Issue Of Corruption Research Articles

Penyuluhan Hukum tentang Tindak Pidana Korupsi melalui Radio Maria Indonesia

Legal counselling is one of the effective methods to increase public legal awareness. Legal counselling through mass media, especially radio, is one of the strategic means to reach a wide audience. The legal education activity on corruption crimes held through Radio Maria Indonesia is part of a community service programme conducted by lecturers of the Law Study Programmes of Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) Medan Campus. This activity aims to provide a deep understanding to the public about the definition, form, and impact of corruption, as well as the steps to prevent it. Through a communicative approach and easy-to-understand language, this programme is expected to build collective awareness and encourage active participation of the community in supporting corruption eradication efforts. This study analyses the effectiveness of legal education through radio in shaping critical attitudes and more proactive public behaviour towards corruption issues. The results show that radio can be an efficient legal education tool, especially in areas with limited access to formal education or digital technology.

TITIK PERSINGGUNGAN ANTARA HUKUM DAN MORAL DALAM TINDAK PIDANA KORUPSI MENURUT PERSPEKTIF NEO POSITIVISME HUKUM

The issue of corruption is a moral issue, so in this regard it can be said that a person who commits the crime of corruption is experiencing a process of moral decadence in himself. This study focuses on the two poles of legal philosophy between Legal Positivism and Legal Neo-Positivism. It is believed that moral values can be seen as the deepest sediment in the formation of norms, which is then expected to be able to find legal entities to answer the challenges of corruption problems in Indonesia through the spirit of moral improvement. The purpose of this paper is to examine a treatise on the thinking of a philosophical figure influenced by the school of Legal Positivism, namely H.L.A Hart, who chose to renew from pure positivism legal thinking, which in the end he identified the nature of law there is a mutual relationship between law and morals, although it is not absolute. The method of this writing is to use normative legal research. The results showed that Hart's thinking regarding the reflection of the relationship between law and morals does not always have a diametrical separation between law and morals. Hart indirectly recognizes that law, justice, and morals have a very close relationship, with the open texture of law. The open nature of the law to legal factors when it comes to criminal acts of corruption is not seen from the consideration of legal sanctions alone but there are natural considerations that cause moral disgrace that damage the joints of national life. The sanctions given are not only legal sanctions but also moral sanctions, which are not only used as a deterrent effect but a lesson for them to be afraid of committing corruption. Keywords: Corruption, Law, Moral, Neo Legal Positivism.

Foreign experience of preventing corruption crimes committed by the police

The article summarizes the foreign practice of implementing the state policy (strategy) of preventing corruption criminal offenses among the personnel of law enforcement agencies. It was determined that the issue of legality in the law enforcement system of a number of foreign countries is no less important than in Ukraine, allowing a deeper understanding of domestic corruption crime and law enforcement problems, in particular of the National Police of Ukraine, as well as maximizing measures to prevent criminal offenses among personnel. It has been proven that cases of abuse by employees of law enforcement agencies occur more often in units that lack proper control over the activities of subordinates by managers and the public. In recent years, in most European countries, there has been a trend towards convergence (unification) of criminological initiatives, which is explained both by the intergovernmental coordination of measures to prevent crimes with signs of corruption, and by the active exchange of experience of the measures taken. It is noted that in modern foreign legislation, the police service is considered as a specific type of public service. Police officers, like other public servants, are required to adhere to strictly controlled disciplinary and ethical norms. For this, in a number of countries, special consolidated rules were adopted - ethical codes, codes of honor of police officers, standards of conduct, model rules, etc. It is emphasized that anti-corruption measures of an organizational and administrative nature play an important role in preventing crimes related to corruption committed by police officers in other countries. The main directions of ensuring the protection of the law enforcement system against the commission of corruption crimes in other countries include the following: uniform legal standards for the prevention of illegal actions in law enforcement units and services; strengthening the criminal liability of employees in case of committing corruption crimes; professional development for employees of practical units on issues of corruption and behavior in corruption-induced situations.

