Proposal on Selected Public Institution

OVERVIEW OF ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION BANGLADESH

Prepared For: Sheikh Morshed Jahan Course Instructor Business Strategy Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka

Prepared By: Faisal Habib (ZR 64) Mirza Iftekhar Niaz (ZR 69) Kazi Noman Ahmed (ZR 74) Md. Raisul Chowdhury (ZR 101) Tanveer Kabir (ZR 102)

Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka August 20, 2013

Contents
Brief Profile of the institution ................................................................................................................. 1 Vision of Anti-Corruption Commission ................................................................................................. 1 Mission and goals of Anti-Corruption Commission ............................................................................... 2 Functions of Anti-Corruption Commission ............................................................................................ 2 Chairman and commissioners ................................................................................................................. 2 Schedule and Regulations followed by the commission ......................................................................... 3 Key Problems faced by the ACC ............................................................................................................ 3 The ACC at a glance (Statistics as of May 2007) ................................................................................... 4 1 Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................................................ 4 2. Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 5 3. Scope:.................................................................................................................................................. 5 4. Rationale: ............................................................................................................................................ 5 5. Limitations: ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Appendix A: Brief History of the ACC ................................................................................................... i The Bureau of Anti-Corruption and its Limitations............................................................................. i Anti-Corruption Commission .............................................................................................................. i Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... iii

Overview: Anti-Corruption Commission

Brief Profile of the institution
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is the organization responsible for identifying and fighting corruption throughout Bangladesh. It is often termed as in Bangla or DUDOC. This institution was formed in 23rd February, 2004 through an act promulgation that came into force on 9 May, 2004. Initially after formation, ACC wasn't able to have significant impact on the society regarding fighting corruption. But its reconstitution in February 2007, ACC began working with renewed energy and authority duly acceding to the United Nations' convention against corruption that was adopted by the General Assembly away back on 31 October 2003. (Wikimedia Foundation, 2013)

Vision of Anti-Corruption Commission

The Commission is guided by the following vision- to know, understand and prepare ourselves to completely erase corruption from our lives, if not reduce it. With regard to its vision, ACC has defined following activities as actionable offenses to make people aware of corruption: Bribery: It is the offering of money, services or other valuables to persuade someone to do something in return. Synonyms that are often used to address bribery: kickbacks, baksheesh (tips), payola, hush money, sweetener, protection money, boodle, and gratuity. Embezzlement: Taking of money, property or other valuables for personal benefit by the person to whom it has been entrusted. Extortion: Demanding or taking of money, property or other valuables through use of coercion and/or force. A typical example of extortion would be when armed police or military men exact money for passage through a roadblock. Synonyms include blackmail, bloodsucking and extraction. Abuse of discretion: The abuse of office for private gain, but without external inducement or extortion. Patterns of such abuses are usually associated with bureaucracies in which broad individual discretion is created, few oversights or accountability structures are present, as well as those in which decision-making rules are so complex as to neutralize the effectiveness of such structures even if they exist. Improper political contributions: Payments made in an attempt to unduly influence present or future activities by a party or its members when they are in office.

Mission and goals of Anti-Corruption Commission

Anti-Corruption Commission, with a mission to reduce corruption to a minimum level sets for itself the following goals: To control corruption by identifying hot spots and areas of vulnerabilities for targeted investigative and prosecution action, prevention and curative treatment beside preventive education and advocacy. To ultimately suppress corruption through the effective and cumulative effects of its combating, controlling and prevention efforts.

Functions of Anti-Corruption Commission

With these goals in mind, the commission focus on the following functions: To enquire into and conduct investigation of offences mentioned in the schedule To file cases on the basis of enquiry or investigation and conduct cases To hold enquiry into allegations of corruption on its own motion or on the application of aggrieved person or any person on his behalf To perform any function assigned to Commission by any Act in respect of corruption To review any recognized provisions of any law for prevention of corruption and submit recommendation to the President for their effective implementation To undertake research, prepare plan for prevention of corruption and submit to the President, recommendation for action based on the result of such research To raise awareness and create feeling of honesty and integrity among people with a view to preventing corruption To organize seminar, symposium, workshop etc. on the subjects falling within the functions and duties of the Commission To identify various causes of corruption in the context of socio-economic conditions of Bangladesh and make recommendation to the President for taking necessary steps To determine the procedure of enquiry, investigation, filing of cases and also the procedure of according sanction of the Commission for filing case against corruption and To perform any other duty as may be considered necessary for prevention of corruption.

