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…

Corruption in the Mirror: Legal, Citizen and Journalistic Voices on the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Corruption

20 years have passed since the International Criminal Court was constituted in The Hague, the map of the human genome was completed and Fernando Alonso became the first Spaniard to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix. The United Nations Convention against Corruption #UNCAC20 celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2023 as the world’s commitment to stay #UnidosContralaCorrupción. With almost universal adherence, 190 countries are signatories to the Convention, with Barbados being the last to ratify it, on October 10 of this year. Established as  the only universal legally binding instrument to combat corruption, the UN Convention was ratified by Spain in 2006. It calls on signatory states to guarantee the existence of an independent body or bodies responsible for preventing corruption with measures such as the dissemination of knowledge in this area. The Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community (AVAF) was the response of the Valencian Corts to the mandate of the Convention with the approval of Law 11/2016 of 28 November. On the seventh anniversary of the approval of the law creating the AVAF, the international conference “20 years of the United Nations Convention against Corruption” took place at the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia, with the aim of celebrating the promotion of the culture of rejection of corruption for which the Convention itself advocates. The conference was inaugurated by Emilia Selva Sacanelles, regional secretary of public administration of the Generalitat Valenciana. A local administration official with national qualifications stressed in her speech that leaders must foster a culture of integrity and ethics in public service, since our individual actions can impact the fight against corruption. The values of integrity and honesty were highlighted as the fundamental pillars of our society. “2003-2023. Twenty years of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Current situation in Spain” as the opening lecture of the conference was presented by Manuel Villoria Mendieta, professor of Political Science and Administration at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid and member of the Ethics Committee of the AVAF. The instruments for the prevention of corruption presented by the professor of political science are based on participation, transparency, accountability and control of spending, together with integrity, impartiality and legality. The Convention establishes these protective measures, but the quality of the institutions is necessary to sustain the fight against corruption. The fight against this phenomenon on a day-to-day basis was the first panel of the day, moderated by María José Moragues Faus, head of the Analysis and Research Unit of the AVAF, and it included representatives of various institutions who showed the European, national and regional perspective in the fight against corruption. Eduardo Cano Romera, head of the Operations and Investigations Selection Unit of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) presented relevant figures in the work of this European office: 5,000 complaints a year received by the European Anti-Fraud Office, 57% come from citizens and after study, there are 1,200 pieces of information that are of interest for investigation. In his presentation, Cano highlighted the problem of institutional ethics, with irregularities committed by officials in the institutions of the Union, related to corruption. The conflict of interest during the awarding of public contracts, the misappropriation where funds are available to civil servants, as well as the irregularities of the members of the bodies of the European Union, are the most prominent, as well as the professional activities after the end of the political mandate, the so-called revolving doors. The Lieutenant Colonel head of the Department of Economic Investigations and Anti-Corruption of the Civil Guard, Antonio Balas Dávila, highlighted in his speech the dynamics that generate multidisciplinary synergies as the most effective to deal with behaviors linked to corruption and that are the protagonists of the sustained effort of the AVAF and the UCO to combat this phenomenon. Ricardo Pujol Sánchez, director of the Andalusian Office against Fraud and Corruption (OAAF) provided his vision from the Andalusian autonomous community, exposing the importance of the preventive field as an anticipation of the irregularity developing and deploying all its effects. In this regard, the OAAF has initiated a strategic planning project “Organizations for Integrity”. The role of justice in the fight against corruption featured renowned jurists at the panel moderated by Teresa Clemente García, Deputy Director and Legal Affairs of the AVAF. The Senior Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Valencian Community, Teresa Gisbert Jordá, highlighted the lack of duplication between the work of the Prosecutor’s Office and the AVAF and highlighted the essential and necessary collaboration manifested through the almost 30 expert reports prepared by the Agency at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office and which has culminated in the signing of the agreement between the Attorney General’s Office and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency on last June 2023 to continue articulating it. The necessary compliance with Law 2/2023 of 20 February, regulating the protection of people who report regulatory and anti-corruption infringements (Law 2/2023), with the creation of the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, the implementation of internal and external channels and the articulation of institutional campaigns at the regional level on the law were the measures highlighted by the Chief Prosecutor as the most necessary right now. Alejandro Luzón Cánovas, Chief Prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption and Organized Crime, added that the lever to combat corruption is not only found in the repressive function but also in the preventive one. At the same time, he highlighted the lack of confidence of citizens in the protection of Law 2/2023 and specified that, for this reason, the Prosecutor’s Office continues to file the anonymous complaint.  The progress represented by Law 2/2023 was highlighted by magistrate Joaquim Bosch Grau, but he detailed that the work of the regional agencies had not been taken into account, as well as that it failed within 2 years in the time of protection, in the restrictions on the subject matter of protection and in the form of appointment of the presidency…