From 3rd till 6th February a group of experts from the Group of States against corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO - Groupe d`Etats contre la corruption) are visiting Latvia.
The task of the experts is to evaluate situation in Latvia with regard to prevention and combating of corruption and to prepare a report for the 2nd evaluation round. During this visit emphasis will be placed on the following questions: prevention of legalisation of illegally acquired assets, the criminal responsibility of legal persons and corruption within the state administration.This year there are four experts visiting - Head of Analytical Organisational Division, Special Investigations Service, Lithuania; Counsel of the Republic, Attorney General's Office, Law Office, Cyprus; Policy maker, Investigation Department, Ministry of Justice, the Netherlands; a representative from the GRECO Secretariat in Strasbourg.
Experts will be visiting the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, the Ministry of Justice, the office of the Prosecutor General, the State Revenue Service, the State Audit office, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Regional Development and Municipalities, the State Civil Service Administration, as well as meeting representatives of various NGOs.
GRECO evaluates through a dynamic process of peer pressure, the compliance with undertakings contained in the legal instruments of the Council of Europe to fighting against corruption. An indispensable part of the evaluation report is recommendations. Member states have to account for the compliance with these recommendations in a GRECO plenary session.
GRECO exerts visited Latvia for the first time in 2001 and prepared 1st evaluation round regarding the issue of preventing and combating corruption in Latvia. (http://www.knab.gov.lv/documents/international)
GRECO was established on 1st May and Latvia joined the organization on 15th June 2000. At present, there are 36 member states of GRECO. GRECO official home site is available at http://www.greco.coe.int.