Failures of the Anti-Corruption Agency in the implementation of the Law on Declaration of Assets

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Pristina, August 26, 2021 – The FOL Movement held a press conference today, in which case it published the report “(Non) implementation of the Law on Declaration of Assets by the Government of Haradinaj, Kurti 1 and Hoti”.

Mexhide Demolli Nimani, executive director of the FOL Movement, said that this report, in addition to an analysis of the current law that is in force and the draft law that is being drafted by the current government, has also monitored the publication of asset declaration forms by the Anti-Corruption Agency and offers the data for each of the ministers and deputy ministers of the three previous governments such as the Haradinaj Government, the Kurti 1 Government and the Hoti Government regarding compliance with the legal deadlines for the declaration of assets on the occasion of appointment, the regular annual declaration and the declaration on the occasion of dismissal or the end of the mandate.

Meanwhile, Albana Hasani, researcher at the FOL Movement, said that from the main findings of the report regarding the observance of legal deadlines by the ministers and deputy ministers of the three governments, it appears that:

-Out of the 131 ministers/deputy ministers of the Haradinaj Government, only 62 of them had respected the legal deadlines for declaration of wealth when appointed to these positions (that is, within one month of being appointed to office), as well as the regular annual declaration, but none of he did not declare his assets upon handing over his official duties.

– Of the 45 ministers/deputy ministers of the Kurti 1 Government, only 20 of them have respected the legal deadline for declaring assets when appointed to these positions. However, only 15 of them have made the declaration of assets when they take office or when they are dismissed from office.

– Meanwhile, out of the 77 ministers/deputy ministers of the Hoti Government, only 32 of them have respected the legal deadline for declaring assets when appointed to these positions, declaring assets within the period provided by law. Meanwhile, none of the officials of this government have declared their assets when they take office or when they are dismissed.

These data, therefore, are based on the forms published on the official website of AKK. Also, it should be noted that, despite the fact that these officials did not declare their assets upon appointment, dismissal or dismissal, these officials do not appear “on the list of persons who have not declared their assets”, published on the web the website of the AKC. Details for each official from these three Governments can be found in the report by clicking here.

Based on these findings and the analysis of the current legal framework and the draft law that is being worked on by the Government of Kosovo, FOL gives the following recommendations:

  • To increase the vigilance of public officials regarding the observance of the legal deadlines for the declaration of assets upon appointment, the regular annual declaration and the declaration upon the end of the mandate or dismissal;
  • To remove the category of doctors, professors and university assistants from the list of declarative subjects of the declaration of wealth, which is foreseen to be made in the new Law on the Declaration of Wealth. This is because the inclusion of these categories would endanger the impossibility of implementing the law in practice, due to the lack of capacities and human resources of AKK, as well as it would affect their discouragement in performing their functions. The law should focus on senior public officials and some other categories that are potentially more exposed to corruption;
  • Remove the possibility of accepting random gifts from public officials;
  • To increase the cooperation of the competent agency with the police, the prosecution, the tax administration, the Financial Intelligence Unit and other relevant institutions regarding the exchange of data and information regarding the declaration of assets;