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On these pages you will find an Introduction to Defence Integrity Pacts, template and guidance Documents for practical implementation of Defence Integrity Pacts, information on the role of The Independent Monitor, our assessment of How Defence Integrity Pacts help, and overview of Experience to date with Defence Integrity Pacts and Experience to date with Integrity Pacts.
Introduction to Defence Integrity Pacts
Defence Integrity Pacts are a tool to combat corruption at the tendering and contract stage of procurement. They bind all the bidders and the Government together in a contract to reduce the possibility of corruption occurring both during and after the tendering. The contract includes some or all of the following:
- Pledge and undertakings by bidders not to offer or accept bribes
- Pledge and undertakings by the government, their consultants and advisers. The anti-bribery part of the pledge is comparable to that signed by the bidder
- Restrictions on government officials from obtaining work at bidding firms or their partners for a period after the bid
- Disclosure of details of agents or intermediaries. This disclosure may only be of the name and services contract of the agent, but may also require disclosure of payments to and from the agent
- The appointment of an independent monitor or monitoring team. Access by the monitor to all meetings and unrestricted access to all material documents
- Publication of some or all of the documents, evaluation criteria, bidders’ proposals and the detailed results of the evaluations. In some cases, public hearings for discussions of the bid
- Bidders agree to withdraw if there is evidence of breach of the pledge. Further sanctions may involve exclusion from bidding for subsequent contracts
In addition, the Government may encourage the involvement of Civil Society groups like Transparency International.
Documents
Below are useful template Defence Integrity Pact documents and detailed explanatory notes on Defence Integrity Pacts
The Independent Monitor
The Principal appoints the Independent Monitor. How this is done is important, as it is essential that the Monitor‘s independence is not compromised by the nature of the appointment. Where the Independent is a body outside of government, this may done through some form of letter of appointment, which makes clear his role including, inter alia, the formal independence of the assessor from all parties, the obligation to publish all findings, and their being held harmless by the government for any claims against them.
The choice of the Independent Monitor is very important, and depends greatly on the national circumstances:
- It could be an independent anti-corruption government body in the country; eg an Independent Committee against Corruption
- It could be a highly respected person in the country, e.g. a former judge, with appropriate administrative and expert support
- It could be a professional independent assessor
- It could be a civil society organisation
It has to be done - at least in part - by an individual or organisation that is reasonably local, knows the language and culture, and who will be around for some time, as the contract phase may last many years.
How do Defence Integrity Pacts help?
- Integrity Pacts work on several levels to support the procurement process:
- They supplement weak laws, by making contractual requirements, for example of greater disclosure of information
- They attract more bidders, by levelling the playing field, providing independent technical scrutiny
- They give more confidence to bidders through a visible effort at clean procurement, the use of an independent to whom complaints can realistically be addressed. They give greater confidence in the probity of government
- They reduce the costs of contracts
- They supplement weak or slow enforcement by greatly strengthening the sanctions. Requiring a company to withdraw from the bid is a major deterrent. They are applicable at the time of the tender, rather than after award, which is generally the case in current laws
- They can be developed to provide independent assurance throughout the execution phase of the contract as well as the tender phase
- They strengthen public confidence. The defence procurement process often has a poor reputation, is subject to political influence internally and externally.
Integrity Pacts have mostly been applied at the bidding stage of a contracting process. For many contracts they also must be applied throughout the execution phase as well. If not, there is a danger that the corruption risk is simply driven ‘downstream’ beyond the point of contract award.
Integrity Pacts are not a panacea. They do not address structural issues like reform of the procurement organisation, or legal issues. They can also be rendered ineffective, for example by not having a credible Independent Monitor. They must not be reduced to an administrative procedure. There must be strong support from the top of the defence ministry. They must be used as part of an overall national anti-corruption strategy.
Experience to date with Defence Integrity Pacts
Transparency International UK has worked and is working in a number of countries with the defence establishment and associated Transparency International chapter to pilot Defence Integrity Pacts on defence procurement.
Below are summary and udpate notes of our work in
- Poland (summary note arriving shortly)
- Latvia (summary note arriving shortly)
- Colombia (overview of our work in Colombia, as presented to the Nottingham University 'public procurement' seminar, 2006)
Experience to date with Integrity Pacts
The experience of Integrity Pacts dates from their development in the 1990s in some dozen countries, for example South Korea, Germany, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, and Italy. They are an established tool of government - outside of defence - in four countries that are working expensively to address corruption: Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. In these countries, Transparency International is working with the government leadership in applying the Integrity Pact to specific sectors of the economy so as to address corruption thoroughly in those sectors.
Below are summary documents of Integrity Pact experience to date:
Mexico -
Mexico Integrity Pact suburban train case study January 2007
Mexico Integrity Pact Experience 2006
Korea -
Integrity Pact & the Korean Experience 2003
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