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  • Politics Citizens denounce that Congress paralyzes its Law against corruption

PSOE and Unidas Podemos today forced the rejection of the Plenary of Congress to take into consideration an anti-corruption bill presented by Ciudadanos that sought to shield the plaintiffs for corruption and proposed measures such as the prohibition of pardons for politicians condemned by these crimes.

The Cs norm proposed reforms in organic laws such as the Penal Code or the Criminal Procedure Law , among others, to shield and protect public sector officials or workers who denounce corrupt practices, prohibit pardons for those convicted of corruption and introduce new penal types, such as illicit enrichment.

Both the PSOE spokesperson and the Podemos spokesperson have rejected the proposal because they consider it "out of date". And they have urged Cs to support the norm that they have said they plan to promote the Executive.

The consideration has only had the vote in favor of the PP, Vox, Cs and Más País. All the nationalists, for their part, have voted against with strong criticism of Cs for being "opportunistic".

In 2017, Congress did initiate the processing of a very similar proposal. However, as explained by the deputy spokesman for Cs, Edmundo Bal, the PP and the PSOE blocked the rule with the excuse that it was too broad. So now, Cs had filed non-nuclear aspects of the proposal and has focused it even more on the measures that the major parties basically agreed on, which two years ago opted to leave the norm in the limbo of the House. Low.

Among the novelties that the proposal now included are the creation of the Whistleblower Protection Statute , which transposes a European directive. Cs proposes that an independent administrative authority be created with a strong administrative sanctioning regime for cases in which the whistleblower protection rules are not complied with.

To this end, those workers in the public sector -or the contractors who work with it- who denounce alleged corrupt practices would be guaranteed the right to confidentiality and compensation at their workplace.

Likewise, they would have the right to receive information on the administrative situation of their complaint, to enjoy legal advice and to be compensated for the damages they may suffer for having reported.

The new authority would have full organic and functional independence from the Government. It would also supervise that the authorities and personnel of the state public sector comply with their obligations regarding conflicts of interest, incompatibility regime and good governance. And it could carry out investigations - with which it will be obligatory to collaborate - and impose sanctions.

The law proposal lists a series of infractions and classifies them as "minor", "serious" or "very serious". Among the latter are the violation of whistleblower protection measures and any retaliation that is applied against them, such as firing them, demoting them, changing their positions, lowering their wages, sanctioning them, coercing them or treating them unfavorably.

Minor offenses would be punished with a warning or a fine of between 200 and 5,000 euros; the serious ones, with a fine of between 5,001 and 30,000 euros; and the very serious ones, with a fine of between 30,001 and 400,000 euros.

Illicit enrichment

Bal highlights that the norm introduces new crimes, such as the unjustified illicit enrichment of public offices: that they cannot justify certain expenses or standard of living. Since politicians have to make a declaration of assets and activities at the beginning of their public activity, it may be a crime after they have excessive expenses that they cannot justify, since their income is public and must be published thanks to the transparency law.

The State lawyer highlights in conversation with EL MUNDO that this new legal figure "is not a rare thing in the world of Criminal Law ." "In terms of tax crime," he adds, "there is a typical figure that is the unjustified increase in assets that may constitute a tax crime." It would be something similar, but as a new criminal offense for politicians and public officials.

The proposal of the Anti-Corruption Measures Law aims to be "an integral framework to prevent, react and punish corruption, to end impunity for the corrupt and to protect those who denounce it in the interest of the general interest," as he explains. the text being debated today.

More time to investigate

It also modifies the Criminal Procedure Law to eliminate the limitation of maximum terms in criminal investigation. Sources of Citizens assure that this measure, which was approved by the PP Government, has caused that the most complex causes - such as those related to large corruption schemes - cannot be addressed in their entirety. Thus, certain crimes go unpunished.

In addition, the norm introduces the subsidiary civil responsibility of political parties, unions and business organizations for the crimes that their positions, employees, dependents or representatives have committed in the performance of their obligations or services.

Sources from the Cs Parliamentary Group almost certainly start the process because "few are going to be the ones who dare to vote against today." In addition, his new relationship with the Government and his status as a government or electoral partner of the PP make Cs a key player, albeit with a small number of seats, in Parliament .

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Citizens
  • PP
  • PSOE
  • Edmundo Bal
  • Corruption
  • Congress of Deputies

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