Improving Asset Disclosure by Public Officials (MK0151)

Which public problem is addressed by the commitment? One method to reduce and prevent illegal enrichment of elected and appointed officials and disproportionate increase of their assets as a result of abuse of public office concerns a functional mechanism on record keeping and monitoring their property status. In Macedonia, this system is relatively inefficient, primarily due to technical reasons and leave ample space for insufficient transparency in respect to publication of asset declaration submitted by officials and insufficient efficiency in respect to monitoring such assets. SCPC is limited in record keeping and monitoring property status of officials while they are still in office. At the same time, SCPC does not have full insight in the total number of officials in the Republic of North Macedonia and whether all persons required submitting asset declarations pursuant to Art. 82 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interests have complied with this obligation, because the register of appointed and elected official has still not enabled the function for which it was established. In brief, except for competent institutions, citizens are also denied opportunity to have full insight in the list of elected and appointed officials in the country, and changes to their property status during performance of their public office.

Main objective of the commitment Establish a functional system that willstreamline verification of asset and interest declarations of elected and appointed officials and will provide citizens with adequate insight in property status and interests of elected and appointed official and overview of changes thereto during their performance of public office.

How will the commitment contribute to addressing the public problem? Asset and interest declarations are globally recognized as transparency tool that allows citizens and institutions opportunity for greater insight in property status and interests of elected and appointed official, thus contributing to prevention of public office abuses for personal gains and pursuit of private interests. Historical tracking of assets provides the basis for control of risks related to material enrichment during performance of public office, while control over conflict of interests helps observe how the person took decisions as part of their work and whether he/she has put private before public interest. Publication of these data in clear, structured and open format will enable development of adequate tools that present such information in straightforward manner.

How is the commitment relevant to OGP values? COMMITMENT IS IMPORTANT FOR TRANSPARENCY because it allows access to new information, having in mind that, to present, such information were invisible or poorly presented, and facilitates fast analysis of large data volumes. COMMITMENT IS IMPORTANT FOR CIVIL PARTICIPATION because it facilitates external monitoring by civil society organizations and the media. COMMITMENT IS IMPORTANT FOR PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY because it provides improved register of elected and appointed officials, improved method of asset and interest declaration, as well as electronic data exchange that will avoid ambiguities and inaccuracies in reporting and publishing assets and interests, thereby improving accountability of elected and appointed officials during performance of their public office.

Additional information Implementation of this commitment requires budget funds that have been secured to meet SCPC’s needs (funds from the central budget and international assistance) Link to UN Sustainable Development Goals Link to SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions SDG target 16.5: Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms Measures anticipated under this commitment contribute to prevention and fight against corruption and protect the public interest by enhancing accountability and responsibility of elected and appointed official before citizens.

No. Milestone Indicators Activity holder Start date End date 2.2.1 Finish development of software for the register and asset declarations Software is designed and includes module for easy submission of asset declarations and transparency in terms of changes to property status in the course of time SCPC October 2021 March 2022 2.2.2 Initial phase of data collection In the first three months from introduction of new method for submission of asset declarations, all registered persons under obligation to report SCPC April 2022 continuously 40 assets and interests have successfully supplied relevant data N

Action Plan Review

Commitment 2.2: Improve the mechanism for monitoring asset declarations of elected and appointed officials

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Modest