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Second Regional Conference: Improving Best Practices and Regional Cooperation in the Field of Internal Control

Description

The objective of this conference, organised by the OSCE Mission to Skopje, was to encourage accountable and transparent internal oversight mechanisms within the Police to fight against corruption in a democratic manner.

Summary

The conference was a continuation of a similar project implemented in 2010 when the first Regional Conference for the Units for Internal Control from the same countries was organized.

The Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje and MoIA State Secretary Ralf Breth opened the Conference, which was attended by 48 direct participants, police representatives from nine countries in the region, along with the representatives from the OSCE, as well as the co-organizers ICITAP, MoIA and EUROPOL. During the conference the attendants discussed various methods used in their countries to fight police corruption. The agenda also included criminal corruption investigations and examples of already established regional co-operation methods. Furthermore, the participants discussed the possible establishment of a regional co-operation network to fight police corruption which would include regular exchange of information between the countries in the region.

The program included three main subjects:

  • Investigative measures and acts for proving corruption,
  • Utilization of criminal procedure evidence obtained on the territory of a foreign country and
  • Practical examples of established regional cooperation.

Participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, and Macedonia attended the conference. Each delegation prepared a presentation on corruption, thereby explaining the problem, investigative measures, solving mechanisms as well as final results. Additionally, delegations elaborated on practical examples of already established cooperation between two countries and joint activities they have already undertaken.

Decisions

The most important conclusions and recommendations of the Conference are as follows:

  • The capacity building and the establishing of regional police cooperation are one of biggest advantages of the Conference.
  • In the future the attention should be put on organizing further training, focusing on the prevention of corruption, raising awareness and change of mentality and pro-active approach to combat existing police corruption.
  • To establish direct communication between the Police and the Units for Internal Control in the region.
  • To prioritize the training needs of the border police.
  • To eliminate the political influence on the Police as a key pre-condition to avoid corruption and misbehaviour among the Police.
  • The possibility of using media as a preventative tool, whereby the Police should not be afraid of media but should use them in the fight against the corruption.

The Conference once again proved that corruption is a phenomenon which ignores borders and requires efforts to fight against it on a regional level. The combat against corruption needs mutual cooperation and joint responses. Therefore, forums like this give opportunities to discuss problems and to develop possible future networks.