Committee of Ministers

1. The GMC held its 17th plenary meeting from 22 to 24 June 1999 with Mr L. Salazar (Italy) in the Chair. The plenary meeting followed a meeting of the Working Group on administrative law (GMCA).

The list of participants is to be found in Appendix I.

2. The agenda, as adopted by the GMC, is set out in Appendix II.

3. The GMC held a preliminary discussion on the draft Recommendation on codes of conduct for public officials, containing, as an appendix, the Model Code of Conduct for public officials. Ms N. Constantinescu, Chair of the GMCA, described the main features of the draft finalised by her working group, appearing in document GMC (99) 10 revised, and during the ensuing discussion clarified certain aspects of the text at the request of members of the GMC.

The GMC was pleased with the quality of the proposed draft Recommendation and warmly thanked the members of the GMCA, especially its Chair, for their excellent work. Since it was aware that the Model Code of Conduct was eagerly awaited, the GMC established a procedure to speed up the adoption of the text. Having considered the timetable for consultation of the CDCJ with Mr V. de Gaetano, Chair of that committee, the GMC agreed to give the draft text a first reading, article by article, at its next meeting in September 1999. It planned to finalise the text, in the light of the CDCJ opinion, at its December 1999 meeting and to submit it to the Committee of Ministers for adoption early in the year 2000.

4. The GMC resumed consideration of the draft civil law Convention on corruption, approved at second reading at its 16th meeting (24-26 February 1999, cf. GMC (99) 9), as set out in document GMC (98) 35 rev3, in the light of the opinion adopted by the CDCJ at its 71st meeting (18-21 May 1999, cf. GMC (99) 12) and Opinion No. 213 (1999) of the Parliamentary Assembly (cf. GMC (99) 13). It also examined the comments made by Transparency International (cf. GMC (99) 3) and by the International Chamber of Commerce (cf. GMC (99) 7) and took account of the Legal Adviser's opinion on the draft convention (cf. GMC (99) 2).

The GMC agreed to amend the draft text resulting from the second reading (GMC (99) 35 rev3) as follows:

i) insert a reference to the 22nd Conference of European Ministers of Justice (Chisinau, 17 and 18 June 1999) in the Preamble;

ii) bring the English version of Article 8, paragraph 2 into line with the French;

iii) adapt the wording of Article 10 to take account of the European Community directives on accounting;

iv) amend Article 15 to facilitate accession of the European Community (EC) to the Convention and insert a new paragraph on its participation in the GRECO;

v) amend Article 19 to take account of the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam and of the EC's competence in matters of civil procedure.

At the end of the discussion the GMC approved by consensus the draft civil law Convention on corruption, as set out in document GMC (99) 17, and decided to transmit it to the Committee of Ministers with a view to its adoption and opening for signature.

5. See item 4 above.

6. See item 4 above.

7. The GMC examined the revised draft Explanatory Report to the draft civil law convention on corruption, containing the amendments agreed at the 16th meeting (24-26 February 1999, cf. GMC (99) 9), set out in document GMC (98) 37 rev. 3. It decided to introduce some further amendments, as listed in Appendix III to the present report.

At the end of the discussion, the GMC agreed to transmit to the Committee of Ministers the text of the Explanatory Report to the draft Convention, as set out in document GMC (99) 18, so that its publication be authorised at the time of the adoption of the Convention.

8. The GMC took note of the programme and the state of preparations for the 4^th Conference of Specialised Services in the Fight against Corruption, scheduled to take place in Limassol (Cyprus) from 20 to 22 October 1999 on the theme of "Off-shore centres and international co-operation against corruption: obstacles and solutions", in the light of document GMC (99) 14 and of oral information supplied by Mr G. Papaioannou (Cyprus) and the Secretariat.

9. Having taken note of the information contained in document GMC (99) 15, the GMC accepted Azerbaijan's request to participate in the GMC’s work as an observer.

10. The GMC noted with satisfaction that on 1 May 1999 Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, joined by Poland on 19 May 1999, had adopted Resolution (99) 5 establishing the GRECO. In this connection, the GMC took note of information provided by MM. A Kara (Hungary) and Z. Horvatic (Croatia) concerning their countries' prospects of joining the GRECO.

The GMC was also pleased to note that the GRECO's Statutory Committee had held its first meeting on 14 June 1999 and that as soon as that committee will have adopted the budget of this enlarged partial Agreement for the period from 1 September to 31 December 1999 the GRECO could begin its activities, probably starting in September 1999.

