Questions and Answers for Professional of the Law 2/2023. Vol. I.

Coordinated by Juan Vega Felgueroso, Lawyer of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency Law 2/2023, which regulates the protection of persons who report regulatory and anti-corruption breaches, has established a series of obligations and original investigation procedures that were previously unknown in our legal system. These novelties and the absence of normative and doctrinal references give rise to numerous doubts in the application of this Law by legal operators, a circumstance that advises the exposition and systematization of those aspects that offer greater doubts to these professionals in a series such as the one that begins today. The questions and answers for professionals that will be offered in this set of articles are a compilation of the doubts that are most frequently raised by those responsible for Information Systems, as well as by Lawyers of Public Administrations or by Lawyers in free and independent practice or, in short, by all legal experts. These questions and answers, without prejudice to their possible academic interest and for the public, are therefore eminently professional in nature, and they avoid historical explanations and extensive doctrinal debates to systematically and concisely establish the solutions to the gaps that arise from Law 2/2023. The series of questions, which will try to follow a homogeneity, begin in this first chapter with three topics of obvious importance for those responsible for the systems: First, the particularities of the expiry in the procedure of Law 2/2023 will be analyzed, which will be presented by Miguel Ángel Carbajo Domingo, Contentious-Administrative Magistrate, by answering the following questions: What is the deadline for fully processing the investigation file of Law 2/2023? Can this deadline be extended in order to fully process the investigation file? What happens if the investigation has not been initiated within three months of the complaint being made? What happens if the investigation proceedings had already been initiated within 3 months, but the procedure has not been completed within that period? Secondly, Pablo Rodríguez Ramallal, head of contracting and purchasing in a public company of the City of Gijón and lawyer of the ICAM expert in COMPLIANCE, will shed light on the new evidence of the interview with the affected party, an issue with which the legislator comes to include the principles of the Criminal Law, orality and concentration, in the administrative procedures of Law 2/2023, through the following issues: Is the new test of the interview with the affected party contemplated in all the investigation procedures of Law 2/2023? Is it imperative in all procedures to conduct an interview with the person concerned? What is the consequence for the investigation procedure if the person concerned is not interviewed? Finally, Telma Vega Felgueroso, Labour and Social Security Inspector in Barcelona, will respond to the problem regarding the scope of complaints in the field of labour law in Law 2/2023, and this by offering answers to the following questions: Should complaints of serious or very serious infringements with economic damage to Social Security be processed? Should complaints of minor infractions received through labour law reporting channels be processed in accordance with Law 2/2023? Do all complaints that are made in the field of labour law give rise to the protection of the complainant? Without further ado, here are these first 10 questions and answers for Law 2/2023 professionals. The expiry date in Law 2/2023. MIGUEL ÁNGEL CARBAJO DOMINGO. Magistrate of the Contentious Court 3 of Oviedo. Law 2/2023, due to the sensitivity and transcendence of the matters it deals with, has chosen to establish a rigid expiry system that must be taken into consideration by those responsible for information systems, both public sector entities (City Councils, Autonomous Communities, General State Administration, Universities, etc.), as well as by the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers (AAI) or, where appropriate, the corresponding regional authorities or bodies. 1.  What is the deadline for the full processing of the investigation file? The law establishes that, both in the regulation of the information management procedure of the City Councils, Autonomous Communities, AGEs, Universities, etc. (art. 9) and, where appropriate, in the procedure regulated for the AAI or regional authorities (art. 20), the term for the investigation file will be fully processed within 3 months from the receipt of the complaint, and in those cases in which the informant is not acknowledged (think of voice messaging systems or through postal mail) the period of three months will be counted from the period of 7 days from the date the complaint was made. 2.  Can the deadline for the full processing of the investigation file be extended? In the case of information management procedures of the City Councils, Autonomous Communities, AGEs, Universities, etc., it is possible (art.9), but exclusively for another three additional months, and the reason for such extension must be justified and may only be based on the complexity of the investigation. On the other hand, there is no legal provision for an extension of the 3-month period for the AAI or regional authorities, which must in any case resolve the investigation procedures within 3 months (art.20). 3.  What happens if the investigation has not been initiated within three months of the complaint being made? In this case, an investigation procedure can no longer be initiated in any case, and this is because there is a mandatory rule, the one contemplated in article 32.4 of Law 2/2023, which requires the suppression of complaints received that have not been processed within 3 months, and this both for the information received by the City Councils,  Autonomous Communities, AGEs, Universities, etc., as the case may be for those received by the AAI or regional authorities. 4.  What happens if the investigation proceedings had already been initiated within 3 months, but the procedure has not been completed within that period? In this case, contrary to the answer to question 3, if the investigation proceedings have been initiated within the 3-month period, but have not been resolved within that period of time, the file will expire and must be declared…

12 Tools for Developing a Code of Ethics

The Library and Documentation Centre on the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption

