Key Benefits:
1997 ACT 412
(November 6)
Official Journal No. 43,168 of 7 November 1997
For which the "Inter-American Convention against Corruption" is approved, signed in Caracas on March 29, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six
THE CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC
Having regard to the text of the "Inter-American Convention against Corruption", signed in Caracas on March 29, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six (1996).
(To be transcribed: attached photocopy of the full text of the International Instrument mentioned, duly authenticated by the head of the Legal Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
INTER-AMERICAN CORRUPTION CONVENTION
Preamble
Member States of the Organization of American States,
Convinced that corruption undermines the legitimacy of public institutions, attacks society, moral order and justice, as well as against the integral development of peoples;
Whereas representative democracy, an indispensable condition for the stability, peace and development of the region, by its nature, requires combating all forms of corruption in the exercise of public functions, as well as acts of of corruption specifically related to such an exercise;
Persuaded that the fight against corruption strengthens democratic institutions, prevents distortions of the economy, vices in public management and the deterioration of social morality;
Acknowledging that corruption is often one of the instruments used by organized crime in order to materialize its purposes;
Convinced of the importance of generating awareness among the population of the countries of the region on the existence and seriousness of this problem, as well as the need to strengthen the participation of civil society in the prevention and fight against corruption;
Acknowledging that corruption has, in some cases, international significance, which calls for coordinated action by the States to combat it effectively;
Convinced of the need to adopt as soon as possible an international instrument that promotes and facilitates international cooperation to combat corruption and, in particular, to take appropriate action against persons who commit acts of corruption in the exercise of public functions or specifically related to such exercise, as well as the goods resulting from such acts;
Deeply concerned about the ever closer links between corruption and income from illicit drug trafficking, which undermine and undermine legitimate business and financial activities and society, at all levels;
Having present that in order to combat corruption it is the responsibility of the States to eradicate impunity and that the cooperation between them is necessary for their action in this field to be effective, and
Determined to make every effort to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption in the exercise of public functions and in acts of corruption specifically linked to such an exercise.
HAVE AGREED
To subscribe the following:
INTER-AMERICAN CORRUPTION CONVENTION
For the purposes of this Convention, it is understood by:
"public service" means any temporary or permanent, remunerated or honorary activity, carried out by a natural person on behalf of the State or the service of the State or its entities, in any of its hierarchical levels.
"public official", "Government official" or "public servant", any official or employee of the State or its entities, including those who have been selected, appointed or elected to carry out activities or functions on behalf of the State or service of the State, at all its hierarchical levels.
"Goods", assets of any kind, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, and documents or legal instruments that credit, attempt to prove or relate to property or other rights to such assets.
The purposes of this Convention are:
1. Promote and strengthen the development, for each of the States Parties, of the mechanisms necessary to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption, and
2. Promote, facilitate and regulate cooperation between the States Parties in order to ensure the effectiveness of measures and actions to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate acts of corruption in the exercise of public functions and acts of corruption specifically linked to such an exercise.
ARTICLE III. PREVENTIVE MEASURES.
For the purposes set out in Article 2 of this Convention, the States Parties agree to consider the applicability of measures, within their own institutional systems, to create, maintain and strengthen:
1 Subscribe in Caracas, Venezuela on March 29, 1996.1. Rules of conduct for the right, honorable and proper discharge of public functions. These rules should be aimed at preventing conflicts of interest and ensuring the preservation and proper use of the resources allocated to civil servants in the performance of their duties. They shall also lay down measures and systems requiring civil servants to inform the competent authorities of acts of corruption in the civil service of which they are aware. Such measures will help to preserve trust in the integrity of public officials and in public management.
2. Mechanisms to make compliance with these rules of conduct effective.
3. Instructions to the staff of the public entities, to ensure adequate understanding of their responsibilities and the ethical standards that govern their activities.
4. Systems for the declaration of income, assets and liabilities by persons who perform public functions in the positions established by law and for the publication of such statements where appropriate.
5. Systems for the procurement of public officials and for the acquisition of goods and services by the State that ensure the publicity, equity and efficiency of such systems.
6. Adequate systems for the collection and control of state revenues, which prevent corruption.
7. Laws that eliminate tax benefits for any person or society that makes allowances in violation of the anti-corruption legislation of the States Parties.
8. Systems to protect public officials and private citizens who report acts of corruption in good faith, including the protection of their identity in accordance with their Constitution and the fundamental principles of their law Internal legal.
9. Higher control bodies, in order to develop modern mechanisms to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corrupt practices.