Запобігання корупції у Збройних Силах України

Abstract. The article extensively explores the issue of corruption within the Armed Forces of Ukraine and identifies various factors contributing to its prevalence. Among these factors, significant importance is attributed to inadequate salaries for military personnel, instability of the legal framework, insufficient control mechanisms, and low levels of ethical consciousness among military leadership. The analysis conducted demonstrates that these factors pose serious challenges in the sphere of corruption prevention within the structures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In order to effectively combat the aforementioned problem, the authors propose a series of specific measures and recommendations. Firstly, it is necessary to implement systemic changes in the realm of financial control, including enhancing transparency and accountability for the use of budgetary funds. Additionally, the development of an effective monitoring and auditing system is crucial to promptly identify instances of corruption. Furthermore, the authors recommend focusing on enhancing ethical culture among military personnel through the introduction of specialized programs and training on morality and professional ethics. It is also important to improve the system of internal control and discipline and ensure an adequate mechanism for rewarding dedicated service and fair punishment for corrupt violations. Moreover, the article emphasizes the need to improve mechanisms of accountability and transparency in the activities of military institutions. This entails the development and implementation of effective procedures for public reporting. Such an approach will contribute to increased openness and public confidence in military institutions, thereby reducing the risk of corruption schemes . In conclusion, it is worth noting that a comprehensive approach to preventing corruption within the Armed Forces of Ukraine is highly necessary today, and adherence to the recommendations laid out by the authors of the article could be a significant step in enhancing transparency and preventing corruption risks within the structures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Keywords: Armed Forces of Ukraine; corruption prevention; corruption risk; anti-corruption legislation.

EFFECT OF CORRUPTION ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND WAY FORWARD

This paper examines the effect of corruption on natural security and way forward in Nigeria. Bribery and corruption have been globally perceived as enemy of national economic development and threatening the security of a nation. Nigeria is of the country that the menace of the corruption said to have gone beyond imagination as the corruption persist from both government and private institutions. However, recent transparency international, 2023 corruption perception index, ranked Nigeria 145th out of 180 countries in the index. Therefore, it is evident that there are several corruption practices on ground in Nigeria to the extent that the practice of the menace has reached an alarming stage as inflation and insecurity are worsening daily. Despite the efforts of the past and present administration to arrest the menace of corruption in Nigeria, through various anti-corruption agencies like ICPC, EFCC and others, yet unfortunately the issue of corruption among political office holders, civil servants, business men and women, contractors, etc. continued to gain ground that something urgently need to be done to curb the phenomena of corruption in Nigeria. The study advanced four objectives to answer the four questions and two hypotheses raised to fund out the effect of corruption on national security in Nigeria. Past empirical research literatures were used and relate it to the work. A survey and descriptive research design is adopted while a secondary data was used as source of data collection. These includes formals, conference papers, online newspaper, whatsapp group members opinion, linkedin friends, telegraph group members opinion, academic and non-academic social media groups, facebook group opinions among others. A purposive sampling technique were used in selecting the study respondents without regards to any demographic affiliation. A sample size of 300 respondents were adopted. The numbers are made up of 50 respondents each from six geopolitical regions zones of Nigeria, such as NE, NC, NW, SW, SE, SS, respectively. The data obtained from the study respondents spread within the six geopolitical zones states were translated in to statistical figures and used statistical method of T-test statistical permutation to distinguish the opinions of the respondents on the effect of corruption on national security and way forward. Discussion, conclusion, and recommendations were made for better Nigeria if properly implemented.

