The United Nations Convention against Corruption. A Primer for Development Practitioners
Schultz, Jessica (U4 Brief 2007:3)

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), adopted in Merida, Mexico in 2003, represents a remarkable achievement for international anti-corruption efforts. With endorsements from more than 140 state signatories representing every region of the world, the UNCAC offers a comprehensive, global framework for combating corruption.

Unpacking the concept of political will to confront corruption
Brinkerhoff, Derick W. (U4 Brief 2010:1)

Quite often, "lack of political will" is identified as the culprit for poorly performing anti-corruption programmes. Yet despite the frequency with which it is used to explain unsatisfactory reform outcomes, political will remains under-defined and poorly understood. Further, assessments are often conducted retrospectively, looking back at failed programmes. By applying a model of political will that specifies a set of action-based components that are observable and measurable, and amenable to external reinforcement and support, more clarity regarding the degree of political will can be achieved.

Institutional arrangements for corruption prevention: Considerations for the implementation of the United Nations convention against corruption article 6
Hussmann, Karen, Hannes Hechler, Miguel Peñailillo (U4 Issue 2009:4)

What kind of institutions does a state need to have in place to effectively prevent corruption? What does it mean, when article 6 of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) requires states to ensure the existence of a body or bodies to prevent corruption? It has been argued that this calls for specialised preventive anti‑corruption agencies, preferably one. While this might be one of several options, this U4 Issue Paper argues differently. As the UNCAC requires such bodies to be in place not only for coordinating and supervising preventive anti‑corruption policies, but also for their implementation, it is unavoidable that this implies the involvement of a variety of institutions. By unravelling the functions prescribed in article 6 from a public policy perspective, this paper also sets into perspective what is meant by granting the body or bodies the "necessary independence" to enable them to carry out its or their functions effectively and without undue influence. Obviously, this "necessary independence" will look differently depending on whether one has to coordinate, supervise, or implement an anti‑corruption policy, not to mention increasing and disseminating knowledge on corruption prevention, as also stipulated in article 6.

Maximising the potential of UNCAC implementation: Making use of the self-assessment checklist
Repucci, Sarah (U4 Issue 2009:13)

The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) offers States Parties a unique framework to strengthen their ability to prevent and combat corruption. The self‑assessment checklist, which was developed as part of the review mechanism for the Convention, is one of the few available methods for assessment for which the state provides its own information, maximising its ownership of the process. Moreover, the self‑assessment checklist can have follow‑on effects, bringing several potential positive outcomes as part of the corruption and broader governance assessment processes. However, success with the checklist should not be taken for granted. The valuable information gathered by the checklist process needs to be utilised for reform processes in the country by the country. Achieving its full potential requires a concrete long‑term commitment from the state at the highest levels, and the coordinated support of donors. This U4 Issue outlines the potential benefits as well as the challenges the checklist poses, and makes recommendations for States Parties, donors, and UNODC to ensure that the benefits are realised.

The UNCAC and judicial corruption: Requirements and avenues for reform
Schultz, Jessica (U4 Brief 2009:18)

An independent and impartial justice system underpins the effective implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Where it does not exist, pliant prosecutors, judges, and court staff may ignore criminal acts of corruption or have them improperly dismissed. Biased appointments, promotions, and disciplinary processes mean that justice sector staff may be ill-equipped to handle complex cases, including those involving corruption. The UNCAC’s unique provisions for international cooperation on a wide range of law enforcement matters especially rely on clean, effective judiciaries in the respective states.

Given the centrality of the judiciary for a range of anti-corruption measures required by the UNCAC, ensuring that the judiciary is up to the task should be a primary concern of State Parties to the Convention – as well as their donor partners. The UNCAC itself, in Article 11, includes the requirement to ‘take measures to strengthen integrity and prevent corruption in the judiciary’. This Brief outlines the key requirements of, and considerations for, implementing Article 11.

Monitoring judicial integrity: Lessons for implementation of UNCAC Article 11
Armytage, Livingston (U4 Issue 2009:12)

This U4 Issue Paper translates lessons related to monitoring judicial reform to the specific requirements of UNCAC Article 11. Taking the Paris Declaration’s requirement to monitor for development results as a starting point, it asks what this might mean with respect to measures aimed at increasing integrity and reducing corruption. The need to clarify what to monitor, who to monitor, at what cost, and for what purpose, is elaborated. The paper also highlights the links between effective monitoring and an appropriate selection of indicators, capacity for data collection and analysis, and a feedback mechanism to support ongoing evaluation and fine‑tuning of the reform process.

Exploring the links between UNCAC and the Paris Declaration
Hechler, Hannes (U4 Brief 2009:25)

It is acknowledged by donors that the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) should play a central role in country-level dialogue, implementation, and monitoring of anti-corruption work. At the same time, when supporting UNCAC implementation, the principles of the Paris Declaration should be applied. This U4 Brief explores what this can mean in practice.

How prepared are we to assess real implementation of anti corruption conventions? Lessons from the Americas
Peñailillo, Miguel (U4 Issue 2009:3)

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is the latest achievement in a series of international anti corruption treaties. All of them share a common challenge – how to meaningfully assess their implementation. In fact, for UNCAC a mechanism to review implementation has yet to be agreed upon. This U4 Issue Paper explores lessons learned from the anti corruption convention that has been in existence longest – the Inter American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) – which gives useful insights into the requirements for an effective review process. In the Americas, as elsewhere, there is often a gap between formal (legal) aspects of reform and the reality of implementation. This paper analyses the IACAC review mechanism and identifies strengths and weaknesses in generating legal and performance related information about the implementation of the convention. Special emphasis is given to the development of an indicator map to assess some key areas of IACAC implementation in Guatemala. The paper argues that strengthening national information systems and information management capacities can generate more objective knowledge about the progress of anti corruption reforms. Performance indicators, in particular, are necessary for meaningful assessments of, and debates about, the status of a convention’s implementation within a particular country.