Chairman and commissioners

The commission is mandated as independent, self-governed and neutral entity. It consists of three Commissioners; of them one as the chairman and all appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Selection Committee for a period of four years from the date of their appointment. While the commissioners function on full time basis loses eligibility for reappointment on expiry of the term in their office. Currently, M Bodiuzzaman is serving as the Chairman of Anti-Corruption Commission. He was appointed as an interim Chairman on 24th July, 2013 following a cabinet division order after completion of four years tenure of the previous Chairman Ghulam Rahman.

Schedule and Regulations followed by the commission

The framework and functions of the commission is mainly governed by Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004. To carry out the purpose of Anti-Corruption Act, 2004 effectively, the commission has been given power to make rules by notification published in the official Gazette with the prior approval of the President. Overall the commission conducts its activities under the guidance of the following acts: Offences under Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004 (Possession of property disproportionate to known source of income) Offences punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 (Act 11 of 1947) Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2002 (Act 7 of 2002) Offences punishable under sections 161-169, 217, 218, 408, 409 and 477A of the Penal Code, 160 (Act XLV of 1960) Offences of abetment, conspiracy and attempts as defined respectively in section 109, 120B and 511 of the Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860) in relation to clauses (a) to (c).

Key Problems faced by the ACC

Since inception, the Anti-Corruption Commission faced numerous problems. One of the key problems is weak leadership. The ACC leadership was fragmented from the beginning. The Chairman and the Commissioners failed to reach consensus and work together as they had different point of views. (Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University, 2007) The fact that the ACC could not operate properly without the rules and organogram ratification made the matter even worse as the leaders felt compelled to perform but couldnt due to legal boundaries. The leadership failure was aided by a lack of solid political will to strengthen the ACC. Corrupt politicians disavowed every move and even committed politicians seemed to be afraid of a strong ACC. (Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University, 2007) Another leadership failure is reflected by the slow progress of the ratification of rules and organogram. The Anti-Corruption Commission Act said that without ratified rules and organogram, the ACC could not function properly. This became a huge legal barrier for the ACC to function and raised many questions. Though the ACC leadership blamed government bureaucracy for the slow progress, it cannot be denied that the ACC failed to submit proposed rules and organograms on priority basis. (Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University, 2007) Past legacy, staff and workload of the BAC also contributed to a greater amount of inertia in a newly formed organization. (Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University, 2007) Externally, lack of coordination was another problem. The ACC have not managed to coordinate well with other corruption fighting institutions such as the Prosecutors, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the

Parliament, the Public Administration Reform Commission, the Office of Ombudsman, and the Courts etc. (Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University, 2007)

The ACC at a glance (Statistics as of May 2007)

Number of complaints registered: 25,000 Past cases since 2004: 60-70 (charge sheets submitted but stayed by High Court) Number of cases prosecuted: As of May 2007, None Rate of conviction: BACs rate of conviction was 40% Staff size: 1281 Existing equipment: 3 photo copiers, 1 fax machine and 50 computers Budget: BDT 153,132,000

(Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University, 2007)

Proposal on the Study on Areas of Improvement in the ACC

1 Objectives of the Study
1.1 Broad objectives: To identify areas of improvement in the operations of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh 1.2 Specific Objectives: To identify ways to boost the degree of independence with which the commission operates To come up with feasible recommendations to increase the accountability of the commission To propose policies and mechanisms to make the commission more effective To provide ideas on how the commissions limited resources can be optimally utilized To design mechanisms of increased coordination between the commission and other major public institutions (especially those who need to reduce corruption or can have a major impact) To recommend solutions to the existing human resource problem of the commission

2. Methodology
Primary Data will be collected through a series of interviews of the experts in this sector current and formal members of the Anti-Corruption Commission. The interviews will be conducted through semi-structured questionnaire. Secondary data will be collected through various journals and research papers regarding ACC. Transparency International Bangladesh will be contacted to access their publications. After analyzing the data, problems will be identified and a recommendation model will be constructed through several brainstorming session of the group members.