CoATR: A Convolutional Autoregressive Tensor-Ring decomposition method for sparse spatio-temporal traffic data

Spatio-temporal traffic data collected by various sensing systems have chronic issues of missing and corruption, thus accurate data imputation and prediction have been extensively researched. Previous most methods can be divided into two categories: model-driven methods with physical explanations and data-driven deep learning methods. These methods all achieve promising results due to their respective advantages. However they have some limitations: model-driven methods are often linear and may not accurately model the spatio-temporal complexity, while deep learning methods often lack the physical reality making them probe to over-fitting. Inspired by both, we propose a new Convolutional-based generalized Autoregressive Tensor-Ring decomposition method (CoATR) for the completion of spatio-temporal data. CoATR not only retains the advantages of the tensor-ring (TR) decomposition model for global modeling of spatio-temporal data but also exploits the ability of deep networks to model nonlinear features. To be specific, we introduce TR decomposition to capture the global low-rankness and employ multilayer convolutional neural networks to model the global complex interactions among the TR factors for exploring the nonlinear features of the spatio-temporal data. Moreover, we design a new autoregressive network to further explore the local temporal variation in the data. Extensive experiments on a variety of common traffic datasets have validated the effectiveness and superiority of the CoATR over classical model-driven methods and other state-of-the-art data-driven deep learning methods.

The closed fishing season policy in Ghana: Lessons from the coastal fisherfolk

Although the socio-economic significance of fishing is globally recognized, the protection of fish stock has not been adequately attended to in fisheries management, leading to fishing practices that threaten the sustainability of fish stock. This study examined the Closed Fishing Season (CFS) policy adopted in Ghana to reduce the excessive pressure on fish stock to ensure the sustainability of fishing-related livelihoods. Data were collected through interviews and focus group discussions with 80 participants, comprising coastal fisherfolk as critical stakeholders, traditional authorities, technocrats, and an academic in fisheries. The data were analysed thematically. The findings revealed that whereas the academic and technocrats had a scientific justification for the policy, the fisherfolk took a cultural view of it without necessarily discounting the scientific rationale. Compliance with the policy was high but there were isolated cases of violations occasioned principally by livelihood pressures. The fisherfolk perceived the livelihood support packages provided by the government to be inadequate, unfairly distributed, and untimely delivered. Also, they perceived their participation in decision-making to be low. Based on the fact that their expectation of a bumper catch immediately after the CFS was not met, the fisherfolk described the effectiveness of the policy to be weak. Although the fisherfolk were not opposed to the policy in principle, they maintained that it was more important to address issues of corruption in the distribution of premix fuel, plastic waste, trans-shipment, proliferation of fishing vessels, use of chemicals and light for fishing, and other illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing practices. Adopting the co-management approach in addressing issues of alternative livelihoods, IUUs, and misconceptions, coupled with a strategic integration of scientific and indigenous knowledge in the design and implementation of the policy would enhance its effectiveness.

Quantitative assessment of kidney split function and mean transit time in healthy patients using dynamic 18F-FDG PET/MRI studies with denoising and deconvolution methods making use of Legendre polynomials

PurposeOur objective was to assess a deconvolution and denoising technique based on Legendre polynomials compared to matrix deconvolution on dynamic 18F-FDG renography of healthy patients.MethodThe study was carried out and compared to the data of 24 healthy patients from a published study who underwent examinations with 99mTc-MAG3 planar scintigraphy and 18F-FDG PET/MRI. Due to corruption issues in some data used in the published article, post-publication measurements were provided. We have been warned that post-publication data were treated differently. The smoothing method switched from Bezier to Savitzky–Golay and the deconvolution from matrix-based (with Tikhonov Regularization) to Richardson–Lucy. A comparison of the split function and mean transit times of the published and post-publication data against our method based on Legendre polynomials was performed.ResultsFor split function, we only observed a good agreement between the processing methods for the 99mTc-MAG3 and the post-published data. No correlation was found between the split functions obtained on the 99mTc-MAG3 and the 18F-FDG, contrary to the published study. However, all calculated split function values for 18F-FDG and 99mTc-MAG3 were within the established normal range. For the mean transit time, the correlation was moderate with published data and very good with the post-publication measurements for both 99mTc-MAG3 and 18F-FDG. Bias of the Bland–Altman analysis of the mean transit times for 99mTc-MAG3 versus 18F-FDG was 1.1 min (SD 1.7 min) for the published data, − 0.11 min (SD 1.9 min) for the post-publication results and .05 min (SD 1.9 min) for our method.ConclusionsThe processing methods used in the original publication and in the post-publication work were quite complex and required adaptation of the fitting parameters for each individual and each type of examination. Our method did not require any specific adjustment; the same unmodified and fully automated algorithm was successfully applied to all data.

