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| Law on the Prevention of Corruption | |
|---|---|
| Name | Law on the Prevention of Corruption |
| Enacted | Varied (jurisdictions) |
| Jurisdiction | National and subnational |
| Status | In force (varies) |
Law on the Prevention of Corruption
The Law on the Prevention of Corruption is a statutory framework enacted by many legislatures such as the United States Congress, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the National People's Congress (China), the Bundestag, the Knesset, the National Assembly (France), the Diet (Japan), the Congress of the Republic of Peru, the Federal Assembly (Russia), the Seimas (Lithuania), and the Ombudsman (Philippines) to deter, detect, and punish corrupt practices connected to public office and public procurement, reflecting standards set by instruments like the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the Council of Europe (CoE). Drawing on precedent from statutes such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Bribery Act 2010, the Anti-Corruption Law (China), and the Public Integrity Law (Peru), these laws balance preventive compliance regimes with investigatory powers vested in specialized entities like the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong), the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Serb Anti-Corruption Agency, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Macau).
Jurisdictions frame the Law on the Prevention of Corruption to address bribery, embezzlement, illicit enrichment, and influence peddling alongside whistleblower protections and asset recovery, influenced by decisions of the International Court of Justice, recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force, and jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights. Drafting processes often involve input from organizations such as Transparency International, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the African Union, and the Inter-American Development Bank, and draw comparative practice from statutes like the Bribery Act 2010, the FCPA, and the Criminal Code (Brazil). Legislative adoption may be contested in forums like the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Supreme Court of India, and the Supreme Court of the United States when balancing enforcement against protections under instruments such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Typical texts define key terms—"bribe", "public official", "public procurement", "conflict of interest", and "illicit enrichment"—with reference points found in the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, and national codes like the Italian Penal Code, the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Penal Code of Colombia. Scope provisions often distinguish between acts by officials in bodies such as the European Commission, the United States Department of Justice, the National Audit Office (UK), the Auditor General of Canada, and the Court of Auditors (European Union) and private actors including corporations regulated by agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Exemptions and extraterritorial reach mirror frameworks found in instruments like the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Offenses enumerated typically include active and passive bribery, trading in influence, embezzlement, money laundering, and abuse of office, drawing on models from the Italian Anti-Corruption Law, the Spanish Criminal Code, the Turkish Penal Code, and the South African Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. Many statutes criminalize facilitation payments and corporate liability, echoing enforcement trends by prosecutors in the Department of Justice (United States), the Serious Fraud Office (UK), the Public Prosecutor's Office (Brazil), and the Anti-Corruption Commission (Bangladesh). Special offenses may target procurement fraud involving institutions like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the African Development Bank, and address corrupt acts affecting elections managed by bodies such as the Election Commission of India and the Commission on Elections (Philippines).
Preventive regimes mandate codes of conduct, asset declaration systems, conflicts-of-interest rules, and internal controls inspired by practices in ministries like the Ministry of Finance (Germany), the Treasury (United Kingdom), and the Ministry of Finance (Japan), and by corporate compliance programs employed by firms appearing before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the European Banking Authority. Measures include whistleblower channels modeled on frameworks in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act (United States), and the EU Whistleblowing Directive, training programs from institutions like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Economic Forum, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and auditing regimes paralleling the Comptroller and Auditor General (UK), the Comptroller General of the United States, and the European Court of Auditors.
Enforcement provisions allocate investigative powers, search and seizure authorities, and asset freezing tied to prosecutors, magistrates, and law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the National Police of Colombia, and the Gendarmerie (France). Penalties range from fines and custodial sentences found in codes like the French Penal Code and the Criminal Code of Canada to corporate remedies such as forfeiture, disgorgement, and debarment applied by bodies like the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and national procurement authorities including the General Services Administration (US). Prosecutorial cooperation is often channeled through instruments like the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, letters rogatory accepted by courts such as the High Court of Justice (England and Wales), and asset recovery mechanisms in the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR).
Laws create or empower institutions such as independent anti-corruption commissions modeled on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong), anti-corruption bureaus like the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, oversight bodies like the Ombudsman (Sweden), integrity commissions exemplified by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (New South Wales), and multi-agency task forces involving entities such as the Ministry of Justice (Netherlands), the Attorney General (Canada), and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Thailand). Accountability for these agencies is often structured through parliamentary committees like the Public Accounts Committee (UK), judicial review in courts such as the Constitutional Court (Germany), and international monitoring by organizations like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Transparency International.
The law’s international dimension aligns domestic obligations with treaties and cooperative mechanisms including the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, extradition frameworks under bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties, and multilateral efforts with the International Criminal Court on related transnational crimes. Cross-border enforcement leverages institutions like INTERPOL, Europol, the Financial Action Task Force, and bilateral partnerships between agencies such as the Department of Justice (United States) and the Crown Prosecution Service (UK), while compliance with international anti-corruption norms is reviewed by bodies like the GRECO and the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
Category:Anti-corruption law