3. Scope:
The report aims to identify areas of improvement in the Anti-Corruption Commissions independence, accountability, effectiveness, resource utilization, human resource upgrading, inter-institutional coordination and policy development. The scope of the paper thus encompasses all the functional and operational areas of the commission. The paper will look at worldwide practices (especially more successful anticorruption institutions in corruption prone countries) and provide necessary recommendations.

4. Rationale:
When it comes to economic assistance and foreign investment, the notoriety of being three times champion in corruption recently has not helped our country much. The ACC being the main force in curbing this corruption, it should go through a continuous scrutiny. This report can be useful to the government and the ACC itself if it wants to reform. The various political and non-political citizen organizations can also use this report to develop their understanding. Finally, this report can be used for future research on corruption and the ACC.

5. Limitations:
The possible limitations of conducting this study can be: Lack of time and resources Access not granted to sources of critical information Lack of previous research in this sector

Appendix A: Brief History of the ACC

Corruption was first declared as criminal act in 1898 through the Code of Criminal Procedure. In 1947, the Prevention of Corruption Act came into being and in 1958 the Anti-Corruption Act. The first institute instigated to fight corruption in this region is the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC), established in 1957 in East Pakistan. But the Acts and the BAC failed to work effectively against corruption. Then in 1971 Bangladesh became independent but the newly independent state continued the failure to curb corruption mainly due to the unwillingness of the political leaders. Particularly in the 1990s and 2000s, corruption increased heavily in Bangladesh as criminal political elites steadily captured all aspects of public life, institutions and bureaucracy. The Bureau of Anti-Corruption was deemed to be completely ineffective in the 2000s. It was so problem-ridden that a new institution was put in its place in 2004, the Anti-Corruption Commission. The Bureau of Anti-Corruption and its Limitations The Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) was initially set up as an ad-hoc organization in East Pakistan in 1957. It was subject to annual review and renewal. After the liberation of Bangladesh, the BAC was reformed to include the duties of the special Police. The next changes came in 1988 when the divisional anti-corruption offices were transformed into regional offices. In 1991, when Bangladesh returned to democracy, the BAC received directions from Prime Ministers Office. The BAC was structured into three levels Head Office, Regional Offices and District Offices. With the reorganization of the public sector into 64 districts in 1984, the BAC remained centralized. This incident curtailed the authority of subsidiary bodies within the BAC as the Director General took charge of all inquiries, investigations and prosecutions. 75% of the complaints received by BAC came as a result of public petitions, 10% from published reports in the media, 5% from audit inspections by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) and 5% from internal audit inspections. (Transparency International Bangladesh, 2001) These cases were tried by district judges and the trials had a deadline of 180 days until the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1990 withdrew the time limit. This resulted in a backlog of pending cases. (Transparency International Bangladesh, 2001) The BAC had several limitations that severely curtailed its effectiveness. I could not investigate sitting MPs or Ministers because its position under the PMO gave the Executive the authority to use discretion over which cases to investigate and prosecute. It often sought expertise from other government departments during investigations. This slowed down the investigations because other departments either delayed providing reports or did not have enough resources or willingness to provide such expertise. Moreover the prosecution of corruption cases compiled by the BAC was undertaken by the Public Prosecutors who were not interested to push the cases and often delayed hearings taking bribery. Adding that, the BAC staff had to depend on local party or MP for career progression and the final budget decision of the BAC came from the Ministry of Finance. Last but not the least, the BAC was not equipped to distribute news and information to the public contradicting its commitment towards transparency. Anti-Corruption Commission On 17 February 2004, the Jatiya Sangsad enacted the Anti-Corruption Commission Act (ACC Act). However the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1958 required the ACC to seek government approval to investigate and prosecute any case, thus limiting its operational capacity. Responding to this concern, lawmakers introduced the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2004 which allowed the ACC to bypass government approval for prosecuting cases and appointing lawyers. In November 2004, took place the selection of the first Chairman and the Commissioners of the ACC which was greeted with mixed i

