Country reports for the anti-corruption network

This document contains a series of country reports produced by the Anti-Corruption Network (ACN), following a first round of monitoring.The ACN carries out country examinations to assess the progress of participating countries in implementing recommendations endorsed under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action plan.The Istanbul Action Plan (IAP) is an anti-corruption action plan for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Ukraine and was endorsed in 2003.

IAP implementation involves:

• the review of the legal and institutional framework for fighting corruption
• the implementation of the recommendations endorsed during the reviews
• the monitoring of progress in implementing the recommendations

The reviews are based on self-assessment reports prepared by the governments of the participating countries. These reports are evaluated by experts from ACN and OECD countries, who develop a draft of assessment and recommendations. The assessment and recommendations are then presented for the discussion and endorsement of the plenary meetings of the Istanbul Action Plan.

The first round of monitoring was held between 2004 and 2007, and involved examining responses by governments to a monitoring questionnaire, as well as on-site visits by experts from the ACN countries.

The monitoring reports evaluate the following areas:

• national anti-corruption policy, institutions, and enforcement
• legislation and criminalisation of corruption
• transparency of the civil service

Each country report includes recommendations dated 2004, a monitoring report dated 2006, and progress updates dated September 2007, June 2006, October 2005 and December 2004.

A second round of monitoring was launched in September 2007, and the draft procedure and questionnaire for the second round of monitoring were endorsed in June 2008 and received final approval by the ACN Steering Group in August 2008.