By Holly Nazar

Welcoming the proposals outlined in the Report, Mark Pyman, leader of TI (UK)’s defence sector programme, stated: “The proposals, if rigorously and consistently implemented and monitored, should go a long way towards reducing the company’s vulnerability to corruption.”

However, TI (UK) criticised elements of the report, including the Committee’s failure to require enhanced safeguards in the new Salaam contract with Saudi Arabia, and its relatively soft stance on "hospitality and gifts."

Laurence Cockcroft, Chairman of TI (UK) said “this is an important first step for BAE Systems in rebuilding its damaged reputation. The litmus test for the company is rigorous and uniform application of these important recommendations. I hope the Committee will agree to meet in one year’s time to assess the company’s progress in turning these recommendations into practice.”

Prior to the release of the Woolf report, the UK Administrative Court ruled on 10 April that the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) acted unlawfully by discontinuing the criminal investigation of BAE in relation to the Al Yamamah contract in Saudi Arabia.

In a press release on 10 April, TI (UK) called for the Director of the SFO to reopen the case against BAE. The chapter also urged the British government to abandon attempts to give the Attorney General the power to interfere with SFO cases in the interests of self-defined “national security” as part of its draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, as the 10 April judgement made it doubtful that such a provision would be constitutional.

On the international front, the chapter recommended that the Ministry of Justice respond to a 10-month old request from the US Department of Justice for legal assistance with their investigation of the Al Yamamah contract, and work constructively to fulfil its international anti-corruption obligations, including those in the Anti-Bribery Convention.

TI (UK) also praised the role of the Courts in the case. Cockcroft said “the Courts in the UK have also demonstrated, internationally, what an independent judiciary can and will do where legally required to strengthen poor governance.”

On 22 April, TI (UK) joined with ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Global Witness and Oxfam in urging the British government not to seek an appeal of the judgment. In a press release, the organisations stated: “On the world stage, the UK stands accused of hypocrisy for prescribing governance reforms in developing countries in receipt of its development assistance, whilst failing to enforce anti-corruption laws at home. We believe that any move by the Government to seek an appeal, or to pressurise the SFO to do so, would compound the reputational damage to the UK. It would also undermine implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, where tensions between developed and developing countries have already slowed progress.”

To read TI UK's detailed analysis of the Woolf Committee recommendations, please click here.

To read the Woolf Committe Report, please click here.

By Georg Neumann

One day before Kallas' announcement, the European Parliament voted for a mandatory register with all information on financial means and names of lobbyists and clients. At various stages in the run up to the Commission's decision and the European Parliament’s vote on the lobby register, TI has called for an enforceable code of conduct with a mechanism for expelling lobbyists who infringe its rules. Another element suggested by TI is the legislative footprint to show which lobbyists were consulted on and contributed to individual sections of legislation.

“This is a long overdue step,” said Jana Mittermaier, Head of TI's Brussels Office, “it will make more transparent the interests and capabilities of the more than 15,000 EU lobbyists and 2,500 lobby organisations that try to influence EU legislation and policy.”

The next step will be to set-up a common register for the three major EU institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament). The aim is to have a "one-stop-shop" register by the beginning of 2009, whereby lobbyists would need to register only once to have access to all three institutions.

The register is a decisive step towards more transparency, particularly the legislative process in the European Commission. Currently, there are more than 3,000 expert groups - EU officials and lobbyists - in the Commission that have influence over EU legislation without any transparency concerning individual names and interests.

TI will now monitor how the register is implemented in practice to ensure that the register is robust enough to contribute to more transparency in the EU's legislative process.

By Georg Neumann

In both countries, TI national chapters actively worked to bring transparency to the political campaign as well as on the election day. The TI chapter in Paraguay, Transparencia Paraguay, promoted the signature of ethic pacts among candidates, which made them account for the financing of their campaign. It also established a complaint mechanism, where citizens could report abuses to the electoral code. In preparation for the election day, the chapter trained hundreds of young citizens to be in the polling agencies to oversee the election.

In the Dominican Republic, the TI chapter Participación Ciudadana, presented a set of four reports on electoral observation during the campaign. The reports aim to raise awareness and provide citizens and all the actors involved in the process with information in order to contribute to having an informed vote and a non violent process.

On the election day, the chapter observed the election through a network of more than 4000 volunteers and hundreds of civil society organisations throughout the country. For the first time they also carried out monitoring in some cities in the US, Puerto Rico and Spain in order to assist and stimulate participating members of the Dominican Republic’s diaspora in the decision making processes.