top executive functions and law enforcement officials. (see French and Georgian version of the report).
GRECO recognises that a few positive steps were taken in recent years, including the adoption of the Law on Combatting Corruption, which contains a number of integrity-related rules. Georgia has a fairly comprehensive system for the declaration of assets and financial interests and these declarations are made public online. At the time of the evaluation visit in 2023, Georgia was in the process of establishing new corruption risk management mechanisms and efforts were being made to reinforce internal monitoring mechanisms for law enforcement to notably address the major problem of police ill-treatment.
In its report, GRECO calls for the adoption of a specific strategy to prevent corruption within the executive, as no new national Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan have been developed since 2020. There is no code of conduct that applies specifically to persons with top executive functions and clear guidance on conflicts of interest and other integrity related matters should be developed for them.
Regarding law enforcement (the Patrol Police, the Central Criminal Police and the Border Police), GRECO recommends that an operational anti-corruption strategy be established, coupled with action plans for the law enforcement agencies. Georgia should also ensure that background checks/vetting are carried out at regular intervals for all levels and more frequently depending on police officers’ exposure to corruption risks and the required security levels.
The implementation of the recommendations addressed to Georgia will be assessed by GRECO in 2025 through its compliance procedure.
