After three conferences organised by the Office of the Attorney's Office for Administrative Investigations (PIA), with support from the European Union through the EUROsociAL+ Programme, the focal points of the Ibero-American Association of Public Ministries' Network of Prosecutors against Corruption (AIAMP) held a meeting at the headquarters of the Attorney General of the Nation to present progress made in the fight against corruption.
Foto: Fiscales.gob.ar
The inauguration of the activity, which was supported by the EUROsociAL+ Programme, was attended by Eduardo Ezequiel Casal, General Prosecutor (interim) of Argentina; the head of the Cooperation Section, delegation of the Luca Pierantoni – European Union Delegation to Argentina; the director of EUROsociAL+, Juan Manuel Santomé; and the deputy chief prosecutor of the International Cooperation Unit of the Federal Public Ministry of Brazil, responsible for coordinating the Network of Anti-Corruption Prosecutors (NACP) of the AIAMP, Anamara Osorio.
On the first day, panels were held on several topics such as the results of the collaboration between EUROsociAL+ and the Network of Anti-Corruption Prosecutors, led by Borja Díaz Rivillas, head of Good Governance of the Governance Area of the Eurosocial+ Programme in the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP).
Later, in a panel discussion on the institutionalisation of the network, the head of the PIA, anti-corruption prosecutor Sergio Rodríguez; Antonio Segovia, Director of the International Cooperation and Extraditions Unit (UCIEX), National Prosecutor’s Office, Public Ministry of Chile; prosecutor Anamara Osorio, from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Brazil; Mahmad Daud Hasan, Senior Anti-Corruption Prosecutor of the Panama Prosecutor’s Office; and Gonzalo Arias, director of Cooperation and International Taxation of the Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations (CIAT).
Finally, an analysis of the ÁGORA experience and a panel discussion on final beneficiaries and politically exposed persons was addressed. Both panels were moderated and chaired by Laura Barrios, a consultant at Tirant, and there were presentations by Carlos Meléndez, Deputy Prosecutor for Integrity, Transparency and Anti-corruption of the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Costa Rica; and, for Brazil, the prosecutor Anamara Osorio and the deputy chief prosecutor of the International Cooperation Unit.
On the following day, the panels focused on the areas of corruption and gender through two core activities and a workshop to generate specific inputs on this topic. The first panel discussion hosted a presentation and assessment of the topic by Ana Linda Solano, an expert consultant from Eurosocial+. They then presented experiences from Argentina and Brazil in trafficking and corruption, the head of the PIA Rodriguez; Attorney General Marcelo Colombo, co-head of the Human Trafficking Prosecutor’s Office (PROTEX); prosecutor Andrea Garmendia, from the PIA; and prosecutor Anamara Osorio, for the Public Ministry of Brazil. In particular, the importance of supporting work with the Ibero-American Network of Specialized Prosecutors against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (REDTRAM) was highlighted, the need to advance in investigation protocols for cases of trafficking and corruption, and, after the conclusions, the need to advocate for legal uniformity.
On the other hand, in the following table, they worked on the challenges for combating sextortion, with presentations from the prosecutor Alejandra Mángano, joint head of PROTEX; the president of the Association of Women Judges of Argentina, Aida Tarditti; and Eloy Munive, Secretariat of Public Integrity of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Peru. During this activity, the importance of being able to correctly name the phenomenon of sextortion and typification in a programme that facilitates reporting of abuse was highlighted. In this regard, we reflected on structural problems that impede equity between genders and that impact treatment given to legal institutes such as consent.
The meeting of the Network of Anticorruption Prosecutors ended with a work on the subject area dedicated to the whistleblower programme.
Prosecutor Sergio Rodríguez introduced the topic, addressing the main components, the regulation in the Argentine Republic, and its problems and challenges. Nicolás Rodríguez, Professor of Procedural Law and Vice-Rector for Postgraduate Studies at the University of Salamanca, then presented his paper on the work done by the NETWORK and reflected on corruption and collaborative justice, as well as a review of this topic from the point of view of different criminal systems. Among other issues, he addressed its elements, nature, the complexities of its application, the requirements considered for the agreements, the negotiation criteria and assumptions necessary to execute the agreement.
Next, they took part in an open training entitled “Collaborators: the effective collaborator in Argentina”, organised with the Association of Public Prosecutors and Public Officials (AFFUN), with focal points of the Anticorruption Network, 50 people registered through the invitation issued by AFFUN.
The training was delivered by federal prosecutor Cecilia Incardona and federal prosecutors Ricardo Toranzos and Carlos Rivolo. Incardona started by talking about the effective collaborator in Argentine regulations, and the concept, limits or conditions to their applicability, and reviewed the main elements, the different systems in comparative law, their history in Argentine legislation, procedural rules, and the main problems in their application.
Toranzos also talked about the effective collaborator in jurisprudence and reviewed pertinent case law, analysing the difficulties involved in applying the concept. He also looked at aspects of the doctrine, and addressed the requirements of the agreement, the technical issues to consider, as well as the compatibility with general and constitutional principles.
Finally, Rívolo talked about prosecutors’ needs during investigations regarding collaborators. From an investigative standpoint, he talked about the main benefits of this figure and the most frequent problems.
He reflected on the challenges of Law 27,304 (Law of repentance), and the technical considerations that prosecutors need for negotiations.
After the training workshop, they went back to the closed Workshop to discuss the general conclusions of the three days, when the challenges and future strategic lines of the network were addressed.
The meeting of the AIAMP Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Network ended with some words from the deputy chief prosecutor of the International Cooperation Unit of the Brazilian Prosecutor General’s Office and current coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Network, Marcelo Ribeiro, and his colleague from the same country, Anamara Osorio; Secretary of Institutional Coordination of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Argentina, Juan Manuel Olima Espel; head of Good Governance, Governance Area of the EUROsociAL+ Programme, Díaz Rivillas; and Sergio Leonardo Rodríguez, head of the Administrative Investigations Office (PIA) at the Argentine Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Source: Fiscales.gob.ar / National Attorney / Public Prosecutor’s Office of Argentina
