The conference "Quality of democratic institutions and effects of corruption. Economic costs and sociopolitical impact", organized by the César Manrique Foundation (FCM) on November 20 and 21 in the context of the commemoration of the centenary of the birth of César Manrique, began with the presentation of the director of the Institution, Fernando Gómez Aguilera, who recalled how corruption affects the functioning of democracy and the economy, as well as equality and public social service policies, also deteriorating social and political trust.
Gómez Aguilera pointed out with statistical data that the social cost of corruption in the Canary Islands is the highest in Spain and briefly reviewed the cases of corruption in Lanzarote, "which has unfortunately consolidated itself as a laboratory of corruption", with unresolved cacique roots and a society accustomed to looking the other way, although the island is also projected as a center of interest in the fight against corruption with admirable judges and prosecutors.
Then the professors Francisco Alcalá and Fernando Jiménez, authors of the report "The economic costs of the deficit of institutional quality and corruption" took the floor to present their conclusions. In their work they compare the quality of institutions in Spain with those of other countries, quantifying the cost and proposing improvements. The study is based on six indicators: democracy and public freedoms, political stability and absence of violence, governmental effectiveness, regulatory quality, respect for the law and contracts and control of corruption.
Professor Carlos Sebastián opened the turn in the second part of the day, dedicated to the economic analysis of corruption, which included three interventions. He assured that poor institutional quality leads to inequality, which together with climate change are the two major problems in the world today, and non-compliance with the rules is one of the characteristics of this low institutional quality. Inequality is a moral problem, but also an economic one, since the poor distribution of wealth tends to perpetuate itself and the groups with the highest income introduce biases in the legislation in their favor, he pointed out.
"The most efficient or most profitable companies are the most corrupt companies"
For the economist and National Prize winner José Manuel Naredo, the ordinary economic approach is not useful to delve into this issue and that is why he has elaborated, in his latest book, a taxonomy of profit, starting from the paradox that the economy, as a science of profit, does not classify its forms. Corruption, according to Naredo, can be legal, has a great weight in the economy, a systemic character and reaches everyone. "The most efficient or most profitable companies are the most corrupt companies", he concluded.
The last of the speakers of the first session of these conferences, Federico Aguilera Klink, stated that corruption is a betrayal of the community and a democratic kidnapping. In addition, he questioned the classification of Transparency International on corruption because he considers that in countries like Great Britain, it is actually institutionalized. Aguilera said he was interested in legal corruption which, in his opinion, materializes for example in the Maastricht Treaty, which forces countries to indebt themselves in a concrete way to favor banks or the rescue of banks, "which is a scam", or electricity tariffs, which are a "legal robbery".
The second day began with the intervention of the professor of the ULPGC and member of the Advisory Council of the Canary Islands José Suay, focused "from the other side of the mirror", the legal perspective. He pointed out that Criminal Law should try to prevent corruption from developing, but questioned whether it can do so when lawsuits are so long. In this same sense, Concepción Sabadell, prosecutor of the Gürtel case, stated that with the instruments that Justice has now, "the delay is inevitable" because many types of proceedings have to be carried out. The prosecutor pointed out that since 2009 progress has been made in the fight against corruption and highlighted the importance of giving visibility to corruption cases due to the necessary pressure from civil society.
Judge Pablo Ruz, instructor of the Gürtel case, revealed to the room during his presentation the feeling of weariness that he feels when talking about the same problems without them being solved and criticized that these issues were not on the political agenda. On the other hand, Ruz stated that a greater agility can be sought in the criminal process, however he considers that for this it is necessary to deepen the efficiency of the judicial system. He referred to the systemic or massive corruption of Lanzarote and stressed, against this, judicial efficiency. He was also skeptical with respect to the system of deadlines established by law, pointing out that it is not useful to prosecute corruption due to the complexity of the investigations and the lack of resources and the need for judicial assistance.
According to Antonio del Moral, magistrate of the Supreme Court and member of the court that judges the "procés", the purpose of Criminal Law is to dissuade, and this is achieved with three factors: the magnitude of the punishment, that the punishment is perceived as inevitable and the promptness of the penalty. He pointed out that the latter has been lost and that is why Criminal Law has less effectiveness. He said that it is necessary to be pragmatic in the instruction of a case and close it in several pieces for different defendants when there are sufficient indications of the crimes.
Judge Pablo Ruz: Lanzarote has "a history of efficiency against massive corruption"
Ruz listed all the issues that judges must be aware of: declarations, letters rogatory, deadlines, precautionary measures... and do everything in six months, extendable to 18 months and exceptionally to another 18, and that if those deadlines are not met there may be procedural consequences. "It is worrying what happens with the deadlines and if the evidence is valid once that deadline has passed because it can generate a kind of impunity". He narrated the moment when the Gürtel case arrived at his Court in the National Court and the documents occupied two moving trucks. Up to 250 reports from the Treasury were needed and he only had one person to help with everything. For Ruz, Lanzarote has "a history of efficiency against massive corruption" but, for example, in Murcia many cases are being raised that may be affected by those deadlines, which "are valid for another type of crime but not for corruption cases".
For Del Moral, corruption is a problem of the country, not of the political caste, but the political class thinks in a very short horizon of only four years and reforms must be made thinking about the next fifteen years. "The politician is not interested in investing in justice". "Either this changes or we will be in the 200th anniversary of the birth of César Manrique talking about the same thing". The key, finally, for Pablo Ruz, is the lack of resources since judges need the help of multidisciplinary teams: "Without technicians to help us interpret we have no effectiveness", he indicated.
The second round table, which closed the conference, was entitled "Whistleblowers, independent administrative agencies and organized civil society", moderated by Fernando Jiménez, director of the Conference. He praised the work, in Lanzarote, of officials who have played an exemplary role, judges, prosecutors, the Foundation itself or Urban Transparency. He said that there is a reform that is urgent, which is the protection of the whistleblower, because in Spain they are subjected to isolation or an ordeal and that does not encourage people to report.
Elisa de la Nuez chairs the Hay Derecho Foundation, formed by a group of jurists who verified that corruption was a systemic problem in institutions and regulatory bodies. The Foundation created awards so that people who fight against corruption feel supported and with the aim of "lobbying".
Antonio Penadés, president of Acción Cívica contra la corrupción, considers that there is a "partisanship" of the institutions, where the parties infiltrate "their own" among the civil servants to correctly manage the plot. In his opinion, "the corrupt seek areas of impunity and are finding them more and more". He considers that the social reproach towards corrupt actions is being lost and that a developed civil society and "a civic conscience" are needed to not fall asleep.
The last intervention was that of Gracia Ballesteros, who narrated her experience as a whistleblower in the Aquamed case, a public company in which she works as an engineer. She alluded to the important personal cost and the warning she was given of what was going to happen. First the whistleblower is tried to be annulled and then the witness. There are coercions, defamation, threats and then accusations of revealing secrets or prevarication, in the case of civil servants, as has happened. This is what happened: she has received a summons as an investigated person for which she said she was not worried but that it had provoked her temptation to hide. "Those who want to destroy me have great tools that I do not have, but I cannot stop being an engineer or a small activist against corruption, so I would do it again and I recommend that people do the right thing, that they report", she said before a room that applauded her at length.