11. The GMC was informed of developments in its sector of activities within the OECD, in particular the entry into force on 1 March 1999 of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and the launching of the procedure of mutual evaluation of the implementation of that convention. The GMC noted that the OECD's future work would focus on solicitation, unlawful financing of political parties, private corruption and offshore centres. The GMC was also informed of forthcoming conferences being organised by the OECD to encourage non-member states to accede to the convention.

With regard to the European Union, the GMC took note of the measures adopted to set up the Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).

12. The GMC looked at the text of the Act on corruption passed by Belgium on 10 February 1999 and instructed the Secretariat to make it available to all members as a GMC document.

14. The GMC decided to hold a discussion at its next meeting on further action needed to implement the Programme of Action against Corruption, since the terms of reference given to the GMC by the Committee of Ministers would expire on 31 December 2000.

15. The GMC decided to hold its 18th plenary meeting from 8 to 10 September 1999. A meeting of the GMCP on 7 September 1999 will precede that meeting.

The GMC decided to hold its 19th meeting from 7 to 10 December 1999. The meeting's division into plenary and working group sessions would be decided later.

ALBANIA / ALBANIE: Apologised for absence /Excusé

Mr Edmond HAXHINASTO (GMCA + GMC), Head, Co-ordination Department, Council of Ministers

Mr Martin ADENSAMER (GMC), Director, Directorate for Civil Law and Legislation, Federal Ministry of Justice

BELGIUM / BELGIQUE:

Mme Claire HUBERTS (GMC), Conseiller Juridique Adjoint, Service des questions pénales générales et internationales, Ministère de la Justice

M. David WARSON (GMC), Conseiller Adjoint, Direction de la Législation Civile, Ministère de la Justice

Mme Catherine GEERNAERT (GMCA + GMC), Directrice Générale du Service des Marchés Publics et des Subventions, Ministère de la Fonction Publique

M. Francis DORPE (GMCA + GMC), Conseiller, Service des Marchés Publics et des Subventions, Ministère de la Fonction Publique

Mr Dimitar KUMURDJIEV (GMC), Legal Adviser, member of the Commission on Protection of Competition

CROATIA / CROATIE:

Mr Željko HORVATIC (GMC), Head of Criminal Law Department, Law Faculty, University of Zagreb

Mr George PAPAIOANNOU (GMC), Counsel of the Republic, Law office of the Republic of Cyprus

CZECH REPUBLIC / REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE:

Dr. Robert FREMR (GMC), Judge, High Court in Prague

Mr Flemming DENKER (GMC), Deputy Director, The Public Prosecutor for Serious Economic Crime

ESTONIA / ESTONIE:

Mr Martin PERLING (GMCA + GMC), Superintendant, Department of the Estonian Security Police Board

FINLAND / FINLANDE):

Mrs Arja MANNER (GMC), Legal Counsellor, Ministry of Justice

M. Jean-Pierre BUEB (GMCA /GMC), Conseiller, SCPC (Service Central de Prévention contre la Corruption), Ministère de la Justice

Mme Marie-Odile BAUR (GMC), Magistrat, Bureau du Droit européen et international en matière civile et commerciale

Mr Margvelashvili ZAAL (GMCA + GMC), Deputy Director of International Law Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

GERMANY / ALLEMAGNE:

Mr Stefan GÖHRE (GMC), Judge, Federal Ministry of Justice

Mrs Sophia SOTIROPOULOU (GMC), Judge of the First Instance’s Court of Athens,

HUNGARY / HONGRIE:

Mr Ákos KARA (GMC), Legal Adviser, Ministry of Justice

ICELAND / ISLANDE: Apologised / Excusé

Mr Thorsteinn A. JONSSON (GMC), Director of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs, Arnarhvoli

ITALY / ITALIE:

M. Lorenzo SALAZAR (Chairman of the GMC/Président du GMC), Magistrat, Représentation Permanente de l'Italie auprès de l'Union Européenne

Mr Luigi Alessandro SCARANO (GMC), Magistrate attached to the Legislative Office of the Ministry of Justice

LATVIA / LETTONIE:

Ms Inese SVIKŠA (GMC), Head of Division of Public Law, Ministry of Justice

LIECHTENSTEIN:

Dr Helmut NEUDORFER (GMC), Judge, FL Obergericht

Ms Aušra BERNOTIENE (GMCA + GMC), Chief Expert, Department of International Treaties and European Integration, Ministry of Justice

LUXEMBOURG:

