Register of Gifts for Public Servants (AM0052)

Brief Description of the Commitment
In order to regulate the institution of gifts, which is a component of the welfare system, the definition of the body responsible for maintaining the ban on accepting gifts by public servants, as well as the provision of the necessary regulations regarding the order of accounting and delivery of gifts, in particular, the creation of a digital register of gift declaration, which will ensure the declaration of gifts, their evaluation, as well as automated information publishing solutions.

Problem definition
1. What problem does the commitment aim to address? Article 29 of the RA Law "On Public Service" defines the prohibition of accepting gifts by public servants, Article 30 of the same law defines that accounting and delivery of gifts are carried out in accordance with the procedure established by the Government, which does not work, as a result of which the public service sector almost no accounting and handing over of gifts received by public servants during the performance of their official powers is carried out, in other words, no control function is performed in relation to this institution. Taking into account the reforms carried out in the public service sector, it is necessary to improve the institution of the prohibition of accepting gifts, establish a body that maintains the prohibition of accepting gifts, as well as establish the necessary regulations regarding the order of accounting and delivery of gifts, which will make the sector more controllable and transparent.

2. What are the causes of the problem? The processes of receiving and handing over gifts received by public servants during the performance of their official powers were generally not properly implemented due to legislative gaps, the lack of implementation of a unified policy in the field of public service and the supervisory body. The terms "Gift", "Hospitality", "Permissible gift" were not properly formulated, the procedure established by the Government, which is the basis for accounting and handing over gifts, established by Article 30 of the RA Law "On Public Service", did not work. At the same time, the control regulations regarding the fulfillment of the request for the prohibition of accepting gifts, the acceptance of permissible gifts and the fulfillment of their accounting requirements and the authorized body performing this function are not defined. Under such conditions, a differentiated approach was implemented for different types of public service, as a result of which the implementation of the unified policy was disrupted. In addition, there is no gift registry.

Commitment Description
1. What has been done so far to solve the problem? In 2018, the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On public service" was adopted, Chapter 7 of which is fully devoted to the integrity system. The prohibition on acceptance of gifts by public servants was included in the integrity system and, as a component of the integrity system, was one of the tools for ensuring the transparency and managing corruption risks in public service. Nevertheless, the existing legislative gaps did not provide the opportunity to prescribe procedures for registration and transfer of gifts that are applicable in practice and effective. That is why in 2021 the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption conducted a comprehensive study and analysis of legislation with the support of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, identifying all the gaps existing in the regulations. Within the scope of the mentioned, the draft laws on making amendments and supplements to the Law "On public service" and related laws (hereinafter referred to as "drafts") were elaborated by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. The drafts were put to public discussion in May 2022 (as it was in OGP new draft) and submitted to interested bodies for opinion. The Government gave approval to the drafts on August 18, 2022, and they were submitted to the National Assembly.

2. What solution are you proposing? The Corruption Prevention Commission has developed a concept and action plan for the improvement of the framework for the prohibition of accepting gifts by persons holding public positions and public servants, which is reflected in the action plan of the RA government. Within the framework of the mentioned, as already mentioned, a package of relevant projects was developed, with which it is proposed to implement the following main changes: 1) consolidate the regulations providing for restrictions on receiving gifts by persons holding public office and public servants into one legal act, the Law "On Public Service", implementing relevant amendments to "On Public Service", "On Corruption Prevention Commission", "On Civil Service", " On Prosecution" and a number of other related laws. In this way, uniformity of regulations on restrictions on accepting gifts by persons holding public office and public servants will be ensured and the presence of different regulations in different laws will be excluded. At the same time, it is proposed to establish administrative responsibility for persons holding public positions and public servants instead of disciplinary responsibility in case of violation of limits on accepting gifts. 2) establish the obligation to record gifts in the gift register for public office holders and public servants. It has been established that the procedure for accounting, delivery and evaluation of gifts, maintaining the Registry, the list of data to be filled in and published in the Registry, the procedures for making changes in the submitted data, providing an advisory opinion, and providing information on cases of violation of gift acceptance restrictions shall be established by the Corruption Prevention Commission. It is planned that the register of gifts will be managed by the Corruption Prevention Commission. 3) drafts propose to clarify the range of permissible gifts, to set a minimum monetary threshold for the accounting of gifts (that is, AMD 20 thousand), to revise the concept of gifts based on the conclusions and recommendations issued within the framework of international obligations; 4) the drafts also propose to establish clear regulations regarding restrictions on accepting gifts by family members and related persons of public office holders and public servants; 5) drafts propose to establish clear structures regarding the activities carried out by persons holding public positions and public servants and authorized state bodies within the framework of the received gift, etc.

