Anti-corruption Laws Research Articles

Countering Corruption in Organizations: Uncertainty of the Law on Necessary and Sufficient Preventive Measures and the Best Anti-Corruption Practices in Russian Companies

The paper analyzes the shortcomings of Article 13.3 of the Federal Law «On Combating Corruption» that oblige organizations to take measures to prevent corruption. The legal design of Parts 1 and 2 of Article 13.3 of the Anti-Corruption Law are not coordinated with each other, which makes it difficult to fulfill the requirements laid down by the legislator. In fact, the imperativeness of Part 1 of the article is offset by dispositivity of Part 2, despite the fact that both parts are interrelated in meaning. At the same time, at the stage of law enforcement, both the organizations themselves and the prosecutors overseeing the implementation of anti-corruption legislation by organizations are uncertain about the necessary and sufficient set of the measures that are provided in Part 2 of Article 13.3 of the Anti-Corruption Law. The authors analyze the methods used by Russian organizations to ensure compliance with legislative requirements in the conditions of legal uncertainty of formulations. The paper gives the examples of the best practices in the field of anti-corruption applied in organizations. The authors propose the options for improving the normative and legal regulation of mechanisms for preventing corruption in organizations.

Recent Anti-corruption Legal Reforms in China

Corruption is one of the thorny issues in any modern society, especially in China. The new leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by President Xi Jinping has robustly initiated an anti-corruption campaign as soon as he took over as the party chief in the end of 2012. Several legal reforms aiming at fighting harder against corruption crimes drew attention from home and abroad, including foreign investors. These reforms include the enactment of the National Supervision Law in 2018, the introduction of “trial in absentia” in the 2018 Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) amendment, and the establishment of a special proceeding of confiscation of illegal gains in the 2012 CPL amendment. Another undergoing reform is on the corporate compliance non-prosecution. China used to adopt a dual punishment approach upon unit crimes, which means imposing punishments on individual offenders, usually the directly responsible persons, and on the enterprises separately. However, the traditional sanction against enterprises tends to cause secondary harms to the society. For example, when a corporate is bankrupted, thousands of innocent people will be unemployed. Therefore, non-prosecution might be a more effective way of ensuring corporate compliance as well as minimalizing the harm mentioned above. This paper explores the anti-corruption mechanisms Chinese government has created or improved over the past decade and attempts to provide a whole picture of China’s anti-corruption law.

"Anti-corruption Management Mechanisms and the Construction of a Security landscape in the Financial Sector of the EU Economic System Against the Background of Challenges to European Integration: Implications for Artificial Intelligence Technologies"

"The article is devoted to modern topical theoretical and practical problems of interaction between international anti-corruption and financial and legal norms in the field of preventing the financing of terrorism, corruption and money laundering in the integrated EU financial market. It is shown that the current mechanisms of foreign exchange control and banking supervision of the EU over the financial transactions of entities need to be strengthened by anti-corruption measures. The steps taken in this direction, as well as the current regulatory documents and agreements, are analyzed. International legal norms against financial crime, corruption and terrorist financing should be successfully translated into the norms of national administrative, financial, anti-corruption law within the common space of the EU economic system in order to provide the necessary security landscape. The security challenges and threats associated with the increasing digitalization of financial markets, as well as the possibilities of using artificial intelligence tools to combat corruption, are considered."

Anti-corruption mechanisms in China after the supervision law

Corruption is one of the thorny issues in any modern society, especially in China. The new leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by President Xi Jinping robustly initiated an anti-corruption campaign as soon as he took over as the party chief in the end of 2012. Several legal reforms aiming at fighting harder against corruption crimes drew attention from home and abroad, including foreign investors. These reforms include the enactment of the National Supervision Law in 2018, the establishment of a special proceeding of confiscation of illegal gains in the 2012 amendment to Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), and the introduction of “trial in absentia” procedure in the 2018 CPL amendment. Another ongoing reform is the corporate compliance non-prosecution pilot. China used to adopt a dual-penalty approach upon corporate crimes, imposing punishments on both the directly responsible persons and the enterprises. However, the traditional sanction against enterprises tends to cause secondary harms to the society. For example, when a corporation goes bankrupt, thousands of innocent people will be unemployed. Therefore, non-prosecution might be a more effective way of ensuring corporate compliance as well as minimalizing the harms mentioned above. This paper explores the anti-corruption mechanisms Chinese government has created or improved over the past decade and attempts to provide a bird’s eye view of China’s anti-corruption law.

