April 30th, 2014 -- A Commission of the Anti-Corruption Mechanism (MESICIC) of the Organization of American States (OAS) held an “on-site” visit to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from April 22 to 24, as part of the analysis that the mechanism carries out in accordance with the methodology adopted by consensus among its member countries.
The Commission of MESICIC was made up of representatives from Panama and Saint Kitts and Nevis who were supported by the OAS Department of Legal Cooperation. During the three days of the visit, the representatives of MESICIC reviewed the principal oversight bodies responsible for combating corruption in the Eastern Caribbean Country. Meetings were held with the senior officers of the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Director of Audit, and the Service Commissions Department of the Public Service Commission. Also, the representatives had the opportunity to meet with civil society and private sector organizations to address cooperation issues between them and public institutions in the fight against corruption; citizen participation mechanisms; and access to public information.
The results of this visit are part of the review process for the Fourth Round that is currently being carried out by the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC, which will conclude with the adoption of the Saint Kitts and Nevis report by the Committee at its next plenary meeting to be held in September 2014, in Washington DC at OAS headquarters.
The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between states, with the participation of civil society organizations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal/institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption as well as the objective results achieved therein. The incorporation of on-site visits as a stage and integral part of the MESICIC review process represents an innovative and pioneering initiative in the context of the OAS, especially for a peer review mechanism and the importance of the issues it addresses.
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