RIGA - When it comes to bribery cases, Latvia's courts are far too lenient with their punishments, a recent assessment of the Baltic state's anti-corruption policy has stated.
"This isn't to say that each bribe-taker should end up with a lengthy prison term, but clearly there are a number of cases where the court hasn't taken sufficient consideration of the case," political scientist Valts Kalnins told The Baltic Times.
Providus, the non-governmental organization that published the report, looked at the level of corruption in Latvia during the second half of 2005.
According to the study, between 2003 and 2005, Latvian courts sentenced 50 people in corruption cases, of which only 16 received jail terms.
Co-author Andrejs Judins said the courts' punishment policy was laxer than expected.
The expert added that, in cases of corruption, court rulings are biased toward the defendant. Judges are particularly influenced by the severity of the offense, the size of the bribe and, foremost, the post held by the defendant.
In most cases, defendants who are tried for corruption have a higher level of education and respectable social status, said Judins. And they are usually characterized in a good light, which influences the outcome of trials.
At the same time, courts often don't take enough consideration to the damage caused by corrupt officials. "The courts tend to overlook that a sentence should have a preventive effect on those who might consider taking bribes in the future," Kalnins noted.
Although Latvia's anti-corruption bureau, KNAB, has raised judicial awareness to the issue, such efforts are not enough.
"It's a difficult issue because the government can't give instructions from the outside on what court sentences should be given," Kalnins explained. "The pressure to change these practices must come from within the judicial system."
Inese Voika, from the pro-transparency NGO Delna, analyzed KNAB's performance in the report. She highlighted the watchdog's success as a relatively new organization established only three years ago. However, she noted that it was no thanks to politicians' efforts that the bureau was created.
"Politicians have been giving and taking at the same time. It's obvious that they've been afraid of a strong anti-corruption bureau," Voika said. As an example, she mentioned the government's decision to entrust KNAB to monitor the funding of political parties, and at the same time Parliament's unwillingness to punish lawmakers in accordance with the party-financing law.
"This attitude reached a climax on Nov. 20, 2003, when Parliament decided against making MP Ingrida Udre administratively liable for failing to meet KNAB requirements by the set deadline, as her party [the Greens and Farmers Union] had not repaid the money received in illegal donations," the study says.
In her analysis, Voika praises efforts by the watchdog to develop Latvia's anti-corruption policy. The bureau has taken a role in drafting the party-financing law, as well as the government's plan for income declaration.
The Providus review also contains a study by Kalnins on the efficiency of income declarations. The author expresses concern over the government's decision to speed up the adoption of a universal income declaration. Unnecessary haste in this issue, Kalnins said, could jeopardize the system's implementation.
"The key difficulty will be setting up a water-tight system in a way that sufficiently registers peoples' efforts," the political scientist noted, adding that the government's deadline was unrealistic.
The state expects to introduce an income-declaration system by the end of this year. "To develop an efficient system in less than a year is not feasible," Kalnins said.
As for Latvia's current income-declaration system, it's filled with legal loopholes and flaws. Created in the mid-90s, it arose amid poor circumstances 's while Latvia was struggling to develop as an independent nation.
Whereas then the state lacked the resources and stability to implement a sufficient system, Kalnins said, today Latvia has both the will and capacity to do so 's as long as they don't act with haste.
The Providus study also includes an article by political scientist Iveta Kazoka on political conflicts of interests, as well as a review on criminal cases initiated or probed by KNAB between 2003 and 2005.
The first report on Latvia's anti-corruption policy was published in August 2005. It is planned that such studies will be issued twice a year.
