Bismuth, Dunin-Wasowicz, & Nichols: The Transnationalization of Anti-Corruption Law

Régis Bismuth (Sciences Po - Law), Jan Dunin-Wasowicz (Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP), & Philip M. Nichols (Univ. of Pennsylvania - Wharton School) have published The Transnationalization of Anti-Corruption Law (Routledge 2021). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

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The last twenty years have witnessed an astonishing transformation: the fight against corruption has grown from a handful of local undertakings into a truly global effort. Law occupies a central role in that effort and this timely book assesses the challenges faced in using law as it too morphs from a handful of local rules into a global regime.

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The book presents the perspectives of a global array of scholars, of policy makers, and of practitioners. Topics range from critical theoretical understandings of the global regime as a whole, to regional and local experiences in implementing and influencing the regime, including specific legal techniques such as deferred prosecution agreements, addressing corruption issues in dispute resolution, whistleblower protection, civil and administrative prosecutions, as well as blocking statutes. The book also includes discussions of the future shape of the global regime, the emergence of transnational compliance standards, and discussions by leaders of international organizations that take a leading role in the transnationalization of anti-corruption law.

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The Transnationalization of Anti-Corruption Law deals with the most salient aspects of the global anti-corruption regime. It is written by people who contribute to the structure of the regime, who practice within the regime, and who study the regime. It is written for anyone interested in corruption or corruption control in general, anyone with a general interest in jurisprudence or in international law, and especially anyone who is interested in critical thinking and analysis of how law can control corruption in a global context.

Borlini: Not Such a Retrospective: On the implementation of the International Anti-corruption Obligations in Italy

Leonardo S. Borlini (Bocconi Univ. - Law) has posted Not such a Retrospective: On the Implementation of the International Anti-corruption Obligations in Italy (International Criminal Law Review, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The past thirty years have seen unprecedented international initiatives aimed at combatting corrupt practices. The net effect of such initiatives is that today there exists a sort of “hyper-norm” repudiating corruption that transcends national boundaries. Over the same period, Italy has ratified and implemented within its legal system five international anti-corruption treaties, and amended its domestic legislation on different occasions. However, despite considerable efforts, corruption remains a serious challenge in the country. This article examines the main achievements and shortcomings of the implementation of the aforementioned conventions in Italy in light of the outcomes of the monitoring procedures established by the same treaties.

AJIL Unbound Symposium: New Directions in Anticorruption Law

AJIL Unbound has posted a symposium on "New Directions in Anticorruption Law." The symposium includes an introduction by Rachel Brewster and Alexandra Huneeus and contributions by Jimena Reyes, Guillermo Jorge, Lucinda A. Low, Michelle R. Sanchez-Badin and Arthur Sanchez-Badin, James Thuo Gathii, and Emilie M. Hafner-Burton and Christina J. Schneider.

Davis: Between Impunity and Imperialism: The Regulation of Transnational Bribery

Kevin E. Davis (New York Univ. - Law) has published Between Impunity and Imperialism: The Regulation of Transnational Bribery (Oxford Univ. Press 2019). Here's the abstract:

When people pay bribes to foreign public officials, how should the law respond? This question has been debated ever since the enactment of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, and some of the key arguments can be traced back to Cicero in the last years of the Roman Republic and Edmund Burke in late eighteenth-century England. In recent years, the U.S. and other members of the OECD have joined forces to make anti-bribery law one of the most prominent sources of liability for firms and individuals who operate across borders. The modern regime is premised on the idea that transnational bribery is a serious problem which invariably merits a vigorous legal response. The shape of that response can be summed up in the phrase "every little bit helps," which in practice means that: prohibitions on bribery should capture a broad range of conduct; enforcement should target as broad a range of actors as possible; sanctions should be as stiff as possible; and as many agencies as possible should be involved in the enforcement process. An important challenge to the OECD paradigm, labelled here the "anti-imperialist critique," accepts that transnational bribery is a serious problem but questions the conventional responses. This book uses a series of high-profile cases to illustrate key elements of transnational bribery law in action, and analyzes the law through the lenses of both the OECD paradigm and the anti-imperialist critique. It ultimately defends a distinctively inclusive and experimentalist approach to transnational bribery law.

Call for Papers: Constitutional democracy, Rule of Law and the fight against corruption

A call for papers has been issued for the Eighth Forum of the African Union Commission on International Law, to take place December 2-3, 2019. The theme is: “Constitutional democracy, Rule of Law and the fight against corruption.” The call is here (English/Français).

Call for Papers: ASIL Anti-Corruption Law Interest Group Works-in-Progress Conference (Reminder)

The Anti-Corruption Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its first works-in-progress conference. The conference is cosponsored with the Faculty of Law at Ono Academic College and is organized in close cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The conference will take place in Kiryat Ono, Israel, on December 16, 2019. The call is here. The deadline is September 13, 2019.

