Officials Forced to Pay?

There are general parallels between the legislative and construction boom in the capital

The new powers of the Accounting Chamber (AC) and the updated Criminal Code can force executive officials to repair the damage caused by illegal construction. This conclusion is prompted by a confluence of the following circumstances: the extension of the AC authority in the part of administrative offenses, the liberalization of the Criminal Code, which exempts from criminal prosecution, provided that the damage is paid to the budget. And finally, the growing construction boom in the capital, accompanied by the demolition of illegal buildings and the question "who will pay for this "pleasure"? But first things first.

Recently, the parliament discussed the amendments to the law On the Accounting Chamber, where, in the detection of offenses not only with signs of a financial crime in the form of an unprofitable expenditure of budgetary funds, but also administrative misconduct, the joint venture will be able to send the case materials to the relevant executive authority and the Prosecutor General"s Office. The new version of the law also covers offenses with signs of administrative misconduct, whereas the current one is limited to "offenses with signs of a crime in the exercise of control over the management of state property, its disposal, and the execution of the state budget."

The article titled The Main Functions of the Chamber of Accounts in the corrected form looks as follows: "... In case of detection of offenses with signs of administrative misconduct or crime while exercising control over the management of state property, ordering it, execution of the state budget, receipts to the state budget of funds received from the privatization of state property, or the use, by designation, of funds allocated to legal entities and municipalities from the state budget, the Chamber shall promptly transmit the relevant materials to the relevant executive authority body or the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan."

Simply put, if earlier the joint venture sent materials to the Prosecutor General"s Office about offenses that have signs of a crime, the updated document also suggests administrative misconduct. Typically, this kind of violations is typical for management processes, experts say.

"I think that not least the updated legislation expanding the powers of the Accounting Chamber will affect the bodies of the district executive authorities, for example, in the issue of building permits, etc. It happens that officials in the executive and municipal authorities issue a document confirming the possibility of building on an inadequate territory, without thinking about the consequences. As a result of this misdemeanor, the citizen who obtained the permit, can build a house, say, in the zone of passing high-voltage lines or on a landslide, a seismically dangerous territory, but the demolition of such housing will require compensation for damage. In general, the financial damage caused by such unlawful action and detected by the Court of Accounts, upon its submission, becomes the subject of the proceedings of the General Prosecutor"s Office, which ascertains whether the official knew the consequences of such an administrative decision and on what basis he accepted it. Thus, the symptoms of a criminal case can be identified, etc. This is just a separate example, which allows us to partially track the mechanism of the updated legislation," a source in expert circles said.

It is difficult not to notice the connection of this decision with the bill on revision of the Criminal Code, discussed on October 20 at the plenary session of the Milli Majlis, within the framework of the humanization of punishments. Among other things, this provides for the liberalization of legislation in respect of a number of crimes against property and in the field of economic activities related to material damage. Thus, persons who have committed a number of crimes of this category, with full compensation for the damage caused, are exempted from criminal liability. In the event of large damage (in a large or very large amount), or obtaining illegal income, in addition to full compensation for damages, they will also have to pay part of the damage to the state budget (for some offenses even twice), after which the perpetrator is released from criminal prosecution.

It should be noted that against the background of the revision of the legislation in terms of the powers of the financial control body and the Criminal Code, the expiring month was remembered by the activation of the demolition of residential buildings in the capital. During the construction of new quarters old and partly illegal buildings are demolished. In general, there is a situation when the state bears financial expenses associated with illegal construction on the territory of new projects, and the correction of legislation in terms of the authority of the AC to investigate such facts, as well as the possibility of compensating the damage caused to the budget can help to solve this problem. -0---