International events

This year, various aspects of combating corruption were discussed in several international formats.

For example, the eighth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption addressed topics such as the activities of anti-corruption and audit bodies, strengthening measures to combat bribery, including the bribery of foreign officials, the return of criminally obtained assets, and others. A number of anti-corruption resolutions were also adopted, including, on the initiative of the Russian Federation, a resolution on combating corruption in sport.

At the regular summit of the Group of Twenty (G20), special attention was paid to the effective protection of whistleblowers: relevant guidelines were adopted, based on existing best practices for the creation and functioning of such mechanisms in EU countries and some other regions. At the same time, the European Union took another important step this year towards the formation of a unified system of legal norms aimed at ensuring comprehensive protection for such persons: in December, the Directive on the protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law came into force. The document obliges EU member states to adopt the necessary regulations establishing uniform requirements for companies to set up a system of whistleblowing and protection for whistleblowers.

Another international organization, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), released another report this year on the progress made by member states in adopting measures to combat corruption. Overall, as noted by GRECO experts, countries have shown little progress: according to the results of the fourth round of evaluations, which examined the adoption of anti-corruption measures in relation to deputies, judges, and prosecutors, only 34% of recommendations had been fully implemented by the end of the year.

Foreign countries

Despite the slow pace of implementation of anti-corruption measures by states noted by GRECO, there were still some notable developments in anti-corruption legislation in the past year.

For example, Italy passed a law on the removal of corrupt officials, which introduced a number of innovations into the country's anti-corruption legislation. Among other things, the law toughened penalties for corruption offences, including for legal entities, introduced a measure of liability such as a ban on holding office in the state administration, and legalised the possibility of conducting such operational measures as bribery provocation.

In Vietnam, the updated Anti-Corruption Law introduced the definition of "conflict of interest" at the legislative level for the first time and extended the requirements applicable to state-owned companies to certain categories of non-state organizations. Simultaneously with the law, a decree was adopted clarifying the practical implementation of the restrictions it establishes for former civil servants applying for positions in certain non-governmental organizations, as well as introducing updated rules for the giving and receiving of gifts by civil servants.

Costa Rica passed a law establishing criminal liability for legal entities for corruption, as well as providing for the possibility of mitigating punishment if the organization implements appropriate measures to prevent corruption violations. Among such measures, the law highlights the conduct of corruption risk assessments, the adoption of internal documents aimed at fostering a culture of zero tolerance for corruption and preventing corruption offences, the provision of anti-corruption training, and others.

The amendments to Chile's criminal law established bribery of foreign officials as a separate criminal offense for the first time, with the relevant provisions applicable to residents of the country even if the unlawful acts were committed outside its borders. The amendments to Chilean legislation also tightened penalties for certain types of corruption offences, criminalised bribery in the private sector and broadened the concept of bribery and the subject of bribes.

In Ukraine, a law was passed this year criminalizing the illegal enrichment of officials, which, among other things, reinstated the relevant article in the country's criminal code, introduced the possibility of civil forfeiture of illicit gains, and established a new mechanism for identifying and registering such gains: these functions will now be assigned to special anti-corruption bodies in conjunction with the prosecution authorities.

Portugal adopted an updated Code of Conduct for senior officials, which, however, almost completely repeated the previous 2016 version. The Code sets out the main prohibitions and restrictions related to conflicts of interest for these individuals, including receiving gifts and accepting invitations to various events.

In the US, a proposal was made to criminalize the solicitation of bribes by foreign officials. This measure is aimed at addressing the existing imbalance in legislation: liability is only provided for persons who bribe foreign officials – the relevant provisions are contained in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). However, the proposed initiative raises a number of questions: in particular, it is unclear how the inevitable jurisdictional conflicts will be resolved and how the provisions of such a law will relate to the FCPA rules on facilitation payments and "reasonable and customary" expenses. In addition, a bill to reform the anti-money laundering system was introduced in the US this year, requiring comprehensive data sharing between law enforcement agencies and financial institutions and requiring foreign banks to provide information upon request for use as evidence in court.

Russian Federation

For our country, this year has been marked by progress on the international stage. For example, the OECD Working Group has expressed its readiness to move Russia to Phase 3 of the Monitoring of the Implementation of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. To this end, the country must implement the Working Group's priority recommendations by October 2020: to enshrine in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation the promise and offering of a bribe as separate criminal offences and to exclude from the legislation provisions providing for the possibility of exemption from criminal liability in connection with active repentance in the case of bribery of a foreign official.

During the eighth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption, Russia organized a special event dedicated to the development of international cooperation in bringing to justice those guilty of corruption offences. Currently, international cooperation in this area is limited mainly to criminal proceedings, while countries are increasingly and diversely using administrative and civil mechanisms to combat corruption. This issue is particularly relevant for Russia, as a number of anti-corruption measures in our country are implemented within the framework of civil and administrative legislation.

Some changes to anti-corruption legislation that took place in our country this year concerned:

• the exclusion of periods of temporary incapacity for work, leave, and other cases of absence for valid reasons, as well as the period of criminal proceedings, from the time limit set for bringing disciplinary proceedings for corruption offences;
• permission for employees to be members of collegial management bodies of funds, state or municipal and private institutions, and autonomous non-profit organizations on a pro bono basis, subject to agreement with their supervisor;
• determining disciplinary measures for corruption violations for deputies of local self-government bodies and simplifying the procedure for declaring income by deputies of representative bodies of rural settlements who exercise their powers on a non-permanent basis.

In addition, at the end of the year, the Plenum of the Supreme Court adopted a resolution amending the resolution on bribery cases. This resolution expanded the list of instruments for accumulating funds and carrying out payment transactions that can be used to settle accounts with corrupt officials – it introduced the concept of an "electronic wallet," clarified the concept of "mediation in bribery and commercial bribery," and tightened the requirements for the legality of any operational-search measures: thus, in order to assess evidence obtained in the course of operational-search activities, the court must now verify the legality and validity of each such operational-search measure, regardless of whether the defendant admits guilt.

However, a number of important bills are still under consideration by the State Duma. For example, this summer, two bills were submitted to the lower house of parliament that would enshrine provisions on the criminalization of illegal enrichment by officials in the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and make the necessary amendments to other regulations. A bill introduced last year aimed at improving anti-corruption standards for employees of state-owned corporations is still under consideration. This bill provides, among other things, for:

• the extension of anti-corruption restrictions, prohibitions, and obligations to employees of organizations controlled by state corporations, as well as organizations created to perform tasks assigned to federal state bodies, state bodies of the Russian Federation, and local government bodies;
• the establishment of criteria for classifying legal entities as having been created to perform tasks assigned to state bodies and local government bodies;
• unifying the provisions of laws related to the receipt of gifts and rewards by various categories of officials, in particular, establishing a list of permitted gifts received in connection with the performance of official duties;
• expansion of the list of disciplinary measures for persons holding state and municipal positions, and establishment of mechanisms for applying such measures.

In terms of methodological support for combating corruption in the Russian Federation, this year finally saw the update of the Russian Ministry of Labor's recommendations on the implementation of anti-corruption measures by private sector organizations. The documents adopted by the ministry explain the specifics of developing and implementing the main elements of anti-corruption policy:

• identifying persons responsible for combating corruption,
• conducting corruption risk assessments,
• regulating conflicts of interest,
• implementation of standards and codes of conduct,
• assessment of counterparties,
• anti-corruption training, and
• conducting periodic monitoring of the effectiveness of the implementation of these measures.