The person who reports corruption will be paid a reward of up to 25 times the minimum wage

In Azerbaijan, a person who reports corruption will be paid a reward of up to 25 times the minimum wage, and this income will be exempt from income tax.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to Report, this is specified in the new draft law "On the Encouragement and Protection of Persons Reporting Corruption-Related Offenses."

The document was put up for discussion at today's joint session of the Milli Majlis committees on defense, security and the fight against corruption and on legal policy and state building.

The draft law states that upon confirmation of the provided information, the reporting person will be paid a reward within 10 working days from the organization's budget (for budget organizations - from their maintenance expenses and extra-budgetary funds) by decision of the head of the organization.

The amount of the reward may not exceed 25 times the minimum wage. When determining the amount, the following will be taken into account: the nature of the corruption-related offense, the number of facts, the significance of the provided information for identifying the corruption-related offense, the extent of the damage caused, and the recovered assets.

The document also notes that in the event of a guilty verdict or other final decision in a criminal case, the reporting person will be paid 5% of the funds obtained from the special confiscation of property or monetary assets, payments to the state budget, or compensation of damages to the state, minus the stipulated expenses.

The decision to pay monetary funds to the reporting person in a criminal case will be made during pre-trial proceedings by the investigator with the consent of the prosecutor exercising procedural supervision of the preliminary investigation, and during court proceedings - by the court hearing the case.