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment? With the adoption by the National Assembly of the draft law "On Amendments and Additions to the RA Law "On Public Service" and Related Laws", it will be possible to control the gifts received by public servants and persons holding public office during the performance of their official powers, as well as the definition of a central body that will implement proper and unified policy in the field of application of the legal norms of the prohibition of accepting gifts, to ensure the unity of legal regulations providing for restrictions on the prohibition of accepting gifts by persons holding public positions and public servants, including them only in the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On Public Service" and extending them to all areas and types of public service, establish more clear and targeted legal regulations that will allow for proper containment of corruption risks, the creation of a digital register of gifts, which will provide automated solutions for declaring gifts, evaluating them, publishing information, as well as ensuring the interoperability of the system with the digital system of declarations. A person holding a public office and a public servant will be required to record the permissible gifts received by them in the gift accounting register. According to the Project, the procedures for accounting, delivery and evaluation of gifts, maintaining the Registry, the list of data to be filled and published in the Registry, the procedures for making changes to the submitted data, providing an advisory opinion, and providing information on cases of violations of gift acceptance restrictions are defined by the Corruption Prevention Commission. In accordance with the procedure established by the draft law, the Commission will maintain the registers of accounting of gifts of persons holding public office and public servants, in addition, it will examine and resolve cases regarding violations related to restrictions on accepting gifts. According to the draft, the procedures for making changes in data, providing an advisory opinion, and providing information on cases of violation of gift acceptance restrictions are defined by the Corruption Prevention Commission. At the same time, in case of non-compliance with the requirements of the legislative acts related to gifts, the Corruption Prevention Commission will apply measures of responsibility.

Commitment Analysis
1. How will the commitment promote transparency? Upon the implementation of the obligation, it is expected to define more comprehensibly the prohibition on acceptance of gifts, by precluding possible misconceptions and opportunities to bypass them, ensure the publicity of declared gifts, introduce a system for publication of reports, as well as create an opportunity for downloading open data.

2. How will the commitment help foster accountability? An important condition is the creation of a digital register of gifts, which will provide automated solutions for mandatory declaration of gifts, their evaluation, and information publication. The gift registry will be publicly accessible, both for use and for information retrieval, such as the property, income declaration system. The introduction of a control mechanism by the public is key: any person will have the opportunity to submit a report to the Corruption Prevention Commission on apparent violations of gift declaration and accounting.

3. How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? Inclusiveness is one of the most important components of the commitment. Increasing the possessiveness of the public over the processes being implemented. Proper public supervision and exigence over persons responsible for the implementation of the action and the resources allocated.

Commitment Planning (Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date)

Action 1. Drafting of legislative regulations. To establish regulations regarding the management of gifts that become the property of the state in the cases specified by law, providing the methods of management of gifts, regulations on presenting a conclusion on the method of management. | 1. Development of a draft concept of the prohibition of accepting gifts by public servants, based on international best practices. 2. Drafting of legislative amendments. As a result of the legislative changes, the scope of gifts subject to accounting will be specified, the functions of the Commission as a responsible body, and clear and predictable regulations for the management of gifts that become the property of the state will be defined. | September 2022-April 2024

Action 2. Creation of an electronic registry. Ensuring interoperability, and implementation. | 1. Development of technical specifications of the electronic registry of gifts and holding of a tender for the electronic platform. Drafting of the register based on the Commission's electronic system. Ensuring interoperability not only with all platforms of the electronic system of the Commission, but also with the electronic information sources of relevant state administration bodies in order to obtain the required information. 2. Implementation and operation of the electronic registry (information for the state administration system). Conducting preliminary awareness by the commission for the organizers of state administration and local self-governing bodies' benevolence issues, including the elements of benevolence, including restrictions on accepting gifts, legislative changes, existing regulations, powers of the Commission in relation to maintaining the ban on accepting gifts, general information on the introduction of the registry of gifts presentation: The Commission will carry out large -scale trainings on accounting, delivery and evaluation of gifts, procedures for maintaining the Register, other by -laws defined by the Law, as well as after the Register is launched, in order to raise awareness about the mentioned processes. | September 2024

Relation of the Commitment to strategic documents and other international processes Decision of the Government No 1902-L of 18 November, 2021 "On approving the 2021-2026 Action Plan of the Government of the Republic of Armenia" Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and the 2019-2022 Action Plan for implementation thereof Fourth Evaluation Round Second Interim Compliance Report adopted by the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) Pilot 5th round of monitoring of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan of the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Commitments undertaken by the Republic of Armenia within the scope of the Summit for Democracy Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions: Promote building fair, peaceful and inclusive societies.

Action Plan Review

Commitment 7. Registry of gifts for public officials

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Modest

Lead agencies: Commission for the Prevention of Corruption; Ministry of Justice

For a complete description of the commitment, see Commitment 7 in Armenia’s 2022–2024 action plan here.

