Prevention of Corruption
The National Anti-Corruption Programme of the Republic of Lithuania for 2015-2025 (hereinafter referred to as "the Programme") identifies corruption as one of the national threats to the state and one of the most dangerous social phenomena, which threatens human rights, democracy and the rule of law, distorting social justice, fair competition, and the conditions for doing business, undermining the growth of the economy, and posing a threat to the governance of the state, to the stability of the state or municipal institutions, and to the morale of society.
In the public sector, corruption risks include legislative activity, public procurement, oversight of economic operators, public administration, civil service and asset management. The programme identifies the rating of an educational or scientific institution as an area where corruption risks are likely. It is important to note that the Center for Quality in Hgher Education (hereinafter – SKVC) does not rank study programmes or higher education institutions.
In implementing corruption prevention measures, SKVC is guided by:
- The Law on Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Lithuania;
- The National Anti-Corruption Programme of the Republic of Lithuania for 2015-2025;
- The Inter-institutional Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Programme of the Republic of Lithuania for 2015-2025 for the period 2020-2022;
- The Corruption Prevention Programme of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania for the period 2020-2023;
- The Plan of Prevention Measures of the Centre for Quality Assessment of Studies for 2021-2023. Implementation of the measures assigned to the Plan of Measures for the Implementation of the Programme for the Prevention of Corruption 2020-2023 of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania.
Corruption prevention in SKVC
Corruption is incompatible with the values of the SKVC, the principles of ethics of civil servants and the principles of the work of employees on employment contracts, as well as the principles of the work of the experts working for SKVC. The values of professionalism, impartiality, openness and cooperation guide the work of the SKVC.
In order to create an anti-corruption working environment, the Centre has adopted a "Zero" gifts policy and updated The description of the procedure for declaring, coordinating and controlling public and private interests at the Centre and its annexes - the lists of positions where holders are obliged to declare their private interests and the lists of positions with administrative powers.
SKVC introduced the zero gift policy towards corruption and abuse in order to ensure the transparency and publicity of its actions. The main purpose of the policy is to prevent the occurrence of corruption and prevent creating conditions for corruption in the institution’s activities.
SKVC has established a strict policy on gift-giving and decided to go above and beyond and institute a no-gift policy. The SKVC employees can only accept symbolic, representative gifts under the international protocol or traditions that are usually related to their job responsibilities (such as state, company or other symbols, calendar, writer, notebook, informational publications, etc.).
We thank for the understanding and support of this policy.
Prevention of corruption is ensured by the SKVC's well-defined procedures and legislation, which can be found here.
Persons responsible for corruption prevention in SKVC
Giedra Katilauskienė, Head of the Qualifications Assessment Unit, is responsible for the prevention of corruption in the SKVC, e-mail: [email protected], phone +370 5 205 31 75.
Report about corruption
If you would like to report about the corruption at the Centre for Quality Assesment in Higher Education, or if you would like to submit suggestions for improving corruption prevention measures, please write to [email protected]. Please indicate in the report officials or other persons who by act or omission have committed or continue to commit criminal offences. Also please provide other data that you may deem relevant. Offensive and offensive anonymous reports will not be considered.
Please keep in mind that the laws of the Republic of Lithuania prohibit slandering or falsely accusing another person of committing a crime, and liability is established for such actions.
You can also report cases of corruption to the Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania (STT) by calling the 24-hour hotline in Vilnius (+370 5) 266 3333 (also on weekends), or by e-mail [email protected], or leave a message on the STT website here.
Relevant links:
Last updated: 19-03-2024