Implementing International Law and Policy to Combat Marine Corruption: How Can African Coastal Cities Help?

Oceans are central to the healthy functioning of the Earth’s biosystem, contributing to climate stability and harbouring valuable food resources. Marine corruption is one of the greatest threats to the healthy functioning and conservation of marine resources. Since local authorities offer many viable solutions to some of the problems associated with rapid urbanisation and globalisation, such as marine corruption, it is argued that states should work with their coastal cities to control corruption and improve the sustainable use of marine resources. This article explores how African coastal cities can contribute to the implementation of international law and policy to combat marine corruption. African regional law provides that cities should have sufficient autonomy to regulate and manage their local affairs. It is also argued that because of the nature of marine corruption, coastal cities are in the best position to contribute to addressing it. This means that national governments, at least from the perspective of African regional law, should grant coastal cities the necessary powers and capacities to do so. The article discusses the measures under international law that can be used to control marine corruption. These measures include those contained in anti-corruption laws and those primarily aimed at the sustainable use of marine resources. A case study of Walvis Bay, in Namibia, is used to show what coastal cities can do to control marine corruption.

FOURTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PROCEDURE AND THE JOURNAL OF ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW

Thank you for inviting me to open this conference. I am privileged to be here. The conference programme contains some timely and important discussions that we should have. I therefore hope to participate in some of the discussions which will take place in the parallel sessions of this conference.Before I proceed with my address, I would like to mention the late Professor Lovell Fernandez, one of the founders of the Journal of Anti-Corruption Law and a member of the Department: Criminal Justice and Procedure. I met him in 1999 when he supported South Africa’s first National Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Bulelani Ngcuka, whom I worked for at the time. I was an office assistant then to the National Director of Public Prosecutions. This was more than 30 years ago. I recall that Professor Fernandez provided important strategic support to the National Prosecuting Authority. He led the drafting process of the National Prosecuting Authority’s first prosecution policy. To my dismay, the policy has not undergone significant amendment since then.

POLICIES TO PREVENT CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA: ENFORCEMENT OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION

This paper investigates how well Nigeria conforms to international best practices on the right to education. The quality of education that is available to Nigerians is affected by inadequate budgetary allocation, which is compounded by mismanagement of scarce resources and generally by corrupt practices. Education at the level of the primary, secondary and tertiary levels suffers on account of corruption, despite government propaganda that the state provides adequate educational opportunities at the three tiers of education. Attempts to prosecute and punish acts of corruption have failed consistently. Nigeria is a signatory to international and regional instruments which have influenced it to enact national anti-corruption legislation. However, the political will of successive governments to fight corruption remains on the decrease, particularly when a government itself is a product of corrupt practices. Such a government appoints politicians to the councils of the universities as a reward for political patronage and with a view to recouping the huge sums expended on elections. Anti-corruption laws are sidelined, regulations are compromised and the anti-corruption crusade fails. This results in education being the responsibility of unqualified teaching staff working with poor quality teaching infrastructure. The enforcement of the right to education is undermined. In order to salvage the education sector, it is submitted that Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade should emphasise preventive measures. A university should be autonomous in respect of its objectives and finances. When funds allocated to education are safe from misappropriation, the right to education may be enforced properly.

COMBATING CORRUPTION THROUGH INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT TREATY LAW

Corruption plays an important role in investment arbitration. Parties to arbitral proceedings make allegations of bribery with increasing frequency. However, the lack of unambiguous guidelines on how to treat such allegations arguably has contributed to a shortage of affirmative decisions, even where further evidence might have been available to the arbitral tribunal. This is problematic, as the inflow of illicit moneys through investment projects can severely undermine anti-corruption efforts in the host state. This paper investigates options for integrating the strong legal regime of investment arbitration — which brings together foreign investors and host states as principal actors in transnational corruption — further into the fight against corruption. It is based upon an analysis of investment treaties, investment arbitration awards, subject literature and expert interviews. It is submitted that states should press for explicit anti-corruption provisions in investment treaties. The aim of these provisions must be to exclude corruption-tainted assets from the protections afforded by investment treaties. An anti-corruption Model Clause is proposed as a reference for drafters and negotiators of future investment treaties. The Model Clause makes access to arbitral procedures subject to the investor’s compliance with international anti-corruption law.