Call for Papers: ASIL Anti-Corruption Law Interest Group Works-in-Progress Conference

The Anti-Corruption Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its first works-in-progress conference. The conference is cosponsored with the Faculty of Law at Ono Academic College and is organized in close cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The conference will take place in Kiryat Ono, Israel, on December 16, 2019. The call is here.

Ishii: Technology and Anti-Money Laundering Regulations under International Law

Yurika Ishii (National Defense Academy of Japan) has posted an ASIL Insight on Technology and Anti-Money Laundering Regulations under International Law.

Rose, Kubiciel, & Landwehr: The United Nations Convention Against Corruption: A Commentary

Cecily Rose (Leiden Univ. - Grotius Centre for International Law), Michael Kubiciel (Universität Augsburg - Law), & Oliver Landwehr (UN Office on Drugs and Crime) have published The United Nations Convention Against Corruption: A Commentary (Oxford Univ. Press 2019). Here's the abstract:

The United Nations Convention against Corruption includes 71 articles, and takes a notably comprehensive approach to the problem of corruption, as it addresses prevention, criminalization, international cooperation, and asset recovery. Since it came into force more than a decade ago, the Convention has attracted nearly universal participation by states. As a global and comprehensive convention, which establishes new rules in several areas of anti-corruption law and helps shape domestic laws and policies around the world, this treaty calls for scholarly study.

This volume helps to fill a gap in existing academic literature by providing an invaluable reference work on the Convention. It provides systematic coverage of the treaty, with each chapter discussing the relevant travaux préparatoires, the text of the final article, comparisons with other anti-corruption treaties, and available information about domestic implementing legislation and enforcement.

Conference: The Transnationalization of Anti-Corruption Law

On December 6-7, 2018, the Anti-Corruption Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, Sciences Po Law School, and the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania will hold a conference on “The Transnationalization of Anti-Corruption Law,” in Paris. The program is here.

Smirnova: Why make political finance transparent? Explaining the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)’s success in reforming national political finance regulation

Valeria Smirnova (Univ. of Cologne - Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences) has published Why make political finance transparent? Explaining the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)’s success in reforming national political finance regulation (European Political Science Review, Vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 565-588, November 2018). Here's the abstract:

If transparency in political finance is part and parcel of democracy, why do some countries adopt internationally agreed standards to regulate political finance in a more transparent way, while others do not? This paper (a) suggests a theoretical framework to address this question, taking into account international obligations, existing party finance regulation, and demands for greater legitimacy of political institutions; (b) introduces a unique data set of 46 member-countries of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) project operated by the Council of Europe; and (c) concludes that unwillingness to pay the high domestic costs of changing national regulation is the prime impediment to compliance with transparency regulation proposed by GRECO. Right-of-centre cabinets are, on average, associated with a poorer level of compliance. Interestingly, compliance with recommendations which reduce the privileges of parliamentary parties does not deviate from the overall pattern.

Kulamadayil: When International Law Distracts: Reconsidering Anti-Corruption Law

Lys Kulamadayil (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) has posted an ESIL Reflection on When International Law Distracts: Reconsidering Anti-Corruption Law.

Call for Papers: Transnationalization of Anti-Corruption Law

The Anti-Corruption Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, Sciences Po Law School, and the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania have issued a call for papers for a conference on “Transnationalization of Anti-Corruption Law,” to take place December 6-7, 2018, in Paris. The call is here.

Conference: Combating Impunity: Targeting Kleptocrats and their Assets

On April 3, 2018, the George Washington University Law School, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, and the American Society of International Law will hold a conference on "Combating Impunity: Targeting Kleptocrats and their Assets," in Washington, DC. The program is here.

Hafner-Burton & Schneider: A Dark Side of Cooperation: When International Organizations Spread Political Corruption

Emilie Marie Hafner-Burton (Univ. of California, San Diego - School of Global Policy and Strategy) & Christina Schneider (Univ. of California, San Diego - Political Science,) have posted A Dark Side of Cooperation: When International Organizations Spread Political Corruption. Here's the abstract:

Much of the literature on international organizations (IOs) has focused on the beneficial value they provide to members. Yet depending on their membership, some of the very same mechanisms that incentivize good governance can instead incentivize political corruption. Our central argument is that state participation in corrupted international networks is likely to incentivize political corruption domestically. This process occurs for two reasons. First, groups of corrupted states are more reticent to create, monitor or enforce formal good governance standards against other IO members. Second, leaders may witness the value of political corruption to their IO peers and learn to act the same way. Using a variety of data sources and estimation strategies, we demonstrate that countries that participate in a network of member corrupted IOs are significantly more likely to experience an increase in corruption domestically than are countries that participate in a network of more honest brokers. This effect occurs even among IOs that have adopted formal anti-corruption mandates: the effectiveness of formal good governance rules crucially hinges on the characteristics of members within an international organization.

