Общественный антикоррупционный комитет

Public anticorruption committee

THE BASIC DIRECTIONS OF PUBLIC AND STATE ANTICORRUPTION ACTIVITY IN RUSSIA

Moscow 2004

The basic directions of public and state anticorruption activity in Russia – M.: 2004. – 39 with. Work of Inter-regional public organization « Public anticorruption committee » / the head of the project Alexander Arinin, director of Institute of federalism and a civil society, the doctor of political sciences.

The purpose of the project: 1. To promote eradication of the reasons and the conditions generating corruption. 2. To promote formation of anticorruption public consciousness. 3. To initiate public discussion on problems of struggle against corruption.

Tasks of the project: 1. To define the basic directions of anticorruption activity of Russia and institutes of a civil society.

2. To develop legal procedures, concrete tools and technologies of elimination of the reasons and the conditions promoting occurrence and distribution of corruption.

3. To promote association of efforts of institutes of a civil society and pieces of the government of the Russian Federation in development of the Program of anticorruption activity of the state and public institutes in Russia.

In the present work corruption in Russia is defined as the system of public attitudes menacing to national interests of the country. The main reasons and the conditions generating corruption are opened. Ways, methods and forms of the state activity on eradication of the reasons of corruption are shown. Legal procedures and technologies of an establishment of public control above activity of the state authorities and institutions of local government are offered. The basic forms and methods of anticorruption activity of institutes of a civil society are defined. Tasks in coordination of anticorruption activity of the Russian state and public institutes are established.

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e-mail: info@stopcorruption.ru committee 2004

The contents

I. Corruption – threat to national interests of Russia. 4

II. The reasons of corruption 5

1. The weak state – irresponsible, not making the duties and the inefficient state. 6

2. The undeveloped civil society 8

3. Raw, shadow, noncompetitive economy. 11

4. Bribe-capacious legislation 13

III. The basic directions of the state anticorruption activity 14

1. An information openness and a transparency of activity of the government 15

2. Carrying out institutional transformations 20

A.Modernization of judicial authority and law enforcement 20

B. Reform of goverment 21

V.Reform of natural monopolies 21

G.Reform of Housing and communal services 22

D.Reform of tax 23

E.Reform of financial sector 23

3. Counteraction to corruption norms of the law 24

IV. The basic directions of anticorruption activity of institutes of a civil society. 25

1. A civil society and its self-determination in anticorruption activity. 25

2. A role of mass-media in an establishment of public control above activity of authority. 26

3. Parliamentary investigations 27

4. Political parties in struggle against corruption 28

5. Anticorruption activity of public organizations 29

6. Problems of self-determination of business - community in anticorruption activity. 31

7 Role of local self-management in anticorruption activity 32

V. Coordination of anticorruption activity of the state and public institutes. 32

I. Corruption is a threat to national interests of Russia.

Traditionally, corruption is an activity in the sphere of a politics or the government, consisting in using by officials their abilities and imperious powers with a view of personal enrichment.

However in Russia by virtue of the character and scales corruption is not simply separate, local phenomenon in the field of a policy and the government. It is system of attitudes, which penetrates all structures of our state and a society.

Never earlier in the history of Russia corruption accepted such scale. According to the estimations of world organization on counteraction of corruption «Transparency International » Russia is not on the honorable 90th place among 146 countries of the world in 2004 by the level of development of corruption. The general estimations of "bribe capacity" begin with figures 35 – 50 billion dollars per year in Russia. And nobody can tell the upper bound of bribe capacity.

The situation is very disturbing. In fact corruption has already achieved such scales that it carries threat to national interests of the country. Corruption creates conditions for displays of terrorism, which is the sharpest threat for safety of citizens and the country as a whole today. Corruption destroys legal and democratic institutes of the state and a society, frustrates the legal as the basic tool of regulation of life of the state and a society. Not casually in the reference from September, 4, 2004 the President of Russia has emphasized: « We have allowed corruption to strike judicial and law-enforcement spheres ».

Influence of corruption is destructive and in economic sphere. Mechanisms of a competition are broken, obstacles to freedom of enterprise activity are created, laws of the property are derogated, budgetary funds are inefficiently used, the prices unreasonably rise. All this results in expansion of shadow economy, constrains inflow direct foreign investments to Russia on a background of a high level of export of the capital from the country. Thus, corruption interferes with formation of competitive economy in Russia, decrease of poverty, growth of well-being of Russians, becoming of a strong civil society.

Corruption stimulates unfair redistribution of means for the benefit of separate corporate and social groups for the account of the most vulnerable social layers. A deprived part of the society, the least protected citizens almost have no opportunity to resist to extortion and other corruption abusing. Corruption results in scale replacement of citizens from sphere of free-of-charge obligatory state services, first of all in the field of education and medicine. All that results in mass infringements of constitutional laws of citizens.

Corruption promotes criminalization of a society by the most direct image. Having a deal with corrupt groups of officials and businessmen more and more amplifies, the organized crime become powerful, it is not only expand opportunities of "money-laundering", but also getting access to political authority.

All this undermines trust of citizens to the government, destroys legitimacy of the state institutes, interferes with carrying out of necessary transformations for Russia, raises social intensity, strengthens threat of terrorism, promotes falling of prestige of the country in the world community.

Thus, corruption in Russia carries threat to radical national interests of the country. To allocate this threat, the complex and effective anticorruption policy is necessary for Russia, it must be carried out by the state and a society. The essence of such policy consists on development and realization of versatile and consecutive measures on elimination of the reasons and the conditions generating and stimulating corruption in different spheres of life, and also measures on attraction of corrupt persons to civil-law and the criminal liability.

Corruption is the deformation of public attitudes signaling on illness of a society, so far as eradication of this social illness probably only by liquidation of the reasons which generate it. Toughening of system of revealing and punishment corrupt officials and bribers is only a part of struggle against corruption. It is necessary, but it will not be so important if the system reasons and the conditions of corruption do not eradicate. The example of China is rather indicative. Fighting with corrupt persons in the most ruthless image, government of China has failed to eradicate corruption. If the reasons and stimulus of corruption remain in inviolability, elimination of one black sheep herd results only in occurrence of new "livestock" of corrupt officials and bribers. In this connection it will be a mistake to believe, that all problems can be solved only by acceptance of the special law about counteraction of corruption.

The basic purpose of the state and public anticorruption activity should be counted the complex work directed on elimination of the main reasons and stimulus, generating corruption, instead of toughening of system of revealing and punishment of corrupt officials and bribers.

II. The reasons of corruption

Corruption, its character, scales and features of development is not only consequence of unsolved political, social and economic problems of the country, its roots are left deeply in the history of Russia. But corruption always grows in conditions of transformation of public relations, as global experience shows. It concerns present transition of Russia from the totalitarian state to democratic and legal, from the centralized economy to market, from the closed society suppressed by the state with democratic society. Contradictions of this transition have caused occurrence of the interconnected complex of the reasons of prompt growth and scale distribution of corruption.

Today the main reasons of a wide circulation of corruption are weakness of the state, backwardness of civil society, noncompetitive ness, a raw orientation and shadow character of economy, and, at last, bribe capacity of legislation.

