Anti-corruption bill clears last hurdle

THE House yesterday unanimously approved anti-corruption legislation concerning the acquisition of property with unlawful means by public officials and declaration of their assets.

The legislation includes three bills with provisions on the acquisition of property with unlawful means by public officials, compulsory asset declaration by the President of the Republic, ministers and deputies, and compulsory asset declaration by other state officials including mayors and local councillors.

State officials will be checked by a committee made up of the auditor-general, the Internal Revenue Commissioner and a retired judge that would preside.
Inquiries will be launched in the cases where someone does not file a declaration or when a citizen made a sworn statement that a state official has avoided stating all his assets.

Under the new law, state officials and deputies are not obliged to state their spouses’ assets or those of their adult children.

The law takes effect on September 1, 2004 to give the necessary time to officials to prepare their declarations.

Sanctions for deputies would be decided in accordance with Parliamentary regulations while the President of the republic will decide on cases concerning ministers.

Lifting bank confidentiality during the investigation of a case would be allowed only when the relative constitutional provisions are observed and with the approval of the affected individual.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.