The latest crusade to emanate from Parliament is the updated conflict-of-interest law, which passed in the Chamber of Deputies with 147 out of 155 possible votes Jan. 25. It will go into effect Jan. 1, 2007 (cue the fanfare).

Unlike the previous version of the law, this edition, which now must pass in the Senate and be signed by President Václav Klaus, actually includes penalties — imagine that — of up to 500,000 Kč ($21,670) for violating the rules.

It's taken our ethics-obsessed leaders 13 years to get this far in drafting this work of legislative prowess. Up to now, we've been relying on what amounts to the honor system to keep ministers from giving city work contracts to their cousins — or moonlighting as city contractors themselves.

And the law applies not only to senior politicians, but also to local administration officials and selected senior civil servants — judges, state attorneys, police and customs officers.

Politicians will now have what most still consider their privacy subject to public scrutiny to a degree never before seen in the Czech Republic. A public accounting of their finances, real estate holdings, property, gifts and contractual obligations is covered by the law.

Oddly enough, it places tremendous trust in — or it asks the tax-paying public to trust — the institution of marriage: While civil servants in the categories above must report finances, real estate, stock shares, and shares in companies that are joint property, lawmakers have rejected that their spouses should have to report any gifts, income or commitments.

In other words, if their property is officially registered separately, then a public official's spouse has no duty to report anything. It so happens there's a long tradition in the accounting business of advising clients to place property in the names of their spouses, assuming, naturally, that they love and trust the spouses.

But loopholes or no, there's little argument that the law represents major progress.

Public officials will have to release their first annual statements June 30, 2007, which should include all gifts, finances and obligations for 2006. Ownership or shares in companies, and profits made from them if they exceed 100,000 Kč, must be in the disclosure reports.

Members of both houses and ministers will also have to report any debts of more than 100,000 Kč, and, along with these, any mortgages, leases or loans. They'll also have to say to whom they owe the money.

Needless to say, the media will not be complaining, as they usually do about this time of year, otherwise known as "cucumber season," that they have nothing to write about.

Interestingly, lawmakers originally said they wanted conflict disclosures to be posted on the Internet, but this requirement has somehow vanished from the version passed by the lower house Jan.25. Some form of electronic access may yet be worked out, though it will likely require an application process before the data can be released.

Apparently Parliament is a big fan of filing cabinets and photocopying.

But even Transparency International, longtime critics of Czech corruption, seem pleased with the law.