United Nations Convention against Corruption

To help fight corruption and reduce its corrosive impact in a sustainable way, the first ever legally binding global instrument, the United Nations Convention against Corruption, has entered into force. The Convention, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on October 2003 has been signed by 140 countries and entered into force after 38 ratifications on December 14, 2005. India signed the convention on December 9 in New York The Convention contains a wide range of provisions that will strengthen efforts internationally to fight corruption. The convention rests on four basic pillars: Prevention of corruption, law enforcement, international cooperation and asset-recovery. The tough new provisions on asset recovery come as a major breakthrough and will be of major assistance in preventing corruption.

Highlights of the Convention:

• Preventive measures: It requires governments to adopt measures to prevent corruption both at the public as well as private sectors.  These include preventive policies and practices to combat corruption, such as the establishment of anti-corruption bodies, and enhanced transparency in the financing of election campaigns and political parties. The Convention says that each state party must endeavour to ensure that their public services adopt, maintain and strengthen systems that promote efficiency, transparency, and recruitment based on merit, equity and aptitude. Once recruited, the state parties should promote honesty, integrity and responsibility among the public officials and that they be subjected to codes of conduct, requirements for financial and other disclosures and appropriate disciplinary measures. Further in matters of public finance, transparency and accountability must be promoted in the adoption of the national budget and in reporting on revenue and expenditure. Necessary measures to be adopted in the critical areas of the public sector, such as the judiciary and public procurement to prevent corruption. Preventing public corruption also requires active participation of the individuals and groups from the society at large. Hence the Convention requires countries to promote actively the involvement of non-governmental and community-based organisations.