THE WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION IS “A LOST CAUSE” WITHOUT ROBUST MEASURES TO REPATRIATE STOLEN ASSETS TO COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN

The paper discusses the impediments inherent in using anti-corruption laws to repatriate stolen assets to the victim state. It examines both state laws and the international legal frameworks aimed at overcoming these obstacles. The assets in question are accrued by public officials from the proceeds of corruption, money laundering, tax avoidance and other forms of illicit financial transactions in countries where they have been hidden. While less developed countries are often the countries of origin, destination countries of stolen assets tend to be developed Western countries. There is ample evidence showing that the recovery and repatriation of stolen assets to countries of origin is more easily said than done, given the barriers they face. Victim states not only suffer a loss of revenue as a result of economic criminality, but they also incur huge expenses in attempting to recover criminal assets, without any guarantee that they will succeed in doing so. In essence, this article looks into the generic issues related to asset recovery. It examines the approaches adopted by both common law and civil law jurisdictions in Africa with respect to the repatriation of stolen assets, and explores the practicality of harmonising anti-corruption laws across the African continent, as has been done amongst member states of the European Union.

도시개발사업에서 부패방지의 법적 재검토

The corruption perceptions index (CPI) of our country has improved. It is difficult to define in a single word what the concept and range of urban development projects are. The laws related to the return of development profits encompass <the Act on Urban Development>, <the Act on Return of Development Profits>, and <the Housing Act>. Although anti-corruption laws have a criminal law nature in terms of the form. However, since legal ethics are considered important in terms of justice and the rule of law, they belong to the area of the crime prevention law. The main concern is focused on whether they have served as check laws to strengthen publicness for project operators in urban development projects, and whether they will be able to continue this function. This study was intended to review my study conducted about one year ago regarding the return of development profits and reinforcement of publicness in the urban development projects. This study examined the history of the Act on Urban Development Projects and reviewed the content of the return of development profits pursuant to <the Act on Return of Development Profits>. At the same time, this study dealt with the issues related to the Daejangdong development projectas the subtitle of this study as well as the conjoint development. While presenting the outline and progress of the Daejangdong urban development project, this study explained how the Daejangdong urban development project has been implemented in accordance with the Act on Urban Development Projects before the revision. Then, this study discussed the contents of revision of the Act on Urban Development Projects.
 The project operator claimed that a huge development profit of 550.3 billion KRW was returned through the Daejangdong development project. Therefore, this study reviewed whether this claim was a law enforcement act pursuant to <the Act on Urban Development>. As a result, different from the claim made by the project operator regarding the return of enormous development profits, the development cost is the due cost that must be borne by the principal agent of the development project according to the <Act on Urban Development> and it cannot be regarded as the return of development profits.
 The method of supplying the developed land by private project operators obeys the Article 26, Clause 2 of <the Act on Urban Development>. However, the competitive bidding under the Article 57, Clause 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act corresponds to a binding rule. The Clause 3 is, in principle, a discretionary rule, but the proviso is the binding rule. The rules that can be supplied through a private contract (at-will contract) follow, in principle, the method of competitive bidding and drawing lots. Exceptionally, it is possible to supply the developed land based on a private contract. Considering that the method of competitive bidding, drawing lots, and private contract is a critical issue in which sharp conflicts of interest collide between the public-private interest and between private-private interests, 11 ways to reduce the room for discretionary intervention by the administrative body were established allowing the private contracts only in exceptional cases. The Daejangdong development project leaves a number of doubts about the legal basis for the private contract for the 5 lots secured by the project operator Hwacheon Daeyu through a private contract.
 This study dealt with the “Legal review of anti-corruption in the Daejang-dong development project.”As a jurist, I intended to approach matters related to legal principles.

