guidelines for reporting on strategy and action plan implementation

GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING ON STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN
IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OVERSIGHT
At a session held on July 1, 2013, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the
new National Anti-Corruption Strategy for the 2013-2018 time period (Official Gazette of RS,
no. 57/13) – hereinafter: the Strategy. At a session held on August 25, 2013, the Government of
the Republic of Serbia adopted the Action Plan for the implementation of the National AntiCorruption Strategy for the 2013-2018 time period (Official Gazette of RS, no. 79/13) –
hereinafter: the Action Plan.
The Action Plan specifies measures, activities, time frames, responsible parties, and resources
necessary for attaining the objectives set by the Strategy. Moreover, indicators for activity
monitoring were also suggested, as well as additional qualitative instructions to responsible
parties, with the purpose of guiding them through the projected activities.
The Action Plan entered into force on the day of its publication, September 6, 2013; deadlines
are applicable starting from this date.
Pursuant to Article 5, first paragraph, of the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency (Official
Gazette of RS, no. 97/08, 53/10, 66/11-US and 67/13-US), the Anti-Corruption Agency
(hereinafter: the ACA) is responsible for the oversight of the implementation of the National
Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan for implementing the National Anti-Corruption
Strategy.
Reporting of responsible parties
In order to ensure that the reporting process is as efficient and effective as possible, responsible
parties shall designate a person within the institution who will be in charge of regular
communication with the ACA regarding this subject; the person's contact information (telephone
and email) shall be given to the ACA. This person shall be responsible for monitoring the
implementation of the requirements set out in the Action Plan within the institution, of writing
and submitting reports to the ACA, attending meetings organized by the ACA related to
compliance with Action Plan requirements, and maintaining regular communication with the
ACA regarding this subject.
All responsible parties specified by the Strategy and Action Plan are required to submit quarterly
reports on the implementation of these documents to the ACA, in accordance with Article 62,
paragraph 2 of the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency.
Quarterly reports shall be submitted in print and electronic versions in the following order:
1. First quarterly report (for the period January 1 to March 31) – to be submitted by April
15;
2. Second quarterly report (for the period April 1 to June 30) – to be submitted by July 15;
3. Third quarterly report (for the period July 1 to September 30) – to be submitted by
October 15;
4. Fourth quarterly report (for the period October 1 to December 31) – to be submitted by
January 15;
Each quarterly report shall contain the following information:
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GUIDELINES
GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING ON STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN
IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OVERSIGHT
1. Statement on the realization of Action Plan activities, written in the following form:
Activity (- indicate the exact formulation of Action Plan activity -) was carried out in the manner
and within the time frame set by the Action Plan.
Or:
Activity (- indicate the exact formulation of Action Plan activity -) was not carried out in the
manner and within the time frame set by the Action Plan.
Or:
Activity (- indicate the exact formulation of Action Plan activity -) was not carried out, due to the
fact that the deadline for its realization has not yet passed.
Or:
The realization of the activity (- indicate the exact formulation of Action Plan activity -) is still in
the process of being completed.
2. Short description (no more than 500 words) of the measures undertaken in the course
of activity realization.
The description should encompass all the relevant measures undertaken with the aim of
completing the activity, e.g., passing a decision on forming a working group for the drafting of a
new regulation, hiring an expert to offer advice during the process, conducting comparative legal
analyses, number of meetings held by the working group, and so on.
If the activity involves adopting a new or amending an existing law or bylaw, this part should
contain the innovations introduced by the new regulation or its amendments, as well as a
clarification on the manner in which these innovations should contribute to the realization of the
measure in question.
3. Evidence of the accomplished activity, in accordance with indicators and the comment
accompanying the Action Plan activity.
The enclosed evidence may be as follows: decision on forming a working group for amendments
to the law, report on conducted analyses, program, list of participants, report on the evaluation of
training, and so on.
All evidence that may be submitted electronically shall be submitted in this manner, e.g.,
scanned decisions, reports, and analyses; if these are required to be published on the Internet,
links to their webpages shall be submitted. Furthermore, if an activity includes the adoption of
new legislation or amendments to current legislation, it is not necessary to submit the entire text
of new provisions in print; it suffices to indicate in which issue of the Official Gazette it was
published, or the internet address where it can be found.
4. Short explanation in case the activity was not completed or was not completed in the
manner or within the time frame set by the Action Plan.
The explanation may adduce, for example, lack of resources needed for activity realization, a
working group's inability to come to an agreement regarding the final version of a regulation,
delay in activity realization caused by other parties, etc. It is recommended that this explanation
be accompanied by appropriate proof, if any.
5. Suggestions for further action (optional), i.e., to amend a particular segment of the
Action Plan, e.g., extending a deadline, changing the responsible party, increasing necessary
resources, introducing additional comments, and so on. Each suggestion should be accompanied
by an appropriate explanation.
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GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING ON STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN IMPLEMENTATION AND
IMPLEMENTATION OVERSIGHT
GUIDELINES
The quarterly report shall contain all the abovementioned elements for each of the activities
required of the responsible parties.
Aside from these elements, the fourth quarterly report shall contain an annual cross-section, i.e.,
a list of all the activities which were or were not completed during the year.
As the Action Plan came into force on September 6, 2013, and has since been being
implemented, the first report on Strategy and Action Plan implementation that responsible parties
need to submit to the Agency is the fourth quarterly report, which shall encompass the period
from the start of the Action Plan implementation to December 31.
ACA reports
After the due dates for report submission for a particular quarterly period, the ACA will publish
on its website the list of responsible parties that submitted their reports respecting the deadline,
and of those who failed to do so. For the first three quarters, the ACA will also present a short
overview of activities completed in the last quarterly period; this report shall be published on its
webpage.
The information contained in the fourth quarterly report will be used for the annual report on
Strategy and Action Plan implementation. This report will be submitted to the National Assembly
within the annual report on the work of the ACA, before March 31 of the current year for the
previous year, in conformity with Article 26, paragraph 2 of the Law on the Anti-Corruption
Agency.
Aside from analyzing quarterly reports for the current year, the ACA also collects information on
Strategy and Action Plan implementation using the following methods:
1. Collecting relevant reports, research and analyses;
2. Organizing meetings with representatives of responsible parties and/or relevant
interested parties on the subject of particular activity realization, if necessary; and
3. Organizing gatherings on the subject of particular Action Plan activity realization, if
necessary.
The annual report on Strategy and Action Plan implementation is comprised of systematized and
processed data collected from quarterly reports, and using other methods as stated above. The
report shall be comprised of the following elements:
1. Overview of Action Plan activities which were completed and of those that were not
completed;
2. Problems encountered during the realization of Action Plan activities; and
3. Suggestions for overcoming these problems and for further action on the part of the
responsible parties.
Pursuant to Article 5, seventh paragraph of the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency, the ACA
gives opinions regarding Strategy and Action Plan implementation. In accordance with this
provision, in cases where Action Plan requirements were not complied with in the manner and
within the time frame set by this document, the ACA shall draw up specific opinions on Strategy
and Action Plan implementation, submit them to corresponding responsible parties, and make
them accessible to the public.
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GUIDELINES
GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING ON STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN
IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OVERSIGHT
FORM
for reporting on the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action
Plan for implementing the Strategy
Number and designation of objective and
measure
Activity
Responsible party
Deadline set by the Action Plan
Date of activity realization
Statement on activity realization
Short description of undertaken measures
List of evidence of completed activity
Short explanation whether the activity was
not completed, or was not completed in the
manner and within the time frame set by
the Action Plan
Suggestions for further action (optional)
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