reactions. The first Chairman was Justice Sultan Hossain Khan, a former High Court judge and first commissioners were Monir Uddin Ahmed and Prof. Maniruzzaman Miah. Further controversies arose from the concern that the ACC was to absorb portions of the BAC. Once the BAC was dissolved, the ACC took in thirtythree First Class and fiftytwo Second Class Officers, and 658 Class III and IV employees. (The Daily Star, 2007) The ACC Act allowed the absorption but did not allow a review committee which was needed for the screening of the employees. The Act further required ACC to have an organogram as well as rules and regulations ratified by the government before it can carry out its essential functions such as hiring prosecutors and prosecuting cases. The beginning of ACC was marred by political and logistical obstacles. Besides the employees from BAC, the ACC inherited 20,000 pending cases, some of which outside its jurisdiction. Exacerbating the matters, the Awami League leaders did not support the ACC. Also citizens and interest groups immediately started submitting new complaints against officials demanding immediate action which was not possible by ACC. As it started filing charges, they made little ground in the courts and the charged local and federal officials openly rejected the ACCs demand for information citing legal requirement of approved rules and organogram before it could function. Matters were still worsened by the BNP-led governments attempt to appoint a Secretary to the ACC without consulting the Commissioners. This resulted in a government directive that all former staff of the BAC could not continue work as ACC staff until the Commission enacted its rules. Besides these external problems, the ACC also faced internal complications and disagreements among the three Commisioners. Commissioner Miah proposed an organogram of nine hundred (900) staff and supported the governments stance on the illegality of hiring former BAC staff before the rules of practice were in place. Chairman Sultan and Commissioner Ahmed, on the other hand, rejected Commissioner Miahs projected organogram as well as his position on the issue of BAC employees. All of these resulted in a power struggle among the Commissioners, Commissioner Miah getting stripped of all power while refusing to resign. Despite government directives, Chairman Sultan instated the former BAC staff into the ACC and without ratified organogram or rules, the ACC considered ways to expand its power and scope of investigation. To mitigate the complications facing the ACC, external organisations began to offer assistance. Asian Development Bank (ADB), on behalf of multiple international organisations, volunteered fully funded consultants to investigate alleged crimes so that the Commission could concentrate on resolving the administrative issues. A group of high level legal and professional advisers offered to create and administer a process for screening former BAC staff. Following a request by the ACC itself, experts at the University of Dhaka drafted an organogram for the organisation. In all instances, however, Chairman Sultan stated that the proposals were either inappropriate or insufficient for the purposes of the ACC. The ACCs troubles continued when a series of petitions were filed with the High Court that challenged the appointment of certain staff and portions of the ACC Act as illegal. Majority of these petitions were successful and the High Court issued rulings that led to the ACC being even more dysfunctional. Hope came at the end of April 2005, when the ACC submitted proposed organogram and rules, campaigned to raise the image of the commission, caught Chittagong port authorities taking bribe and proved portion of its legality to the High Court. But hope ebbed away as it had come since the ACC failed to show any real effectiveness other than making high profile surprise inspections,

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lodging complaints against senior level government employees and making public promises that the ACC could not keep.

Bibliography
Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University. (2007). Institutions of Accountability: AntiCorruption Commission. Dhaka: IGS, BRAC. The Daily Star. (2007). Recommendation for Wholesale ACC Recast. Dhaka: The Daily Star. Transparency International Bangladesh. (2001). Bureau of Anti Corruption, Prime Minister's Office, Fact-Finding Report. Dhaka: TIB. Wikimedia Foundation. (2013, August 5). Anti Corruption Commission Bangladesh. Retrieved August 19, 2013, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti_Corruption_Commission_Bangladesh

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