Corruption in Mexico and Vaccine Refusal

Mexico has a history of power struggles and a culture of bad governance. Corruption in Mexico is deeply rooted and very difficult to deal with. This culture is fully supported by most politicians and people in various sectors. Mexico is trapped in a long-term case of corruption that has become a political system normalized by its citizens. This article explores the dynamics of corruption cases in Latin America. This article explains the level of corruption, the type of corruption, and its causes. Corruption continues to run rampant because people live in accordance with it. The best solution to overcome this problem is to overthrow the regime. Mexico’s anti-corruption law has been ineffective. Furthermore, high corruption has built distrust in society, which makes the refusal of the COVID-19 vaccine.
 Keywords: corruption, Mexico, culture, Latin America

Private Sector Corruption in Vietnam: From Legislation to its Impact on the Economy

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze Vietnamese legal legislation regarding corruption in the private sector, identify its current shortcomings, and assess its impact on the Vietnamese economy since its adoption in 2018.
 
 Theoretical framework: There have been many studies to assess corruption in Vietnam in many aspects, including the overview of corruption in Vietnam, the influence of corruption on economic development, and the consequences of corruption. However, there is still much to investigate and learn about the impact of the current provisions on corruption in the private sector on Vietnam’s economy.
 
 Design/methodology/approach: The study uses secondary data from the Provincial Competitiveness Index Report (PCI Vietnam) issued by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Besides, the article analyzes Vietnam's Corruption Control Index (CCI), which is assessed annually by the World Bank (WB). At the same time, the authors refer to the data on Vietnam's GDP and make a comparison with the CC index to clarify the article’s objective. The authors also use a qualitative method by analyzing previous studies to assess the corruption in the private sector in Vietnam, the rules of law concerning private corruption, and its impact on the economy.
 
 Findings: Vietnam has had specific legislative achievements in criminalizing private corruption in the 2015 Criminal Law and promulgating anti-corruption provisions in the 2018 Anti-Corruption Law. These regulations had a positive impact on Vietnam's economy. However, corruption in the private sector in Vietnam is quite severe, especially bribery in business.
 
 Research, Practical & Social implications: We suggest future research of in-depth analysis of the causes and effects of specific kinds of corruption acts in the private sector.
 
 Originality/value: The results indicate that the new provisions on corruption in the private sector since it was adopted have positively affected the development of Vietnam's economy and the fight against corruption.

Newspaper advocacy and the reform of weak anti-graft laws in Nigeria

The study interrogates how the media mounted pressure on state actors to review weak anti-graft legislation in Nigeria. Content analysis was adopted for the study, while 1,520 hard copies of the Daily Sun, The Nation and Daily Trust as well as Vanguard and The Punch newspapers published from 2015-2019 were examined. The study was anchored on Framing Theory. Data collected were presented in tables and frequencies and were analyzed with the ANOVA statistical tool. Findings indicate that there was no significant difference in the degree of pressure mounted on state actors by the newspapers to review weak anti-corruption laws. The study recommends that media organizations must re-calibrate their editorial policies aimed at pressurizing state actors into addressing loopholes inherent in the legal framework in the fight against sleaze in the country.

Performance of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Nepal: A Good Governance Perspective

Several anti-corruption laws and dozens of Agencies including the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) have been working against corruption in Nepal. The current constitution has empowered the CIAA as a supreme body for fighting corruption. Nevertheless, the anti-corruption movement is not well enough. Scholars argue that only the establishment of Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACA) cannot assure the cure and substitute for a high level of corruption. Rather, a strong political will, by various means play a key role; for example, by means of the allocation of sufficient personnel and the budget. Others argue that ACA must also be free from political interference and ACA must also be out of fear and favor in investigating political leaders and senior civil servants. Using empirical evidence derived from unstructured interviews with government officials and the net-work sampling method, this paper investigates the institutional challenges to corruption reduction in order to achieve good governance in Nepal. The study finds that administrative corruption and policy-level corruption are the major hindrances to achieving good governance in Nepal.

TACKLING THE MENACE OF CORRUPTION: NEED FOR A BROAD FRAMEWORK

Corruption in India is a pervasive and complex issue that has plagued the country for decades. Despite efforts by successive governments to tackle the problem, corruption continues to be a significant challenge to India's development and progress. This abstract will provide an overview of the problem of corruption in India, including its causes, consequences, and potential solutions. It will examine the role of institutions such as the judiciary, police, and bureaucracy in perpetuating corruption and the impact of corruption on the economy, politics, and society. The abstract will also highlight some of the key initiatives that have been taken to combat corruption in India, including anti-corruption laws, whistleblower protection, and digitization of government services. Finally, the abstract will discuss the challenges that remain in the fight against corruption in India and the need for sustained efforts to address this critical issue.

