This dimension concerns the regulation of lobbying in the parliamentary context and its implementation in practice, as well as the transparency of lobbying activities. For the purpose of this dimension, lobbying is understood as acts by individuals or groups, each with varying and specific interests, which attempt to influence decisions taken at the political level.

This dimension concerns the responsibility for individual MPs, political groups and certain staff members to make disclosures as to their income and their use of parliamentary resources or funds allocated under the parliamentary budget. There is a legitimate public interest in how MPs and political groups use parliamentary resources or public funds, as well as a need for accountability. 

This dimension concerns parliament’s code of conduct, which may either be a standalone document or be combined with other codes such as a code of ethics.

In many parliaments, the conduct of MPs is partly regulated by the rules of procedure, which usually address the maintaining of order in the plenary. However, there is a growing trend towards the explicit codification of acceptable standards of parliamentary behaviour and conduct in general in the form of a code of conduct.

This dimension concerns conflicts of interest, which are issues, matters or actions involving an MP or staff member whose private interests prevail over those of the public, and therefore come into direct conflict with that person’s mandate as a public official.

Rules on conflicts of interest and measures for addressing them should be codified in parliament’s rules of procedure or in the national legal framework. This dimension focuses primarily on conflicts of interest relating to the following aspects:

This dimension concerns parliament’s duty to combat corruption in public institutions, including parliament, and across society as a whole. For the purpose of this dimension, corruption is understood as any action that is intended to abuse public power for private benefit, or that leads to such abuse.

Corruption is a global phenomenon that negatively affects the credibility of democratic institutions and their ability to deliver services and resources to citizens, thereby corroding human rights, threatening democracy and hampering economic development.