1. The weak state is irresponsible, not making the duties and the inefficient state.

Force of the state consists of not only its ability to dominate in all public spheres. Force of the state is in its ability to provide strict observance of laws, in its responsible service to people. The weak state breaks laws, as it does not execute the constitutional duties on observance and protection of the laws and freedom of the person. For example, breaking economic laws and freedom like the law of a private property, the law on freedom of enterprise activity, on equality of the laws in a competition, the weak state generates corruption on the one hand, because businessmen overcome administrative barriers with help of bribes. And on the other hand the weak state interferes with becoming and development of small and middle-size business, which is the basis of middle class, main driving force of a civil society. In turn, absence in the country of the advanced and active small and middle-size business interferes with the rise of economy, decrease of a level of poverty, growth of well-being of Russians.

Consequence of weakness of the state is delay of process of modernization of the country. As the weak state can not stop an arbitrariness of officials who interfere with realization of transformations necessary for the country, they protect the sources of reception status rents, in every possible way.

So, in regions laws are broke that unvalued the work leading by the federal government on reduction of the regional legislation in conformity with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal legislation. Reform of state service was actually reduced to legislative fastening "tables of ranks". Public service still remains closed opaque to a society and does not under inspection to citizens. In essence, administrative reform has not resulted in differentiation law establishing and law enforcement duties, to real reduction of volume of superfluous state functions which are the favorable environment for corruption.

Within the framework of judicial reform the new laws have been accepted and financing courts is improved, but it has not resulted in the main thing such as accessible, fast and objective justice. Moreover, the society has seen what a sense of justice was trampled much more frankly. Instead of equality of all in front of the law and court the administrative resource prevails. The significant part of judgments is defined not by a competition of accusation and protection, but a competition of bribes. And as practice shows, the citizens searching for others, not legal, methods of the decision of the problems if they lost hope to achieve validity in court. Also they frequently convince, that in the illegal, shadow way they have more chances to achieve on the fair decision. All this undermines trust to authority, interferes with formation of a lawful state and a strong civil society, fixes in public consciousness old stereotypes like « where the court, there and a lie », « that and is useful for judges, that in theirs pockets are moving ». In this connection Chairman of the Constitutional court of the Russian Federation V. Zorkin ascertains: « the bribery in courts has generated one of the most powerful corruption markets in Russia, it is built in the various corruption networks working at different levels of judicial authority, including technologies on disorder of criminal cases and on interception of someone’s business ». Therefore without successful carrying out of judicial reform modernization of the country is impossible in general.

The reform of law-enforcement system has not begun yet. Departments of protection of the law work inefficiently. They are not capable to protect safety of citizens, because they are not remaining under inspection to a society,.

Practically there are no serious promotions in reforms of education systems, public health services, a provision of pensions and housing and communal services. Meanwhile, the sphere of social services is still closed, opaque and inefficient, that is why corrupts and unfair.

The price of an inefficiency of authority is enormous for Russia. According to the adviser of the President of Russia A.Illarionov, slipping of work of a state machinery already now reduces rates of growth of gross national product to 1,5-2 % one year. Due to this, growth can sharply be slowed down or stop in the nearest 5 years. The reason for which modernization of economy appears to block, is that dividends of government officials received from redistribution of the natural rent are incomparably higher, than from attempts to lead a converting, responsible economic policy.

The irresponsible, incompetent corrupt bureaucracy is not interested in real modernization of economy. Being guided by extensive factors of budgetary incomes growth – the high world prices for oil, increase in a share of deductions from regions for the benefit of the federal center, kept significant tax пресс, – the inefficient, corrupt authority till now did not realize available favorable opportunities for structural reforms of economy, creation and introduction of new technologies and development of the high technology manufactures. As a result Russia is not capable to make a competition to the advanced countries of the world.

Meanwhile the competition has got global character. The countries of the world compete with each other on all parameters of economy and a policy like the guarantees of protection of the property right, the appeal of a business climate, the development of economic freedom. They compete on quality of the state institutes and efficiency of judicial - legal system, on a level of safety of the country and its citizens. On the one hand, corruption interferes with growth of competitiveness of Russia, prevents our country from becoming a powerful and high-grade member of the world community. On the other hand, above the level of competitiveness of economy, the state, a society, there are less opportunities and conditions for development of corruption.

2. The undeveloped civil society

Backwardness of civil society is the serious reason generating corruption. Deformed social stratification, high level of poverty, absence of strong middle class, low level of legal culture, reconciliatory attitude of people to violation of their rights and freedom promotes development and rooting of shadow public relationships.

Backwardness of civil society is caused by the deformed social stratification. Thus, for example, the inequality of income level in Russia is higher, than the one in the transitive post socialist countries of Europe. The gap between the poor and the rich increases rapidly, showing the growing polarization of social groups and layers from the point of income level. So, the parity of incomes of 10 % of the most well-provided population and the same share of the least provided is currently 1 to15, and 1 to 50 if "shadow" income is taken to account. It is known throm the global practice, that such difference in income is fraught with social shocks. The inequality between regions is more intensified. Distinctions in incomes per head in different regions achieve now 1:10. Growth and deepening of inequality is observed in size of labour renumeration in different branches of economy achieving values 1:6. All this testifies that the tendency « rich become more rich, and the poor become poorer » grows stronger.

Scales of poverty cause weakness of a civil society in Russia also. The population with income below a living wage is 37 million now. Experts notice, that the living wage is not the border of poverty, but destitution in our country. Therefore, it is suggested to be guided not by the living wage as a parameter providing physical survival, but by the social minimum accepted as the base for calculations. Now ѕ of the population in Russia have the income below a level of a social minimum.

All this prevents from formation of the middle class as the main support of market economic relations, the base of civil society. As a matter of fact, formation of middle class is blocked. It was represented that entering the market, small-scale and middle business will promptly develop, and middle class wil become the basis of the Russian social structure. However, it didn’t happen. Today in Russia the middle class is 15 %, maximum 20 % of Russians. At the same time, its significant share is made by officialdom, which owns a significant number of the small and middle-size enterprises. And at present, middle-size and small business is blocked. On the one hand, it is blocked by the state, which has crushed it by administrative power. On the other hand, it is pressed by criminal groupings and the large capital.

Moreover, officials are exterminating today small and middle business in Russia. In 2004 the amount of the small and middle-size enterprises is only 844 thousand and their share in gross domestic product is 10 – 11 %. In the countries of " the Big eight » the share of small and middle-size business is from 50 up to 62 % of gross national product. In France the number of the small and middle-size enterprises is 2,3 times more than in Russia, in Germany – in 2,7 times, in the Great Britain – in 3,1 times, in Italy – in 4,6 times, in Japan – in 7,6 times, in the USA – in 22,9 times.

Small and middle-siz business in Russia is knocked down by the large capital. Today Russia fills the third place in the world by the number of legal billionaires, and the thirteenth place by the number of the largest companies. The cumulative capital of the Russian billionaires is equal almost to half of cumulative capitalization of the largest Russian companies. In the USA the cumulative capital of billionaires is about 6 % from the cumulative capitalization of the companies. The sense of the given figures is obvious: huge shares of share holdings (much more than 50 %) of the largest companies are concentrated in hands of super narrow group of people in Russia. In the USA and furthermore in Europe, the great bulk of shares belongs to ten million of fine shareholders, holding of 2 % shares seems already unprecedented. Therefore, our capitalism may be qualified as a "nomenclature" and "oligarchic" one. Western capitalism is a social one. As the structure of capital defines also the structure of society, in so far as western society with ten millions of fine shareholders is the society of strong middle class, which does not dependent on the state, this is an advanced and active civil society. The top of Russian society is formed by a dozen of oligarchs and several hundreds of lower rank magnates, lower a circle of managers and service personnel are located, and below there is a huge social mass hardly making both ends meet. This civil society is weak and undeveloped.

