Date published: 11.05.2024
The ANTI-CORR project consists in introducing into the existing mobile application "Consultant" (a technological online platform (marketplace), which makes it possible for anyone with the help of a mobile application to receive online advice on legal and accounting issues, as well as to obtain contact information about a specialist in order to solve a specific task or to order his personal service. At the same time, the opportunity for lawyers, advocates, accountants and other professionals to provide online consulting services, other professional and advertising services of their activities, in order to obtain potential customers) additional interface and services regarding exposure of corruption offenses.
Problem Identification:
- High level of corruption in Ukraine. In 2021, Ukraine ranked 122nd out of 180 in terms of corruption perception, indicating the presence of corrupt elements in every sphere of society. The state is trying to implement anti-corruption reforms, but they are often ineffective. Due to the large number of anti-corruption bodies, their competence is fragmented, and therefore their duties regarding the detection of corruption are not fully fulfilled. To become a full member of the EU, Ukraine must reform its anti-corruption system, as reducing and overcoming corruption is one of the mandatory elements of EU accession.
- Complexity of corruption investigations. Corruption offenses are among the most complex, requiring a lot of experience and expertise from legal professionals. The correctness of drafting procedural documents is the key to a successful investigation and the premise of a won case.
- Low level of legal awareness among citizens. Citizens are accustomed to corruption and consider it acceptable in a democratic society. This indicates a low level of legal awareness and a lack of civic position.
- Cases of unjustified inclusion of individuals in the register of corrupt persons. Inclusion of a person in the register of corrupt individuals undermines their future prospects for certain positions, as it severely damages their reputation. Recorded cases of unjustified inclusion in the Registry indicate the imperfection of the activities of anti-corruption bodies. There is also a complex procedure for removal from this register.
- Fear of reporting corruption. Indeed, there are cases where carriers of "valuable" information may be threatened with physical harm, murder, persecution, reprisals against family members, etc. However, a correct approach to anonymity issues will improve the situation in the country.
"YUM CONSULTANT" LLC proposes cooperation for the benefit of eradicating corruption and promoting its elimination. We have identified the possibility of implementing additional functionality in the mobile application.
Through our project, everyone will be able to report corruption, receive necessary information about ongoing corruption investigations, and obtain legal support regarding issues related to exposing corrupt crimes.
Within the scope of this project, the following will be developed and introduced:
- Improvement of the Consultant interface: adding a "Report Corruption" button, which allows users to report corrupt offenses, which are then forwarded to the respective lawyer. The lawyer can then choose to assist the client in establishing all the facts and share the profit from the exposed amount, or completely transfer the right to represent the case to a lawyer in accordance with the law (for example, through NABU).
- Adding services in the field of corruption:
- Provision of template documents (application for crime disclosure, applications for articles of corruption offenses in administrative and criminal proceedings),
- Provision of a separate service (legal support regarding the protection of people illegally included in the registry of corrupt individuals, services for the protection of those who are considered corrupt for political reasons, checking for the presence of an open criminal case regarding corruption, exclusion of false information about committing corrupt actions from courts in the occupied territories (lost cases).
- Providing a thousand free downloads for template documents needed in a case of corruption violations, such as a statement of crime disclosure (via a separately generated link).
- Writing thematic articles by qualified lawyers using grant funds in the field of current corruption issues to increase public awareness, as currently over 600 specialists are connected to the service, many of whom have worked in the field of exposing corrupt crimes in one way or another.
- Integration of open data from the Unified State Register of Persons who have committed corruption or corruption-related offenses into the application for the purpose of notifying individuals who have been illegally entered into the database.
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Project Goal: reducing the level of corruption, increasing integrity through automation via the mobile application 'Consultant' of the list of legal services that can be provided in the corrupt component, providing the opportunity for every conscientious citizen to report corruption.
Objectives:
- Formulation by lawyers of procedural documents for more than 80 articles establishing responsibility for unlawful or criminal actions related to corruption.
- Reports of corruption from application users within the first year of project implementation.
- Provision of 100 legal services in the field of corruption and obtaining a profit from them by lawyers, in the amount of not less than 250,000 hryvnias.
- Provision of 1,000 free template documents in the first six months of project implementation.
- Approximately 300 individuals informed about the presence of corruption offenders in the registry via push notifications during the first year of project implementation.
