CHAPTER III
Inspection of Assets and Liabilities
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Part I
Declaration of Accounts Showing Particulars of Assets and Liabilities of Persons Holding Political Positions
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Section 32. Persons holding political positions shall, on each occasion of taking or vacating office, submit to the N.C.C. Commission an account showing particulars of their assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and children who have not yet become sui juris as they actually exist on the date of the submission, in accordance with the form prescribed by the N.C.C. Commission.
The assets and liabilities which are subject to the declaration requirement shall include assets and liabilities in foreign countries and those which are not in possession of the declarers, their spouses and children who have not become sui juris.
In the case where any person holding a political position under paragraph one hold more than one political position, such person shall submit separate accounts showing particulars of assets and liabilities for every position in accordance with the time prescribed for the submission of the account in respect of such position.
Section 33. The account showing particulars of assets and liabilities under section 32 shall be submitted together with copies of the supporting documents evidencing the actual existence of such assets and liabilities as well as a copy of the personal income tax return for the previous fiscal year. The declarer shall certify the accuracy of the account and copies of the submitted documents by affixing his or her signature on every page thereof, prepare lists of the supporting documents accompanying the account showing particulars of assets and liabilities so submitted, and shall make the submission within such time as follows:
(1) in the case of the taking of office, within thirty days as from the date of taking office;
(2) in the case of the vacation of office, within thirty days as from the date of the vacation;
(3) in the case where the person holding a political position, who has already submitted the account, dies while being in office or before submitting the same after the vacation of office, an heir or an administrator of an estate of such person shall submit an account showing particulars of assets and liabilities existing on the date of such person's death within ninety days as from the date of the death.
In addition to the submission of the account under (2), the person holding a political position, who vacates office, shall also re-submit an account showing particulars of assets and liabilities within thirty days as from the date of the expiration of one year after the vacation of office.
Section 34. Any person holding a political position intentionally fails to submit an account showing particulars of assets and liabilities and supporting documents to the N.C.C. Commission within the time prescribed by this Organic Act or intentionally submits such account and supporting documents with false statements being included therein or fails to disclose facts which should have been disclosed, such person shall vacate Office as from the date of the expiration of the time-limit prescribed for the submission of the account showing particulars of assets and liabilities or as from the date of the discovery of such act, as the case may be, and such person shall not hold a political position for the period of five years as from the date of the vacation of office. For this purpose, the N.C.C. Commission shall refer the matter to the Constitutional Court for final decision and, when the Constitutional Court gives a final decision that it is the case of an intentional submission of the account showing particulars of assets and liabilities and supporting documents with false statements being included therein or failure to disclose facts which should have been disclosed, such person shall vacate the political position currently held, without prejudice to the acts previously done by such person while in office.
Section 35. When the account showing the particulars of assets and liabilities and its supporting documents under section 33 have been received, the President or the member as entrusted by the President shall affix his or her signature on every page of the account.
The account and supporting documents under paragraph one submitted by the Prime Minister and Ministers shall be disclosed to the public without delay but not later than thirty days as from the date of the expiration of the time-limit prescribed for the submission of such account. The account of the persons holding other positions shall not be disclosed to any person unless the disclosure will be useful for the trial and adjudication of cases or for the making of a determination and is requested by the courts or the State Audit Commission.
The President shall convene a meeting of the N.C.C. Commission to inspect the accuracy and the actual existence of assets and liabilities without delay.
Section 36. In the case where the submission of the account is made by reason of the vacation of office or death of any person holding a political position, the N.C.C. Commission shall inspect the change of assets and liabilities of such person and prepare an inspection report. Such report shall be published in the Government Gazette.
Section 37. In the case where any person holding a political position vacates office or dies and it appears that such person or his or her heir or administrator of the estate intentionally fails to submit an account showing particulars of assets and liabilities, the N.C.C. Commission shall have the power to inspect the change of assets and liabilities of the person holding the political position or of the estate without relying upon the account showing particulars of assets and liabilities required to be submitted under section 33 (2) and (3). For this purpose, the N.C.C. Commission shall compare assets and liabilities which exist on the date of the vacation of office or death with the account showing particulars of assets and liabilities submitted at the time of taking office and shall then prepare an inspection report and publish it in the Government Gazette.
