world bank - core laws to fight corruption

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Core Laws to Fight Corruption

Laws, implemented by ins titutions, play an important role in the fight against corruption. In this context, this

section addresses three main topics:

Anticorruption Laws

Access to Information

Control of Administrative Discretion

Anticorruption Laws

Enforcing Income and Asset Declaration Laws

While many nations have enacted laws requiring public servants to disclose their income and ass ets,

effective enforcement has often been a challenge. Detecting when a public servant's lifestyle is

inconsis tent with his or her disclos ure statement is time-consuming and difficult, and public prosecutors

may not have either the resources or skills to conduct such investigations. This gap can sometimes be

filled by civil society groups, As the attached document explains, a researcher for the Philippine Center for

Investigative Journalism m ade ons ite inspections of tax officials' home (or homes) and other tangible

assets and compared their value agains t what the official earned as a tax collector.

Income and Asset Disclosure Laws in Bank Client Countries

Requiring public s ervants toperiodically disclose their income and assets is an important tool for

combatting corruption. It demonstrates a leaders commitment to anti-corruption. It helps the public to hold

the government accountable, can be used effectively to curb conflicts of interests, and warns against illicit

enrichment. The s tudy summarizes the income and ass et disclosure requirements of heads of state and

governments of 147 World Bank client countries - disclosure being required in 101 countries, 31 of which are

public, and 70 non-public. The relevant laws that set out the requirements, and the agencies responsible for

the disclosures are also listed. This is a living document, corrections , updates and forms would be greatly

appreciated. Please send updates and corrections to Law and Jus tice TG, Mail Stop 4-416, World Bank, 1818

H Street, N.w., Washington, D.C. 20433.

Using Non-criminal Laws to Combat Corruption

Although criminal law is most commonly invoked to attack corruption, often prosecution is not the only, or

even the most effective way, of deterring or punis hing those who take or pay bribes or otherwise corrupt

the governmental process. Prevailing in a criminal case can be very difficult. To protect the rights of the

accused, the laws of most nations set a very high standard of proof in criminal cases. In corruption case,

this burden can be particularly difficult to meet because the acts are clandestine and there is no obvious

victim ready to present evidence. Moreover, even a successful prosecution does not guarantee that the

beneficiaries of corruption will have to dis gorge their profits. One alternative are the remedies found in the

civil (noncriminal) laws of many nations. The standard of proof is often lower than in criminal cases, and

the remedy almost always includes recovery of the proceeds of the crime. In the United States, the False

Claims Act provides that any citizen may bring a lawsuit against those alleged to have defrauded the

federal government, and if the plaintiff succeeds, he or she is entitled to keep a percentage of the amount

recovered. In South Africa, a Special Investigating Unit has been established to use the civil laws to

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combat corruption.

US False Claims Act

South Africas Special Investigative Unit

CORIS -- The Corruption Online Research Information System

CORIS is Transparency International's web-based ini tiative to m eet the research needs of anti-corruption

practitioners in access ing both publ ished and grey literature on corruption and governance. It includes the

texts of laws on subjects such as freedom of information and whis tleblower protection laws.

Anticorruption Law: Amnesties, Money Laundering, Burden of Proof,

and Whistleblower Protection

To promote compliance with new anticorruption measures , some countries have experimented with

provisions that forgive pas t offenses. Others have enacted new laws 1) banning money laundering, 2)

requiring officials accused of corrupt behavior to explain the sources of their wealth, and 3) protecting

public servants who dis close the corrupt acts of other government workers. This Anticorruption toolkit

from the OECD discusses the issues raised by each of these initiatives and includes examples and case

studies of how such provisions have been implemented.

Writing an Effective Anticorruption Law

The success of anti-corruption legislation depends crucially on the caliber of the agency that will enforce

it. Where enforcers are themselves open to bribery or subject to political manipulation, the law should

leave them little or no room to exercise discretion.

The OECD Convention on Combating Bribery

The OECD Convention requires nations adhering to it to make it a crime to offer, promise or give a bribe

to a foreign public official in order to obtain or retain international business. A related text effectively puts

an end to the practice of according tax deductibility for bribe payments made to foreign officials. The

Convention commits signatory countries, which include the world's largest economies , to adopt common

rules to punish companies and individuals who engage in bribery.

Fostering Institutions to Combat Corruption

Implementing anti-corruption measures requires an institutional framework. But endemic corruption is a

systemic disease that can only be controlled wi th a systemic cureno s ingle ins titution will do. Effective

and durable corruption control requires multiple, reinforcing, and overlapping institutions of accountability.And where corruption is endemic, these institutions need to be of three kinds: horizontal accountability,

vertical accountabili ty, and external accountabili ty.

