Transparency International Bribery Case Study

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INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND TO STUDY
Corruption has gained worldwide attention today. Prior to the twenty first century, the study of corruption was mainly channelled towards addressing and explaining Africa’s slow economic growth and political instability. However, that does not seem to be the case today. Corruption is now being seen for what it truly is - a global cankerworm present in relative degrees in every country in the world. The West and most of the industrialized countries of the world had hitherto only given flippant attention to corruption for most part of the twentieth century, but with the development of complex financial networks, integration of international trade and the relative easy mobility of money, most of these countries …show more content…

In 1997, the OECD adopted the 'Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions '. This convention aimed at establishing ' effective measures to deter, prevent and combat the bribery of foreign public officials in connection with international business transactions, in particular the prompt criminalisation of such bribery in an effective and co-ordinated manner. ' The Convention has been described by Transparency International as ‘a key instrument for curbing the export of corruption globally because the 41 signatory countries are responsible for approximately two-thirds of world exports and almost 90 per cent of total foreign direct investment outflows.’ In conjunction with the OECD, the European Union also developed her own anti-corruption coalition recognizing the harmful effect corruption would have on European integration and development if not properly addressed. In 1999, the Council of Europe opened for signing a robust treaty aimed at tackling corruption titled 'The Criminal Law Convention on Corruption '. It was an 'ambitious instrument aiming at the co-ordinated criminalisation of a large number of corrupt practices ' providing for 'complementary criminal law measures and for improved international …show more content…

The twentieth century had been highlighted by prebendalist and neopatrimonialist regimes that had decimated the economic potential of most developing countries, especially in Africa. Even Europe and most of the developed countries were struggling, and still struggles, with corruption in public procurement and bribery of foreign officials by big corporations. In December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly recognizing that an effective international legal instrument against corruption, independent of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime agreed to constitute ‘The Ad Hoc Committee for the Negotiation of a Convention Against Corruption’. This committee would be based in the Austria’s capital Vienna, the headquarters of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The committee from its first session which lasted from 21 January 2002 to 1 February 2002 to its seventh session which adjourned on 1 October 2003, pored over issues like criminalization of corrupt practices, sanctions and remedies for offenders, confiscations and seizures of corrupt proceeds, jurisdiction, liability of legal persons, protection of witnesses and victims and law enforcement, promotion and strengthening of international cooperation against corruption, preventing and combating the transfer of funds of illicit

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