Last year marks the 20th anniversary of the 2003 United Nations Convention against Corruption , which Spain ratified in 2006. The Convention requires signatory States to ensure the existence of bodies responsible for the prevention of corruption. In 2016, Les Corts agreed to establish an anti-corruption strategy for the Valencian Community, assuming and implementing the Convention through the approval of Law 11/2016 on the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption. Regulatory framework, institutional framework and context The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (also AVAF) was created to prevent and eradicate fraud and corruption in Valencian public institutions and to promote integrity and public ethics, and stresses that among its functions is the contribution that it can make to the creation of a social culture of rejection of corruption.  either with specific programmes to raise awareness among citizens or in coordination with administrations or other public or private organisations. (Law 11/2016, DOGV no. 7928, BOE no. 306) In the regulation that develops Law 11/2016 it is established that the Agency will have a documentary collection specialized in the prevention and fight against fraud and corruption, and in the promotion of integrity and good practices in the Administration, with the aim of building a reference documentation center, which is part of the network of specialized libraries and documentation centers of the Valencian Community.  and that it is at the service of the citizenry. (AVAF Regulation, Article 29, DOGV no. 8582) Beyond the normative and institutional frameworks themselves, it is important to remember that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights contemplates the right to information and the right to freedom of expression as fundamental rights. (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. Article (19) IFLA, for its part, argues that libraries and information services are vital to an open and democratic Information Society, and are essential for a well-informed citizenry and transparent government. (IFLA, Alexandria Manifesto, 2005) Law 4/2011 on libraries in the Valencian Community conceives reading as a basic tool for the development of personality and also as an instrument for socialization, that is, as an essential element for training and democratic coexistence, to develop in the information society. To read is to choose perspectives from which to situate our gaze, inviting us to reflect, to think and to create. (Law 4/2011 on libraries of the Valencian Community, DOGV no. 6488, BOE no. 91) Since 2020, the AVAF Documentation Service has been working intensively on the implementation of the Agency’s information and documentation system and its archive, with the aim of facilitating access to the information generated in the performance of its functions and promoting transparency in public institutions, and, in parallel,  It has also been working on the implementation of the Library and Documentation Centre on the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption. The mission and lines of development of the collection The mission of the Documentation Service is to facilitate access to information and documentation resources in the field of the fight against fraud and corruption, to contribute to the investigation, prevention, training and dissemination work of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, and to collaborate in the processes of creation and dissemination of knowledge that are specific to its functions.  All this to promote a better informed and participatory society in which a culture of rejection of corruption strengthens democratic values. Consequently, the library’s collection is developed around the following subjects: Ethics and Public Integrity Transparency, access to public information, citizen participation and good governance Fraud & Corruption Prevention Social awareness of fraud and corruption Analysis, investigation and study of corruption cases Reporting Channels Whistleblowing and protection of corruption whistleblowers Ethics, Philosophy of Law, Social and Political Philosophy, and Professional Deontology And other more transversal ones related to law, administration, and the geographical, social, regulatory and institutional context of the Agency. The collection that the AVAF is putting together is a unique collection, there are no specialized information resources in the prevention and fight against fraud and corruption throughout the Spanish territory. Although it is possible to locate many of the documents contained in the AVAF collection scattered in other libraries of the administration and in university libraries, we are facing the project of bringing together a unique collection, with the aim of also opening up to the public. The OPAC and services The Documentation Service recently put out to tender, through the Public Sector Procurement Platform <https://contrataciondelestado.es/>, the Integrated Library Management System, SIGB, which has allowed us to make consultation on the fund available through an OPAC. The OPAC is accessible from the Agency’s homepage https://www.antifraucv.es/ , and also directly in https://biblioteca.antifraucv.es/. Consultation of the OPAC is available from any computer connected to the internet 24/7, is permanently updated, allows the simultaneous concurrence of users and allows bibliographic searches to be carried out on the AVAF documentary collection. Currently, AVAF funds are only accessible to Agency staff due to the respect due to confidentiality in their actions (Law 11/2016, Article 8. and AVAF Regulations, Article 9) In addition, internally and as a service to the AVAF staff, the services provided by specialised libraries and documentation centres to the community of users they serve have been standardised. The acquisition and subscription of basic information resources such as books and other bibliographic materials, yearbooks and legal and multidisciplinary databases has been standardized. After their technical process, they are immediately made available to users, with training, if deemed necessary. Reference services, thematic searches, and locating and obtaining documents are also provided. And, finally, selective dissemination of information is carried out through sectoral and general bibliographic alerts, a bulletin of bibliographic news from the AVAF collection and dissemination of the Agency’s publications. The Library and Documentation Centre of the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community has also already begun its process of integration into the library system: it is included in  the Directory of Spanish Libraries and in  the Map of Specialised Libraries,  both resources promoted by the Council for Library Cooperation.  and…