In May, a new learning video was uploaded to the “website of corruption prevention in the private sector”, reminding employees that they should comply with not only the legal requirements but also codes of conduct and requirements of their companies on receiving gifts, so as to guard against committing passive bribery under the law Prevention and Suppression of Bribery in the Private Sector due to oversight.

(https://www.ccac.org.mo/PrivSec/tc/learning_movie_detail/article/ksztvmir.html)

To deepen the community’s understanding of the CCAC’s ombudsman actions, the CCAC adapted some of the cases concluded by the Ombudsman Bureau into comics. Widely publicised through different channels of the mass media, these comics introduce the ombudsman actions to the public in a relaxed manner.

On June 17, 2022, the Public Defender’s monitoring group monitored the Tsnori Nursing Home for Older People NNLE, located in the Sighnaghi district of Kakheti. The monitoring showed that the situation in the facility is alarming and the elderly are in degrading conditions.

The Tsnori Nursing Home is a community organization serving 21 older people. Services for 17 of them are funded by the Agency for State Care and Assistance for Victims of Trafficking LEPL. (2 persons are funded by the municipality and two are self- funded). Accordingly, the State is responsible for monitoring the living conditions of the elderly, as well as for ensuring the provision of adequate conditions by the service provider.

The monitoring conducted by the Public Defender’s Office revealed that the beneficiaries are in severe unsanitary conditions. There is an unbearable smell all over the building. No attention is paid to the hygiene of the beneficiaries. Most of them wear old, torn and dirty clothes. The facility does not provide personal hygiene items or support in observing personal hygiene. The interview with beneficiaries made it clear that they do not have the opportunity to take a shower. According to one of them, she has not taken a shower at all this year.

The nursing home does not have adequate infrastructure. There is only one bathroom for all the beneficiaries; toilets are terribly unsanitary.

The institution neglects the health care of the elderly. In particular, it has no doctor, while the scarce medical documentation is incomplete.

In addition to the alarmingly unsanitary conditions, the facility does not have a menu made by a specialist, which would be tailored to the needs of the elderly. Consequently, members of the monitoring team were unable to assess the nutritional value of the food.

The staff of the nursing home does not have appropriate qualifications, in particular, they have not been trained on how to take care of the elderly. It is noteworthy that the institution does not have a male caregiver who would provide care for male beneficiaries so as not to degrade them. It should be noted that the remuneration of the staff working in the institution is the lowest compared to other nursing homes inspected by the Public Defender’s Office.

The stereotypical attitude caused by stigma towards some elderly people is alarming. On the remark made by the Public Defender’s representative regarding the above-mentioned violations, one of the representatives of the administration said that an older person should have dignity in order to abuse it.

Differentiated treatment of the elderly according to their physical and mental health was also observed, which stirs up controversy among beneficiaries.

Fear and mistrust towards the administration is noticeable. In the presence of the administration, the older people avoided talking about problems that were important to them and expressing concern, while when they were left alone, they talked with the monitoring team about the challenges in the facility.

With regard to inappropriate conditions in the Tsnori Nursing Home, the Public Defender of Georgia appealed to the Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia and the Agency for State Care and Assistance for Victims of Trafficking to react to the above-mentioned violations urgently and to transfer the beneficiaries to other facilities immediately, where they will have decent conditions.

Anti-corruption education completion rates for elected local government heads (70%) and local council members (77.8%) were relatively low

ACRC announced the results of inspection of anti-corruption education completion status in public institutions

It was found that 1.74 million (95%) public officials in 2,073 public institutions completed their mandatory anti-corruption education last year, a steady increase since 2016.

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Jeon Hyun Heui) published its inspection results of public institution anti-corruption education completion status on May 24th.

Since September 2016 when anti-corruption education became mandatory for public officials to complete, the number of public officials who have completed the education has steadily increased from 1.57 million in 2019 to 1.62 million in 2020 to 1.74 million in 2021, indicating successful establishment of the system.

By type of public institution, the completion ratios for Office of Education, central administrative agency, public service-related organizations, local government, local council, and public universities were 98.1%, 97.3%, 94.5%, 92.2%, 88.8% and 62.7%, respectively.

