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Corruption: Threats and Trends in the Twenty-First Century

NCJ Number
210524
Date Published
March 2005
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This working paper prepared by the United Nations Secretariat for the 11th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (April 18-25, 2005, in Bangkok) examines global threats and trends in various types of "corruption," environments that foster corruption, and an international strategy for countering it.
Abstract
A discussion of threats and trends in corruption focuses on political corruption, corruption within the justice system, and corruption within the private sector. Political corruption ranges from illegal political party and election financing to vote-buying and influence-peddling. The linking of money to the obtaining of political power is rarely adequately regulated, and this undermines confidence in the equitable distribution of government services and the fairness of the making and enforcing of laws. Corruption within the justice system occurs when the financial and career interests of criminal justice personnel take priority over the goals of ensuring the protection of the rights and security of citizens. Corruption in the private sector occurs when the rules designed to achieve and preserve fair competition in a free market economy are violated in order to achieve unfair advantage and/or reduce competition in order to increase market share. These types of corruption lead to conflict borne of a sense of injustice, which further weakens the institutions that can challenge corruption. In an effort to provide international leadership in combating corruption, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption was adopted by the General Assembly so as to enlist member states in a consensus on policies that will fortify national institutions in preventing and countering various types of corruption. 27 notes

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