Sharman: The Despot's Guide to Wealth Management

J.C. Sharman (Univ. of Cambridge - International Relations) has published The Despot's Guide to Wealth Management: On the International Campaign against Grand Corruption (Cornell Univ. Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

An unprecedented new international moral and legal rule forbids one state from hosting money stolen by the leaders of another state. The aim is to counter grand corruption or kleptocracy ("rule by thieves"), when leaders of poorer countries—such as Marcos in the Philippines, Mobutu in the Congo, and more recently those overthrown in revolutions in the Arab world and Ukraine—loot billions of dollars at the expense of their own citizens. This money tends to end up hosted in rich countries. These host states now have a duty to block, trace, freeze, and seize these illicit funds and hand them back to the countries from which they were stolen. In The Despot's Guide to Wealth Management, J. C. Sharman asks how this anti-kleptocracy regime came about, how well it is working, and how it could work better. Although there have been some real achievements, the international campaign against grand corruption has run into major obstacles. The vested interests of banks, lawyers, and even law enforcement often favor turning a blind eye to foreign corruption proceeds. Recovering and returning looted assets is a long, complicated, and expensive process.

Sharman used a private investigator, participated in and observed anti-corruption policy, and conducted more than a hundred interviews with key players. He also draws on various journalistic exposés, whistle-blower accounts, and government investigations to inform his comparison of the anti-kleptocracy records of the United States, Britain, Switzerland, and Australia. Sharman calls for better policing, preventative measures, and use of gatekeepers like bankers, lawyers, and real estate agents. He also recommends giving nongovernmental organizations and for-profit firms more scope to independently investigate corruption and seize stolen assets.

Symposium: Global Anti-Corruption: Transparency in the Modern Age

On October 17, 2017, the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics will hold a symposium on "Global Anti-Corruption: Transparency in the Modern Age." The program is here.

Brewster & Buell: The Market for Global Anticorruption Enforcement

Rachel Brewster (Duke Univ. - Law) & Samuel W. Buell (Duke Univ. - Law) have posted The Market for Global Anticorruption Enforcement (Law and Contemporary Problems, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In just two decades, enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has evolved from a backwater of corporate and international financial crime to one of the most prominent and feared laws in those fields. What accounts for the ten-fold increase, over just 15 years, in the annual FCPA case volume produced by United States enforcers? We explain the development as arising from a confluence of independent but nonetheless symbiotic international and domestic political and economic forces. First, in the international arena, policymakers dramatically shifted their beliefs in the harms from bribery. This change and the continuous American pressure to conclude an anti-bribery treaty created a new consensus among major exporting countries to criminalize foreign bribery. This opened up new political and institutional paths to pursue the supply of foreign bribes. Second, U.S. enforcement lawyers eagerly pursued these newly available paths, propelled by political pressure and professional considerations. Third and inevitably, a large and active FCPA defense bar emerged that, perhaps ironically, helps keep primed a now steady pump of FCPA actions into the U.S. corporate enforcement system. A fourth stage has begun in which other nations, particularly in Europe, are both assisting and competing with the U.S. in the field of anti-corruption enforcement. It remains to be seen how this latest development will, over the longer haul, affect the size of the global market for anti-corruption enforcement and the U.S. share of that market.

Peters: Corruption as a Violation of International Human Rights

Anne Peters (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) has posted Corruption as a Violation of International Human Rights. Here's the abstract:

It is a fact that states with a high corruption rate (or a high corruption perception) are at the same time those with a poor human rights record. Beyond this coincidence, the paper seeks to identify a concrete legal relationship between corruption and deficient human rights protection. This is in practical terms relevant, because the extant international norms against corruption have so far yielded only modest success; their implementation could be improved with the help of human rights arguments and instruments.

This paper therefore discusses a dual question: Can corrupt behaviour be conceptualised as a human rights violation? Should it be categorised and sanctioned as a human rights violation? My answer is that such a reconceptualization is legally sound, and that its normative and practical benefits outweigh the risk of reinforcing the anti-Western skepticism towards the fight against corruption. This assessment leads to the practice recommendation of a mutual mainstreaming of the international anti-corruption and human rights procedures. I conclude that the re-framing of corruption not only as a human right issue but as a potential human rights violation can contribute to closing the implementation gap of the international anti-corruption instruments.

Rose: The Limitations of a Human Rights Approach to Corruption

Cecily Rose (Leiden Univ. - Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies) has posted The Limitations of a Human Rights Approach to Corruption (International and Comparative Law Quarterly, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International human rights law may serve as a language through which lawyers and others describe the harms resulting from corruption, but this approach has significant limitations as a legal framework. Despite a growing emphasis among scholars and practitioners on a human rights approach to the problem of corruption, this body of law does not provide a strong basis for addressing such conduct. International human rights treaties make no mention of corruption, and human rights treaty bodies have not brought conceptual clarity to the question of how corruption violates or undermines human rights. Given that human rights law binds States alone, it is also ill-suited to a phenomenon that typically occurs at the intersection of the public and private sectors. Even as a language for describing how corruption harms social and economic rights, human rights law has its limitations, some of which come into relief when compared with the field of development economics.