Strengthening the structure of anti-corruption organizations

(I) Demonstrating the functions of the Central Integrity Committee (CIC) (Measures 2 and 24).

Measures 2 ： The establishment of the Central Integrity Committee (CIC) to ensure the coordination of the anti-corruption efforts of the various agencies in Taiwan.

Measures 24：Promoting effective cooperation between national authorities (A. 38) under the guidance of the CIC.

1. For integrity issues involving cross-ministerial endeavor was discussed overy by members of the Central Integrity Committee (CIC) of the EY at the committee meeting and implemented upon approval. Ministers of state without portfolios may coordinate related ministries and commissions for more effective solutions and better cross-ministerial cooperation. The table below shows the resolutions made according to the chairperson‟s instructions at the committee meetings over time.

CIC Meeting

Issue Summary of Resolution

2nd Proposal by the MOEA:

Report on “Strengthening the

Related units including MOEA and MOTC should plan and progressively strengthen the promotion to effectively

48 Promotion of Riverbed Quarry

Management and Prospects”

improve riverbed quarry management.

3rd Proposal by the MOJ: Report on “Review of Major

Corruption Cases and Improvement of Local Systems”

The MOJ should draft explicit strategies for the

Directorate-General of Personnel Administration (DGPA) overall planning to facilitate the cross ministerial discussion between Judicial Yuan and Examination Yuan.

4th Proposal by the TICT: Report on “Anti-Corruption Actions in the Private Sector: The

Overlooked Part in Integrity Governance”

The FSC should direct the MOEA, MOF, MOTC, Council for Economic Planning and Development, EY (now NDC), PCC and MOJ, to discuss and establish various handbooks relating to integrity governance, and invite related

departments to discuss how to implement the integrity evaluation, and appropriately incentivize enterprises.

6th Proposal by the MOJ: Report on “Functions, Positioning, and Linkage with the Upcoming MOJ-AAC of the CIC”

The CIC is an important platform to increase the productivity of policies for integrity improvement and supervise the anti-corruption efforts. Department heads are expected to attend the CIC meetings in person. All

important policies, bills, or projects of the CIC should be reported.

11th Proposal by the MOJ:

Discussion of “Including Integrity-Related Courses in the Compulsory Training Length of Civil Servants”

The DGPA should make proper planning for the design of the contents and administration methods of integrity-related courses in collaboration with the MOJ.

14th Proposal by member

Chih-Chieh Lin: Discussion of

“Request for the Establishment of the Whistleblower

Protection Regulations for both the Public and Private Sectors:

For the corruption exposure of the private sector, the MOF can assess the feasibility of establishing related laws and regulations in collaboration with the commercial, financial, political, economic, banking, transportation, and labor departments.

20th Proposal by the MOJ: Report on “Current Anti-Corruption Trends and Analysis”

Regarding councilors‟ claiming assistant fees with dummy accounts, the AAC, MOI, DGPA, and related departments should study and discuss how to prevent similar crimes from recurrence.

22nd Proposal by the MND: Report on “Preparations for the Evaluation of the Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index (GDAI)”

Competent authorities including the MOJ, MOI, MOEA, and PCC should give full support for the MND. Besides providing the resources required for evaluation, these departments should help review and make improvements.

2. At the 22nd CIC meeting on October 17, 2019, four reports were released: “Progress of Chairperson‟s Assignments in Previous Meetings” (NDC), “Current Anti-Corruption Trends and Analysis” (MOJ), “Improvements in Police Administration and

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Anti-Corruption: Starting from Anti-Corruption and Corruption Prevention” (National Police Agency, MOI), and “Preparations for the Evaluation of the Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index (GDAI)” (MND). According to the chairperson‟s instructions, all are included in personnel management and evaluation for continuous follow-up.

The minutes of the meeting have been published on the MOJ and AAC websites.

3. At the CIC meetings over time, a total of 53 reports were released, 21 discussions were conducted, 10 extempore motions were made, and 136 cases were under monitoring, including 132 were deregulated for monitoring.

(II) Maintaining close cooperation between AAC and MJIB (Measures 6 and 11)

Measures 6：The establishment of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) in 1949 and the Agency Against Corruption (AAC) in 2011 as the two agencies conducting anti-corruption work.

Measures 11：In the meantime, the MJIB and AAC should continue to work closely together in the investigation of corruption cases in both the public and private sectors.

With respect to the “Organic Act of the Agency Against Corruption, Ministry of Justice,”

the AAC is in charge of combating corruption in the public sector and command and management of the administrative resources of the civil service ethics units of all administrative entities under its jurisdiction; while the MJIB is in charge of corruption and economic crimes in the private sector. The cooperation can thus synergize their strengths to prevent corruption in both the public and private sectors.