Explainable rotation-invariant self-supervised representation learning

This paper describes a method that can perform robust detection and classification in out-of-distribution rotated images in the medical domain. In real-world medical imaging tools, noise due to the rotation of the body part is frequently observed. This noise reduces the accuracy of AI-based classification and prediction models. Hence, it is important to develop models which are rotation invariant. To that end, the proposed method - RISC (rotation invariant self-supervised vision framework) addresses this issue of rotational corruption. We present state-of-the-art rotation-invariant classification results and provide explainability for the performance in the domain. The evaluation of the proposed method is carried out on real-world adversarial examples in Medical Imagery-OrganAMNIST, RetinaMNIST and PneumoniaMNIST. It is observed that RISC outperforms the rotation-affected benchmark methods by obtaining 22\\%, 17\\% and 2\\% accuracy boost on OrganAMNIST, PneumoniaMNIST and RetinaMNIST rotated baselines respectively. Further, explainability results are demonstrated.This methods paper describes:•a representation learning approach that can perform robust detection and classification in out-of-distribution rotated images in the medical domain.•It presents a method that incorporates self-supervised rotation invariance for correcting rotational corruptions.•GradCAM-based explainability for the rotational SSL pretext task and the downstream classification outcomes for the three benchmark datasets are presented

Enhancing fairness, transparency and accountability during tendering under Ghana’s procurement system: a systematic review

PurposeGhana’s legal framework for procurement has undergone substantial reform to increase its efficacy. However, disregard for legal obligations set forth has resulted in issues of fraud, corruption and poor oversight. This study seeks to synthesize literature on the recognition of legal obligations arising from tendering procedures and measures to promote fairness, transparency and accountability under Ghana’s procurement framework.Design/methodology/approachLegal frameworks and publications from diverse countries have been synthesized using a systematic literature review across three databases (Scopus, JSTOR and HeinOnline) to illuminate key concepts, issues and best practices relevant to the study. Data obtained from included publications was synthesized using Sandelowski and Barroso’s two-step approach by using a qualitative meta-summary and thematic synthesis.FindingsThe study reveals that issues of conflict of interest, corruption, lack of capacity, inadequate oversight and insufficient legal follow-through hinder the effectiveness of procurement regulations. The findings highlight the need for targeted improvements in resource allocation for consistent application of transparency measures, regular publication of notices and robust enforcement of accountability mechanisms. The report proposes the creation of a common data environment for networking and information dissemination, implementing feedback systems and trust rating schemes.Practical implicationsThe study contributes to the body of knowledge on procurement regulation by providing a thorough analysis of Ghana’s procurement framework. The findings will help policymakers close the observed implementation gaps by guiding the revision of current legislation and the introduction of new regulations. Research findings can be used to guide the creation of focused training courses.Originality/valueThis study, one of the first of its kind in Ghana, examines the current procurement framework, including legal obligations and implementation challenges. It contributes to the body of knowledge on the subject by providing a current and fact-based analysis as well as relevant recommendations for strengthening the framework.

