New law on conflict of interest

By BKM | Berkemeyer

On April 26, 2023, Law No. 7089/2023 was enacted in Paraguay to establish a new regime for the prevention, correction and sanction of conflicts of interest in the public service.

The law will apply to any person who fulfills or has fulfilled a public function (art. 2). Public function is defined as "the temporary or permanent activity, paid or honorary, carried out by a natural person, in the exercise of legislative, judicial, executive or administrative functions, or those functions carried out on behalf of any agency or entity of the State, at any hierarchical level and regardless of the nature or remuneration of the position or if it is carried out by designation or through an election” (art. 3).

A novelty of the law is that it establishes the obligation to submit an affidavit of no conflict of interest to a wide variety of public officials (arts. 8 and 13). The law also establishes the content of such affidavit of no conflict of interest (art. 14).

The enforcement authority of the law will be the Comptroller General of Paraguay (CGR), although inter-institutional coordination can occur (art. 6).

Some of the prevention and correction measures for conflicts of interest will be:

a. Presentation of affidavit of no conflict of interest.

b. Prohibited behaviors for public officials.

c. Mandatory absences.

d. Sale of assets and forced resignation.

The law specifically determines what are the prohibited behaviors for the public officials (art. 18) and the activities of mandatory absence (art. 20).

Sanctions for conflicts of interest (article 36) will be determined prior to an administrative proceeding that may be subject to a reconsideration appeal for 10 business days (arts. 33 and 39).

The law must be regulated within a period of 30 days from its publication.

For more information, please contact Adriana Ocampos: adriana.ocampos@berke.com.py and/or Dahiana Acosta: dahiana.acosta@berke.com.py and/or Pedro Lacasa: Pedro.Lacasa@berke.com.py.