As a parliamentary democracy, San Marino has been recognized as a country that generally upholds political rights and civil liberties.
It also holds regular elections while its government and judiciary exercise their functions without improper interference from external actors or unelected entities.
Such penalty created a culture of self-censorship, particularly on the part of journalists, who are hampered in their ability to report and investigate governmental transparency and accountability.
[1] The lack of oversight as well as codes of conduct have led to several corruption problems such as those committed in the public procurement processes.
[3] A year later, the country introduced changes to its anti-money laundering legislation to address deficiencies identified by the Council of Europe as facilitating financial crimes.