Anti-Corruption Rules: "We must not err through excess or confuse effectiveness with bureaucratization"

The founding partner of Dower Law Firm confirms that public entities are now more aware of the new anti-corruption regulations. To better achieve its goals, MENAC should focus on education and awareness-raising.

How do you explain this non-compliance?

Today there is an excess of bureaucratization. SMEs are the essence of our business fabric, and they lack the internal resources to meet what is increasingly being demanded of them.

There’s the RGPC, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), pay gap assessment plans… Then, there’s a widespread perception of a certain laxity and that non-compliance has no consequences. With public entities, it’s different.

Are they more compliant?

They are much more attentive. This is also because it’s becoming increasingly common for public employees themselves to be held financially liable for actions carried out intentionally or even negligently.

Are private entities less aware?

Clearly, communication has not been effective. It’s been us—the practitioners—who have been alerting private organizations to this need.

There have been inquiries but no sanctions. Doesn’t that encourage non-compliance?

MENAC took a long time to be launched and is still building its structure. Sooner or later, consequences will come. But it’s understandable that they haven’t started with the punitive aspect right away. That’s how it should be—just as the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) did with the GDPR.

Is tolerance necessary?

MENAC and CNPD should promote education and awareness to encourage compliance with the rules. The goal is to help organizations adopt the required compliance procedures—without dogmatism.

We must not err through excess. At one point, public entities started requiring every participant in an administrative process to submit a declaration of absence of conflict of interest. Imagine this in a local authority.

It’s completely unfeasible. This excess brings nothing positive. We cannot confuse effectiveness with bureaucratization.

Is the RGPC too demanding?

Sometimes it’s more about excess—not only of ignorance but also of poor communication. European-inspired regulations often don’t focus on punishment; they are more like “guidelines” than actual laws. Therefore, in Latin countries, they sometimes don’t work as well. For instance, the GDPR was greatly misunderstood and exaggerated, but the excesses were eventually corrected.

Will the same adjustment happen with the RGPC?

Of course. It will be its application in practice that determines that.