Blog

UNCAC Coalition calls for States Parties to move on beneficial ownership transparency at 6th COSP

25 October 2015, by Christine Clough, Global Financial Integrity. freedigiltalphotos.net When the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and official observers gather in St Petersburg next week for the 6th Conference of States Parties (COSP), the UNCAC…

Promoting integrity and transparency in public procurement

22 October 2015, by Katja Bechtel and Susan Cote-Freeman, Business Integrity Unit, Transparency International. Image: Pixabay / gerald It is estimated that some US$9.5 trillion of public money is spent each year by governments procuring goods and services on behalf…

Civil society participation: An essential element in anti-corruption efforts

21 October 2015, by Vanja Škorić. The fight against corruption is a long-term process, requiring deep structural changes to a country’s institutions, its legal framework and its culture. Therefore, actors outside government – especially in civil society – are an…

6th COSP in St Petersburg: We must make progress on asset recovery

21 October 2015, by Maud Perdriel-Vaissiere, Asset Recovery Advisor, UNCAC Coalition. The last Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Panama adopted a resolution on asset recovery (Resolution 5/3). It included concrete measures aimed to…

Civil society participation in the UNCAC Review Mechanism

20 October 2015, by Mirella Dummar Frahi, UNODC. The group of NGO representatives and government focal points that participated in the UNCAC workshop, February 2015, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Following the adoption of the UNCAC Review Mechanism in 2010, it became…

Immunities from prosecution: Let’s burst the bubble

19 October 2015, by Tilman Hoppe. A few months ago, US$1 billion (!) went missing in Moldova. Various key suspects tried to shield themselves from prosecution through immunity as public officials. They are one of many examples of how corrupt…

Practicing Open Data: Publishing Court Decisions in Germany

28 September 2015, by Angela Reitmaier. Scales of Justice, Frankfurt In order to hold government to account, people need to know what it is doing. That is why it is so important for civil society to be able to have…

Rich and poor: Different dynamics, different problems for the UNCAC

2 October 2015, by Adam Graycar, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. As the UNCAC review process is expected in the next year or two to start to focus on preventive measures (Chapter 2 of the UNCAC), it is more important than…

Corruption in an era of climate change: Stakeholders discuss at high level UN anti-corruption meeting

1 October 2015, by Lisa Ann Elges, Transparency International, and Juliet S. Sorensen, Center for International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law. As global leaders settle on new directions for sustainable development and climate change avoidance, they are also…

Whistleblower protection: Implications for the United Nations and the UNCAC

1 October 2015, by Beatrice Edwards, Government Accountability Project. To promote accountability among United Nations member states, the UNCAC endorses anti-retaliation measures for whistleblowers. Most explicitly, Article 33 sets out the parameters of protection for reporting persons and encourages their…