For successful development of civil self-organizing processes in a society, there should be a significant and stable middle class. However, as we see, the Russian variant of renovation gives a priority to strengthening oligarchial-bureaucratic capital as the basis of economy. As long as conditions for small and middle business development are not generated in the country, people are not involved in business activity, there will be no economy growth, no decrease of poverty, no formation of strong civil society.

Deformation of social structure, high level of poverty, downtroddenness of small and middle business affect the quality of civil society institutions in Russia today. Political parties are frequently sociopolitical projections of well-known political leaders or PR-projects of the Kremlin. Party construction hasn’t become the instrument of political interests’ crystallization, conceptions and values of society. Russian multi-party system will have to undergo transformation of corporate, clan structures into valid parties with their own social basis. Complexities and contradictions accompany development of other institutions of civil society – mass-media, public organizations, the unions of businessmen.

Peculiarities of Russian mentality, low level of legal culture, tolerant attitude of society to corruption are the huge problems for civil society development. According to the data of sociological researches, up to 80 % of citizens are easily concerned about the problem of corruption. Data of INDEM fund determine that today not less than a half of active population of the country is involved in corruption. More than 75 % of citizens admitted that they seized an opportunity to solve their latest problem by means of corruption transaction. Only in 5 % of cases respondents did not note improvements in quality of work of the official after the bribe receipt. And in 2% of cases respondents complained, that the bribe had not helped to solve a problem. Hence, the market of domestic corruption in Russia is quite stable, there is a struggle for demand for services on it, which only proves its development and constancy. The analysis of the situation, carried out by INDEM fund, shows, that first of all citizens are ready to pay bribes for scarce state services or for improvement of quality of these services, when such important values as health or education are the matter. The same concerns cases, when the bribe is the solution of important problems in spheres of military service, work, habitation, protection of the lows in courts, if it is possible to bypass different undesirable or artificially created legal barriers with the help of a bribe, for example in relations of a driver and car inspection.

At the same time corruption practice multiplies hatred against the authority and develops anticorruption installations. To a certain extend a paradoxical mechanism works: corruption practice of citizens forms public base for non-recognition of corruption.

3. Raw, shadow, noncompetitive economy.

As before, Russia lives mainly in a "rent", instead of an industrial economy. As a matter of fact, the economic system has changed a little. The basic money is made on oil, gas, metals, and other raw materials. The income received from export operations is either “spent on food” or is used to feed the capital flow-out or, at the best, it is invested in the same raw sector. But such practice conducts to economic and social stagnation.

In connection with this, it was marked in the Message of the President of the Russian Federation to Federal Assembly on April 4 2001, that in conditions of a raw orientation of economy the system of work of executive and legislative power protects rights on reception of a so-called status rent. « Speaking directly, these are bribes and smart-money. Such way of authority existence constitutes a threat to the society and to the state », – V. Putin has emphasized.

Raw character of economy constrains development of small and middle business, formation of strong civil society. It is stipulated for the fact, that it is easier for officials to collect taxes from chinks with oil, than from people, to whom they have to provide conditions for development of small and middle business, which means observation of laws, competent and responsible execution of administrative functions. Experience of prosperous countries shows: the wider is the social base of tax bearers, the more effective is the economy, the more successful is the democracy development, the stronger is civil society, the more competitive is the country. That is why the major problem for Russia is to collect taxes first of all from productive work of people and not just from chinks with oil. In order to increase the social base of tax bearers in the country radically, the Russian authorities have to observe and protect lows and freedom of people and, consequently, to provide conditions for rise and develop small and middle business, to involve of people in business activity widely.

Practically all organizations and citizens in the country, not invoilved in “shadow” economy, resorted somehow to illegal operations to avoid from taxes, to redistribute bankroll, to misappropriate possession. According to the information E.Yasin, the supervisor of studies of the State University – the Higher school of economy, at present there are about 20 million of self-occupied people in Russia, who don’t pay taxes and nobody makes payments in social funds for them. It is almost one third of the general number of working people. In general, due to the data of the World bank, the shadow economy forms 46 % of the total domestic product in Russia, which is 3 – 4 times more, than in the countries of " the Big eight ».

In conditions of transition from the centralized planned economy to the market one, serious sources of corruption are the processes connected to privatization, transformations in bank sphere, performance of the budget and distribution of budgetary funds, illegal lobbyism in a legislature.

So, in the 90-s assignment of money resources and reception of bribes were among the most widespread infringements during the process of privatization. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, within this period almost in the half of regions of the country criminal proceedings instituted against the officials from the administration management, territorial committees on management of property, funds of property, involved in privatization. It is necessary to add to the given facts numerous cases, which did not fall under the direct criminal liability. It is an estimation of privatized objects for undercharges, manipulations with conditions of competitions, buying up of the enterprises by officials through authorized representatives.

Through closeness and absence of control the budget became the fertile sphere of the application of mercenary interests for corrupt people on federal and regional levels. Experts assert, that the bribe accompanies almost half of acts on distribution of the state credits or on distribution of budgetary funds. Distribution of budgetary funds occurs also through the state orders and purchases. Till recently, closeness and absence of control promoted growth of corruption there. Closeness and absence of control at distribution and use of public funds in Armed forces of Russia had especially negative consequences.

The raw orientation of Russian economy , its shadow character interferes with formation of competitiveness of the country. Meanwhile, development of the advanced countries is appreciably defined by their intellectual - creative potential today, scientific and technical achievements, ability to apply new knowledge and high technologies. The high technology product becomes the basis of competitiveness of national economies. Such traditional factors of development as natural resources, labor and capital get minor value in comparison with knowledge which becomes a determining condition of presence of competitive economy, high quality lives, prosperities and safety of a society, efficiency of the state.

In the modern world the basic pulse of progress proceeds not from social structure and institutes of the state, but from the separate creatively advanced, free and crucial person. There is a source of modern radical transformation of bases of social system, the country promoting prosperity, breaking the reasons of corruption.

Objective necessity to start construction of a high-efficiency and competitive society has already ripened in Russia; the basis of its development is creation and application of knowledge, innovations and effective technologies, better use of results of scientific and technical progress.

4. Bribe- capacious legislation

Legislation regulating market economy and the state control system is the fourth important reason generating corruption in mass scale the poor-quality. From the beginning of the 90-s there were serious blanks the Russian legislation, which could not be filled by judgments in absence of a case law in. For example, when founders of " МММ "company, banks “Khopers - invest ", "Aeroflot", "Chara" started building financial pyramids and to deceive inexperienced citizens impudently, promising them gold mountains, there were no rules of law which would allow to stop their activity. These rules of law have been accepted later with big delay. Till 1995 the legislation controlled forming market relations badly. Thus, the first cooperative societies nearly did not have to pay taxes. In 1992 all import duties have been cancelled.

Starting from the second half of the 90-s the situation with the legislation gradually began to improve. At the same time the process of acceptance of new laws was inconsistent. On the one hand, the legal base is superfluous and on the other it is incomplete. By present time there passed a lot of lows, however they frequently duplicate each other and in a lot of cases they do not solve tasks, since they passed under pressure of some narrow group or departmental interests. Many laws have neither organizational, nor material provision, which deformed execution of the budget, opened opportunities for corruption. The huge number of the accepted declarative norms, their discrepancy opened opportunities for arbitrary behaviour.

Russian legislation contains today the big corruption potential by virtue of significant overestimate of requirements of rules of law, abundance of discretionary powers of the official, huge amount of reference rules. For example, since tax legislation today assumes superfluous tax burden, it promotes growth of bribes and exaction of officials.

