UN Guide for Anti-Corruption Policies - United Nations Office on ...

• The rule of law. As many of the controls on corruption are legally based,
rule of law frameworks, including such things as effective and independent
courts and legislatures are required, both to ensure the integrity with which
laws are developed and enacted, and to ensure that they are applied
without corruption. This is true <strong>for</strong> both criminal law controls on corruption
and <strong>for</strong> civil proceedings, which are often used to seek redress in
corruption cases.
• Integration. This includes integration between anti-corruption strategies
and other major policy agendas in each country, and integration between
the ef<strong>for</strong>ts of different countries and the international community as a
whole. The legislative rein<strong>for</strong>cing anti-corruption offences, <strong>for</strong> example,
should not conflict with other priorities on the part of the law en<strong>for</strong>cement,
prosecutors and judges expected to en<strong>for</strong>ce them.
B. Lessons learned and the construction of anti-corruption strategies
It has been suggested that the most significant achievement in governance
during the 1990s was the shattering of the taboo that barred discussion of
corruption, particularly in diplomatic circles and intergovernmental institutions
(6). The topic is now out in the open, and the recognition that Governments
alone cannot contain corruption has led to new and powerful coalitions of
interest groups and other stakeholders. The Toolkit is based largely on what
has been learned by the international community in its ef<strong>for</strong>ts against
corruption during well over a decade. Perhaps the most important lesson is
that corruption is a widespread and diverse phenomenon, and that anticorruption
measures must be carefully considered and tailored to the <strong>for</strong>ms
encountered and the societies and cultures within which they are expected to
function.
Viable anti-corruption strategies have been constructed with varying degrees
of success around the world. There is much to be learned both from success
and failure. For the sake of clarity and brevity, the most important of those
lessons are synopsized below.
1. Negative impact of corruption
<strong>Corruption</strong> tends to concentrate wealth, not only increasing the gap between
rich and poor but also providing the wealthy with illicit means to protect their
positions and interests. That, in turn, can contribute to social conditions that
foster other <strong>for</strong>ms of crime, social and political instability and even terrorism.
2. Conditions facilitating corruption
Without proper vigilance and effective countermeasures, corruption can occur
anywhere. Recent corruption cases exposed in the World Bank, the <strong>United</strong>
<strong>Nations</strong> and other multilateral and bilateral organizations have shown that any
society or organization is susceptible, even where well established checks
and balances are in place.
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