The main recommendations of the Working Group are that the Czech Republic should:
-Establish liability of legal persons for foreign bribery without delay and put in place sanctions that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The Group further expects the Czech Republic, within 12 months, to report specifically in writing on the progress of this issue.
-Raise the profile of foreign bribery in its anti-corruption efforts, and specifically target Czech individuals and companies that operate internationally, as well as entities involved in official development assistance, taxation, accounting and auditing.
-Consider adopting additional measures to strengthen protection for whistleblowers in order to encourage employees to report suspected cases of foreign bribery without fear of retaliation.
-Raise awareness among prosecutors of the importance of forfeiture and confiscation, and encourage prosecutors to seek these sanctions in corruption cases whenever possible.
The Working Group also highlighted some positive aspects of the Czech Republic’s fight against foreign bribery. The Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation has devoted significant attention to raising awareness of foreign bribery and the Convention among its clients. The Czech Republic has adopted legislation that expressly denies tax deduction of foreign bribe payments. Recent amendments to the Criminal Code should enable a court to forfeit or confiscate assets belonging to beneficial owners, as well as assets of equivalent value if forfeiture or confiscation of the original asset is frustrated.
