Peru has recently improved its efforts to fight domestic corruption. It must now sustain these efforts, extend them to fighting foreign bribery, and raise awareness of this crime, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.
The 44-country Working Group has just completed its Phase 2 evaluation of Peru’s implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, and related instruments.
The Working Group appreciates the importance that Peru places on fighting domestic corruption. However, Peruvian stakeholders are generally not aware of the foreign bribery offence and the Convention despite many Peruvian companies being internationally active and at risk of bribing foreign officials. Peru must therefore urgently raise awareness of this crime, including among the judiciary, law enforcement, relevant government authorities, and the private sector. Greater awareness would be essential for increasing the enforcement of Peru’s foreign bribery laws.
The Group made further recommendations to improve Peru’s fight against foreign bribery, including:
- Protect prosecutors from unjustified removals from cases
- Reduce the number of provisional and supernumerary judges and prosecutors
- Protect whistleblowers in the public and private sectors, and promote a whistleblowing culture
- Enhance co-ordination and oversight of mutual legal assistance requests to foreign countries
The report also highlights positive aspects of Peru’s efforts to fight foreign bribery. The Lava Jato Special Team has begun prosecuting many Peruvian politicians and officials at the highest levels. Successful conclusion of these cases will require Peru to maintain its resources and support to the Special Team. Also encouraging are recent reforms of the system for the appointment, discipline and dismissal of judges and prosecutors, though the impact of these efforts will be felt only in years to come. Peru has committed to improving its statistical collection in mutual legal assistance and money laundering enforcement. Its lawmakers also expressed their commitment to advance reforms that would address the Working Group’s concerns.
The OECD Working Group on Bribery adopted the report on 17 June 2021, including recommendations made to Peru on pages 70 - 75. In accordance with standard procedures, Peru will report to the Working Group orally in June 2022 on steps taken to implement key recommendations, and in writing in June 2023 on its implementation of all recommendations. This written report will be publicly available.
For further information, journalists are invited to contact the OECD Media Office.
For more information on Peru’s work to fight corruption, please see here.