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• Entering into a harmful contract (Art. 249 of KZ) • Disclosure of an official secret (Art. 351 of KZ) • Disclosure and unauthorized procurement of a business secret (Art. 295 of KZ) The term conflict of interest implies prohibited acts of officials, stipulated in Art. 6. of the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest in the Exercise of Public Office (see item 6). Criminal procedure is initiated exclusively by an authorized prosecutor. Authorized prosecutors are the state attorney and USKOK. USKOK performs activities of the state attorney referred to in Art. 21 of the Act on the Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime—Official Gazette Nos. 88/01, 12/02, 33/05 and 48/05-correction). The procedure of deciding on a conflict of interest is initiated by the Commission for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Exercise of Public Office. The act that the criminal procedure begins with is passed by the court, whereas proceedings in criminal law cases are within the competence of municipal courts, county courts and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia. The procedure of deciding on conflict of interest is initiated by the Commission, on the basis of a report submitted by an official, or on the basis of its own decision to initiate a procedure, and it can also initiate a procedure on the basis of a report of other persons. The procedure before the Commission is prescribed by the provisions of the Ordinance of the Commission for Conflict of Interest in the Exercise of Public Office on Internal Organization and Procedure (Official Gazette No. 86/05). Criminal law sanctions that can be brought against a perpetrator of criminal acts are the following: penalties (imprisonment sentence and fine), warning measures (court citation and suspended sentence), safety measures, and correctional measures. Sanctions that the Commission may pronounce for an official are the following: suspension of payment of a portion of monthly salary of an official, a reprimand and publishing of the decision of the Commission at the expense of the official.
4. MAY THE COMMISSION PROCEED IN CASES OF FORMS OF CORRUPTION UNDER CRIMINAL LAW? Any form of corruption which has characteristics of a criminal act is at the same time a conflict of interest. In principle, the Commission may also proceed in cases when prohibited actions have features of criminal conduct. However, the Commission does not have the authority of a public prosecution body, nor does it have sanctions that would match the seriousness of a c ommitted criminal act. Income and Asset Disclosure • http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9796-1