10. Measures to prevent the bribery of national and foreign public officials, such as mechanisms to ensure that commercial companies and other types of associations maintain records that accurately and reasonably reflect the the acquisition and disposal of assets, and that they establish sufficient internal accounting controls to enable their staff to detect acts of corruption.
11. Mechanisms to encourage the participation of civil society and non-governmental organizations in efforts to prevent corruption.
12. The study of other preventive measures that take into account the relationship between equitable remuneration and probity in the public service.
This Convention is applicable provided that the alleged act of corruption has been committed or has its effects in a State Party.
1. Each State Party shall take the necessary measures to exercise its jurisdiction in respect of the offences it has established in accordance with this Convention when the offence is committed in its territory.
2. Each State Party may take the necessary measures to exercise its jurisdiction in respect of the offences it has established in accordance with this Convention where the offence is committed by one of its nationals or by a person who has a habitual residence on its territory.
3. Each State Party shall take the necessary measures to exercise its jurisdiction in respect of the offences it has established in accordance with this Convention when the alleged offender is in its territory and does not extradite him to another for the nationality of the alleged offender.
4. This Convention does not preclude the application of any other rule of criminal jurisdiction established by a Party under its national law.
ARTICLE VI. ACTS OF CORRUPTION.
1. This Convention is applicable to the following acts of corruption:
(a) The requirement or acceptance, directly or indirectly, by a public official or a person exercising public functions, of any object of pecuniary value or other benefits such as gifts, favors, promises or advantages for himself or for another person or entity in exchange for the performance or omission of any act in the exercise of its public functions;
(b) Offering or granting, directly or indirectly, to a public official or to a person exercising public functions, of any object of pecuniary value or other benefits such as gifts, favors, promises or advantages to that person public official or other person or entity in exchange for the performance or omission of any act in the exercise of its public functions;
(c) The performance by a public official or a person exercising public functions of any act or omission in the exercise of his or her duties, in order to unlawfully obtain benefits for himself or for a third party;
(d) The intentional use or concealment of goods from any of the acts referred to in this Article, and
e) Participation as an author, co-author, instigator, accomplice, concealer or in any other form in the commission, attempt of commission, association or confabulation for the commission of any of the acts referred to in this Article.
2. This Convention shall also apply, by mutual agreement between two or more States Parties, in relation to any other act of corruption not covered by it.
ARTICLE VII. INTERNAL LEGISLATION.
States Parties that have not yet done so shall adopt the legislative or other measures necessary to criminalize the acts of corruption described in Article VI.1 as crimes in their domestic law. to facilitate cooperation between them, in the terms of this Convention.
ARTICLE VIII. TRANSNATIONAL BRIBERY.
Subject to its Constitution and the fundamental principles of its legal system, each State Party shall prohibit and sanction the act of offering or granting to a public official of another State, directly or indirectly, by its nationals, persons who are habitually resident in their territory and undertakings domiciled in it, any object of pecuniary value or other benefits, such as gifts, favours, promises or benefits, in exchange for such an official any act, in the exercise of its public functions, related to a transaction of economic or commercial nature.
Among those States Parties that have criminalized transnational bribery, this will be considered an act of corruption for the purposes of this Convention.
The State Party that has not criminalized transnational bribery shall provide the assistance and cooperation provided for in this Convention, in relation to this crime, to the extent that its laws permit.
ARTICLE IX. ILLICIT ENRICHMENT.
Subject to its Constitution and the fundamental principles of its legal system, States Parties that have not yet done so shall take the necessary measures to criminalize their legislation as a crime, the increase of the assets of a a public official with significant excess over his legitimate income during the performance of his duties and who cannot reasonably be justified by him.
Among those States Parties that have established the crime of illicit enrichment, this shall be considered an act of corruption for the purposes of this Convention.
The State Party that has not established the illicit enrichment shall provide the assistance and cooperation provided for in this Convention, in relation to this crime, in so far as its laws permit.
When a State Party adopts the legislation referred to in paragraphs 1 of Articles VIII and IX, it shall notify the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, who shall in turn notify the other States Parties. The crimes of transnational bribery and illicit enrichment shall be considered for that State Party of corruption for the purposes of this Convention, after thirty days from the date of that notification.
ARTICLE XI. PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT.
1. For the purposes of promoting the development and harmonization of national laws and the achievement of the objectives of this Convention, the States Parties consider it appropriate and require that they consider the classification in their legislation of the following behaviors:
(a) The misuse of any kind of reserved or privileged information by a public official or a third party, by a public official or a third party, of any kind of reserved or privileged information on the occasion of the function performed;
(b) The use or use of undue advantage for the benefit of a public official or a third party, by a public official or a person exercising public functions of any kind of property of the State or of undertakings or institutions in which it is a party; which have been granted access by reason of or on the occasion of the function performed;
(c) Any action or omission by any person who, by himself or by person acting as an intermediary, seeks the adoption, by the public authority, of a decision under which he illicitly obtains for whether or not for another person, any profit or profit, whether or not it is detrimental to the State's assets;
(d) the deviation from the object which, for its own benefit or third parties, make public officials, movable or immovable property, money or securities, belonging to the State, to a decentralised body or to a private body, which would have been received on account of his/her position, in administration, deposit or otherwise.
