Training project for Local Government Directors, Managers and Officials on corruption prevention legislation
Law No. 190/2012 bearing “Provisions for the prevention and suppression of corruption and illegality in public administration,” identifies staff training as one of the most relevant management tools for combating corruption.
Article 1, paragraph 59 of the aforementioned law (the so-called Anti-Corruption Law), verbatim states that “The corruption prevention provisions set forth in paragraphs 1 to 57 of this article, of direct implementation of the principle of impartiality referred to in Article 97 of the Constitution, are applied in all public administrations referred to in Article 1, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree No. 165 of March 30, 2001, as amended.” .
On the subject of training, paragraph 8 of Article 1 prescribes that the corruption prevention officer, by January 31 each year, shall define “appropriate procedures for selecting and training, in accordance with Paragraph 10, employees intended to work in areas particularly exposed to corruption. ….” ; Paragraph 10 further stipulates that the corruption prevention officer shall also: “c) identify personnel to be included in the training programs referred to in Paragraph 11,” i.e., training on issues of ethics and legality; and, finally, Paragraph 44, headed “code of conduct,” prescribes that “public administrations shall annually verify the status of implementation of the codes and organize personnel training activities for the knowledge and proper application of the codes.”
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From the legislator’s point of view, therefore, adequate training of personnel fosters, on the one hand, greater awareness in decision-making, since a broader and deeper knowledge reduces the risk that unlawful action may be carried out unwittingly; on the other hand, it enables the acquisition of specific skills for carrying out activities in areas identified as having a higher risk of corruption.
For this reason, numerous sections of the Court of Accounts(ex multis, Court of Accounts, Emilia Romagna section, no. 276 of 2013) have expressed the view that ” in light of the regulatory framework referred to and the safeguarding of the constitutional values enshrined in Article 97 of the Constitution to which this type of training activity is also functional, the mandatory nature of its performance is noted and, given the absence of discretion regarding the authorization of the related expenditure, in this case we are outside the scope of application referred to in paragraph 13 of Article 6 of Decree Law 78/2010″ ; therefore, in organizing anti-corruption training courses, municipalities will be able to legitimately deviate from the expenditure ceiling defined by the aforementioned legislation.