1. Collaboration in corruption investigation

The AAC and MJIB establish a responsible window as a liaison mechanism and collaborate in corruption investigation to effectively enforce a compound deployment mechanism and demonstrate the synergy of individual investigations and joint operations.

The table below shows the achievements in the last three years.

Year Frequency of

Collaborations

Joint Investigation Cases

2017 102 times 19 cases

2018 62 times 29 cases

2019 66 times 39 cases

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January-May 2020 36 times 8 cases

From the MOJ’s establishment of the

“Agency Against Corruption and Investigation Bureau of Ministry of Justice Collaboration Guidelines” in

August 2013 until May 2020

528 times 139 cases

Note: “Frequency of Collaborations” refers to the liaisons between AAC and MJIB responsible personnel according to the “Agency Against Corruption and Investigation Bureau of Ministry of Justice Collaboration Guidelines,” such as confirmation of case establishment and the sequence of case establishment. “Joint Investigation Cases” refers to the joint investigation of the same or related corruption case by the AAC and MJIB under the direction of a responsible (chief) prosecutor.

2. Liaisons of anti-corruption work

(1) On November 29, December 5, and December 10 in 2018, the Taipei City Field Office, Taichung City Field Office, and Kaohsiung City Field Office of the MJIB and the Northern Investigation Office, Central Investigation Office, and Southern Investigation Office of the AAC organized the northern, central, and southern region anti-corruption liaison meetings respectively.

(2) On May 15, 2019, the AAC organized the “38th MJIB and AAC Business Liaison Meeting.” On July 23 in the same year, the AAC and MJIB co-organized the “2019 Anti-Corruption Business Joint Meeting” for a business exchange on matters requiring joint operations, matters requiring mutual coordination and cooperation, case investigation and handling, safety status reporting, coordination, and support. After the proposal discussion, they decided on implementation based on the resolutions. Both entities maintain constant liaisons and cooperation to make anti-corruption smoother.

(3) In 2019 the Supreme Prosecutors Office held four “Anti-Corruption Supervisory Team Meetings” with the presence of the Department of Prosecutorial Affairs and Investigation Bureau of the MOJ, AAC, and Prosecutors offices at all levels to analyze and discuss the not-guilty judgment of corruption cases, internal control and audit mechanisms of civil service ethics personnel, and the corruption prevention system in local infrastructure projects. The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, and the Taichung Branch, Tainan Branch Office, and Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, held a total of six

“Litigation Jurisdiction Anti-Corruption Liaison Meetings” in the presence of

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prosecution, investigation, and anti-corruption entities to strengthen the communication and liaison of anti-corruption work.

(4) Please refer to section B-I-(IV)-2 Holding the “Prevention and Investigation of Economic Crime Meeting” to review the effectiveness of combating and focus of the investigation of corrupt practices in the private sectors in this report regarding liaisons and cooperation in anti-corruption for the private sector.

(III) Reviewing the current anti-corruption organizational framework; considering a single dedicated anti-corruption agency (Measures 4 and 10)

Measures 4：The CIC should review the current anti-corruption organisational framework to identify any obstacles to cooperation and coordination among the agencies involved in combating and preventing corruption and to minimise overlapping and duplication of functions.

Measures 10：As the international best practice is to rely on a single dedicated anti-corruption agency (ACA), the government should consider adopting this practice and provide the ACA with the necessary resources to function effectively.

1. In terms of corruption prevention, combating corruption through different sources in collaboration with corruption prevention work is the most effective way to eliminate corruption. In “combating corruption,” the AAC supervises civil service ethics units to discover corruption clues inside entities, while the MJIB unearths corruption clues outside of entities. The AAC and MJIB form a compound network and crossfire network to combat corruption. In corruption prevention, the AAC plans and implements the Sunshine Acts and related preventive measures to effectively enhance the level and effectiveness of Taiwan‟s corruption prevention. Please refer to section B-III-(II)-1 Collaboration in corruption investigation in this report for details.

2. The AAC and MJIB establish a horizontal liaison platform and set up stationary liaison windows. Apart from maintaining mutual communication, coordination, and support through the periodic “Anti-Corruption Supervisory Team Meeting” of the Supreme Prosecutors Office, the “Litigation Jurisdiction Anti-Corruption Liaison Meeting” of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office and its branches, the “Anti-Corruption Implementation

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Team Meeting” of district prosecutors offices, and the “AAC and MJIB Business Liaison Meeting,” the AAC and MJIB resolve the case overlapping and authorization conflicts through cooperation or collaborative investigation under the direction of prosecutors.