2. Among those States Parties that have established these crimes, these shall be considered acts of corruption for the purposes of this Convention.
3. Those States Parties that have not established the crimes described in this Article shall provide the assistance and cooperation provided for in this Convention in relation to them, in so far as their laws permit.
ARTICLE XII. EFFECTS ON THE ESTATE OF THE STATE.
For the implementation of this Convention, it will not be necessary for the acts of corruption described in the Convention to produce property damage to the State.
1. This Article shall apply to offences established by the States Parties in accordance with this Convention.
2. Each of the offences to which this Article applies shall be deemed to be included among the offences that result in extradition in any extradition treaty in force between the States Parties. The States Parties undertake to include such crimes as extradition cases in any extradition treaty that they agree with each other.
3. If a State Party that makes extradition conditional upon the existence of a treaty receives an extradition request from another State Party, with which it does not bind it any extradition treaty, it may consider this Convention as the legal basis of extradition in respect of the offences to which this Article applies.
4. States Parties which do not make extradition subject to the existence of a treaty shall recognise the offences to which this Article applies as cases of extradition between them.
5. Extradition shall be subject to the conditions laid down by the law of the requested State Party or by the applicable extradition treaties, including the grounds on which extradition may be refused.
6. If the extradition requested for a crime to which this article applies is refused on the grounds only of the nationality of the person who is the subject of the application, or because the requested State is deemed competent, the latter shall present the case to its competent authorities for prosecution, unless otherwise agreed with the requesting State Party, and shall inform the requesting Party of its final result in a timely manner.
7. Subject to the provisions of its domestic law and its extradition treaties, the requested State may, after having been satisfied that the circumstances justify it and is of an urgent nature, and at the request of the requesting State Party, to arrest the person whose extradition is requested and to be on his territory or to take other appropriate measures to ensure that he is appearing on extradition proceedings.
ARTICLE XIV. ASSISTANCE AND COOPERATION.
States Parties shall provide the widest mutual assistance, in accordance with their applicable laws and treaties, in the course of applications emanating from the authorities which, in accordance with their domestic law, have powers for the investigation or prosecution of the acts of corruption described in this Convention, for the purpose of obtaining evidence and the carrying out of other acts necessary to facilitate the processes and actions relating to the investigation or judging of acts of corruption.
The States Parties shall also provide the most extensive mutual technical cooperation on the most effective ways and methods to prevent, detect, investigate and punish acts of corruption. To this end, they will facilitate the exchange of experiences through agreements and meetings between the competent bodies and institutions and will give special attention to the forms and methods of citizen participation in the fight against corruption.
ARTICLE XV. MEASURES ON GOODS.
In accordance with applicable national laws and relevant treaties or other agreements that may be in force between them, the States Parties shall provide each other with the widest possible assistance in identification, tracing, the detention, confiscation and confiscation of property obtained or derived from the commission of offences established in accordance with this Convention, of the goods used in that commission or of the proceeds of such goods.
The State Party that applies its own forfeiture statements, or those of another State Party, with respect to the goods or products described in the preceding paragraph, of this Article, shall have such goods or products in accordance with its own legislation. To the extent permitted by its laws and under such conditions as it deems appropriate, that State Party may transfer all or part of such goods or products to another State Party which has assisted in the investigation or in the proceedings. Related legal.
The requested State Party may not refuse to provide the assistance requested by the requesting State Party by standing in the way of banking secrecy. This Article shall be applied by the requested State Party, in accordance with its domestic law, its procedural provisions or with bilateral or multilateral agreements linking it with the requesting State Party.
The requesting State is obliged not to use the information protected by banking secrecy that it receives, for any purpose other than the process for which it has been requested, except for the authorization of the requested State Party.
ARTICLE XVII. NATURE OF THE ACT.
For the purposes provided for in Articles XIII, XIV, XV and XVI of this Convention, the fact that the goods obtained or derived from an act of corruption have been destined for political purposes or the fact that it is alleged that an act of Corruption has been committed for reasons or for political purposes, it will not be enough to consider such an act as a political crime or as a related common crime with a political crime.
ARTICLE XVIII. CENTRAL AUTHORITIES.