Effect of Sectoral Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Development in Nigeria: An Econometric Analysis

This study uses econometric techniques to analyze the effect of sectoral foreign direct investments on economic development in Nigeria from 1985-2022. Secondary data on real gross domestic product (RGDP), human development index (HDI), foreign direct investments (FDI) in service, transport and communications sectors were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Report, and Word Development Indicators (WDI) of Word Bank. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) test processes was utilised as the analytical methods. The ARDL result revealed that in the long run, FDI in the long run, FDI in service sectors had had negative and insignificant effects on human development index. FDI in manufacturing, likewise transport and communications sectors had positive and insubstantial effects on human development index. In the short run, FDI in transport and communications sectors had negative and significant effects on HDI. FDI in manufacturing sector had positive and insignificant effect on HDI. However, FDI in service sector had positive and substantial effect on HDI. Hence, it was concluded that FDI had substantial impact on human capital development. Therefore, the study recommended that government should provide needed enabling environment to increase FDIs in various sectors. To achieve this, government should remove all the road blocks to foreign productive investments in Nigeria. The process ranges from fixing infrastructural deficits through addressing issues of good governance, corruption and insecurity.

On the issue of corruption in the sphere of labor and employment: today’s realities

The problem of corruption in all its manifestations, its causes and methods of overcoming it attracts the attention of a considerable number of scientists. Today, the sphere of labor and employment is not only an important institutional basis for the implementation of corruption and related offenses in the state in general, but also one of the goals of the spread of corruption in the state. The purpose of the article is to study the manifestations of corruption in Ukraine in the field of labor and employment, to identify existing problems in this field and to make proposals for their solution. Currently, the fight against corruption has become a priority of Ukraine’s state policy and part of its international obligations. During the period of the anti-corruption reform, certain results were achieved in this area of state and society activity, in particular, new legislation was adopted, anti-corruption bodies and courts were created, innovative tools for the prevention of corruption were introduced, and the development of public control is ongoing. At the same time, the current labor legislation, although it is quite progressive in terms of protecting the rights of employees, however, in order to more effectively use the opportunities to expose corruption, it needs changes aimed at forming an even greater protective role of labor law. Corruption in the sphere of labor and employment is considered as a special socio-legal phenomenon, which naturally has an extremely negative impact on the sphere of labor and employment, but it is also a phenomenon that can be minimized by labor-legal means (first of all, the normative basis of labor law, labor rights and obligations of subjects of labor law, acts of implementation of labor law, etc.), as well as a number of institutional mechanisms in the relevant field (first of all, the mechanism for preventing and countering nepotism, the mechanism for ensuring the exposure of corruption by employees, the mechanism for ensuring decent work, the mechanism for control and supervision according to the state of compliance with law and order in the sphere of labor and employment, the mechanism for ensuring the protection of information restricted in circulation).

Game-theoretic analysis of governance and corruption in China's pharmaceutical industry.

With the rapid development of China's pharmaceutical industry, issues of corruption and regulatory effectiveness have become increasingly prominent, posing critical challenges to public health safety and the industry's sustainable development. This paper adopts a bounded rationality perspective and employs a game-theoretic evolutionary approach to establish a tripartite evolutionary game model involving pharmaceutical companies, third-party auditing organizations, and health insurance regulatory agencies. It analyzes the stable strategies of the parties involved and the sensitivity of key parameters within this tripartite game system. The study reveals that adherence to health insurance regulations by pharmaceutical companies, refusal of bribes by third-party auditing organizations, and the implementation of lenient regulations by health insurance agencies can form an effective governance equilibrium. This equilibrium state contributes to reducing corruption in the pharmaceutical industry, balancing the interests of all parties, and promoting healthy industry development. Pharmaceutical companies must balance compliance costs against the risks of non-compliance benefits while maximizing profits; third-party auditing organizations need to choose between fulfilling their duties and accepting bribes, considering their economic benefits and professional reputation; health insurance regulatory agencies adjust their strategies between strict and lenient regulation to maximize social welfare. The paper suggests enhancing policy support, strengthening compliance supervision, improving audit independence, and adjusting regulatory strategies to optimize governance in the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, the research highlights the role of collaborative efforts among the three parties in achieving sustainable governance. Furthermore, the study conducts a numerical simulation analysis to demonstrate the impact of various parameters on the evolutionary stability of the system, providing practical insights into the implementation of regulatory policies. This research offers new insights for policy formulation and governance in China's pharmaceutical sector, providing significant reference value for guiding the industry's sustainable development.

