National authorities of Azerbaijan advanced in their policy reforms to introduce internal practices for the assessment and management of corruption risks in state institutions through the support provided by the project. Framing a corruption risk assessment and management methodology as part of a governmental decision provides a powerful incentive to pinpoint and address corruption vulnerabilities.
The draft rules and methodology for identification, analysis and prevention of corruption risks in state institutions, prepared by national authorities of Azerbaijan, and the related draft amendments to the Law on “Combating Corruption” were analysed to ensure their alignment with international standards and best practices. To support the analysis, two online consultative discussions with Azerbaijani authorities took place on 14 July and 28 August 2023. The initial meeting allowed to understand better the national legislative anti-corruption framework and processes in the field of corruption risk assessment and management. The second meeting served as a validation discussion for examining all the missing elements in the current draft materials and addressing challenging aspects raised by the national authorities. The utmost goal was to refine the findings of the analysis further and provide a set of improvement recommendations.
The undertaken review underlined, amongst critical substantive issues, the “risk treatment” and “monitoring and review” elements of a corruption risk management cycle as essential components to be incorporated into the draft methodology. Another eminent aspect included an approach to view the methodology as a mechanism allowing for effective prevention and management of corruption risks.
Additionally, the review recommended harmonising the timelines of the corruption risk assessment and management cycle with the timelines arising from reporting requirements under the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan for 2022-2026. Other crucial components included the provision of advisory and coordination services for institutional corruption risk assessment and precise segmentation of the steps involved in each phase of the corruption risk assessment cycle.
The goal of this exercise was to enhance the government’s efforts in preventing corruption to inform necessary strategic interventions to mitigate corruption risks in state institutions.
This project output is part of the of the European Union and Council of Europe joint programme “Partnership for Good Governance”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the project "Preventing and fighting economic crime in Azerbaijan”.
