National Plan of Action against Corruption for 2012-2015.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev approved the National Action Plan to combat corruption for 2012-2015.

The plan consists of 28 articles, covering various activities. An important place is given to improvement of the legal framework of anti-corruption measures.

In particular, it provides for the development of draft laws on the protection of sources informing on corruption and the criminal action in relation to legal persons.

In addition, it is expected that additional measures will be taken to improve the protection of witnesses and collaborators of law enforcement activities against corruption. Along with this, it is planned to develop proposals to amend the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) on transactions with the investigation of corruption crimes.

The plan requires the preparation of proposals to limit the immunity of judges in the fight against corruption.

The plan includes a range of measures to strengthen institutional mechanisms for countering legalization of proceeds from crime.

The plan provides for the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on the prevention of laundering proceeds of crime and financing of terrorism.

A number of measures are presumed for the public service. In particular, a set of measures are to enhance the transparency of admission to the civil service and its overall performance. In this case, attention is drawn to the item, assuming the implementation of pilot projects through rotation in the public service. It provides for gradual increase in the salaries of civil servants and strengthening social guarantees.

The duties of officers will include regular reception of citizens, who report cases of corruption.

It is also expected to establish a uniform methodology of hot lines in state agencies.

The plan envisages measures to protect and reinstate citizens. These include transparency in business audits and development of national mechanisms to restore misappropriated property.

The plan also includes an article against conflicts of interest. However, it means no specifics or clarity, and has only three points. The first is to develop proposals to improve legislation on the prevention of conflicts of interests of officials. It also assumes trainings to prevent conflicts of interests. Finally, it mandates the preparation of proposals for the electronic submission of financial information by officials.

The plan confirms the government's intention to minimize cash payments.

Many services are transferred to the electronic form. Thus, extracts from the state register of real estate will be distributed in an electronic form. The plan also means to translate into an electronic form the issuance of licenses for different types of business activities.

The plan calls for cooperation of government agencies and civil society institutions.

Note that this is the third national action plan to combat corruption, taken from 2004

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan, according to international organizations, is still among the countries with high corruption.

According to the Corruption Perception Index of the world in 2011, made by Transparency International, Azerbaijan ranked 143 out of 182 countries. -06D-