M. Jean-Paul FRISING (GMC), Procureur d'Etat adjoint, Parquet du Tribunal d'Arrondissement de Luxembourg, Palais de Justice

MALTA / MALTE:

Dr Silvio MELI (GMCA + GMC), Magistrate, Courts of Law, Republic Street

Mr Radu BUJOREANU (GMC), Chief of Treaties Section, General Department for European Law and Treaties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Mr Stanislav PAVLOVSCHI (GMC), Deputy Head, Department of Investigation on exceptional cases, Prosecutor General’s Office

Mr Gerard LANKHORST (GMC), Senior Lawyer, Legislation Dep. H526, Ministry of Justice

Ms Guri HESTFLÅTT (GMC), Senior Executive Officer, Legislation Department, Royal Ministry of Justice and the Police

Mr Jacek GARSTKA (GMC), Judge, Department of International Co-operation and European Law,

Ministry of Justice

M. Jorge ROSARIO TEIXEIRA (GMC), Directeur Général Adjoint, Ministère de la Justice

ROMANIA / ROUMANIE:

Mme Nadia Ileana CONSTANTINESCU (GMCA + GMC), Conseillère Juridique Principale (Legal Adviser), Direction des Relations juridiques Internationales et de l'intégration européenne, Ministère de la Justice

Mrs Elena LAGOVSKAIA (GMCA + GMC), International Law Specialist, International Criminal Law, Moscow Law Institute

SAN MARINO / SAINT MARIN: /

SLOVAKIA / SLOVAQUIE:

Mrs Jana VNUKOVÁ (GMC), Head of the European Integration Division, Ministry of Justice

SLOVENIA / SLOVENIE: Apologised for absence / Excusé

Mr Klaudijo STROLIGO (GMC), Director of the Office for Money Laundering Prevention, Ministry of Finance

Mme Maria Luz PUERTO MENDOZA (GMCA + GMC), Chef du Service des Conventions Internationales, Ministère de la Justice

SWEDEN / SUEDE:

Mr Anders DEREBORG (GMC), Associate Judge of Appeal, Ministry of Justice

Mr Håkan ÖBERG (GMC), Legal Adviser, Ministry of Justice

SWITZERLAND / SUISSE:

Mme Chantal FAVRE (GMCA), Adjointe Scientifique, Section Droit Pénal – partie spéciale, Office Fédéral de la Justice, Département Fédéral de Justice et Police

M. Dieter FREIBURGHAUS (GMC), Adjoint scientifique, Division des Projets de Législation, Office Fédéral de la Justice, Département Fédéral de Justice et Police

"THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA"/ "L'EX-RÉPUBLIQUE YOUGOSLAVE DE MACEDOINE":

M. Stevan CIGARIDOV (GMCA + GMC), Inspecteur général contre la Corruption, Ministère de l'Intérieur

M. Ates Hasan SÖZEN (GMC), Juge, Direction Générale du Droit international et des Relations extérieures

Mr Rusen GÜLTEKIN (GMC), Juge, Direction Générale du Droit international et des Relations extérieures, Ministère de la justice

Mr German GALUSCHENKO (GMCA+GMC), Chief Legal adviser, Foreign Policy Directorate, Administration of the President of Ukraine

UNITED KINGDOM / ROYAUME-UNI:

Mr Ray SAMS (GMC) (Vice-Chairman of the GMC, Vice-Président du GMC), Head of Civil Law Development Division, Lord Chancellor's Department, Selborne House

Mr Vincent A. DEGAETANO, Judge, Courts of Justice, Judges’ Chambers, The Law Courts Chairman of the CDCJ / Président du CDCJ

REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CDPC / REPRESENTANT DU CDPC

Mrs Marjorie BONN, Ministry of Justice Chairman of the CDPC / Président du CDPC

Apologised for absence / Excusée

Mr Bertrand DE SPEVILLE (GMCA + GMC), De Speville & Associates, Anti-Corruption Consultants

Mr Thomas EUSTAQUIO (GMC), Administrateur principal DG H III (Justice & Home Affairs), Secrétariat Général du Conseil

Mme Anne-Marie ROUCHAUD (GMC), Administrateur principal, Secrétariat Général, T-F/JAI3 (Task-Force in Justice and Home Affairs)

Mr John H. SIMS (GMC), Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Justice, East Memorial Building

