Reform Proposed Archives | Page 6 of 8 | Reform Tracker Bangladesh

Up to a maximum of 10% of positions at each level (Director General, Director, and Deputy Director) may be filled through appointments on deputation. However, officials from the judiciary and law enforcement agencies appointed on deputation for the purposes of investigation, prosecution or trial will not be included in this 10% quota.

All appointments to Director General and Director positions (excluding those appointed on deputation) should be made through an open and competitive process via advertisements. However, 60 and 75 percent of positions of Directors General and Directors respectively must be kept reserved for internal candidates of ACC subject to fulfilment of relevant competency requirements.

The appointment of the Secretary of the ACC should take place through an open and competitive process via advertisements. However, if a government official is deemed eligible in the due process for the advertised position, they may take leave from their respective parent organisation and be appointed to the Secretary role in the ACC on a contractual basis.

The ACC must incrementally establish adequately equipped district offices in every district of the country.

MOU should be signed with CAG and IMED so that ACC is notified and provided access to all relevant information in case corruption is uncovered or suspected by CAG and IMED during their mandated work.

The number of ACC Directors General (DGs) should be increased from 8 to 12. The following 12 divisions should be created under their supervision: 1) Administration, Finance and Human Resources; 2) Prevention and Public Communication; 3) Information Technology; 4) Training, Research, and Development; 5) Legal and Prosecution; 6) Investigation-1; 7) Investigation-2; 8) Special Investigation; 9) Money Laundering; 10) Undercover Inquiry-1; 11) Undercover Inquiry-2; and 12) Internal Discipline.

The potential positive and negative outcomes of introducing Plea Bargaining in offences under the ACC’s jurisdiction should be thoroughly examined and comparatively analysed to reach a practical decision. (In many countries, this system has significantly contributed to making anti-corruption processes more effective and dynamic. According to the ACC Reform Commission, a comprehensive examination of pros and cons of plea bargaining is necessary to assess its feasibility, especially in cases of petty corruption and money laundering).

The ACC must formulate a Prosecution Policy to clearly specify which scheduled offences it will investigate based on the severity of the offence and public interest. For other offences, the ACC will forward the complaints to the relevant police station for investigation. Section 20 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, should be amended to empower the police to investigate complaints forwarded by the ACC.

The current mandatory provision of pre-investigation inquiry before launching investigations for each offense listed under the ACC’s jurisdiction should be abolished. * If specific information about an offense is received in writing from a specific person, the ACC should directly file a case and initiate an investigation. * If the information or message about an offense is not received in writing from a specific person, the ACC may conduct a covert inquiry based on the importance of the information or message.

To enhance the transparency of the ACC’s JABAC, the following measures must be ensured: * Through the application of Rule 5(4) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Regulations, 2007, JABACs should be reconstituted at regular intervals (at least twice a month, if possible), and the same person should not serve in JABAC consecutively for an extended period. * No more than one deputed official can be among the three members of JABAC.