Anti-corruption Laws Research Articles

The supply and demand sides of corruption: Canadian extractive companies in Africa

ABSTRACTWith the rapid expansion of Canadian investment in extractives around the world, it is perhaps not surprising that Canada’s reputation as a low-corruption country has faltered: Canada currently ranks ninth internationally in Transparency International (TI)’s corruption perception index, down from sixth in 2010, and sixth, down from first (i.e. best), in 2009 in TI’s Bribe Payers index. This article presents the preliminary findings of our ongoing research regarding both the demand side (that is, the request for bribes, principally by foreign officials) and the supply side (that is, the giving of bribes, principally by corporations) of corruption. We have examined Canadian mining companies operating in Ghana and Burkina Faso and have identified 10 “tensions” which need to be acknowledged in public policy formulation. We note that Canada is implementing policies to reduce supply-side corruption (e.g. by adopting anti-bribery legislation and guidelines for corporate social responsibility) but recommend that more be done, especially oversight of anti-corruption laws by Parliament. We also recommend that mining companies undertake ex-ante corruption risk assessment and develop proactive corporate anti-corruption policies. And, finally, while host countries have anti-corruption laws, implementation is weak. Global affairs could usefully support stronger parliamentary oversight in these countries.

Training to curb police corruption in developing countries

Most of the anti-corruption training that currently exists for the police in developing countries lacks an appropriate focus and is not provided in the manner of a coherent concentration. It tends to be delivered primarily in the form of police orientation to existing anti-corruption laws, or other criminal laws in general. It also does not provide a thorough understanding of the phenomenon of corruption and how it looks within policing practice in the society, nor does it impart even basic knowledge and skills on how to adhere to professional standards and avoid the temptation of accepting gifts, favors or gratuities, or engaging in other corrupt acts. The purpose of this work is to set out one suggested model of a basic training framework and approach for curbing police corruption in developing countries pursuing democratic policing. It outlines learning goals and training objectives, proposes a training approach model, suggests training content and coverage, and indicates the expected outcomes from the training approach and process. The article draws on the author’s fieldwork experience in police anti-corruption and ethics training, and assessments of best practices in training to improve police integrity and ethical behavior in developing countries. It advocates for the application of problem-based learning as the most appropriate and successful training approach method to curb police corruption in developing countries.

Reflection on Judicial System’S Corruption and Offering Solutions to Promote Its Safety

<p>Judicial system of a society is responsible for consolidation and durability of its citizen’s mental and physical, personal and social health and judges bear decision making about citizens’ life, the freedom, rights, duties and estates. One of the items contained in United Nations’ charter is creating the conditions which in it, it is provided justice, respect to human’s rights and basic freedoms without any discrimination. With this purpose, countries’ judicial system should have full safety and in order that anti-corruption laws find run opportunity, it is natural that at first judicial system should be safe from corruption.</p>Writers in this study are paid to investigate reasons and fields of judicial’s corruption to achieve available best procedures in countries’ internal courts and judicial system with the aim of offering global standards and it is introduced available tools to qualitative increase of supervision and establishment of judicial’s security. After reviewing available national and international standards, this article is paid to offer solutions in the direction of judicial system safety’s promotion of Islamic Republic of Iran, assuming that the results of such approach will be increasing of public welfare and trust toward Islamic government.

The fundamental right to the information and transparency in the anticorruption law: Is it going forward or backward?

The question which motivated this work refers to the fact whether the rules anticorruption law (Law 12.846/13) and its respective decree represents a step forward or backward with the scope of information and transparency of companies that contract with the government. This approach has its origin in the necessity of thinking ways to ensure the ethics in government procurements, especially in the private sector, which is part the contractual legal relationship. The method used in this work is the hypothetical-deductive method due the presented problem, there is a chance that the republican values entered in the constitution, the effectiveness of the rights and duties to information goes through an effort to extend it to a private initiative in contracts with the government, given the public interest involved, and from this point, it will be promoting the principle of public morality. To answer this question, it was used the analysis of the anticorruption law, given such concern for the ethical management of the companies that contract with the government. However, the scope of this work is to investigate how this legal tool as well as the decree that regulated it treated the transparency questions related with the managements of such companies. It was noticed that the corruption regulation directed to the private sector is a great step forward, but it cannot be taken as a conclusion of this work. The treatment given by the anticorruption law was lacked, the situation that it was remained in its regulated decree has backwards points.

