Feb52024

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 it has an institutional page on the Dialnet Bibliographic Portal.

The Library and Documentation Centre of the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community

Documentation centres and libraries have been directly affected by the cultural and social transformation linked to knowledge societies. The trend is for documentation centres and libraries to be identified as the most social centre within a parent institution, also providing meeting and training places, which requires combining the necessary flexibility in the design of spaces with the provision of a differentiated identity.

There is a commitment made explicit in Article 29 of the Agency’s regulations to build a reference documentation centre specialising in the prevention and fight against fraud and corruption, which is at the service of citizens.

We firmly believe that the collections and services of the library of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency have the potential to generate a positive impact on a group of specialized users that exceeds the staff of the AVAF, although to do so it is necessary to adapt resources and spaces. This opening of the AVAF’s documentary collections to a specialized public is one of its most important lines of work in its duty to build a reference documentation center, which is part of the network of specialized libraries and documentation centers of the Valencian Community, which contributes to the creation of a social culture of rejection of corruption with specific programs to raise awareness among citizens. All with the ultimate aim of preventing and eradicating fraud and corruption from Valencian public institutions and to promote integrity and public ethics.

The library and documentation centre of the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community was created to contribute to the creation of a social culture of rejection of corruption. It enables citizens to exercise fundamental rights such as access to information, education and culture. Citizen participation is essential for a free and informed citizenry to exercise its function of control over institutions, and to prevent and eradicate fraud and corruption in society as a whole.

Article published in the magazine Simile.

María Teresa López Ferrer, Head of the Documentation and Reports Service and Francisco Javier Saá Úbeda, Head of the Documentation Support Bureau

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Feb52024

The AVAF participates in Calp in the I conference “Ethics and integrity in public procurement”

#InvestigationAVAF

Calp.- February, 2, 2024

On February 2, Calpe City Council organized a training day under the title Ethics and integrity in public procurement in which the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency was invited to participate.

Gustavo Segura Huerta, director of the Analysis and Research Directorate of the AVAF, was the representative of the Agency and participated with the presentation “The management of the Internal Information system in the Local Administration.”

The Director of Analysis and Research shared the experience accumulated since 2017 in the management of the complaints mailbox of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, which was followed with great interest and participation.

The conference, held in the auditorium of the Casa de Cultura, also included as speakers the jurist and consultant on contracting, Javier Vázquez Matilla, the contracting department of the Calp City Council; Rocío Fernández Serrano, deputy deputy director of the Head of the Telematic Accounting Unit at the Court of Accounts; as well as Elena García Martínez, auditor of the Sant Vicent del Raspeig City Council, and Juan José Orquín Serrano, general deputy secretary of the Plenary Session of the Madrid City Council.

The training, in person, was aimed at civil servants related to and interested in public procurement as well as municipal political leaders, and more than 200 people from the public administrations of the Valencian Community and also from Andalusia, La Rioja, Murcia or Catalonia participated.

Feb12024

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency attends the presentation of the 2023 Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International

Madrid, January 31, 2024

Spain has obtained a score of 60 out of 100 points in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023 published today by Transparency International. Our country remains at the same figure as last year (CPI 2022), however, it drops one position in the world ranking, placing it in 36th place out of 180 countries and territories analyzed.

Irene Bravo, director of Prevention, Training and Documentation, and Pilar Moreno, training technician of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, attended the presentation of the results of the CPI 2023 at the Ortega – Marañón Foundation.

The day began with the Ortega – Marañón Foundation welcoming the attendees and the presentation of the methodology used to obtain the CPI by Silvia Bacigalupo, president of Transparency International Spain.

The professor of Political Science, Manuel Villoria, founder and member of the Board of Directors of Transparency International, Spanish chapter, analyzed the result obtained by Spain in which he highlighted the stagnation and certain setback that highlights the persistent challenge for progress in the prevention and fight against corruption in our country.

Spain’s score remains the same as the previous year, but it stands out that in the previous two years it experienced two consecutive declines, decreasing one point in 2022 and another in 2021. In the world ranking, our country has dropped four positions with respect to the CPI 2020 (32/180). This trend highlights, according to Transparency International, the difficulties that public policies in Spain still face to improve the prevention and fight against corruption.

In the CPI 2023 ranking, Spain is located, together with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Latvia, one place above Botswana (39/180), two above Qatar (40/180), and two places below Lithuania and Portugal (rank 34/80 and score 61/180).

The registration of interest groups, the reinforcement of conflict of interest and incompatibilities rules, as well as the development of a national strategic plan to combat corruption, the application of Law 2/2023, of February 20, regulating the protection of informants from regulatory infractions and the fight against corruption, together with the approval and implementation of the laws that remain to be approved of those included in the IV Open Government Plan, stood out as recommendations to be developed for a future improvement of the Spain’s position in the CPI 2023.

David Martínez, executive director of Transparency International Spain, exposed the link between corruption and injustice and expressed the global decline in justice and the rule of law since 2016. Transparency International calls on States to grant justice systems the independence, resources and transparency necessary to effectively prosecute all corruption offenses and establish appropriate controls to prevent it.

The director of Prevention, Training and Documentation of the AVAF, Irene Bravo, during question time, welcomed the recommendation made in the analysis of the CPI 2023 on the need to approve a national strategy to combat corruption, which includes preventive measures and a complete approach to public integrity to protect all types of public funds against any type of irregularity, since only in this way will it be possible to climb positions in the Corruption Perception Index.

The presentation of the CPI 2023 was attended by representatives of the Andalusian Anti-Fraud Office, the Transparency Council of Spain, the General Directorate of Public Governance of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Function, the Hay Derecho Foundation, among others.

The Corruption Perception Index, since its creation in 1995, has become one of the main global indicators of corruption in the public sector. The CPI scores 180 countries and territories around the world based on perceptions of the level of corruption in the public sector, using data from 13 external sources including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, private companies consultancy and risk assessment, specialist groups and other sources. The scores reflect the perspectives of business specialists, but not citizen perceptions.

Corruption, in light of the data and according to Transparency International, continues to be a serious problem that should put citizens and public authorities on alert.

Transparency International has been part of the Participation Council of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency since its constitution in October 2019. This council is the participation body of which civic and social organizations that stand out for their fight against fraud and corruption and for the promotion of public ethics and integrity.