Today Russia became the country with one of most monopolized economies, and the present antimonopoly law does not allow to establish the fact of arrangement of monopolists, for example, on rise of the prices for gasoline, metal, the electric power, on services of auto insurance, etc. Moreover, assuming low penalties for exclusive activity as sanctions, such legislation promotes capture of the markets by monopolists.

Legislation on bankruptcy resulted in scale corruption in the country. For example, huge opportunities for bribes opened due to the overestimated requirements of law, which have established, that at any moment the enterprise of average or large business might be visited by the official from Federal service of financial improvement demanding to present any documentation. Due to certain discretionary powers of the official who has received access to assignment of a key figure for process of the arbitration manager, Federal service of financial improvement had ample opportunities for extraction rent from the enterprise persons, interested in property of. Significant blanket rule, containing in the law « On inconsistency (bankruptcy) », also allowed officials to take status rent. For example, process of the organization and carrying out of debtor property sale accepted an opportunity of departmental rule-making, that allowed rendering preferences to certain firms.

Significant corruption rules of law contains the law « On competitions on placement of orders on deliveries of goods, execution of works, rendering services for needs of the state ». For example, an official may use preliminary selection of participants for open competition with a view of revealing suppliers (executors) as the tool of elimination of competitors during competition, rendering thus preferences to certain firms. Preliminary selection here is as means of restriction of competition. The law contains also significant opportunities of extraction of the rent for the admission of the foreign supplier to competitions, protection the companies.

Big bribe capacity characterizes laws on currency control, on customs, on advertising, on bowels, etc.

Thus, weakness of the state, backwardness of civil society, raw orientation and shadow character of economy, bribe capacity of legislation are the main reasons and conditions for birth and scale development of corruption in Russia. In order to eliminate the following reasons, to win corruption as system of public attitudes, active anticorruption activity of the states as well as the society is necessary.

III. The basic directions of the state anticorruption activity

Process of eradication of the reasons of corruption consists in construction of modern democratic, a lawful state, effective market economy, formation of a strong civil society, creation of conditions for development of the free, creative, active and responsible person.

The given process should start from performance of laws. Lawlessness of authority is a default by the government on its duties. Lawlessness deprives small and average business, the main subject of market relations, of an opportunity to develop freely and effectively. Lawlessness deprives the person, the main driving force of a civil society, of an opportunity to develop the abilities, rights and freedom. Observance of laws allows developing creative potential of people, opens opportunities for wide development of small and middle-size business, it also allows competition work, introduce innovations and high-end technologies. As a result observance of laws will create favorable conditions for growth of economy, liquidation of poverty, formation of strong middle class, effective state, and competitive country.

In order the government honestly executes laws, the society should supervise it constantly. Civil society should carry out biased audit of means of tax bearers expenditure, work of courts, law enforcement institution on observance of the laws and freedom of the person. The major condition of such control is information transparency of authorities.

1. Information openness and transparency of activities of the government

Mainstream of anticorruption activity of the state is establishment of information transparency in functioning of executive, legislative, judicial power, law enforcement institution and institutions of local government, as well as Accounting chamber and the Representative in human lows.

It is important to emphasize, that movement of the information is driving force of social progress in the modern world. Further to this, any system is supervised by such subsystem, which has bigger information potential and consumes the least amount of energy.

Information exchange promotes formation of the new inhabitancy in a modern society, new social and moral values, a new way of life and new principles of management. Closed informational systems are noncompetitive today. Therefore, information transparency is a driving force of society and authority. It not only influences on changes of rules of authority behavior, raising its responsibility and performance for the welfare of society, but also contributes to the qualitative change of society itself.

In those countries, where people have the high-grade information on activity of authority at their disposal, there is no corruption, and the state observes laws, that is rights and freedom of the person, works responsibly and effectively on common good. On the other hand, closeness, concealment of the truth, monopoly on information is the basic weapon of bureaucracy with the help of which the state tries to impose its will on a society, at the same time remaining without control. Its irresponsibility, lawlessness, corruption, incompetence and incapacity to serve people are the consequence.

That is why such successful countries as Finland, Denmark, Iceland, New Zealand (practically there is no corruption due to « Transparency International ») are high on the list in ratings of the international journalists organization « Reporters without borders » through level of press freedom At the same time, the most corrupt countries occupy last places in the rating of press freedom. In 2004, for example, Russia took the 140th place among 167 countries in this rating.

The information transparency modernizes the country, creates conditions for growth of its competitiveness, strengthening of the state, a civil society and finally eradication of corruption.

The task of civil society is in speeding up this process. In this connection the Public anticorruption committee has developed the bill « About guarantees of granting information on activity and decisions of the state institutions and institutions of local government ». The purpose of the bill is to establish legal procedures of public control above activity of institution of state authority and institutions of local government by means of maintenance of openness, information transparency of their activity. Force of law should be distributed on executive, legislative, judicial power, other state institutions and also institutions of local government and their officials with a view of amplification of their accountability to civil society.

The bill establishes such main principles of realization of the law on the information on activity of the state institutions and institutions of local government as general availability and openness of information; safety of the person, society and the state; regular informing on activity of state institutions and institutions of local government on suggested or accepted decisions; maintenance of the law on search, reception and transfer of the free-of-charge information; granting of a trustworthy information; protection of information right; realization of control over activity of the mentioned above authorities by a civil society.

In other words, in the country there should no monopoly on information for anybody. Only then the information finds public advantage when it is open to everyone, concealment of truth harms a society. There should not be paid access to information of institutions of state authority. At last, information should be full, detailed and constantly updated.

The bill fixes guarantees of realization of the law on information, defines the order of restriction of access to information, establishes the order of the reimbursement, connected with granting the information. It defines ways of reception of official information. In particular, by publication of the information on sites of the state institutions, institutions of local government in the Internet, publications in mass media, maintenance of direct access to documents and materials, and also to sessions of corresponding institutions, gratings of documents and materials on the basis of inquiry.

The bill enters the order of publication of the official information, the information on the current activity, accepted decisions and official events. The norms stimulating distribution of the official information in not state mass-media are fixed. There are established concrete procedures of direct access to documents and materials of state institutions and of local government. Providing with access to information on the basis of Internet technologies is essentially important in the following legal procedures.

For the first time it is established in the legislation, that all power structures are obliged to report in full measure of their activities except for confidential information, the list of which is determined in this bill.

All decisions made by institutions of executive, legislative, judicial power and institutions of local government including joint decisions should have the author, that is the crucial person who has prepared these decisions. It is the means of increase of responsibility and competence of state and municipal servants, judges, deputies, workers of law enforcement institutions. All decisions made by authorities come into force only after their publication, accommodation in the Internet and corresponding information sources.

Promulgation of data by federal and regional executive authorities concerning the budget performance, realization of target programs, open competitions, auctions, tenders, examinations and conditions of their carrying out certainly will promote increase of responsibility and competence of work of state servants, elimination of reasons and conditions of corruption. Disclosing the contents of every possible order, instructions, examinations on delivery of the goods will help get rid of lobbyism of corrupt officials. Publication of information on size and sources of granting foreign help; on the international organizations with which agencies of authority cooperate will allow to protect citizens from shadow financial frauds.

By means of the Internet the full publication of not only all accepted legislative and statutory acts, but also their projects, accepted and brought amendments, the acts appealed against in court and cancelled by court will interfere with withdrawal of lawmaking activity of executive authority in the shadow. Publication of all reports of officials on legislative initiatives will help to find out mechanisms of lobbyism, which is frequently beyond the legal field. Introduction of practice of service anticorruption expertise in the Ministry of Justice, the results of which should also be published, is essentially important in preparation of bills by executive authority.

