The CEELI Institute in cooperation with the National Instance for the Fight Against Corruption (INLUCC) conducted a three-day training at INLUCC’s offices in Tunis, Tunisia. The training brought together 18 lawyers, judges and civil servants from various governmental agencies in Tunisia, including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Competition Commission and Ministry of Transport among others with the aim to equip civil servants from across government sectors to detect and combat corruption.

The CEELI Institute supported the participation of two international trainers – Mr. John Madinger and Ms. Liljana Selinšek. Mr. Madinger is a former senior special agent with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service in the United States. Ms. Selinšek recently served as the Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption in Slovenia and is a criminal law expert, primarily on combating corruption and cybercrime.

On Day 1, participants defined basic terminology and established a foundational understanding of the techniques for combating corruption, specifically financial corruption. On Day 2 and Day 3, participants applied this knowledge to case studies of public corruption, analyzing each case from the perspective of the corrupt individual as well as the authorities trying to identify and combat the corruption. Participants also completed a group exercise in which they identified the most prevalent forms of corruption in Tunisia and appropriate techniques for addressing these issues.

The most pressing issues discussed included: techniques for detecting and combating money laundering, corruption in the areas of public procurement and customs, corruption related to tobacco smuggling along Tunisia’s borders, as well as preventative and punitive measures for countering corruption.

The CEELI Institute and INLUCC will conduct another training focused on corruption in public procurement next month in Tunis.