Where necessary, prosecutors can command both entities to investigate the same case to maximize the synergy of “individual investigations and joint operations and the crossfire network.” Please refer to section B-III-(II)-2 Liaisons of anti-corruption work in this report for details.

3. The table below shows the investigation results of accepted corruption intelligence by AAC of the last 3 years.

Year 2017 2018 2019 2020

January-May Corruption intelligence

filed under the

“Corruption-Ready”

category after acceptance

939 cases 1,016 cases 879 cases 348cases

Corruption intelligence filed under the

“Corruption Investigation” category

after filtering

440 cases 230 cases 218 cases 92 cases

Corruption intelligence referred to the prosecution for

investigation.

247 cases (Corruption 117

cases, non-corruption

130 cases)

218 cases (Corruption 120

cases, non-corruption

198 cases)

253 cases (Corruption 138

cases, non-corruption

115 cases)

93 cases (Corruption 51

cases, non-corruption 42

cases) Non-corruption cases

referred to the police and district prosecution by correspondence

5 cases 6 cases 2 cases 0 cases

Cases filed for

reference 284 cases 195 cases 99 cases 10 cases

4. The table below shows the corruption cases investigated by the MJIB in the last 3 years.

Year 2017 2018 2019 January-May

2020 Referred

(including by correspondence)

Prosecuted election corruption

85 cases 114 cases 357 cases 32 cases

53 corruption cases cases

Grand Total 466 cases 522 cases 851 cases 128 cases Number of

Suspects

Civil Servants 265 persons 299 persons 274 persons 58 persons Grand Total 1,777 persons 2,041 persons 3,316 persons 492 persons Amount of found criminal gains

(NTD) 2,116,519,318 10,813,474,463 556,577,522 79,483,645 (IV) Ensuring the independence of AAC (Measures 7 and 12)

Measures 7：The system of “resident prosecutors” stationed in the AAC to direct investigations and ensure their independence and the establishment of an advisory committee to provide external monitoring.

Measures 12：To ensure better independence of the AAC’s Advisory Committee, the Taiwan Government should consider the appointment of its AAC’s members by the Premier.

1. Directing investigations through “resident prosecutors” stationed in the AAC

The investigation of criminal cases confirmed by the AAC is directed by resident prosecutors who studies and analyzes in detail the situation and elements of crimes of individual cases to plan and design the investigation implementation plan before initiating the investigation. From January 2018 to May 2020, a total of 219 cases requiring a search and seizure were reported to the prosecution for approval and application for search warrants to the court, with a total of 6,957 personnel involved, to effectively capture the progress and enhance the efficiency of investigation.

2. Holding Advisory Committee Meeting

(1) The AAC has established an Advisory Committee with 11-15 members hired by the justice minister, with the AAC director-general being the convener and the AAC one deputy director-general being the deputy convener concurrently. Cross-ministerial members include one from each of the Department of Prosecution Affairs of the MOJ, the PCC, and the DGBAS. Other members are selected from experts, scholars, and partial individuals specialized in law, finance, economics, engineering, and healthcare.

Each member holds a term of two years to strengthen the committee‟s external supervisory power. The fifth committee consists of 15 members, including 10 males and 5 females, with a term of two years starting from September 1, 2019.

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(2) During December 2018 and March 2020, the committee held five committee meetings to review a total of 305 cases. Committee members provided consultation services and advised on AAC‟s major anti-corruption policies. Committee members also commented on cases filed for reference after an investigation based on their competencies through in-depth discussion before giving professional advice to enhance the transparency and impartiality of AAC‟s case management.

3. Levels of committee members

With respect to the “Directions for Establishment of the AAC Advisory Committee,” the number of experts, scholars, and impartial individuals shall be no less than one-half of all seats in the committee, and each enjoys a term of two years to strengthen the committee‟s external supervisory power. The collegiate system applies to the committee operation.

Committee members advise on various anti-corruption policies promoted by the AAC.

Before a committee meeting, committee members are entitled to freely access the records of cases filed for reference after an investigation by the AAC and make comments. The practice is absolutely independent. The assessment shows that the composition of the Advisory Committee is independent and diversified by nature. Each member can exercise his/her authority independently. Under the current appointment system and operation model, the committee is interdisciplinary and independent. Future adjustments can be made based on its operational effectiveness and opinions from different parts of society.

IV. Promoting the amendment and enforcement of laws and regulations relating to the