Maintenance of transparency and openness is especially important in connection with initiatives on the new order of governors’ election. There is such a point of view, that the new system of election of heads by deputies of regional legislative assemblies on presentation of the President of Russia will even more strengthen corruption. Many people are afraid, that at this system lobbyist groupings will offer the nominees, their choice will be not public, thus heads of regions actually appointed will work on interests of the lobbyist groupings which have put forward them, but not on the state and its citizens. It is concluded that the "appointed" heads of regions will shift the responsibility for the actions on the President of Russia, they will not bare civil responsibility at all.

In order to avoid this, it is necessary to make all activity of the supreme officials of regions transparent, therefore under control of society. And then it is not so important, whether lobbyist groupings have brought this or that head of region to power, or deputies of regions elect him from submission of the President of Russia or at direct elections by all citizens. It is essentially important, that citizens will have an opportunity to supervise activity of the supreme official of the subject of federation constantly, but not once during elections in the course of 4-5 years. Thus, in many respects the problem of corruption is removed.

Activity of legislature should be transparent and accessible. The federal parliament, legislative assemblies of subjects of the Russian Federation, representative institutions of local self-management are to place not only all passed acts, but also their projects, accepted and brought amendments, decisions, and also all responses of officials of executive authority on legislative initiatives on the web-sites. It is necessary to place information on roll-call vote of deputies.

In this case activity of each deputy will be visible and hence his personal responsibility for accepted decisions is precisely determined. Only the activity, which is opened for visible, can be responsible, reasonable. The information transparency of legislative process will allow lowering a degree of alienation between authority and citizens, to enhance the responsibility of deputies of federal and regional levels and representative institutions of local self-management for quality and efficiency of laws creating.

As the result, information transparency will allow to prevent occurrence of the legislation generating corruption, to secure, that legal norms and rules were established in interests of the person and well-being of society, were clear and unambiguous, promoted formation of effective and competitive economy, served prosperity of Russia.

Information transparency for effective work of courts has an extremely important value. In our country the court has not became neither fast, nor right, fair in many cases yet. The establishment of a transparency in activity of courts will allow solving these problems in many respects. For this purpose all judicial institutions of various levels should place open materials of judicial sessions, judgments and decisions completely on the sites. The information openness will promote maintenance of a true equality of everyone before the law and court and to increase responsibility and competence of judges. Information transparency establishing public control, and not just increase of the salary to judges and maintenance of their inviolability, will promote validity and efficiency of judicial system, its clearing of corruption and dependence on executive authority. Since various institutes of a civil society such as public associations of lawyers, mass media, the unions of businessmen, trade unions, parties and public structures will certainly join the process of public control above activity of courts. It is important to emphasize, that the transparency of court will cause competence and responsibility of militia, Office of Public Prosecutor, special services. It is the basic factor in activity of judicial system and law enforcement institutions.

On the one hand, acceptance of the given bill will create qualitatively new legal conditions of activity of the state and society, having established daily public control above the state institutes. On the other hand, process of realization of public control by means of transparency of activity of authority modernizes civil society.

The important role in anticorruption activity of the state is played by Accounting chamber of the Russian Federation. 4 years ago as a result of checks 12 percent of budgetary funds, now 71 percent returned in the federal budget. Only in 2003 as a result of auditing and expert-analytical actions 116 facts of causing damage to the federal budget and the budget of subjects of federation have been fixed. The common damage of these infringements amounted to more than 100 billion rubles. 85 billion are credit debts of the enterprises to the budget. Imperfection of the legislation prevents return of this money to the state. Therefore, the State Duma and Council of Federation have the field to work on. By results of checks, 241 criminal cases have been opened. Owing to activity of Accounting chamber there is an improvement in the legislation. So, by means of joint efforts of Accounting chamber and the parliament internal offshore zones contributing to withdrawal of large sums of money from taxes have been closed.

One can agree with words of S.Stepashin, the Chairman of Accounting chamber, that « it is necessary to aspire to creation of such a budgetary system which automatically, at a legislative level could prevent mass financial infringements ». At the same time Accounting chamber requires new approaches in work.

Updated activity of Accounting chamber is insufficiently open to the public control. For example, till now the report on results of privatization of a state ownership for the period 1993 – 2003 is not finished yet. It is not clear, what property has been privatized on the legal basis and what property not. Civil society should know, how effectively proprietors work, how regularly they pay taxes. Also the civil society should know why there are enterprises, which did not benefit from privatization.

There is no doubt that many infringements of the law in this area would be stopped if the society knew that actually occurred. Process of privatization proceeds, and today its constant monitoring is necessary to society. That is why checks of privatization process made by Accounting chamber should be transparent to citizens. It is required that Accounting chamber should check replacement of privileges to money. This check should be opened too.

It is quite evident, that activity of Accounting chamber on valuation of national wealth of the country, which has not been carried out yet, has to be opened too.

An essential role in anticorruption activity of state can be played by the Russian Federation Institute of the Representative under human rights of. Today its work is unsatisfactory. Reports about activity of the Representative under human rights in Russia are made only once a year and have a formal character. They are not agreeable to the modern standards. All activity of the given state structure should be public to the maximum, it should be subject of mass media, and all official information should be placed on corresponding sites.

The information transparency should affect all branches and structures of power. The sense of an information openness of authority lies in the idea that each state servant, deputy, judge, public prosecutor, militiaman, social worker; each municipal servant should be in full view. Closeness and secretness of their activity lead to irresponsibility, infringement of the law, incompetence and corruption.

Information transparency of state activity and municipal authority will create qualitatively new environment in public relations, establish essentially different rules of behavior for authority. Namely, observance of laws, protection of the rights and freedom of the person, effective work on common good should become the main duty of all representatives of authority. And this already stands for the new culture of society influence on authority. Its essence is in paramountry of laws, democratic values, and the base is information transparency as a basis of control procedures of civil society over authority.

2. Carrying out institutions’ transformation

A. Modernization of judicial authority and law enforcement institutions

The base of modernization of judicial authority and law enforcement institutions is the information transparency of courts activity, Offices of Public Prosecutor, militia. The given process is connected also to increase of legal culture of society, modernization and stabilization of the legislation, qualitative preparation of the legal staff and structural transformations of law-enforcement system as a whole.

As a whole perfection of law-enforcement system consists in elimination of unreasonable duplication of functions and powers in activity of law enforcement institutions, in essential increase of wages of its workers by simultaneous optimization of their number at the same time, and also in growth of technical maintenance level. In conditions of global world challenge of terrorism the Russian law enforcement institutions should be deeply integrated into the international anticriminal and antiterrorist organizations.

B. Reform of government

Its purpose is to create system of state authority, which serves people crucially, competently and effectively. For carrying out of administrative reform, firstly, it is necessary to modernize public service. Secondly, it is required to distribute functions among departments by means of rendering right-establishing, right-applicable, supervising services. Thirdly, execution of the state functions is to be optimized and modernized.

All activity of civil service should be transparent for civil society. It will allow society to establish public control over its activity. The original sense of modernization of public service should lie in it. Public control will allow to prevent, reveal and eliminate corruption contributing power abuse circumstances. Public control the state institutions’ and state servants activity will allow to simultaneously improve quality and efficiency of their work.