Foreign whistleblowing: the impact of US extraterritorial enforcement on anti-corruption laws in Europe

PurposeForeign whistleblowers are foreign citizens who help national enforcement authorities to sanction both foreign-based corporations and home-based corporations that engage in economic crime. This paper aims to investigate the expansion of US law in the area of transnational economic crime by discussing the case of foreign whistleblowers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper has been developed from a literature review carried out as part of a wider study into policing international bribery.FindingsThis paper shows that extraterritorial application of US whistleblowing laws is part of a broad trend associated with extraterritorial enforcement of US anti-corruption statutes such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The extraterritorial reach of the FCPA and other statutes allowed the USA to become the leader in sanctioning US corporations as well as non-US corporations for economic crime. In effect, some US enforcement practices have become the standard that has influenced law and law enforcement in other countries as well as internal compliance of corporations.Originality/valueIn spite of the profound impact foreign whistleblowing has on the effectiveness of national anti-corruption enforcement, this topic has been largely neglected by academic research. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to provide an overview of the role of foreign whistleblowers and the significant impact foreign whistleblowing has for legal reform in European countries and internal compliance of corporations in Europe and beyond.

Corruption in Kenya during the Covid-19 pandemic and the right to health: Lessons learnt and future prospects

Kenya has made positive strides in fighting corruption through signing and ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Prevention and Combating Corruption. These Conventions oblige Kenya to take measures to prevent and criminalise corruption and related offences. In addition, Kenya has enacted vast anti-corruption laws and established independent agencies like: the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. These agencies play a role in investigating and prosecuting allegations of corruption with the aim of preventing and punishing corruption, and enforcing the anti-corruption laws.

CORRUPTION DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS RESPONSE IN UGANDA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE RIGHT TO HEALTH

Uganda’s Covid-19 crisis response involved the mobilisation of resources from the international community and the private sector. The Ugandan parliament also appropriated a supplementary budget towards the response. To expedite the procurement of essential goods and supplies by government agencies, some public procurement procedures were not followed. As a result, tender prices were rigged, and the quality of products supplied was compromised. Fake vaccines were also sold to unsuspecting recipients. This article contends that acts of corruption did not only compromise health outcomes but also denied potential beneficiaries the right to health. This was despite existing anti-corruption laws and legal institutions. Some corruption-related suspects were arrested and prosecuted.

Uncovering the Differences among Compliance Officers, Corporate Monitors and Trustees under Antitrust and Anti-Corruption Laws

Uncovering the Differences among Compliance Officers, Corporate Monitors and Trustees under Antitrust and Anti-Corruption Laws

Борьба с коррупцией в Китае при Си Цзиньпине

Corruption has been a part of Chinese society throughout its existence. The fight against corruption is one of the most important work directions of the Chinese Communist Party and the law enforcement system. After the 18th National Congress of the CPC (November 2012) and the election of Xi Jinping as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, the anti-corruption efforts have reached a new and higher level. Xi Jinping initiated constitutional reform by establishing a single constitutional anti-corruption body, the National Control Committee, with extensive law enforcement powers; it was formed from the Ministry of Control (a State Council’s organ), the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention (a State Council’s organ) and the departments of the People’s Procuratorates for combating corruption, bribery, and malfeasance. A reformatting of the entire anti-corruption system has taken place. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection is no longer empowered to perform anti-corruption law enforcement functions, but rather should concentrate on controlling party discipline. At the same time, the overall control of the anticorruption fight still remains in the hands of the CPC. In addition to creating a new constitutional control authority, Xi Jinping intensified ideological education and launched a campaign for the total digitalization of the judiciary, law enforcement, finance, and banking, etc. In this way, the efficiency of control over the revenues and expenses of officials and businesses is increased. Under Xi Jinping, anti-corruption educational efforts have been enhanced by the number of documentaries and feature films about the government’s success in combating corruption. The series “In the Name of the People” (2017) was especially popular among the citizens. In Russia, unlike modern China, there is no unified body in the field of combating corruption. The fight against corruption in Russia is the responsibility of the prosecutor’s office and its own security services. From this point, low efficiency of the anti-corruption system is obvious. The experience of China in the investigated area is extremely relevant and significant both in practical and theoretical terms for domestic science and practice.