The number of public institutions with completion rates of less than 60%, such as Pocheon-si in Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Provincial Council, and Gongju University, was 90^*.

* 4 lower-level local governments, 20 local councils, 18 public universities, 45 public service-related organizations

Among 2,097 public institutions subject to the mandatory education, 24 institutions have not submitted their completion records.

As for the participation rates of heads of institutions, office of education and central administrative agency showed the highest rates of 98.2% and 94.9%, respectively, followed by public service-related organizations (91.2%), local governments (81.8%), local councils (87.6%), and public universities (68.4%).

The inspection results found relatively lower completion rates among elected heads of local governments (70%) and members of local councils (77.8%), who are responsible for transparency and integrity of local authorities, and the lowest completion rates among public universities.

Accordingly, ACRC will try to enhance the effectiveness and completion rate of the mandatory anti-corruption education through various means, including by offering special training for officials in charge of anti-corruption education management in the institution showing lower anti-corruption education completion rates and disclosing their completion rates to the public.

ACRC Anti-Corruption Bureau General Director Han Sam-Seok said, “It has been six years since the anti-corruption education became mandatory for public officials, showing stable settlement of the system. However, anti-corruption education needs to be more strengthened for public universities, local authorities, local councils, and public service-related organizations which have been newly designated as such,” adding that “there have been many changes, including the launch of a new administration and the organization of new local governments, and the enforcement of the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Related to Duties of Public Servants. Given these changes, we will put more efforts into further improving anti-corruption efforts and integrity capabilities of public institutions.”

The Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva spoke at the panel “Human Rights, Democracy and New Challenges in the XXI century” in the IX Global Baku Forum.

Ms. Aliyeva, gave broad information on the human rights reforms implemented at the national level, greeting the Forum participants.

The Ombudsman congratulated the participants on the 18 June- Human Rights Day in Azerbaijan, which has been celebrated already for 15 years.  

In her speech, S. Aliyeva shared the scope of the activity of the Azerbaijani Ombudsman Institute, which marks its 20th anniversary and good practices.

Referring to the Azerbaijani experience, S. Aliyeva noted the importance of the support of the state to the NHRIs and ombudsmen as non-judicial protection mechanisms.    

The Ombudsman touched upon the issues threatening human rights at the global level, underlining that the panel was dedicated to the most topical issues.  

Aliyeva also noted that one of the main problems is the demonstration of discrimination and double standards in the prosecution of the crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, given that the punishment of such grave offenses.

The Ombudsman with heartfelt said that silence on fundamental issues by international organizations has led to wars and conflicts, as a result of which the norms of international human rights and humanitarian law.  

The panel continued with discussions.

Anyone can file a report on violations of the Act and reporters will receive thorough protection and rewards of up to 3 billion won

Public officials subject to the Act should comply with their obligations to report conflict-of-interest situations they face while performing their duties and submit relevant s including details of activities in the private sector they were formerly involved in

The Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Related to Duties of Public Servants to which two million public officials in around 15,000 public institutions started to be implemented on May 19 in order to systematically prevent and control conflict-of-interest situations that may arise while public officials perform their duties.

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui gave a briefing on the implementation of the Act in the morning on May 18 at the Government Complex-Seoul, calling for active reports on public officials’ violations of the Act for the stable establishment of the Act in Korean society.

The Act stipulates 10 standards of behaviors for public officials and provisions of criminal punishment, including the imposition of administrative fines in cases of violations of the 10 standards.

From now on, two million public officials subject to the Act should faithfully comply with the 10 standards of behaviors under the Act and about 15,000 public institutions of various levels must strictly manage conflict-of-interest situations facing the public officials belonging thereto.

ACRC regards reports on violations of the Act by public officials filed by the public as important for swift settlement of the Act.

ACRC made it possible for the general public to easily file a report on violations at any time anywhere by accessing the Clean Portal at www.clean.go.kr.

In addition, ACRC provides 24/7 free call services such as 110 people’s call and 1398 corruption report consultation call service.

