B-008: Criminal Code Act

[Alfonso Velez]

Madam Speaker,

I'll be happy to accept the Honourable Member's amendment as friendly, provided it is modified to add additional provisions which I now move as a 2nd Degree Amendment:
 

Section 14. Any public official who uses confidential information learned in the course of their duties to enrich their personal, family, or business finances shall be subject to a term of imprisonment with labor for no more than eight years and a fine of up to fifty million ecu. This Section shall apply to any businesses in which that official holds stock or ownership.

Section 15.  Any public official who fails to disclose a potential conflicts of interest concerning their public duties and their financial interests to their relevant Inspector-General shall be liable of a term of imprisonment not to exceed one year and a fine up to one million ecus. 

Madam President, these two sections provide important additional protections against corruption. We must recognize that bribery takes on many forms--and most often it is a subtle form. Using public office to enrich one's own or one's companies' finances is a terrible breach of public trust and must be punished along with more overt forms of bribery.

I hope the Honourable Lady will accept my 2nd degree amendment to her amendment as friendly so that we can provide important protections for good governance in our Republic.