All these transformations should promote increase of efficiency of activity of the state institutions and civil servants. Satisfaction of consumers by services is the criterion. The official should serve citizens; this is the requirement of society.

C. Reform of natural monopolies

Finance of structur-foring companies such as "Gazprom", Russian Open Society " European Economic Community ", joint-stock company « Russian railways » remain the extremely opaque not only for external observers, but also for co-owners - shareholders. It concerns as costs, as financial streams, the analysis of which is difficult by complicated and in many respects confusing system of the internal account, cross subsidizing, a large number of branches and affiliated structures, nonspecialized actives. A lot remains not clear in the sphere of motives of making innovational decisions. At the same time there is a constant pressure from these monopolies, directed to regular and substantial increase of prices and tariffs on their products, services.

In this connection introduction of a financial and administrative transparency in work of natural monopolies will allow to improve their financial condition, regulate their financial reporting, cut-off structures, involved in corruption activity. Then conditions of a financial and administrative and managerial transparency will allow to engage in re-structuring of Russian Open Society " European Economic Community ", "Gazprom", « Russian railways », "Svyazinvest", etc. Only publicity and openness of activity of the Russian exclusive giants become their condition of disaggregation and partial privatization.

Division of sector in which the state monopoly will be preserved, and division of sectors, in which private competition will be appreciated, is to be done at the first stage of reforms by the authorized special governmental institution on the basis of precisely determined criteria and at the public control of the State Duma and Council of Federation.

Privatization of actives in these sectors should be carried out publicly and on a competitive basis by independent state structure on the basis of special laws which the Federal Assembly should accept.

G. Reform of Housing and communal services

In reform of housing and communal services as well as in reforms of natural monopolies, prime step should be in keeping transparency of this sphere. It will allow a society to supervise and to conduct the analysis of functioning of housing and communal services. Inevitable liquidation of the business - structures parasitizing on objects of housing and communal services becomes consequence of public control. The following step is a cancellation of any privileges for the commercial organizations rendering municipal services to the population. It should be an obligatory condition of licensing of the similar organizations as they maintain shadow attitudes in this sphere of services.

Formation of system of the account of real volumes of services consumed by the population, definition of the minimal set of services at which absence the payment for municipal services cannot be raised is necessary also. So, the transparency of activity of housing and communal services is a basis of the whole reform, the essence of which is in elimination of reasons of corruption, shadow attitudes in this sphere.

D. Reform of tax

The present tax reform in modern conditions is a system of measures, which provide openness and transparency of all forms of the taxation for the tax bearer. It is necessary to create effective antistimulus for defaulters, down to actual blocking their enterprise activity. It is necessary to promote decrease of tax burden to an optimum level. The tax system should stimulate creation of the new workplaces, new manufactures, small and middle-size business. One of the main conditions of tax reform is increase of efficiency of tax services, eradication of corruption in their lines. Solving this problems is possible only in conditions of publicity and openness of their activity.

E. Reform of financial sector

The financial sector is the important sphere where existing institutes demand urgent efforts on the part of the state on eradication of conditions for corruption. In this sphere it is necessary to achieve the greater transparency of credit establishments, including their transfer to the international system of the financial reporting in book keeping. It is necessary to uncover the information on structure of the property, on owners of the banks, an open estimation of the capital. It will promote elimination of shadow financial operations in bank sector. Meanwhile there are 700 banks in Moscow now, and in New York (the center of the financial world), there are only 60. What does this comparison of number of banks show? Banks in Moscow wash up "dirty" money.

It is necessary to bring claims on precisely certain responsibility of owners for obligations of their credit establishments in the legislation, to begin work on collecting information on credit history of borrowers. It is essentially important to work on restoration of investors’ trust to bank system, including conducting selection of banks for inclusion in system of warranting of contributions of the population. Meanwhile, many private banks are not able and do not wish to work for achievement of such trust. Therefore, in these conditions people choose large state banks for storage of the savings. In order to stand in competitive struggle, private banks should considerably improve corporate management and follow principles of openness and transparency.

3. Counteraction to corruption norms of the law

Publicity is the primary factor of counteraction to corruption norms of the law. At the same time the state has an opportunity not to accept similar norms of the law. A leading role may be played here by legal anticorruption examination of bills during their development and discussion. Special anticorruption commissions in the State Duma and Council of Federation can carry out the examination in question. In case the Government of the Russian Federation prepares bills, legal anticorruption examination can be carried out by the Russian Ministry of Justice.

Anticorruption examination is a complex of actions directed to reveal norms of the law, capable to establish such frameworks of mutual relations between subjects, which raise probability of their introduction into corruption attitudes.

The high level of corruption requires obligatory anticorruption examination in the country from the state, which, alongside with legal and linguistic examination in the Government of the Russian Federation and Federal Assembly, should become one of the compound features of legislative process.

In this connection it is necessary to note, that in the State Duma first steps are already made in this direction. In 2004 there has been created the commission on counteraction of corruption which conducts monitoring bills, prepared by the State Duma.

Thus, the Russian government, by opening the activity, becoming transparent and under inspection to a society, carrying out institution transformations, counteracting the corruption legislation, promotes liquidation of the reasons of corruption. However, the state is capable to eradicate corruption as system of public relations only in joint activity with structures and institutes of civil society. It is impossible to win corruption without public control of activity of the government and authorities of local self-management, without modernization of the most civil society.

IV. The basic directions of anticorruption activity of institutes of a civil society.

1. A civil society and its self-determination in anticorruption activity.

The civil society is created by people as the certain system of economic, political, legal, cultural and other public attitudes, independent from institutions of the government. Efficiency of such public relations depends first of all on the degree of freedom, the responsibility and activity of citizens, second, it depends on development and efficiency of market economy and at last on maturity of legal and democratic institutions of the state.

Since the beginning of the 90-s there are created preconditions for formation of democratic, lawful state, market economy in Russia, but the most important thing was that social layers of the free and initiative people capable to solve vital problems crucially, to work actively and creatively have started to form. Such self-managing, free and responsible persons are the driving force of development of a civil society in Russia today.

The state is the certain means of the organization of society. It does not exist separately from the public environment, surrounding it. Therefore, construction of the legal, effective state in which corruption is defeated depends on activity of free, responsible people, their vital energy, a level of civil, legal, political culture and education.

And so, formation and development of the free, responsible and creative person is impossible without upholding by the person his laws and freedom, in particular, laws on worthy life, laws on personal dignity, the law on freedom and inviolability of person. Becoming of small and middle-size business, formation of effective economy, middle class as the basis of civil society, is impossible without assertion of the economic laws by the person, that is the law on private property, the law on freedom of enterprise activity, on equality of the competition laws. It is impossible to establish public control over activity of authority which will force the state to execute laws and effectively to work on common good without assertion by the person of the laws to participate in an administrative office of the state directly, and through representatives, the laws of informationreceipt.

Thus, process of eradication of the reasons of corruption, in other words, weakness of the state, backwardness of civil society, shadow character and raw orientation of economy, at last, bribe- capacious legislation, starts today from each separate person, his legal and civil self-determination and self-expression. Struggle against corruption is a struggle of citizens for their rights, for the responsible, fair and effective power, and finally for worthy and safe life.

To achieve the given goals, civil society should establish public control above activity of the government.

2. A role of mass-media in establishment of public control above activity of authorities.

The cumulative pluralism of mass-media, plurality of the independent mass media, having access to various sources of information and reflecting a wide spectrum of political in society political, social, economic, cultural and other communications is the most effective control tool of a society. The cumulative pluralism of mass-media provides realization of the laws on freedom of speech, reception, transfer, production and distribution of information. Therefore, the given institute of civil society can and should carry out public anticorruption discussions, cover anticorruption actions of the state and a society, carry out own anticorruption investigations, show and publish facts of corruption.