Section 38. In the case where the inspection report reveals an unusual change of the property, the N.C.C. Commission shall request the person holding the political position, heirs or the administrator of the estate, as the case may be, to explain the acquisition of such property before the N.C.C. Commission passes a resolution that such person has an unusual increase of property.
In the case where it appears that any person holding a political position has an unusual increase of assets, the President shall furnish all existing documents together with the inspection report to the Prosecutor-General for instituting prosecution in the Supreme Court of Justice's Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions so that the unusually increased assets shall devolve on the State, and the provisions of section 80 paragraph two shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Part II
Declaration of an Account Showing Particulars of Assets and Liabilities of State Officials
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Section 39. The persons holing the following positions have the duty to submit to the N.C.C. Commission an account showing particulars of their assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and children who have not yet become sui juris upon taking office, every three years while being in office and upon vacation of office, in accordance with the form prescribed by the N.C.C. Commission.
(1) President of the Supreme Court of Justice;
(2) President of the Constitutional Court;
(3) President of the Supreme Administrative Court;
(4) Prosecutor-General;
(5) Election Commissioner;
(6) Ombudsman;
(7) judge of the Constitutional Court;
(8) member of the State Audit Commission;
(9) Vice President of the Supreme Court of Justice;
(10) Vice President of the Supreme Administrative Court;
(11) Chief of the Military Judicial Office;
(12) judge of the Supreme Court of Justice;
(13) judge of the Supreme Administrative Court;
(14) Deputy Prosecutor-General;
(15) person holding a high-ranking position.
The account showing assets and liabilities upon vacation of office of the persons under (1), (4), (9), (11), (12), (13), (14) and (15) shall be submitted only when such persons cease to be State officials.
The provisions of section 32, section 33 and section 35 paragraph one and paragraph three shall apply to the declaration, submission and receipt of the account showing particulars of assets and liabilities and to the inspection of the accuracy and actual existence of the assets and liabilities of the persons under paragraph one mutatis mutandis.
Section 40. For the purpose of the execution of this Organic Act, the N.C.C. Commission has the power to prescribe in the Government Gazette the positions of State officials, in addition to those specified in section 39, who shall be under the obligation to submit an account showing particulars of assets and liabilities, and the provisions of section 39 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Section 41. In the case where any person under section 39 or section 40 who intentionally fails to submit an account showing particulars of assets and liabilities and supporting documents to the N.C.C. Commission within the time prescribed by this Organic Act or intentionally submits an account showing particulars of assets and liabilities and supporting documents with false statements being included therein or fails to disclose facts which should have been disclosed, such person shall vacate office as from the date of the expiration of the time-limit prescribed for the submission of the account or the date of the discovery of the said act, as the case may be, and shall not take a position as a State official for the period of five years as from the date of the vacation of office.
Section 42. The N.C.C. Commission shall have the power to order State officials holding positions other than those specified in section 39 and section 40 to submit an account showing particulars of their assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and children who have not yet become sui juris, in accordance with the rules, procedures and time prescribed in the Government Gazette by the N.C.C. Commission.
The State officials designated by the N.C.C. Commission under paragraph one also have the duty to submit an account showing particulars of assets and liabilities periodically within thirty days as from the end of every five-year period while in office. In such a case, particulars of assets and liabilities which must be shown shall only be limited to the items which vary from the last submission.
The inspection of the account showing particulars of assets and liabilities of State officials submitted under this section shall be conducted on every occasion of its submission or upon approval by the N.C.C. Commission in the event there appears to the N.C.C. Commission a circumstance indicative of the unusual wealthiness of such State officials or upon indication from the fact inquiry that such State official has become unusually wealthy or committed an offence of corruption or an offence of malfeasance in office or malfeasance in judicial office or upon such person ceasing to be a State official or being proximate to such cessation.