Brazilian Experience on Liability of Legal Persons for Corruption Offences at the National and International Levels

Brazilian experience on preventing and countering corruption is an evolving process. This paper brings an overview of Brazilian legal framework since 1993 up to 2016 on this matter. It focuses on the Anti-Corruption Law (ACL), especially on the liability of legal persons by two ways: by initiative of the Ministry itself, ex officio, when present evidences of violations of the ACL (called Administrative Liability of Legal Persons), or started legal entities through self-disclosure of the ACL’s violations (called Leniency Agreement), where these entities are subject to fines and other punishments, and also have to improve their compliance programs. At the National level, it is possible cooperation with the Brazilian Attorney General Office, and the Federal Public Prosecutors. International Conventions provide a very useful framework, although, in practice, international cooperation in civil and administrative matters need to be improved, significant efforts have been made in this direction.

Towards Efficiency in Attributing Criminal Liability to Corporations: Canadian and Brazilian Regimes Compared

This article compares Canadian treatment of corporate criminal liability with that in Brazil, examining whether there are ways in which one system can learn from the other. It is argued that the Canadian model could provide a starting point for revision of Brazilian legal principles in this area that, would encourage the public to recognize that crimes committed by corporations should be taken seriously. However, because criminal liability requires a high burden of proof and is therefore difficult to secure, the Brazilian regime of strict liability may ultimately be useful in encouraging compliance by corporations, assuming sanctions are severe enough and detection of violations by law enforcers is enhanced. The solution may therefore consist in the use of both these regimes, as is currently the case with anticorruption law in the UK.

Reviewing the Strategies of Dealing with Corruption in the Europe Union Countries with Regulatory System of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)

<p>This paper attempts to examine the provisions of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Contracts, Europe Union Convention on Combating Corruption and also the analysis of the actions of the Council of Europe in implementation of the convention on criminal law, Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and the Convention relating to anti-corruption civil law, in order to describes different ways to combat corruption and provide a suitable solution to combat corruption in the country.</p><p>Reviewing the standards and regulations in EU in the executive and legislative sector and inspection system and the Member States known as GRECO, it is concluded that the EU has been trying to implement effective measures by increasing the thematic range and personal inclusion of provisions to combat corruption and strengthen the regulatory system of GRECO; and the success of the EU in this field is largely due to these actions so that it is known as the leader in the fight against corruption according to reports and statistics compiled by Transparency International Organization.</p>The Europe Union has achieved such success considering appropriate social fields among member states and national and international regulatory systems. Accordingly, generalization of EU pattern to other regional or global institutions involved in the fight against corruption seems somewhat unlikely, but the experience of EU in this area can be partially passed on to others. Meanwhile, the regulatory and coping patterns of the EU and its member states can also be used for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Building up a convenient accountability: How the ‘anti-corruption’ law in Brazil was put into force

This paper focuses on how Brazil designed and put into force a legal instrument that makes companies strictly liable for domestic and international acts of corruption and highlights the role of external drivers during a 15-year process. It also introduces the concept of ‘convenient accountability’ which suggests that Brazil has adopted the slowest and cheaper methods in order to see to demands of those who want and do not want greater accountability in the case of the new clean company act (Law 12846/2013); also dubbed as ‘anti-corruption law’. Despite the apparent force of the civil society in this case of ‘pressure from below’, until now, no company has been punished under Law 12846/2013. An already over-whelmed anti-corruption agency was chosen to enforce the new legislation in the federal and international spheres against companies, some of them being traditional campaign financers and governmental contractors. Hence, it still remains uncertain whether Brazil will effectively enforce its anti-corruption law that, on paper, even exceeds international requirements.

A Comparative Analysis of the Perception Differences between Competition Law and Anti-corruption Law

Both anti-corruption law and anti-trust law aim to create a level playing field and they are complementary to each other in support of this aim. Given the indispensable nature of both fields in terms of reaching social welfare, it is striking how differently society reacts to the breaching behaviour of each field. On the one hand, if a company engages in corrupt behaviour, the perpetrator will be shunned from society, its behaviour generating strong moral reactions. Civil society organizations, both global and local, will publicize this corruption. The private and public sector, along with civil society organizations, will come together to find ways to eradicate it. The mood of such collaboration will dictate that the good are fighting the bad when fighting corruption. On the other hand, the fight against anti-competitive behaviour may not always be as outrageous as fighting corruption. As for technocrats, when they encounter anti-competitive behaviour, they will fight such acts, enforce fines on the perpetrators and order them to stop violations. Corporations would attempt to do their best to be careful not to engage in anti-competitive behaviour the next time and the story would generally end there. Because preventing or stopping anti-competitive behaviour may not always demonstrate a direct, immediate and visible effect in the consumers’ eyes in most of the cases, the cries from society, if any, are not as loud as the cries against corruption. Thus these two regulatory areas, convergent in their aims, are perceived in divergent fashions by society. This essay delves into the reasons behind such divergence and suggests that among the reasons for this differentiation are the premises that these fields also differ in their consequences, in their enforcement styles, leading to different moral perceptions, and in the visibility of their consequences.