For high-grade struggle against corruption mass media should make serious step towards the further release from trusteeship of the state. Privatization of mass-media should go both on the central and regional levels. The central authority does not need to have more than one TV channel under its control, covering the maximum of the country territory. One or two central channels can be transformed into a public TV. Other central channels could be privatized. I is reasonable to carry out the same process in sphere of broadcasting. It is extremely important to deduce gradually TV-radio broadcasting from under the direct or indirect control of regional and local authorities. There is no need for direct or indirect possession of any printed mass-media, by federal, regional or local authorities (only except for business bulletins and an army press). It is expedient to establish legislative interdiction on such possession. At last all printing works of the country should be privatized without any participation of the state structures.

Obviously the given process will go in the evolutionary way, instead of in a mode of the one-stage action. Speed of realization of the given transformations will depend on political will of the supreme officials of the federal center and regions, legal, political and civil culture of society, gaining financial and economic self-sufficiency by mass media. Performance of last task is possible only under condition of a civilized competition in the mass-media market. Obviously various business - groups will join to formation of such competitive environment.

Mass media should be put into strict framework of financial responsibility for infringement of the legislation. And it should not be outside of criticism of a society. Only the information responsibility before competitors and a society, supported by possible judicial penalties and criminal punishment is capable to force mass-media self-improvement. Moreover, corporate associations in the field of mass media should develop the code of honor and behavior. At last financing of mass-media should be transparent. It will allow creating system of the civil control in this sphere.

Realization of process of privatization of mass media, increase of their responsibility over society, transparency in financing will make it rather a high-grade institution of civil society, which is capable to play the main role in liquidation of corruption in Russia.

3. Parliamentary investigations

The important form of public control above activity of the Government is parliamentary investigations. In this connection the Public anticorruption committee has developed the bill « About parliamentary investigations ». It purposes to establish public control above activity of institutions of state authority by means of carrying out parliamentary investigations of circumstances and reasons of the negative events of public importance. By results of investigations there should be worked out recommendations concerning liquidation of consequences of such events, their further banning, punishment of the guilty. The purpose of the given bill will consist also in informing society of circumstances and the reasons of negative events. The bill establishes what institutes can be subjects of parliamentary investigations, grounds for their carrying out, procedure of promotion of parliamentary investigations’ initiative. The order of formation of the commissions, which are organized by the Federal Assembly, their competence, and the order of activity is defined.

In results of parliamentary investigation the following factors revealed by the commission are specified: a degree of reliability of facts and events which served the basis for parliamentary investigation; the reasons and circumstances of the facts and events which became the basis for given parliamentary investigation; guilty persons, whose decisions, actions or inactivity promoted approach of adverse event, or did not promote its prevention or prevention of heavy consequences; the persons, recognized the commissions guilty of fulfillment of actions incompatible with the status of the official of the state body or the state organization.

In case the commission has revealed or has established reliability of the facts of decision-making, fulfillment of actions or inactivity of the officials who are not compatible with their status, in conclusions of the commission the offers addressed to corresponding state institutions are specified: brining of the guilty to disciplinary, administrative or civil-law responsibility, and also elimination of the conditions promoting fulfillment of actions, incompatible with the status of the official of federal state institution or the state organization; elimination of the conditions promoting approach of adverse events, having the public importance.

Parliamentary investigations are carried out in conditions of publicity. All conclusions and decisions of parliamentary investigations are published in mass media and placed on corresponding sites in the Internet.

4. Political parties in struggle against corruption

Serious role in the public control over activity of the government may be played by political parties as one of the basic institutes of a civil society. However, parties experience crisis now. It happens not only because they loose the social base, search for target audiences in the wrong direction, or become aware of problems in party management, but also for the reason, that they experience crisis of ideas.

In this connection struggle against corruption which threatens national interests of Russia today may be put on top of strategy and tactics of political parties. Parties can be in the vanguard of anticorruption activity. But, to carry out this activity properly, it is necessary to become responsible and transparent. « It is inadmissible, when the civilized political competition is substituted by mercenary struggle for the status rent. When the financial side of political parties’ activity is still latent from the public when the market of selective technologies and lobbyist services is guided first of all by shadow sector », - it was emphasized in the Message of the President of Russia to the Federal Assembly on May, 26, 2004.

Hence, to press the government for corruption, parties should become transparent, that is, the have to open all financial activity. Only in this case political parties can participate in anticorruption activity in the right way. It means: to carry out parliamentary investigations disclosing corruption; to pick up journalistic anticorruption investigations and to lift them up to a level of political scandal and resignations of officials; to carry out parliamentary hearings under anticorruption programs, to organize wide political discussions on struggle against corruption; to carry out anticorruption examinations of bills and already working legal acts.

In the organization of the civil control over activity of the government political parties play the important role during election campaigns. In severe competitive struggle at elections the problem of corruption of authority, as a rule, rises. Now, when the role of parties grows in election process, it is necessary to clear elections.

Free and fair elections are the basis of responsibility and efficiency of authority. To provide democratic, fair elections in the country it is necessary: Firstly – to strengthen public control over activity of the election commissions, by means of placing detailed information on elections, vote calculation and the publication of results of elections in the Internet and mass-media. Secondly, to use electronic system of calculation of votes ГАС "Elections" for eradication of falsifications and juggling of results of will of voters. Thirdly, to give publicity to all infringements during the period of election campaign. Fourthly, to exclude the use of so-called «administrative resource». Fifthly, to toughen the responsibility for infringement of guarantees of equality of candidates. Sixthly, to strengthen the responsibility for falsification of results of elections, infringement of suffrages of citizens. Only free and fair elections may generate the original authority of people, proceeding from people and serving them.

5. Anticorruption activity of public organizations

Public organizations are capable to carry out research work on studying corruption and struggle against it, to be engaged in educational anticorruption activity. In conditions of information transparency the public noncommercial organizations can conduct constant analysis of situation with corruption in various spheres of public life. For example, today public monitoring of courts’ activity and a whole of law-enforcement system get extreme urgency. Public organizations are capable to conduct competent monitoring of situation with corruption in educational systems, public health services, housing and communal services and in other spheres.

Public organizations can use such serious tool in anticorruption activity, as public discussion of bills and the important state target programs. Meanwhile, till now there was no steady practice of public discussions in the country. If some bills with social value, are somehow heard in mass-media, target federal programs are prepared, accepted and realized in full silence. At the same time, citizens are considered to be the customers of such services, as education, science, techniques are.

In this connection, it is appropriate to show the list of federal programs, none of which became the subject of public discussion, examination and control: «Fundamentals of a policy of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technologies development for the period till 2010 and the further prospect »; « Development of education for 2000-2005 »; « Development of the uniform educational and information environment for 2001-2005 »; « Integration of science and higher education of Russia per 2002-2006 »; «Youth of Russia » (2002-2006); « Electronic Russia »; « Formation of installations of tolerant consciousness and preventive maintenance of extremism in the Russian society (2001-2005) ».

