Swiss corruption weak spots located

The GRECO report recommended relaxing the confidentiality of commission meetings Keystone

Switzerland’s parliament, courts and attorney general’s office stand out for their independence, according to a report by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in certain areas.

Although GRECO, established in 1999 by the Council of Europe, found no major cases of corruption, Switzerland has until mid-2018 to report on how it is implementing the group’s recommendations.

The report had located weaknesses in the Swiss system in the form of subtle pressure which can be exercised on figures at the three institutions named, the Federal Office of Justice said in a statement on Wednesday.

GRECO therefore has recommended the institutions introduce codes of conduct with concrete examples and raise awareness among their members accordingly.

The report also suggested relaxing the confidentiality of commission meetings and broadening the reporting obligation concerning financial interests and concrete conflicts of interest.

This is the fourth GRECO evaluation report. The implementation of previous recommendations has been successful with the exception of political party funding. The report said Switzerland still had “non-conformity” status regarding party funding since there is no prospect of a legal basis for greater transparency.