United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) – After Ten Years of Being in Force

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) was adopted in October 2003 and entered into force on 14 December 2005. It is the first comprehensive global instrument to fight corruption and great hopes are pinned on this convention. The article recalls why corruption is a serious problem and that the various cultural and legal backgrounds make it difficult to come up with a common definition. Hence the States are not equally ready to commit themselves to anti-corruption laws. The evaluation of the content and implementing measures of the UNCAC is embedded in the presentation of other instruments against corruption. In particular, the article describes the current status of the implementation mechanism by the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and the results of the first cycle of the Implementation Review Mechanism (2010–2015).

BPK AND BPKP IN DETERMINING STATE FINANCE LOSS IN ORDER TO GAIN ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW EFFICIENCY OF ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW

Corruption case in Indonesia has been growing rapidly, therefore it needs big efforts to eradicate and prevent corruption, such as establishment of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the enactment of Law No. 31 Year 1999 as amended by Law No. 20 Year 2001 (Anti-Corruption Law). Corruption itself, as regulated in Article 2 and 3 Anti-Corruption Law, consists of some main elementswhose subject is anyone.The illegal act must exist which aims to enrich themselves and should create loss of state finance or economy. The efficiency of Anti-Corruption Law can be seen by how every article can be fully and properly fulfilled. Only authorized legal entities can determine state finance loss as one of corruption elements. Then, the problems emerge from the legal entity which actually has authority to determine state finance loss, yet if the fulfillment element of state finance loss is not discovered, it means that the corruption suspected cannot be charged. Supreme Audit Board (BPK/SAB) and Finance & Development Supervisory Board (BPKP/FDSB) are legal entities which have authority to conduct audit investigation. This study, by using normative-empirical research method, will discuss whether both or only one of those state agencies have authority to determine state finance loss.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE ANTI CORRUPTION LAWS IN ROMANIA. ELEMENTS OF COMPARED LAW

In the introduction of this paper, we will discuss the general aspects of the phenomenon of corruption in contemporary society. Furthermore, the article aims to briefly analyze the anti corruption laws in Romania, but also to to discuss the corruption crimes as regulated by the Romanian Criminal Code and other special laws. We will also present important aspects of the anti corruption laws in countries such as Belgium, Germany, Spain, France by directly referring to the corruption crimes as regulated in the laws of those countries.

A historical review of the control of corruption on economic crime in China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical review of China’s anti-corruption efforts, from the ancient period of Chinese slavery societies to the late 1970s before China launched its profound economic reform, under the current status of the harsh crusade against corruption that the Chinese new leadership initiated. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is mainly based on a great deal of historical literature and empirical findings, with relevant comparative analysis on policies and regulations between various periods of China. Findings – The phenomenon of corruption has existed in Chinese history for thousands of years, throughout Chinese slavery societies, feudal societies, republic period and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Anti-corruption laws formed an important part of ancient Chinese legal system, and each dynasty has made continuous and commendable progress on fighting such misconduct. Innumerable initiatives have also been taken by the ruling party Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the founding of the PRC. The PRC government created various specially designed government organizations and a series of updated regulations for preventing economic crimes. They have realized that periodic movements against corruption would no longer be helpful, and the paramount issue nowadays is indeed how bold the leaders are in striking out those unhealthy tendencies. Originality/value – This paper fills in the blanks in the Western world with a comprehensive description of, and comments on, the historical efforts on China’s corruption and economic crime prevention. It also, in various ways, provides meaningful information that links to China’s current furious war against corruption.

Conflict between social structure and legal framework: political corruption in Pakistan

There is a growing body of literature on the conflict between social environment and legal system. This article seeks to unravel the contradiction between Pakistan's anti-corruption laws and its social world. The study of this uncharted territory becomes even more urgent when the consequences of corruption are taken into account in the broader context of Pakistan's internal cohesion, democratic development and sustainable growth. Despite the fact that Pakistan inherited a British legal framework based on the division between public and private spheres, the article argues that a greater part of Pakistani society does not recognise such division. The split between public and private realms which provides a conceptual framework for any definition of political corruption seems culturally deficient. In particular, the paper attempts to demonstrate that ethnic loyalties by taking precedence over the public interest give rise to the ‘moral view of corruption', which explains why many people do not view the use of public office for ethnic gain to be an act of corruption. In these particular circumstances, the paper finds an underlying conflict in the treatment of corruption between the social and legal systems. The disparity between the legal system and social world has given rise to grave concern on the part of civil society.

