|
(Information as of 6 June 2005)
Date of deposit of instrument of ratification/acceptance or date of accession
The instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary-General of the OECD on 21 January 2000. The Convention entered into force internally on 21 March 2000 and was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as No. 25/2000 of the Collection of International Treaties.
(Czech translation of the Convention: http://mvcr.iol.cz/sbirka/2000/sb013-00m.pdf)
Deposit of instrument of ratification/acceptance: 21 January 2000
Entry into force of the Convention: 24 March 2000
Entry into force of implementing legislation: 9 June 1999
Implementing legislation
Act No. 96/1999 Coll., amendment to the Penal Code (Act No. 140/1961 Coll., Penal Code, as amended). This amendment introduced a new provision of Section 162a, which includes the definition of a bribe, as developed by the judiciary, and a definition of foreign public official, which implements definitions pursuant to Article 1 paragraph 4 of the Convention. These concepts apply to general bribery offences that are stipulated in Sections 160 – 162 of the Penal Code. Maximum penalty for aggravated active bribery (Section 161 paragraph 2) was increased from 3 to 5 years of imprisonment. All criminal offences, including corruption offences, are predicate offences for purposes of application of legislation against money laundering.
This amendment was published on 25 May 1999 and entered into force on 9 June 1999.
Act No. 492/2000 Coll., amendment to the Income Tax Act (Act No. 586/1992 Coll., as amended). This amendment introduced explicit prohibition of tax deductibility of bribes paid to foreign public officials pursuant to Article IV of the Revised Recommendation.
This amendment was published on 29 December 2000 and entered into force on 1 January 2001.
Auditors Act No. 254/2000 Coll., as amended, introduced a duty of the auditors to immediately, in writing, notify statutory and supervisory boards of the accounting unit of any detected facts, which may fall under corruption offences.
This law was published on 11 August 2000 and entered into force on 1 January 2001.
Amendment No. 353/2001 Coll. to Act on Accounting explicitly prohibited off-the-book accounts and off-the-book transactions and increased fines for accounting offences.
This amendment was published on 5 October 2001 and entered into force on 1 January 2002.
Amendment No. 473/2003 Coll. to Act on Accounting (No.561/1991 Coll., as amended), introduced international accounting standards (IAS) for consolidated accounts and also for annual accounts for companies whose securities are publicly traded.
This amendment was published on 16 December 2003 and entered into force on 1 January 2004.
Other relevant laws, regulations or decrees that have an impact on a country’s implementation of the OECD Convention or the Recommendations
As recommended during the Phase 1 Reviews, the Czech Republic enacted legislation explicitly denying the tax deductibility of bribes paid to foreign public officials. At present, the Czech authorities are engaged in the process of drafting a new Penal Code. The law on criminal liability of legal persons designed to implement part of the obligations stipulated by the Convention has been rejected by the Parliament. Therefore the Czech government is currently reconsidering the options for implementation of relevant obligations.
The Czech Republic is a State Party to the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. Therefore, it has, inter alia, the obligation to criminalise all cases of corruption of public officials, to prosecute such offences and to provide mutual legal assistance. It entered reservation as to criminalization of private sector corruption, since Czech law does not cover all such situations at present. The Czech Republic is also a State Party to Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption. Thus, it has, inter alia, the obligation to provide for a right to claim damages caused by corruption, establish sufficient regulation of accounting etc. Since 9 February 2002 the Czech Republic is engaged in GRECO the international body dedicated to fight against corruption and to monitor the implementation of both treaties.
Other information
Relevant authorities
All criminal offences, including corruption offences, should be reported to the law enforcement authorities (the Police of the Czech Republic or the Public Prosecutor’s Offices). Concrete suspicions of corruption cases in the Police of the Czech Republic should be reported to stiznosti@mvcr.cz. Concrete suspicions of corruption cases in the Czech judiciary should be reported to korupce@msp.justice.cz.
Relevant Internet links to national implementing legislation (not official version)
Czech wording of the amendment No. 96/1999 Coll. to the Penal Code:
http://mvcr.iol.cz/sbirka/1999/sb036-99.pdf
Czech wording of the amendment No. 492/2000 Coll. to the Income Tax Act:
http://mvcr.iol.cz/sbirka/2000/sb143-00.pdf
Czech wording of the Auditors Act No. 254/2000 Coll.:
http://mvcr.iol.cz/sbirka/2000/sb074-00.pdf
Czech wording of amendment No. 353/2001 Coll. to the Act on Accounting:
http://mvcr.iol.cz/sbirka/2001/sb134-01.pdf
Czech wording of amendment No. 437/2003 Coll. to the Act on Accounting:
http://mvcr.cz/sbirka/20003/sb145-03.pdf
Signature/Ratification of other relevant international instruments
The Czech Republic ratified the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (8 September 2000) and the Civil Law Convention (24 September 2003).
Working Group on Bribery Monitoring Reports
Phase 1: Review of Implementation of the Convention and 1997 Recommendation
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/13/40/2385959.pdf
Phase 2: Report on the Application of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and the 1997 Recommendation on Combating Bribery in International Business Transactions
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/3/59/37727436.pdf
|
