Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament's Anti-Corruption Council on Tuesday endorsed a report on the prevention of corruption among members of Parliament, judges and state prosecutors, and several Council members supported the idea that information on all office holders, including judges, should be published in one place, as part of efforts to prevent conflicts of interest.
The report was compiled by the Council of Europe anti-corruption group GRECO and was presented by Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic, who said that Croatia was given 11 recommendations on what to do and that the bulk of them were being followed.
GRECO has recommended that Croatia develop a code of conduct for MPs, work out guidelines on conflict of interest, and focus on prevention. It recommends a more transparent election of the Supreme Court president and chief state prosecutor, saying that the State Judicial Council and the State Prosecutors' Council should have a greater say in that.
GRECO has also warned of the public perception of corruption in the judicial system, but Miljenic said that the public perception did not reflect the actual situation and that other countries too were faced with the perception problem.
Only better efficiency can lower the corruption perception index, because slow justice is in direct correlation with the perception of corruption, Anti-Corruption Council president Vladimir Seks said.
Miljenic said that Croatia was in the process of meeting all of GRECO's 11 recommendations, and expressed hope that a report on the measures taken would eventually be positive. (Hina)