None of these programs has been discussed widely in the society, neither at development stage, nor during realization. Essentially, tax bearers do not know, how effectively their taxes are spent, what the result of the following federal programs is. One of the essential reasons of such position will be, that these programs prepare in bowels of those departments, which are then entrusted to execute them. In this connection the Public anticorruption committee has prepared the bill « About public discussion ». Its purpose is to establish procedures of public control above activity of the Government and Federal Assembly by means of open public discussion of bills and the important state target programs. Main principles of public discussion are generality of discussion, equality of rights of citizens of Russia on participation in discussion, freedom and sensibleness of their will, objectivity and publicity of discussion, compulsion of consideration and the account of the offers which have acted during discussion.

The bill establishes subject of public discussion, questions which cannot be submitted for public discussion, the circumstances excluding carrying out of public discussion. The bill defines conditions of public discussion, its order of carrying out. Public discussion from the very beginning and till the end passes publicly and openly. The information about the course of public discussion is published on a special site in the Internet.

Public organizations in their anticorruption activity can use such important tool, as applications to the state institutions and institutions of local government. According to article 33 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation the Russian citizens have the law to address personally, and also to direct individual and collective references to the state institutions and institutions of local government. However, till now the given constitutional norm of the corresponding right of citizens is not supported by legislatively established guarantees.

In this connection the Public anticorruption committee has developed the bill « About guarantees of the right of citizens of the Russian Federation on individual and collective references to the state institutions and institutions of local government, the state and municipal organizations ». The bill fixes the right of citizens on individual and collective references to the specified institutions and the organizations, defines main principles of consideration of references of citizens. The bill establishes kinds of references(manipulations) and features of their consideration are petitions of citizens, offers, applications, complaints. The bill determines the order of consideration of references of citizens, the control over observance of the legislation on references of citizens, the responsibility for infringement of consideration of references of citizens.

The main thing that the given bill fixes is a transparency of activity of the state institutions, institutions of local government, the state and municipal organizations regarding performance of the duties. Making process of references of citizens, public organizations, other institutes of a civil society will allow to open and give publicity to the facts of corruption of officials, public officers, militia, judges, public prosecutors, military men, municipal employees. At last, public organizations are capable to participate actively in the various anticorruption advisory institutions, special commissions and committees, to participate in anticorruption actions such as meetings, demonstrations, processions, pickets, etc.

6. Problems of self-determination of business - community in anticorruption activity.

To participate in anticorruption activity, business should become more responsible before a society and the country as a whole. The social responsibility of business is concrete: strict payment of taxes, investments into its own country, and transparency of business dealing. And it is not present till now. Meanwhile, urgent problems of the country demand from business to replace a vector of development and from morals of " a wild capitalism » to work within the framework of the law, a transparency to the benefit of the country. Today the task of business is providing growth of competitiveness of economy, rise of well-being of the Russian society. Also there are new standards by which each businessman should be guided. Firstly, business should be effective: to proceed from redistribution of resources to creation and development of production. Secondly, business should be innovative and transparent, that is, it has to develop new technologies, pay all taxes, to be legislative. Thirdly, business should be civilized: to value reputation and to strive for the best global corporate standards. At last, business should be patriotic and socially responsible.

Certainly, the goals are high; meanwhile the basic purpose of business is profit. However, until the Russian business - community forms understanding of its social role in development of not state mass-media, support of public organizations, development of a multi-party system, and also in comprehension of tasks on construction of effective economy, the major problems of the country will not be solved.

7 Role of local self-management in anticorruption activity

Civil society possesses significant opportunities for anticorruption activities at the level of local self-management. These are meetings of citizens, on whom anticorruption decisions can be made. These are public anticorruption hearings, initiated by citizens. These are assemblies of citizens on questions of corruption in the system of local self-management. These are references of citizens to institutions of local government on opening of corruption facts.

To make the given system of public relations develop effectively, strengthening of economic basis of local self-management is necessary. To accomplish this task, it is necessary to solve four problems legislatively.

The first is introduction of the real estate tax and its appropriation to local taxes with full transfer in budgets of municipal formations.

The second is t giving the status of the local tax to income tax.

The third is differentiation of ground resources taking into account the rights of priority of municipal formations to their use.

The fourth is observance of a constitutional law of the population of municipal formations on independent possession, using and the order of objects of the municipal property.

V. Coordination of anticorruption activity of the state and public institutes.

Corruption in Russia has become now a universal threat to national interests and safety of Russia. Therefore, system eradication of reasons and conditions of corruption is the major problem for the country today. To solve it, it is necessary to unite efforts of the states and society.

Public chamber– a new institution, which is created under the initiative of the President of Russia, could become the form of such association of efforts.

It seems, that within the framework of this new institution it is important to create coordination anticorruption committee with the following tasks:

development of the program of anticorruption activity of the state and public institutes;

organization of control over realization of the given program;

coordination of anticorruption activity of the state and public institutes;

maintenance of transparency of activity of institutions of state authority and institutions of local government;

organization of development of projects of laws directed on elimination corruption promotion;

control of carrying out institutional reforms;

initiation of anticorruption examination of the passed laws and under law legal acts;

organization of monitoring of corruption in the Russian Federation;

attraction of mass-media to formation of anticorruption outlook in society;

support of public associations engaged in anticorruption activity;

attraction of business - community to participation in anticorruption activity;

establishment of interaction with the international anticorruption movement.

All work of coordination anticorruption committee in Public chamber should be public and open. It will allow, on the one hand, to a society to verify the declared problems of committee with real actions and results. On the other, public and transparent activity of coordination anticorruption committee will not allow the state institutions to ignore infringement of the law, corruption activity of those or other officials, officials, workers of law-enforcement system.

It is advisable to create coordination anticorruption committee in public chamber at the regional level as well. It will allow organizing anticorruption activity of the public in subjects of the Russian Federation on qualitative level.

Creation of such coordination anticorruption committee of citizens and the states is possible at the Anticorruption Forum, the initiative to carry it out belongs to the Public anticorruption committee. The purpose of the International Anticorruption Forum planned to 2005 is to discuss and accept the Program of anticorruption actions of public and state institutes of Russia. The forum is required to define also interaction with the international anticorruption movement in the countries of CIS and the Western Europe.

The Public anticorruption committee invites the broad audience of public organizations, parties, mass-media, business - community, and also Administration of the President of Russia, the Government, Council of Federation, the State Duma, members of the State Council, the Constitutional, Supreme and Supreme arbitration courts of the Russian Federation, Accounting chamber, the Representative under human rights in the Russian Federation to take part in preparation and carrying out of the International Anticorruption Forum.

The public anticorruption committee considers a forthcoming Forum as the beginning of the big teamwork of society and the state on eradication of corruption as a system of public attitudes in Russia. Work of the Forum should become constant both in the form of regular public discussions, and by annual summarizing the lead work. It is a difficult, laborious long-term work of all civil society and executive, legislative and judicial authority. Public anticorruption committee suggests to start the following work from discussion of « the Basic directions of public and state anticorruption activity in Russia ». Results of public discussion should become the basis of " the Program of anticorruption activity of public and state institutes of Russia » which will be discussed and accepted by the International Anticorruption Forum in 2005.

It is time when the social order for eradication of corruption as systems of public relations has been generated. To eradicate corruption means to create strong, legal and democratic state which effectively serves all of us, the Russian citizens. To win corruption is to generate competitive economy, to overcome poverty, to raise well-being of Russians. To eliminate corruption means to ratify new quality of life, social stability, the order and validity. To remove corruption is to generate a mature civil society, a society of free, responsible and creative people. To destroy corruption is to stop terrorism in our country, to secure life of citizens, to keep integrity and unity of Russia, to make it a strong and competitive country in the world community. There is the only choice for us: the state and civil society shoul be united in system elimination of the reasons of corruption. Time has come.