Mme Odile GANGHOFER (GMC), Docteur en Droit

JAPAN / JAPON: Apologised for absence / excusé

Mr Akira ANDO, Consul of Japan, General Consulate of Japan

Ms Denise HART (GMC), Consulate Representative, US Consulate in Strasbourg

Mr Sergei KOLOS (GMC), Director of Legal Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA / BOSNIE et HERZEGOVINE: /

MEXICO / MEXIQUE:

M. Rafael LAVEAGA RENDÓ (GMC), Deputy Attaché, Office of the Attorney General of Mexico for Europe

Mr. Guillermo FONSECA LEAL (GMC), Director of Legal Studies and Projects, Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Legal and International Affairs

NEW- ZEALAND / NOUVELLE-ZÉLANDE: /

Mr Daud ILYAS (GMC), Senior Legal Adviser, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development]

Professeur Catherine KESSEDJIAN (GMCC+GMC), Secrétaire Général Adjoint

ICPO-INTERPOL / OIPC-INTERPOL: Apologised for absence / Excusé

M. Souheil EL ZEIN (GMC), Directeur des Affaires Juridiques, INTERPOL

M. Frederic WEHRLE (GMC), Administrateur, Unité de Lutte contre la Corruption, Direction des affaires financières et fiscales

Mr Fernand BATARD (GMC), Office des Nations Unies à Vienne

Mr Louis FORGET (GMC), Legal Adviser of Institutional Affairs

Mr Manuel LEZERTUA, Principal Administrative Officer, Directorate of Legal Affairs, Division of Crime Problems / Administrateur Principal, Direction des Affaires Juridiques, Division des Problèmes Criminels

(Secretary to the GMC / Secrétaire du GMC)

M. Rafael BENITEZ, Administrative Officer, Directorate of Legal Affairs, Division of Public and International Law / Administrateur, Direction des Affaires Juridiques, Division du Droit Public et International

(Secretary to the GMCA / Secrétaire du GMCA)

Mr Gianluca ESPOSITO, Administrative Officer, Directorate of Legal Affairs, Division of Private Law / Administrateur, Direction des Affaires Juridiques, Division du Droit Privé

(Secretary to the GMCC / Secrétaire du GMCC)

Mme Natalia VOUTOVA, Administrative Officer, Directorate of Legal Affairs, Division of Crime Problems / Administrateur, Direction des Affaires Juridiques, Division des Problèmes Criminels

(Secretary to the GMCP / Secrétaire du GMCP)

Mme Elisabeth MAETZ, Assistante secrétariale, Direction des Affaires Juridiques, Division des Problèmes Criminels

GMCA: Mr Robert Van MICHEL, Mr Jean SLAVIK, Mme Christine FARCOT

GMC: Mr Robert Van MICHEL, Mr Amath FAYE, Mme Christine FARCOT

i     )  Introduction in the Preamble of a reference to Resolution n° 3, adopted by the 22^nd Conference of          European Ministers of Justice (para 9 ER);

ii    )   reference to the Criminal law Convention on corruption (ETS n° 173) and to the Agreement setting up the GRECO (paras 10 and 92 ER);

iii   )   more detailed account of the procedure followed for the elaboration of the Civil law Convention (para 20 ER);

iv   ) insertion of additional details on the nature of the compensation for non-pecuniary damage (paras 37-39);

v    )   insertion of additional details on the nature of the damage (paras 40 and 43-44 ER)

vi   ) indication of the possibility of making use of a wider concept of «causal link» (para 45 ER);

vii  )      clarification to the effect that, whenever the plaintiff is not the victim, the behaviour that is to be taken into account is that of the victim (para 51 ER);

viii )     clarification of the impact of the Convention on the conditions for filing a claim against the State for acts of corruption committed by its officials (para. 47 ER);

ix   )      indication that it is for the national judge to decide on the status of the contract undermined by an act of corruption (para. 64 ER);

x    )     enumeration of the EC directives which have inspired Article 10 of the draft Convention (para 72 ER);

xi   )   assertion that the Parties are free to decide when to adopt interim measures (para 81 ER);

xii  )      addition of a paragraph on mutual legal assistance in civil matters in cases where no treaties are in force between the Parties (para 91 ER);

xiii )       addition of a sentence to complete the motives justifying the number of ratifications (14) for the entry into force of the Convention (para 97 ER);

xiv)        adaptation of the part of the ER relating to the final clauses, following the amendments made to Articles 15 and 19 of the draft Convention (para. 98 and 100 ER);

xv)      harmonisation of the two language versions, correction of mistakes or omissions and introduction of drafting improvements.