ACRC to Assess “Conflict of Interest Act Compliance Efforts” of Public Institutions as Part of the 2022 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment

ACRC informed 573 institutions of the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment Plan with finalized assessment items and indicators

(June 10^th, 2022, ACRC)

As the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Related to Duties of Public Servant (the Conflict of Interest Act) took effect on May 19^th, Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui) plans to assess target public institutions’ efforts to abide by the Conflict of Interest Act as part of its 2022 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment of Public Institutions for stable settlement of the conflict of interest prevention system in the public sector.

ACRC established and distributed to 573 public institutions the 2022 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment Plan that finalized assessment items and indicators for 2022.

From 2022, the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment of Public Institutions consists of three composite indicators: integrity perceptions measured by a survey of the general public who have experienced services of public institutions concerned and of the internal members about their perceptions and experiences of corruption in their institutions; integrity efforts measured based on public institutions’ anti-corruption performances and efforts for the year; and the status of corruption casessuch as disciplinary measures imposed on corrupt officials the score for which is deducted.

ACRC finalized the classification of type of institutions, weight of each assessment criterion, scoring system, and variables for assessment of integrity efforts, etc. through collecting opinions from public institutions in workshops and conferences and conducting various simulations.

The total number of public institutions covered by the CIA this year is 573, which are classified into 15 different types, and the central administrative agencies are divided into the ministerial level (25 institutions) and vice-ministerial level (21 institutions) for the assessment. 

Integrity perception indicator and integrity effort indicator would be weighted by a ratio of 60:40 (100 perfect score), and the extent of score deduction based on the assessment result of the status of corruption would range from 0 to 10 points + α (qualitative assessment).

Final grades of public institutions classified by organizational type will be published in January next year, and the grades for integrity perceptions and efforts will be also publicly available when necessary.

As this year marks the first year of implementation of the Conflict of Interest Act, ACRC included institutions’ efforts to comply with the Conflict of Interest Act in all areas of the CIA.

As for the area of integrity perceptions, questions asking about privileges offered through personal connections or privately interested parties and the existence of profit-seeking in the course of performance of duties were included in the survey questionnaire.

In the area of integrity efforts, indicators to assess the level of efforts to stabilize the conflict of interest prevention system in the organization, such as overhauling relevant anti-corruption rules, training, and designation of conflict of interest and ethics officer, were included. In particular, a new indicator related to the submission of details of activities of senior officials in the private sector was established in order for the inspection of the operational status of the conflict of interest preventive rules of public institutions conducted by ACRC in the second half of this year to be strictly carried out.

For the assessment of the corruption realities of institutions, the compliance efforts including the existence of any acts of violation of the Conflict of Interest Act will be also reflected as deduction from the total score.

The General Director of ACRC Anti-Corruption Bureau, Han Sam-Seok, said, “As we conduct the CIA, which wasreorganized through integrating the existing integrity assessment systems that had been carried out over the past two decades, for the first time this year, we will make our utmost efforts to establish a stable base for the CIA to be smoothly conducted for the next twenty years.”