Anti-corruption denunciation: methodological problems, foreign experience, and Russian prospects

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the institution of denunciation as a specific form of disclosure of illegal and unfair practices. For determination of the conceptual legal meaning of denunciation and its prospects for modern Russia as anti-corruption legal institution, this article coordinates the interdisciplinary scientific results of research on denunciation, analyzes and summarizes the international (UN, EU) and national (United States, Great Britain, South Korea, Brazil, China, Albania, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine) regulatory approaches towards denunciation, and similar forms of disclosure of offenses. The article reveals the current state of the Russian legislation in this sphere. The research employs the methods of dogmatic analysis, comparative-legal and systemic-analytical toolset. The author correlates denunciation and denunciator with such concepts as “denouncement”, “actio popularis”, “reporting party”, “informant” and “whistleblower”; determines the twelve characteristics of denunciation, which collectively define it as a special form of information disclosure. The conclusion is made that the variants of legal regulation of denunciation are built around or within such issues as the protection of denunciator, his interaction with the authorized entities and remuneration, as well as the conclusion on the absence of specific legal means in the current Russian legislation that ensure denunciation as the social institution. The author formulates recommendations on amending the labor, administrative, criminal and procedural legislation aimed at implementation of measures for protecting the denunciators.