Premier Sean Chen on July 9 asked the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to push for greater transparency in lobbying at the Executive Yuan, its subordinate agencies and schools across Taiwan by requiring all instances of lobbying to be registered.
The instructions came two days after President Ma Ying-jeou demanded that the Cabinet design a system within two months where public servants can have clearer boundaries and guidelines to follow.
The Executive Yuan's new protocols are as follows:
1. All cases of lobbying shall be registered by the person being lobbied at the appropriate civil service ethics office.
2. The ethics office shall record all lobbying activity in writing and submit such documents to the MOJ's Agency Against Corruption (AAC) for inspection and archiving.
3. A person found to be concealing or suppressing evidence of lobbying shall be punished according to regulations. The penalty for an administrative official is to be determined by his/her direct supervisor; in the case of a politically appointed official, the punishment shall be decided by someone of higher rank.
4. The AAC shall appoint independent civil ethics officials to conduct random inspections on cases of lobbying. If evidence of bribery or malfeasance is detected, a swift investigation shall be conducted in coordination with the MOJ's Investigation Bureau and related judicial agencies.
5. Standard operating procedures and forms for registering lobbying cases shall be prescribed by the MOJ and the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission.
6. Measures for awards and punishment shall be clearly laid out in the Integrity and Ethics Directions for Civil Servants. Regulations on such measures shall be established by the MOJ and the Executive Yuan's Directorate-General of Personnel Administration.
7. The AAC shall stipulate guidelines on offering award incentives to individuals who help uncover instances of corruption through reviews of registered lobbying information.
The Executive Yuan indicated that it would regularly monitor the enforcement of these protocols, and will institute further reforms to restore public confidence.