At the just concluded tenth Conference of States Parties (CoSP10) to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in Atlanta, U.S.A, HEDA Resource Centre and Club de Madrid orchestrated a collaborative effort to address the intricate challenges posed by global grand corruption. Focused on exploring mechanisms to combat impunity for corruption crimes, the event provided a comprehensive overview of potential solutions in the UNCAC framework.
The UNCAC, binding 189 parties, mandates the criminalization of bribery, embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, money laundering, and obstruction of justice related to these offenses. Despite these mandates, the prevailing issue remains the inadequate enforcement of these laws across jurisdictions.
The special event tagged “Addressing the Enforcement Gap” delved into diverse potential solutions, encompassing specialized national anti-corruption agencies and courts, hybrid institutions like the former International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), regional anti-corruption instruments such as the African Union Malabo Protocol, and the proposed International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) alongside incremental steps toward its establishment.
Highlighted during the event was the proliferation of specialized national anti-corruption courts, particularly in regions where judicial corruption impedes effective enforcement. Success stories were shared, notably by hybrid institutions like CICIG, which extends international support to domestic anti-corruption entities, yielding positive outcomes in select states.
Further discussions covered the proposal for regional anti-corruption courts, exemplified by CAPPA, and the escalating advocacy for the creation of an IACC as a complementary court of last resort. The expert panel explored the potential and shortcomings of each mechanism.
The distinguished panel of speakers featured Dr. Kole Shettima, Director, MacArthur Foundation, Africa; Justin Snyder, Chief of Party, USAID Integritas for Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia (KEMITRAAN); Hon. Mark Wolf, Senior U.S. District Court Judge and Chair of Integrity Initiatives International; Simon Taylor, Co-Founder, Global Witness; and Olanrewaju Suraju, Chair, HEDA Resource Centre.
Key focus areas included exploring success factors for national anti-corruption institutions, analyzing the contribution of hybrid institutions like CICIG to the enforcement of anti-corruption laws, examining the potential of an IACC in addressing the global enforcement gap, discussing strategies to mobilize civil society for building coalitions in support of accountability mechanisms, exploring avenues to build international political will for the creation of regional and international courts to combat corruption, and collaborative efforts in the fight against corruption.
The event concluded with a resonating call for united international efforts and the adoption of effective mechanisms to combat corruption on a global scale.