Corruption Issues in Afghanistan: How Did Corruption Enable the Taliban to Gain Control in Afghanistan?

Peu après la chute de Kaboul, l’importance du rôle de la corruption dans l’effondrement de la République islamique d’Afghanistan est devenue une idée largement répandue. Elle n’était cependant pas considérée comme une menace fatale pour la viabilité de l’État afghan durant les années précédentes. Au contraire, il était largement reconnu que la corruption avait même sauvé le pays de l’éclatement des différentes entités régionales. Enquêter sur la manière dont la corruption a contribué au retour des talibans pourrait servir d’exemple pour d’autres structures étatiques vulnérables et/ou en développement, afin d’éviter les mêmes conséquences. Le processus de désintégration de l’État afghan dû à la corruption n’a pas eu lieu au cours des dernières années, et nécessite donc une analyse plus approfondie pour identifier les erreurs fondamentales dans les processus de reconstruction de l’État. Cet article explique comment le système politique afghan corrompu a dégradé la confiance du public et ruiné le moral des forces armées, rendant l’État afghan vulnérable face à la progression des talibans.

Targeted Sanctions as a Pathway to Accountability

Abstract The growth of ‘Magnitsky-style’ targeted sanctions has ushered in a new chapter in the history of sanctions practice that places civil society actors in an increasingly empowered position. The development of new legal and policy frameworks in several jurisdictions, led by the USA, has formalized an active role for civil society in governments’ sanction designation processes. By creating a legal framework for civil society engagement, the US Magnitsky laws enshrined the importance of civil society as a source of evidence on human rights and corruption issues into law. This article draws on the experience and observations of, and interviews with, sanctions practitioners who have witnessed the increasing role that civil society is taking in Magnitsky-style sanctions. The article begins by asking why civil society engages with targeted sanctions, before examining the legal and policy frameworks through which civil society actors engage with governments. It looks at five jurisdictions where civil society is taking an active role, the USA, UK, European Union, Canada, and Australia. The article describes the emergence of ‘sanctions clearing houses’ — organizations that act as intermediaries between global civil society and the governments with which they are trying to engage. The article considers present civil society perspectives on current barriers to engagement with sanctions regimes and concludes by emphasizing the importance of civil society engagement in this area, providing recommendations to foster this engagement.

The energy transition paradox: How lithium extraction puts pressure on environment, society, and politics

Lithium-ion batteries are essential for Europe's renewable energy transition. By 2030, the EU will need 18 times more lithium, and by 2050, 60 times more. For that reason, Europe aims to increase domestic sourcing and achieve nearly full self-sufficiency by 2030. However, lithium mining has a high environmental footprint and can have severe social impacts. This research examines the socio-environmental implications of lithium mining for the EU energy transition and identifies leverage points that alleviate tension between justice and security. The Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and Political framework was used to systematically gather insights from experts representing various stakeholders on these issues. Subsequently, these insights were compiled into a fuzzy-cognitive map, creating a system-based overview and allow construction and comparison of four scenarios examining the future of lithium and its impacts on the environment and local communities in Europe. This reveals the importance of good governance to avoid issues of corruption and geopolitical tensions with a potential adverse impact on society and environment. However, governance alone is insufficient to mitigate negative impacts. A circular economy, where lithium is recovered from used batteries, is most favorable, reducing the demand for new material and the negative impacts of mining. This holistic overview stresses the need for increased government involvement, stakeholder alignment, and dealing with corruption as vital aspects in mitigating the negative socio-environmental impacts of lithium mining.