- Writing by professional lawyers of 200 articles on issues related to corruption to increase public awareness within the first year of project implementation.
The project aims to address urgent issues facing the state. The main changes that can be achieved through the implementation of anti-corruption innovations in the Consultant project:
Improvement of the 'Consultant' application by adding necessary elements that will address the aforementioned problems in the corruption sphere - utilization of the application by clients to report corruption, download template documents, order legal support in proceedings related to corruption - increasing the number of reports on corruption crimes, efficient handling of corruption-related cases, effective protection of illegally violated rights and interests of clients regarding illegal inclusion in the corruption registry, raising legal awareness of citizens - reducing corruption in Ukraine.
This will occur provided all specified elements are implemented in the application, advertising of the improved application, and its usage by clients. This is the best way to simplify corruption detection, as if the process is simple, then a larger number of people will engage, use, and cultivate integrity.
- Individuals can easily report corruption by pressing a button and filling out the corresponding form - then this information is immediately transmitted to a lawyer - as a result, obstacles for a prolonged bureaucratic process, currently functioning to inform the relevant authority about corrupt violations, will be eliminated - through simplified reporting procedures, the number of corruption reports will increase, thus reducing corruption in Ukraine overall. This will happen provided the project is implemented, the application is downloaded, the button is pressed, and information about the violation is filled out, and the lawyer accepts information about corruption. The chosen approach is the most successful because people want to save time and do something useful, and this interface will provide a simple and effective way to detect corruption through the application.
- Downloading the application - by going to a separate tab, it will be easy and accessible to download template documents developed by qualified lawyers and necessary for proceedings in corruption cases - speeding up proceedings. Currently, such documents are quite difficult to find for the average person, so this innovation will simplify their acquisition for both lawyers and individuals in general. These changes will occur through the implementation of innovations, downloading the application, payment for documents, and downloading the document. Downloading documents through the application is the best way to simplify corruption detection, as if the process is simple, then a larger number of people will engage in it.
- Application download - selection of legal support services for the defense of individuals illegally included in the register of corrupt persons, protection of those who are considered corrupt for political reasons, verification of the existence of an open criminal investigation regarding a corruption case, exclusion of false information about committing corrupt actions from courts in the occupied territories (lost cases) - ordering a service by the individual - payment - lawyer accepts the service order - service execution - receipt of funds for work - saving time and effort for the client, as without an application with a transparent rating of lawyers, it is very difficult to find a trusted lawyer who will qualitatively perform his duties. As a result of this whole process, effective protection of the rights and interests of the individual in the proceedings will be achieved, and the case will be positively closed.
Target Groups:
- individuals residing in Ukraine who have witnessed a corruption offense
- individuals who have been illegally included in the register of corrupt persons and require legal assistance
- individuals considered corrupt who need legal assistance
- lawyers and legal experts, or individuals in need of template documents for corruption cases
Short-term results will include:
- increase in organic traffic of platform users;
- increase in potential and actual clients (users) for the mobile application;
- raising awareness among the population about the possibility of reporting corrupt actions;
- increased opportunities for citizens to cooperate with lawyers to combat corruption;
- increased opportunities for citizens to independently fight against corruption using our instructions for using developed documents from experts.
Geographical Coverage
Across the entire territory of Ukraine. Special emphasis will be placed on the regions of the western part of Ukraine and their administrative centers. This includes the city of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and the regions. Also, emphasis will be placed on Kyiv as a city with a particularly high level of corruption. This is also due to the convenience of the location of the main central executive authorities in the field of combating corruption.
Project monitoring and evaluation will be carried out by the project manager through the compilation and provision of monthly reports on the achievement of project results and goals.
The main indicators will be:
- number of new application users;
- number of corruption reports;
- number of template document downloads;
- number of ordered services;
- conversion rate from ordered services;
- growth dynamics of mobile application downloads;
- growth dynamics of document downloads;
The innovation lies in:
- convenience of finding useful information directly in the application;
- ability to report instances of corruption directly in the application;
- ability to avoid direct physical contact between lawyers/legal experts and users, which will expedite many processes;
- convenience of recording project results (number of application downloads, number of document downloads, number of applications submitted regarding reported instances of corruption);
- automatic search for application users in the Open Register of Corrupt Persons.