In cases where public officials violate the provisions of the Act, anyone can file a report to the ACRC, public institutions to which the public official concerned belongs, or the supervisory institutions of the public institutions, etc.

No one can hinder the filing of reports, disclose personal information of a reporter, or take disadvantageous measures against a reporting person on grounds of his/her report, etc.

A reporter can request ACRC to take protective measures in the case where there is a concern for him/her to risk life or be physically injured due to the filing of reports, and can apply for a protective measure such as reinstatement when he/she received a disadvantageous measure.

ACRC plans to pay a monetary reward of up to 3 billion won to a reporter in the case where the report filed directly results in a recovery of or an increase in the revenues of a public institution or a reduction in its costs, and a monetary award of up to 200 million won in the case where the report filed advances the public interest.

If conflict-of-interest situation arises while public officials perform their duties, he/she needs to access the standard reporting system in the Clean Portal, go through identification confirmation, and report a person related with his/her private interests under the Act.

The Clean Portal established in the integrated government cloud environment can flexibly respond to the demand from public institutions and favorable for the system security and reporter protection.

Given that the Act came into force at a time when a new administration is formed and the head of local authorities and members of local council are elected, ACRC will conduct a complete investigation during the second half of the year into the status of compliance with obligations under the Act, including those to submit details of activities of senior officials in the private sector, report a person related with private interests and apply for the recusal of himself/herself for stable implementation of the Act.

ACRC Chairperson Jeon Hyun Heui said, “If the general public actively files reports on public officials’ violations of the Act, it will lay a foundation to improve unfair practices in the public sector. The two million public officials will perceive such reports as a stern demand from the public for transparent and fair performance of public duties.”

Residents of Al-Safa Heights get justice through Ombudsman intervention

Under the directions of Federal Ombudsman Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, proceedings through IRD system have started.  The residents of Al-Safa Heights, Islamabad filed a complaint under IRD against the management of Al-Safa Heights for resolution of their grievances. They stated that 150 families are residing in Al-Safa Heights, its management regularly charge Rs.7000/- as service charges but they have not provided the facility of water, cleaning and lift services, due to which the residents are suffering great hardship.  Mr. Muhammad Saqib Khan, Registrar WMS and Ms. Zariyab Mussarat, Dy. Director (Complaints) summoned the management of Al-Safa Heights.  During hearing proceedings the management of Al-Safa Heights promised to resolve the issues of residents on immediate basis.  Later on, the management informed that one lift has been operationalized, whereas the second lift would be operationalized at the end of June this year, damaged pipes have been replaced and better measures have been taken for cleanliness.  The residents of Al-Safa Heights have thanked the Federal Ombudsman through a letter that due to his intervention, their problems have been resolved.

“I advised the Mohtasib to launch awareness campaigns regularly across the country in the form of workshops, seminars, and personal visits to the relevant trade, business and investment institutions to highlight the importance of paying just and lawful taxes and to approach the Federal Tax Ombudsman for the redressal their complaints. The awareness about FTO would encourage a greater number of taxpayers to seek resolution of their grievances and complaints against tax departments”, the President expressed these views while addressing an awareness seminar regarding the services of the FTO on 13.6.2022.

Dr. Asif Mahmood Jah, Federal Insurance Ombudsman, Dr Muhammad Khawar Jameel, Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment, Kashmala Tariq, advisors to the FTO, members of the business community, and senior officials of the government attended the seminar.

The President also urged the FTO to adopt the latest technology to address a greater number of complaints, besides bringing efficiency in the working of the Mohtasib.

He said that people needed to be educated about the importance of paying taxes and the role of taxes in national development to persuade people to voluntarily pay taxes.

Addressing the occasion, the President said that important and impactful decisions of the FTO, wherein, relief was provided to the complainants, should be highlighted through the media to create awareness about the services of the FTO.

He said that the FTO was playing an important role in discouraging corrupt practices and arbitrary use of authority by the tax officials besides reducing unnecessary delays caused by the tax machinery. He further stated that due to the FTO’s efforts the number of complaints filed with the FTO against the maladministration of tax authorities had increased which was proof of the rising awareness about the FTO among the people.