Corruption: Is it a Moral Issue or a Legal Issue?

The objective of this research is to examine the discourse surrounding corruption, with a particular focus on whether it is perceived as a legal issue or a moral issue. This research was conducted in response to the shortcomings of scholars' analysis in discussing the issue of corruption. Furthermore, in light of the considerable number of corruption cases globally, particularly in Indonesia, it is imperative that the government and relevant stakeholders reframe corruption as a national concern. This research is a descriptive qualitative study, employing data collection techniques through literature studies and analysis using deductive syllogism tools. The research concluded that corruption has become a social disease that continues to spread from upstream to downstream of human life. Currently, corruption is only focused on legal reform, whereas the root or heart of corruption is morality. Corruption is a moral issue, not a legal issue; therefore, it must be addressed through a moral, ethical, and transcendental approach.

Risks of Overstressing Corruption: The Case of Ukraine

This paper has as its reference point the issue of corruption in Ukraine, which has recently once again become the subject of attention due to reports that it may be an important factor when it comes to the recalcitrance of some of Ukraine’s Western partners and allies with regard to offering military support for the country’s war effort against Russia. The main objective is to demonstrate how the West’s tendency to overstress this problem, for which the paper offers proof, that could manifest itself in it applying undue pressure on the Ukrainian authorities, entails risks and may have a number of undesirable repercussions due to 1) providing fuel to Russian disinformation campaigns and negatively affecting the perceptions of Ukraine among Western citizens, 2) hampering the Ukrainian military campaign and its appraisal abroad, 3) indirectly contributing to changing the nature of Ukrainian nationalism by making it more exclusionary.

A study of bribery and corruption in Exodus 23: 8 and the Nigerian experience

Bribery and corruption are social global phenomena that have generated debates among scholars. They are problems of routine deviation from established standards and norms by public officers and parties with whom they interact. It is widely held that bribery and corruption are the bane of the development of many nations in the world today. Previous studies on bribery and corruption have situated its cause in human weakness with little or no attention paid to divine position on the issue. This study examined Yahweh’s instruction to ancient Israel on bribery and corruption. Exodus 23: 8 was chosen as the text of investigation to establish Yahweh’s position on bribery. As a corollary, the study explored how Nigerians are expected to handle the issue of bribery and corruption in our contemporary time. African Biblical Hermeneutics that makes the Bible relevant in any culture and nation was used for the study. It was discovered that the level of corruption in ancient Israel and Nigeria was very high. Findings revealed that some Nigerian judges and leaders collect bribes to pervert the course of justice. The poor and the less privileged in society suffer injustice of all sorts in the hands of leaders and judges who have received bribes. These corrupt practices are partly responsible for the unrest, banditry, underdevelopment, unemployment and insecurity that have bedevilled our nation today. For Nigeria to stand tall in the comity of Nations her citizens must make justice and equity their watchword. Nigerians who are involved in Bribery and Corruption be sanctioned.

THE EUROPEAN UNION’S POSITION ON THE PHENOMENON OF CORRUPTION

At the beginning of the 1990s, the European Union adopted the so-called Copenhagen criteria, in which Member States and aspiring states were called on to ground their activities on the rule of law. It is assumed that this concept also extends to the issue of corruption, or rather, an effective fight against this phenomenon. In fact, however, the main solutions in this area were for years based on the anti-corruption conventions established by the Council of Europe and the UN. The EU itself was quite restrained in this respect. Although some normative solutions were adopted, they were not within any mainstream European legislation. These matters were raised for the second time in the years 2008–2017, but also then no specific solutions were adopted at the level of the entire EU. Currently, we can see a third take on this issue, i.e. a proposal for a new directive on combating corruption. This time, it seems that the will to confront this problem is much stronger than before. Moreover, it has been noted that corruption is often a mirror image of organised crime, human trafficking, or the waste of funds transferred to Member States from the EU budget.