{"id":12682,"date":"2025-04-01T08:54:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T08:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fundacionporlajusticia.org\/?p=12682"},"modified":"2025-04-01T08:54:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T08:54:12","slug":"tres-organizaciones-anticorrupcion-demandan-a-la-agencia-valenciana-antifraude-por-la-derogacion-de-su-codigo-etico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fundacionporlajusticia.org\/en\/tres-organizaciones-anticorrupcion-demandan-a-la-agencia-valenciana-antifraude-por-la-derogacion-de-su-codigo-etico\/","title":{"rendered":"Three anti-corruption organizations are suing the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency for repealing its Code of Ethics."},"content":{"rendered":"

Three anti-corruption organizations \u2013the Hay Derecho Foundation<\/b><\/a>, the\u00a0Foundation for Justice<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Civic Action Association against Corruption<\/b><\/a>\u2013 have filed an appeal before the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) against the\u00a0repeal of the Code of Ethics<\/b>\u00a0and the\u00a0dissolution of the Ethics Committee\u00a0<\/b>of the\u00a0Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency\u00a0<\/b>(AVAF).<\/p>\n

The resource also has the\u00a0support from several former members of the Ethics Committee<\/b>, who consider that the repeal of the Code of Ethics has been carried out\u00a0without following the legally established procedure<\/b>, in a performance that\u00a0puts the independence and internal control of the institution at risk<\/b>.<\/p>\n

A repeal that does not comply with the law<\/b><\/h3>\n

The AVAF Code of Ethics was\u00a0approved in 2022<\/b>\u00a0through a participatory process that included unions and Agency staff. This document established\u00a0principles of good governance and standards of conduct<\/b>\u00a0applicable to all its staff, including the obligation to\u00a0submit declarations of assets and activities<\/b>\u00a0to avoid conflicts of interest. In addition, it regulated the\u00a0creation of an independent Ethics Committee<\/b>, composed mainly of external experts, responsible for monitoring compliance and managing an internal complaints channel.<\/p>\n

However, in September 2024, the new director of the AVAF,\u00a0Eduardo Beut<\/b>, proposed by PP and supported by Vox, repealed the Code of Ethics through Resolution No. 904,\u00a0by eliminating both the Ethics Committee and its internal complaints mailbox<\/b>This decision came amid a confrontation between AVAF management and the Ethics Committee, following the opening of internal investigations against the director himself for various complaints.<\/p>\n

The repeal of the Code contravenes the provisions of Law 1\/2022 on Transparency and Good Governance of the Valencian Community, which requires the AVAF to have a code of ethics. Furthermore, the Agency's Regulatory Plan for 2024 provided for its review and development, but\u00a0in no case its elimination<\/b>.<\/p>\n

The weakening of internal control mechanisms<\/b><\/h3>\n

The elimination of the Ethics Committee and the internal complaints channel represents a\u00a0regression in independence and control\u00a0<\/b>of the Agency, weakening oversight mechanisms. The new complaints system created by the AVAF management, the SII-AVAF, does not maintain the same guarantee of independence, since its management falls to a body appointed directly by the director.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Beut's decision clearly does not serve the public interest, as the repeal was carried out without a prior evaluation procedure and without consulting the Ethics Committee. Furthermore, no transitional regime was established for pending complaints, which creates\u00a0a legal loophole in the processing of open files<\/b>.<\/p>\n

The disappearance of this independent body eliminates an essential control system for accountability within the AVAF. "The independence of the Ethics Committee was a key guarantee that complaints about malpractice would be\u00a0evaluated without external pressures"<\/b>, the plaintiffs explain. Furthermore, the lack of a transitional regime\u00a0has left several cases unresolved<\/b>, some of which directly affect the current management of the Agency.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, and some time after the judicial appeal against the elimination of the Code of Ethics had been filed, the AVAF filed a\u00a0new draft Code<\/b>\u00a0which, among other things, eliminates the sanctioning regime and weakens the supervisory body. By eliminating the sanctioning regime, the Code of Ethics becomes, in practice,\u00a0devoid of any real effectiveness<\/b>, reduced to a mere non-binding declaration of intent without mechanisms to guarantee compliance.<\/p>\n

A step back in the fight against corruption<\/b><\/h3>\n

Safira Cantos<\/b>, general director of Hay Derecho, added that "dismantling the internal controls of the AVAF is\u00a0a direct attack on transparency<\/b>\u00a0and calls into question the Agency's commitment to the principles of legality, independence and effectiveness that it is responsible for defending."<\/p>\n

For its part,\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Tom\u00e1s and T\u00edo<\/b>, president of the Foundation for Justice, stated that the elimination of the Code of Ethics and the Ethics Committee "is a serious setback in the fight against corruption in the Valencian Community."<\/p>\n

"This decision disarms the internal control and surveillance mechanisms within the Agency, and weakens an entity that once was a\u00a0European reference<\/b>\u00a0of the fight against corruption," he added\u00a0Antonio Penad\u00e9s<\/b>, president of Civic Action.<\/p>\n

The plaintiff organizations hope that the TSJCV\u00a0declare the nullity of Resolution No. 904 and reinstate the Code of Ethics and the Ethics Committee<\/b>\u00a0as essential elements to ensure compliance with the principles of good governance in the AVAF.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tres organizaciones anticorrupci\u00f3n \u2013la Fundaci\u00f3n Hay Derecho, la\u00a0Fundaci\u00f3n por la Justicia\u00a0y la\u00a0Asociaci\u00f3n Acci\u00f3n C\u00edvica contra la Corrupci\u00f3n\u2013 han interpuesto un recurso ante la Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Valenciana (TSJCV) contra la\u00a0derogaci\u00f3n del C\u00f3digo \u00c9tico\u00a0y la\u00a0disoluci\u00f3n del Comit\u00e9 de \u00c9tica\u00a0de la\u00a0Agencia Valenciana Antifraude\u00a0(AVAF). El recurso tambi\u00e9n cuenta con […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fundacion-por-la-justicia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t