Context and objectives:

The 2018 Law on Public Service prohibits public officials from accepting gifts in relation to their official service, with some exemptions (e.g., gifts granted during official visits or public events). The law requires officials to transfer gifts to the government if their value exceeds AMD 60,000 (about USD 150). [44] However, there are no regulations around the procedure of transfers and declarations. This commitment, proposed by the Ministry of Justice, aims to adopt regulations on registering and transferring gifts, define a body responsible for oversight, and establish a publicly accessible online register of gift declarations and transfers. Armenia’s previous action plans included commitments to set up a registry of asset and income declarations in open data format. Stakeholders believe the current commitment is needed to enforce legal regulations related to the gifts and comply with international anti-corruption recommendations. [45] The Anti-Corruption Strategy 2019–2022 envisaged the creation of a gift register, but it was not completed. [46]

The registry will allow the public to monitor and report when gifts are not registered or contradict legal regulations, thus contributing to transparency. In addition, the law on the whistleblowing system [47] provides a number of channels for the public to report corruption and integrity-related violations, including posting anonymous reports on the special electronic platform for whistleblowing. [48] The Corruption Prevention Commission (CPC) will monitor the registry and initiate proceedings on the reports it receives. This includes disciplinary and administrative sanctions as provided by the law and/or sending proceedings to law enforcement in case of criminal offense. [49] Thus, the commitment could contribute to public accountability by stimulating use of existing public oversight mechanisms. As a rule, the CPC publishes information on its website regarding proceedings in cases of misconduct of public officials.

Potential for results:Modest

Although the law generally prohibits officials from receiving gifts linked with official duties, prior to this commitment, there was a gap in the legal regulations on what was considered a gift. Moreover, there were no procedures of gift transfer to the government. The act of receiving gifts by any official contains corruption risks, as gifts might be provided in exchange (or expectation) for a benefit or decision in the scope of an officials’ responsibilities in favor of the gift giver. This commitment will clarify the policy related to receiving, registering, and transferring gifts; assign a responsible body for oversight; and set up the registry. The public, media, and civil society will be able to use the registry for analyzing gifts received by officials and reporting to the government if potential violations are observed.

The IRM assesses the potential for results as modest because, according to stakeholders, officials can still hide gifts they receive if they are impermissible, or not register the gifts at all. Declaring gifts is among the ethical responsibilities of officials and might be followed up or monitored by their superiors, their colleagues, and integrity officers in government agencies. However, the CPC, integrity officers, and ethics commissions cannot fully control compliance and must rely on the integrity of officials and reports of violations from the public. [50] Nonetheless, the registry could have a preventive impact on gift giving and receiving in relation to anti-corruption. There is a widespread practice in Armenia of public officials receiving gifts for performing services, and the public and officials often see gifts as signs of gratitude, not as bribes. A procedure of gift declaration might change the mentality of officials who accept gifts as an ordinary practice and improve public perception of gifts in terms of corruption risks. [51]

CSOs are concerned that the information included in the register will be limited to ceremonial gifts (e.g., souvenirs). Even though conflict-of-interest cases and gifts for high-level officials have received attention in the media, no effective investigations were carried out. Interviewed CSOs are skeptical that the register will have significant impact on addressing corruption, considering that many gifts might be counted as “personal” (i.e., not linked to official duties) and thus not subject to declaration. [52] Even though the Law on Public Service requires public officials to declare property and financial assets received as gifts in their asset declarations, declaration of immovable property, transportation, and securities is mandatory. For other types of property, its estimated value must exceed four million AMD to make its declaration mandatory. Further, the property and monetary funds received as a gift or aid (if exceeding 200,000 AMD) shall be declared in the income section of the declaration. However, there is no requirement to mention the person or organization who donated the gift. In any case, the income and property declaration system covers a narrower circle of officials as compared to the number of public servants to be covered by the gift register, thus the latter would provide accountability (in terms of gifts linked with official duties) for a larger scope of officials.

Another issue is that “hospitality” is included in the list of permissible gifts, though in specific cases it can contain corruption risks. [53] The improvements to accountability also depend on the extent of public oversight. Recent amendments to the law on the whistleblowing system allow whistleblowing through public channels. This means that media publications can now serve as an additional basis for starting proceedings, including in cases related to gifts. [54]

Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations during implementation

The main challenge for this commitment is the possibility that few public officials will declare and register their gifts in practice. The register will only be useful if the government enforces the implementation and oversight of adopted regulations.

To address these challenges during implementation, the IRM recommends the following:

• Expand the scope of gifts requiring declaration in the legislation. Stakeholders consider the differentiation of “personal” gifts from those received “in relation to official service” as problematic. CSOs suggest defining a requirement to declare all gifts beyond a certain threshold or cover such gifts in declarations of assets and income, including the information of the estimated price of the gift and the person/organization who presented the gift. This will allow tracking the source of expensive gifts and checking for conflicts of interest.
• Link the pages on the gift register to the register of asset declarations. The government plans to have separate registers for gifts and asset declarations, as the data included in these registers are formatted differently (e.g., the gift register will include photos of the gifts) and have different timelines for updates (declarations are published once a year; the gift register will be updated regularly). However, the government also plans to make these systems interoperable with each other to allow cross-checking once the gift register is created. To make cross-checking easier, the IRM recommends including hyperlinks to the gift registry page in the asset declarations for each official, filtered by the name of the same official.
• Train civil servants on the procedures for declaring and registering gifts, raise public awareness on the risks associated with gifts, and promote the use of the register. Apart from administrative and criminal sanctions for violating the legal provisions, extensive awareness raising will be necessary among officials and the public to change attitudes and customs. The CPC and the Ministry of Justice could develop a training program for civil servants on how to declare and register gifts and on the procedures for transferring gifts to the government to ensure wide understanding and compliance. Preferably, instructions and trainings would be included in the onboarding of new civil servants.