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UNAC Coalition

CoSP9 CSO briefing�

12 December 2021

Mathias Huter �Managing Director, UNCAC Coalition mathias.huter@uncaccoalition.org

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The UNCAC Review Mechanism:

Transparency & CSO Participation�

12 December 2021

Mathias Huter �Managing Director, UNCAC Coalition mathias.huter@uncaccoalition.org

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About the UNCAC Review Mechanism

Peer review mechanism: 2 countries evaluate the country under review

Currently ongoing: 2nd cycle review, covering Chapter II (prevention of corruption) and chapter V (asset recovery) provisions of the UNCAC

Available documents and information on the UNODC Country Profiles:

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/country-profile/index.html

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About the UNCAC Review Mechanism

Peer review mechanism: 2 countries evaluate the country under review

1) Country fills self-assessment checklist (does not have to be published)

2) Self-assessment is shared with UNODC and the 2 reviewing countries

3) Country visit takes place (if country under review choses to)

4) Reviewers write review report

Consensus document – country under review agrees on final version
Includes detailed analysis of the legal framework, identified good practice approaches and recommendations

5) Executive summary is published

Full report & self-assessment are only published proactively if the government under review agrees

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Shortcomings of the review mechanism

Inclusiveness: Up to the government under review, if and how it includes civil society and other non-governmental stakeholders in the review mechanism

Transparency:

Contact details of the government “focal point” (coordinator) of the review process, updated schedule of the review process, upcoming country visits, are not published

Difficult for CSOs to identify entry points for contributions

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Shortcomings of the review mechanism

Transparency:

Only the executive summary of the review has to be published (about 10 pages)
Full country report (200-600 pages), self-assessment are only published if government under review agrees

Follow-up:

Currently no mandatory follow-up on findings and recommendations of previous reviews
Only 1 country (Mauritius) has voluntarily published a document on what it has done to follow-up on recommendations of the 2nd cycle review

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Shortcomings of the review mechanism

Relevance:

Review process focuses on implementation of UNCAC provisions in law; little attention to actual implementation in practice and to enforcement

Often no data and statistics or details on effective implementation

Article 13 – participation of society

Enabling environment for civil society, media freedom not assessed in practice

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What you can do to become involved

UNCAC Coalition guide on transparency and participation

Talk to your government about being included in the review process, if it has not been completed.
Suggest they use good practice approaches to facilitate CSO participation: