TI Lithuania: anticorruption commitments too often turn into formalities

The integrity of Lithuanian public, private and non-governmental sectors is viewed only as satisfactory by Lithuanian experts. According to the results of the Lithuanian national integrity system assessment study coordinated by Transparency International Lithuania and supervised by the Lithuanian Institute of Law, the Lithuanian integrity system scores 68 out of 100 possible points. Experts assess legal integrity framework as high (81 points out of 100) while their practical implementation is lagging behind (54).

Within the research the experts studied the integrity of thirteen institutions and sectors of the country. The experts analyzed whether these thirteen pillars had enough resources to implement their activities and whether they operated in an independent, transparent, accountable and ethical manner. They also analyzed the role these NIS pillars play to support the anticorruption system of the country.  Among the institutions and sectors analyzed were the parliament (the Seimas), the government, the judiciary, the public sector, law enforcement institutions, the Central Electoral Commission, Office of the Seimas Ombudsmen, the National Audit Office, anti-corruption agencies, political parties, media, civil society and business.

„This assessment provides as with a holistic overview of the anti-corruption system of Lithuania and points to its strengths and weaknesses,” – says Algimantas Čepas, the lead NIS researcher and the director of the Institute of Law in Lithuania. – “The assessment provides recommendations which might be useful as a reference point for choosing strategic directions for developing the anti-corruption system”.

„The NIS results send a clear message to the Government, the Parliament and other institutions to act on their anticorruption commitments,” says Sergejus Muravjovas, the Executive Director of TI Lithuania. – “Such commitments too often than not are treated as mere formalities and have no real effect on daily routines of organizations and everyday human lives. The NIS researchers conducted a sort of an anticorruption audit and by doing so pointed out what has been already achieved and what still needs to be done in Lithuania on the path towards greater integrity.”

The assessment covers a period between 2009 and 2011. The research was done by a team of 15 researchers and their assistants, while the Institute of Law in Lithuania was leading the research. Consultations with experts were going on during the research, first and foremost with an Advisory Group consisting of 10 experts. TI Lithuania also has convened a consultative National Integrity Workshop on the improvement of the recommendations of the assessment.

The assessment was a part of a wider anti-corruption initiative, comprising 25 European countries. In every partner country the assessment was implemented using the same methodology developed by Transparency International Secretariat. However, no ratings of the scores of individual countries were made thus it is not recommended to make cross-country comparison of the scores.

The assessment was financially supported by the Directorate-General Home Affairs of the European Commission and Transparency International Secretariat.