For the purposes of international assistance and cooperation provided for under this Convention, each State Party may designate a central authority or may use the central authorities referred to in the relevant treaties or other agreements.
The central authorities shall be responsible for formulating and receiving requests for assistance and cooperation referred to in this Convention.
Central authorities shall communicate directly for the purposes of this Convention.
ARTICLE XIX. APPLICATION IN TIME.
Subject to the constitutional principles, the internal order of each State and the treaties in force between the States Parties, the fact that the alleged act of corruption had been committed prior to the entry into force of the This Convention shall not prevent international criminal cooperation between the States Parties. This provision shall in no case affect the principle of the irretroactivity of criminal law or its application shall interrupt the periods of limitation in progress relating to offences prior to the date of entry into force of this Convention.
ARTICLE XX. OTHER AGREEMENTS OR PRACTICES.
None of the rules of this Convention shall be construed as preventing States Parties from providing reciprocal cooperation under the provisions of other international, bilateral or multilateral agreements in force. or to be held in the future between them, or any other applicable agreement or practice.
This Convention is open to the signature of the Member States of the Organization of American States.
This Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.
This Convention is open to the accession of any other State. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.
States Parties may make reservations to this Convention at the time of approving, signing, ratifying or acceding to this Convention, provided that they are not incompatible with the object and purposes of the Convention and deal with one or more provisions. specific.
ARTICLE XXV. ENTRY INTO FORCE.
This Convention shall enter into force on the 30th day from the date on which the second instrument of ratification has been deposited. For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the deposit of the second instrument of ratification, the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the date on which that State has deposited its instrument. of ratification or accession.
This Convention shall govern indefinitely, but any of the States Parties may denounce it. The instrument of denunciation shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States. After one year, starting from the date of deposit of the instrument of denunciation, the Convention shall cease for the purposes of the complainant State and shall remain in force for the other States Parties.
ARTICLE XXVII. ADDITIONAL PROTOCOLS.
Any State Party may submit to the consideration of the other States Parties meeting on the occasion of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, draft additional protocols to this Convention with the object of contribute to the achievement of the purposes set out in Article II thereof.
Each additional protocol shall determine the modalities of its entry into force and shall apply only between the States Parties to that Protocol.
ARTICLE XXVIII. DEPOSIT OF THE ORIGINAL INSTRUMENT.
The original instrument of this Convention, whose Spanish, French, English and Portuguese texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, which shall send a certified copy of their text for registration of publication to the Secretariat of the United Nations, in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations. The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States shall notify the Member States of that organization and the States that have acceded to the Convention, the signatures, the deposits of instruments of ratification, accession and denunciation, as well as the reserves it has.
The undersigned Head of the Legal Office
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
NOTES:
That the present reproduction is faithful photocopy taken from the certified text of the "Inter-American Convention Against Corruption", signed in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 29, thousand nine hundred and ninety-six (1996), a document that rests on the Archives of the Legal Office of this Ministry.
Dada en Santa Fe de Bogotá, D. C., at thirteen (13) days
of the month of August of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-six (1996).
the Chief Legal Officer,
HECTOR ADOLFO SINTURA VARELA.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF PUBLIC POWER
REPUBLIC OF THE REPUBLIC
Santa Fe de Bogota, D. C., ...
Approved. Submit to the honorable consideration
National Congress for Constitutional Effects.
ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO
The Foreign Minister,
MARIA EMMA MEJIA VELEZ.
DECRETA:
ARTICLE 1o. Approve the "Inter-American Convention against Corruption", signed in Caracas on March 29, thousand nine hundred and ninety-six (1996).
ARTICLE 2o. In accordance with the provisions of Article 1o. of Law 7a of 1944, the "Inter-American Convention against Corruption", signed in Caracas on March 29, 1996, which is approved by article 1 of this law, will force the country from the date on which the international link is perfected with respect to the same.
ARTICLE 3o. This Law governs from the date of its publication.
The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,
AMYLKAR ACOSTA MEDINA.
The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,
PEDRO PUMAREJO VEGA.
The President of the honorable House of Representatives,
CARLOS SQUIRLA BALLESTEROS.
The Secretary General of the honorable House of Representatives,
DIEGO VIVAS TAFUR.
COLOMBIA-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Contact and post.
Execute previous Constitutional Court review,
pursuant to Article 241-10 of the Political Constitution.
Dada en Santa Fe de Bogotá, D. C., at 6 November 1997.
ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO
The Foreign Minister,
MARIA EMMA MEJIA V.
The Minister of Justice and Law,
ALMABEATRIZ RENGIFO LOPEZ.
Subscribe in Caracas, Venezuela on March 29, 1996.
