TIC: Lecture on Conflict of Interest for Local Officials

Transparency International Hrvatska

Transparency International Croatia and the Osijek-Baranja County organized a lecture in Osijek, Conflict of Interest and How to Prevent It?, for representatives of all self-government units in the county.

The lecture was opened by County President Kresimir Bubalo and his Deputy Daniel Srb. The lectures were given by Zorislav Antun Petrovic, TIC President, Davor Derencinovic from the School of Law, Zlata Djurdjevic from the Commission on Prevention of Conflict of Interest, and Antun Kapraljevic, Member of Sabor and former Chairman of the Commission.

"We want to assist you to separate your private interests from the public interest in your daily work, in order to make decisions that are in the best interest of the citizens�, said Petrovic at the beginning of his lecture.

He explained that the conflict of interest means any situation in which the private interest of an official may influence or have impact on his/her work in the bodies of public administration.

Petrovic explained that the idea of �conflict of interests� first appeared in the U.S., in mid 20th Century, when the people there realized that �...even the richest country in the world is not rich enough to satisfy the appetites of officials that took care of their own interests, and only then dealt with the interest of the voters.

�The insistence on their separating private from public activities appeared to allow for the greatest possible objectivity in performance of their duties�, explained TIC President.

The Croatian Law on Conflict of Interests was adopted in October 2003, and soon the Commission on Detection of Conflicts of Interest was established. Lamentably, that body lacked full political support and soon disbanded.

The new Commission, however, is still active. Last year, reminded Petrovic, it determined the existence of conflict of interests in five cases, mostly officials accepting gifts of great material value.

"The acceptance of such gifts could influence their objective approach to decision making, or were related to contracts with private companies owned by the people who presented the inappropriate gifts�, said Petrovic.

He claims that defining the conflict of interest with Croatian politicians, having in mind that their property cards are publicly available and easy to analyze.

After its successful contributions to the adoption of the Law on Conflict of Interest and the Law on Freedom to Access Information, TIC works on the adoption of another piece of legislation related to transparency of relations in the country, the Law on Financing of Political Parties. Petrovic said that Croatia, together with Sweden, remains the only European country that lacks such a law.

"The social climate in Sweden, on the other hand, is quite different and it is inconceivable there for a political party to not disclose its sources of financing�, said Petrovic and added that it makes Croatia the only European country that lacks transparency in that area.