ACRC recommended improvement on 155 corruption risk factors in 71 statutes in the first half of this year

- ACRC made recommendations for improvement on 60 bylaws in conjunction with 30 public institutions -

July 16, 2020

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

In the first half of this year, Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Jeon Hyun Heui) conducted a Corruption Impact Assessment which found 155 corruption risk factors in 71 out of 1,010 enacted and revised statutes of central government agencies and recommended improvement thereon.

The ACRC analyzed that the recommendations for improvement in the first half of this year increased by about 50% from those made in the same period last year (103 corruption risk factors in 49 statutes) as it assessed not only statutes that are closely related to the real life of the people, but also specific factors that undermine the people’s right to know and fairness.

Major areas of improvement recommendations made this time include fleshing out and objectifying discretionary provisions to prevent corruption by controlling excessive exercise of discretionary authority (42 cases, 27.1%); establishing institutional tools to prevent conflicts of interest in the performance of public duties by public officials (41 cases, 26.5%); and enhancing predictability to ensure legal stability for the people (28 cases, 18.1%).

< Current Status of Improvement Recommendations by Assessment Area >

As for specific cases, the Enforcement Rules of the Child Welfare Act provides that the head of a local government is required to organize an “Expert Committee on Child Abuse Cases” to deliberate on: whether a complaint against child abuse is filed; whether measures to protect abused children is taken; and whether support is provided to abused children and their families, etc.

However, there is a risk of corruption due to the absence of a provision limiting the number of consecutive terms of office for members of the Expert Committee on Child Abuse Cases, and there is a problem that private interests of the Committee members could be involved in the process of deliberation due to the absence of a provision for prevention of conflicts of interest.

In response, the ACRC recommended that fairness and objectivity in the deliberation by the Committee should be increased by establishing a provision limiting the number of consecutive term of office for committee members and a provision on exclusion, recusal, and avoidance for members who have private interests in the matter concerned.

In addition, the Enforcement Decree of the Agricultural and Fishing Villages Improvement Act had problems that institutions that are deemed to have manpower, technology, and facilities to establish and operate the unoccupied house information system may be arbitrarily decided at the discretion of the person in charge due to excessively comprehensive and vague requirements for designation of such specialized institutions.

In response, the ACRC recommended specific requirements for designation of specialized institutions, such as specific qualifications for related technologies, the size of facilities needed, and the number of personnel required, should be established.

On the other hand, the ACRC conducted a corruption impact assessment in conjunction with 30 public institutions in order to remove corruption-causing factors inherent in bylaws in advance.

As a result of the assessment, a total of eight cases, including four cases in the area of contract, such as Korea East-West Power Co.’s “introduction of a provision to guarantee confidentiality of contents of proposed contracts,” and two cases in the area of audit, such as the Korea Environment Corporation’s “introduction of a provision to prohibit mitigation of disciplinary action taken due to in-work bullying,” were selected as best cases of bylaw improvement among the 60 corporate bylaw improvements prepared in the first half of this year. These cases will be distributed to other public institutions as examples of excellent improvement cases for reference.

ACRC Chairperson Jeon Hyun Heui said, “We will create a fair and transparent society by discovering and improving corruption-causing factors in the statutes of central government agencies and bylaws of public institutions that greatly affect people’s real lives.”