BUILDING UP A CONVENIENT ACCOUNTABILITY: HOW THE ‘ANTI-CORRUPTION’ LAW IN BRAZIL WAS PUT INTO FORCE

This paper focuses on how Brazil designed and put into force a legal instrument that makes companies strictly liable for domestic and international acts of corruption and highlights the role of external drivers during a 15-year process. It also introduces the concept of ‘convenient accountability’ which suggests that Brazil has adopted the slowest and cheaper methods in order to see to demands of those who want and do not want greater accountability in the case of the new clean company act (Law 12846/2013); also dubbed as ‘anti-corruption law’. Despite the apparent force of the civil society in this case of ‘pressure from below’, until now, no company has been punished under Law 12846/2013. An already over-whelmed anti-corruption agency was chosen to enforce the new legislation in the federal and international spheres against companies, some of them being traditional campaign financers and governmental contractors. Hence, it still remains uncertain whether Brazil will effectively enforce its anti-corruption law that, on paper, even exceeds international requirements.

Brazil's Landmark Clean Companies Act: Comparison to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and Issues

This paper focuses on how Brazil designed and put into force a legal instrument that makes companies strictly liable for domestic and international acts of corruption and highlights the role of external drivers during a 15-year process. It also introduces the concept of ‘convenient accountability’ which suggests that Brazil has adopted the slowest and cheaper methods in order to see to demands of those who want and do not want greater accountability in the case of the new clean company act (Law 12846/2013); also dubbed as ‘anti-corruption law’. Despite the apparent force of the civil society in this case of ‘pressure from below’, until now, no company has been punished under Law 12846/2013. An already over-whelmed anti-corruption agency was chosen to enforce the new legislation in the federal and international spheres against companies, some of them being traditional campaign financers and governmental contractors. Hence, it still remains uncertain whether Brazil will effectively enforce its anti-corruption law that, on paper, even exceeds international requirements.

Dark Sides of Anti-Corruption Law: A Typology and Recent Developments in German Anti-Bribery Legislation

This Article takes a preliminary look at some distinct, unintended effects of anti-bribery law. In an exemplary and exploratory way, it intends to examine structural socio-legal problems and dilemmas of designing and implementing legislation against corruption. Firstly, it outlines four ideal types of legal norms that are meant to combat corruption but display significant negative features. Secondly, the typology is briefly applied to selected recent developments in German federal anti-bribery legislation. The Article concludes,inter alia, that the design, implementation, and interpretation of anti-corruption law is full of functional, legal, political, and moral pitfalls.

The Development of New Clinical Legal Education Courses at the Faculty of Law, Hasanuddin University, Makassar- Indonesia: Challenges and Prospects

Clinical subjects are a new model in Faculty of Law Hasanuddin University’s curriculum. It currently is implementing four legal clinics: (1) a civil law clinic; (2) a criminal law clinic; (3) an anti-corruption law clinic; and (4) an environmental law clinic. All of these clinics have been adopted in FH-UNHAS’s curriculum. This paper will focus on those subjects as new clinics and the students as new clinicians. It also discusses many challenges we face in managing the clinics and ensuring that all clinic students are able to engage in quality programming while working with our partners (local civil society organizations [CSOs] and formal justice institutions, such as District Courts and Provincial Prosecutor Offices).

The Development of New Clinical Legal Education Courses at the Faculty of Law, Hasanuddin University, Makassar- Indonesia: Challenges and Prospects

Clinical subjects are a new model in Faculty of Law Hasanuddin University’s curriculum. It currently is implementing four legal clinics: (1) a civil law clinic; (2) a criminal law clinic; (3) an anti-corruption law clinic; and (4) an environmental law clinic. All of these clinics have been adopted in FH-UNHAS’s curriculum. This paper will focus on those subjects as new clinics and the students as new clinicians. It also discusses many challenges we face in managing the clinics and ensuring that all clinic students are able to engage in quality programming while working with our partners (local civil society organizations [CSOs] and formal justice institutions, such as District Courts and Provincial Prosecutor Offices).

O acordo de Leniência: uma análise de sua compatibilidade constitucional e legitimidade

<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Este estudo tem por escopo analisar o instituto do Acordo de Leniência, notadamente, à luz de sua previsão na Lei Anticorrupção (Lei 12.846 de 2013) e no Decreto Regulamentar 8.420, de 2015. Em um primeiro momento, analisar-se-á a origem do acordo de leniência de forma ampla, sobretudo no sistema estadunidense para, <em>pari passu,</em> investigá-lo no âmbito da Lei Anticorrupção. Após, procurar-se-á refutar sua possível (in)constitucionalidade. Por fim, será traçado um paralelo entre os Acordos de Leniência e a Administração Pública dialógica, tendo como parâmetro a teoria discursiva habermasiana. Ao final, busca-se demonstrar que o Acordo de Leniência constitui em legítimo instrumento constitucional e, ademais, configura-se em efetivo mecanismo consensual de combate à corrupção em solo democrático. </span></p>