Notes on Conflict of Interest, Gifts, Illicit Enrichment, and Outside Employment

Among the subjects an anticorruption law should address are s ituations where a public servant 1) faces

a conflict of interest, 2) is offered a gift, 3) is suspected of illicit enriching himself, or 4) holds a second job

in the private sector. This paper discusses the questions policymakers mus t consider when drafting laws

governing conduct in these areas.




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Model Code of Conduct for Government Employees

Codes of conduct or ethics code for public s ervants s erve a variety of purposes . They can state norms of

behavior, such as the duty to treat citizens courteously, that enhance respect for government. They can

also ban the receipt of gifts, conflicts of interest, the hiring of relatives, or other acts that may corrupt

government operations. The legal effect of such codes can also vary. Some are voluntary while violations

of others can subject the offender to administrative or criminal penalties. Below is a model code of

conduct for public officials developed by the Council of Europe. It is accompanied by an explanatory

memorandum and an article-by-article analysis of its provisions .

Council of Europe Code of Conduct, English Version

Council of Europe Code of Conduct, French Version

World Bank Anticorruption Website

The World Bank Anticorruption webs ite focuses on preventing corruption in Bank projects, helping

countries to reduce corruption, mains treaming anticorruption measures in Bank projects, and supporting

international efforts to reduce corruption.

Asset Disclosure by Public Officials

Many countries require public officials to declare their assets and wealth to reduce corruption. The

purpose of obtaining public officials declarations is to identify what wealth is not fairly attributable to

income, gifts, or loans . The World Bank's Adminis trative and Civil Service Thematic Group has compiled

laws from 18 countries to illustrate the wide range of approaches to restraining officials undesirable

conduct. Knowing how others countries have approached this is sue can help those who are drafting

officials' asset declaration laws, or making changes to existing ones.

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Access to Information

A Model Freedom of Information Law

This draft law incorporates the nine principles developed by Article 19. It also includes language that

would es tablish a commiss ioner to review government compliance with requests for information.

Defining Defamation

The free flow of information can be retarded by laws that protect the reputation of those who work for

government or who are involved in public activities. Different nations wi ll s trike the balance between

protecting the reputation of these individuals and providing journalists and citizens the freedom to write

and speak about their actions differently, but policymakers concerned about maximizing information flow

will want to review whether the balance their nation s trikes reflects the public interest in information

access. This paper sugges ts a set of principles to guide those wishing to ensure the maximum degree of

information flow while still protecting individuals' reputation.

Considerations When Drafting a Whistleblower Protection Law




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A government employee or other individual privy to non-public information about governmental

wrongdoing may alert prosecutors, the media, or others not formally entitled to the information to deter

future acts or see that past acts are sanctioned. To protect such individuals from reprisals and encourage

others to come forward, several nations have enacted Whistleblower protection laws. This paper

describes the common situations that give rise to whis tleblowing, reviews the recent United Kingdom law

extending protection to whistleblowers, and suggests a model whistleblowing law.

Strengthening Access to Information and Public Participation in Government Decision Making in Transition

Countries

All governments face the challenge of controlling adminis trative discretion, of reconciling technocratic

knowledge with the concerns of ordinary citizens and thus giving effect to democratic values in

circumstances where hierarchy and expertise cannot be avoided. Developed countries exercise control

through a mix of parliamentary oversight, review by courts or specialized tribunals, and less formal means

involving pressure on the bureaucracy through consultative mechanisms, lobbying, and other forms of

citizen activism . This paper argues that legal reformers in transition countries have paid insufficient

attention to control of adminis trative discretion and that there are a variety of mechanisms , some more

formal than others, that offer promis ing avenues for channeling civil society oversight and giving more

effective voice to citizen activism, particularly in countries with effective, contested government.

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Control of Administrative Discretion

Administrative Procedures and the Supervision of Administration in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, and

Albania

This paper addresses adminis trative law and institutions in five Eastern European countries. The first

part of the paper looks at adminis trative procedures. The second section addresses the various forms of

judicial and non-judicial supervision of the countries' administrations, including ombudsmen,

inspectorates and special commissions , the prosecutor, and parliamentary committees.

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Last updated: 2009-09-03

2011 The World Bank Group, All Rights Reserved. Legal.



world bank - core laws to fight corruption

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