Profiles: Catalonia, Spain
Last Updated: September 2011
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SNAPSHOT
The Anti-Fraud Office is an independent sub-national institution that aims to enhance the integrity of the public sector in Catalonia, Spain by preventing and investigating corruption, such as the illegal use or allocation of public funds or any other irregular appropriation arising from acts involving conflict of interests or the use for private benefit of information derived from the inherent functions of personnel in the service of the public sector. It is a public-law entity with a legal personality of its own and full capacity to act, created by Act 14/2008 of November 5th, on the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia. The Office is situated under Parliament, which legitimates it and guarantees its independence so as to carry out equably and effectively the functions entrusted to it.
Does your government have a single or primary anticorruption strategy?
There is no specific package of measures to fight against corruption that has been approved.
What are the main anticorruption laws of your country?
In Spain and in the autonomous community of Catalonia the following laws and regulations are the main anti-corruption laws:
- Codes and duties of conduct of the Government and of public employees: Act 30/1992, of November 26th, on the legal regime of the Public Administrations and on common administrative procedure (articles 28 and 29 on duty of abstention and challenge); Legislative Decree 1/1997 of October 31st, approving consolidation into a single text of the precepts of certain legal statutes in force in Catalonia in relation with government operation (Chapter 4 On duties and responsibilities); Order APU/516/2005, providing for publication of the Agreement of the Council of Ministers of 18 February 2005, which approved the Code of Good Government for the members of regional government and senior officials in central government; and Act 7/2007, of April 12th, on the Basic Statute for public employees (ss. 52 to 54).
- Incompatibilities and conflicts of interest: Act 53/1984, of December 26th, on incompatibilities affecting personnel in the service of government departments ; Act 21/1987, of November 26th, on incompatibilities affecting personnel in the service of the Government of Catalonia; Act 13/2005, of December 27th, on the regime of incompatibility of senior officials in the service of the Government of Catalonia; and Act 5/2006 of April 10th, on regulation of the conflicts of interest of the members of the Catalan Government and of Senior Officials of Central Government.
Is there one agency in charge of coordinating AC efforts across agencies?
| Functions | Prevention,Investigation |
|---|---|
| Permanent Staff | 47 |
| Number of prosecutors(if applicable) | |
| Number of investigators (if Applicable) | 9 (not taking into account the Analysis Department where there are 11 members of the staff). |
Number of cases handled annually
Until 31st sept. 2009: 45 and 2010: 146.
| Budget Autonomy | Yes |
|---|---|
| Annual Budget of the Agency | US$ 7.02 Million |
| Per Capital Expenditure | |
| Expeniture as % of the GDP | |
| Are employees protected by law from recrimination or other negative consequences when reporting corruption (i.e. whistle-blowing)? | Yes |
| Does your country have freedom of information legislation? | No |
| Does your country have conflict of interest legislation? | Yes |
| Does your country have a financial disclosure system to help prevent conflicts of interest? | Yes |
| Who appoints the head of your agency? | The director of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia is chosen by Parliament at the proposal of the Government. The director of the Anti-Fraud Office is appointed by the president of Parliament and must take possession of the post within a period of one month from the date of publication of the appointment in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (official gazette of the government of Catalonia). |
| Who has the authority to remove the head of the ACA? | The dismissal of the director of the Anti-Fraud Office must be proposed by the pertinent parliamentary committee (Committee of Institutional Affairs); the director has the right to attend the committee meeting and to speak. The decision must be agreed by the Plenary Session of Parliament by three-fifths majority. If the required majority is not achieved a second vote must be carried out at the same Plenary session, and the dismissal will then require a favorable vote of the absolute majority of the members of the chamber. In all other cases, dismissal is decided by the president of the Parliament. |
| Is there any term limit for the head of the ACA? | Yes , 9 years non-renewable |
| Does your agency measure performance? | Yes Number of investigations launched Number of investigations completed |
| Full access to Government | Yes |