The President appreciated that the FTO was providing prompt and free-of-cost justice to taxpayers within 60 days without involving the lengthy litigation process.

FTO Dr. Jah, while addressing the occasion highlighted that the FTO during the year 2021 had resolved 2,867 cases and had succeeded in reducing the average time taken to resolve complaints from 68 days to 57 days.

He said that during the first six months of the year 2022, over 2,500 complaints had been received by the FTO which had been mostly resolved. He stated that the FTO was providing prompt and cost-free redressal of taxpayers’ grievances at their doorsteps and urged the participants to further highlight the services being provided by the Mohtasib.

2022 marks the 30^th anniversary of Macao’s integrity building. The CCAC therefore specifically launched a We Chat quiz game entitled “Positive Energy of Integrity” in the hope that the public may better understand and support the work of the CCAC and will continuously inject positive energy into the probity culture of Macao. Over 25,000 games were played in the first week of launch of the activity.

In June 2022, the CCAC held 19 seminars on integrity for public servants and the private sectors as well as 69 seminars and activities on integrity for teenagers, which recorded a total of 7,341 participants. To deepen the community’s understanding of the CCAC’s ombudsman actions, the CCAC adapted some of the cases concluded by the Ombudsman Bureau into comics. Widely publicised through different channels of the mass media, these comics introduce the ombudsman actions to the public in a relaxed manner.

The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, today (May 26) announced at a press conference the completion of a direct investigation into the regulation of paragliding activities by the Civil Aviation Department (“CAD”), and made eight recommendations for improvement to the CAD.
Paragliding activities first appeared in Hong Kong in the 1990s and have become more popular in recent years. Nevertheless, related accidents have happened from time to time. Over the past four years, there have been two fatal accidents involving paraglider pilots in Hong Kong and one serious incident in which a paraglider collided with a vehicle when it mistakenly landed on a carriageway. The safety risk involved in paragliding activities is just too obvious to ignore. At present, while there is no specific legislation for regulating paragliding activities in Hong Kong, the CAD regulates paragliding activities under those provisions of the civil aviation laws that also cover paragliding.

Investigation by the Office of The Ombudsman revealed that the CAD only conducted a review on the regulation of local paragliding activities in as late as 2018, before which the department had not proactively reviewed and modified its regulatory work. The CAD’s enforcement and monitoring have not been adequate either even after the establishment of a permit application mechanism for local paragliding air service providers in 2019. In addition, the effectiveness of regulatory efforts has also been dampened by the CAD’s reliance on a non-governmental organisation for the management of paragliding activities and accident/incident investigation.
Ms Chiu said, “The CAD, as the department responsible for promoting and managing aviation safety, and for enforcing the legislation relevant to paragliding activities, has the duty to ensure that the paragliding activities would not jeopardise public or airspace safety. The Office recommends that the CAD take reference from overseas experience and discuss with local paragliding associations and stakeholders with a view to introducing a new system for managing paragliding activities. It should also participate in investigations and enforcement proactively in order to boost the effectiveness of regulation. Furthermore, for the sake of safety, we encourage members of the public interested in paragliding activities to choose services offered by eligible persons approved by the CAD.”

The Office has made eight recommendations for improvement to the CAD, which include:

• explore legislative or administrative measures, as suited for the local paragliding sector, to introduce a real-name registration scheme for para glider pilots, a registration system for paragliding equipment, and an authorisation regime for local paragliding organisations;
• consider authorising or appointing officially the organisation(s) that the department deems appropriate to conduct investigations into paragliding accidents and incidents, and furnish the organisation(s) with specific guidelines such that the organisation(s) can uncover substantive information for the government authority to decide the necessary investigation and enforcement action;
• before referring complaint cases about allegedly illegal paragliding activities or services to the Hong Kong Police Force, the CAD should collate and analyse case information of those cases from the professional perspective of civil aviation safety for the Police’s reference;
• strengthen enforcement efforts under the permit system for providing air services by paragliders and step up publicity about the system; and
• consider granting renewed permits with a validity period longer than six months.

The CAD has in general accepted all of the improvement recommendations.

The full investigation report has been uploaded to the website of the Office of The Ombudsman at for public information.