It is the purpose of this Issue Paper to make these lessons learned available to the States Parties to UNCAC in their current discussions on a possible review mechanism for UNCAC. However, this experience can also be useful to the different national actors in each country, as well as to donors in guiding their commitment to provide technical assistance for the implementation and follow up of the UNCAC.

Income and assets declarations: Issues to consider in developing a disclosure regime
Messick, Richard (U4 Issue 2009:6)

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) requires state parties to consider establishing policies requiring officials to reveal “to appropriate authorities … their outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits” (Article 8, UNCAC). The World Bank has advised a number of countries on whether an income and asset disclosure programme is an appropriate response to the corruption issues they face, and if so, what type of programme they should establish. Assistance has ranged from advice on drafting legislation to furnishing model disclosure forms to providing financial and technical support to an agency created to administer the programme. Drawing on this experience and studies underway by several Bank units, this U4 Issue paper describes the issues policymakers should weigh in deciding whether to adopt a financial disclosure law, and if so, what provisions it should contain.

Anti-corruption Policy Making in Practice: Implications for Implementing UNCAC
Hussmann, Karen, Hannes Hechler (U4 Brief 2008:1)

Broad national anti-corruption strategies have so far been a popular response by governments to wide-spread corruption in many countries. The results have, however, been mixed. This U4 Brief argues that States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) should have a strategic vision when they "develop and implement or maintain effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies" as Article 5 stipulates. The authors also argue that anti-corruption policies may be conducted in many different ways, and they are not limited to anti-corruption strategies alone.

Anti-corruption policy making in practice: What can be learned for implementing Article 5 of UNCAC?
Hussmann, Karen H(ed) (U4 Report 2007:1)

Fighting corruption is a challenge in any context, because corruption has many faces and can occur in different forms across all sectors and institutions of a country. The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) recognises this and calls, among others, for "effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies" (Article 5) to address the problem strategically. This report explores what form such an approach could take, and examines in depth how national anti-corruption policies or strategies have come into being in six countries: Georgia, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Tanzania and Zambia. From a public policy perspective the authors look specifically at the catalysts and driving forces, how reforms were selected, prioritised and implemented, and finally, what role development partners played in the overall process. 

The country studies show that the political response to perceived widespread corruption in those countries often consisted in the development of a broad national anti-corruption policy or strategy. Nevertheless, this approach has not been overly successful for a variety of reasons, ranging from unrealistic planning and the lack of prioritising reforms, to serious shortcomings in the implementation arrangements, and the absence of vital political agreements for effective reforms.

The report argues that explicit anti-corruption policies and strategies are not necessarily the most suitable and certainly not the only way to implement Article 5 of UNCAC, and goes on to discuss other options for coordinated anti-corruption policies. The report also points to the need of pursuing anti-corruption work with effective and modest targets instead of ambitious but unfeasible promises.

How can Technical Assistance support the Implementation of UNCAC? U4 Background Paper for the International Cooperation Workshop on Technical Assistance for the Implementation of UNCAC, Montevideo, May 2007
Hussmann, Karen and Miguel Peñailillo (U4 Background paper 2007:1)

At the first Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), held in Jordan in December 2006, participants agreed to establish a working group to promote the coordination of cooperation and technical assistance for UNCAC implementation. To facilitate the task of this group, it was also decided to organise a workshop with development and law enforcement experts to discuss good practices and potential avenues of coordination.[1] The main purpose of this paper is to provide inputs for discussion at this workshop to be held in Montevideo, Uruguay, at the end of May 2007. This paper highlights the perspective of development practitioners and is intended to complement the paper submitted by Finland to jointly contribute to well-informed workshop debates.

[1] See Resolution 1/6, report of Conference of State Parties to UNCAC, CAC/COSP/2006/12.

Anti-corruption policy making in practice: What can be learned for implementing Article 5 of UNCAC? Synthesis report of six country case studies: Georgia, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Zambia
Hussmann, Karen (U4 Report 2007:2)

Fighting corruption is a challenge in any context, because corruption has many faces and can occur in different forms across all sectors and institutions of a country. The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) recognises this and calls, among others, for “effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies” (Article 5) to address the problem strategically. This report explores what form such an approach could take, and examines in depth how national anti-corruption policies or strategies have come into being in six countries: Georgia, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Tanzania and Zambia. From a public policy perspective the authors look specifically at the catalysts and driving forces, how reforms were selected, prioritised and implemented, and finally, what role development partners played in the overall process.

The country studies show that the political response to perceived widespread corruption in those countries often consisted in the development of a broad national anti-corruption policy or strategy. Nevertheless, this approach has not been overly successful for a variety of reasons, ranging from unrealistic planning and the lack of prioritising reforms, to serious shortcomings in the implementation arrangements, and the absence of vital political agreements for effective reforms.

The report argues that explicit anti-corruption policies and strategies are not necessarily the most suitable and certainly not the only way to implement Article 5 of UNCAC, and goes on to discuss other options for coordinated anti-corruption policies. The report also points to the need of pursuing anti-corruption work with effective and modest targets instead of ambitious but unfeasible promises.

The Recovery of Stolen Assets: A Fundamental Principle of the UN Convention against Corruption
Smith, Jack, Mark Pieth, Guillermo Jorge (U4 Brief 2007:2)

Despite hundreds of billions of dollars in aid, the United Nations determined in 2004 that 54 countries had actually become poorer than they were 15 years previously. Most analysts now agree with findings of the World Bank that it is corruption that has been "the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development."To confront this problem, 80 countries have ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), a document of unprecedented scope and application. The Convention has 71 articles addressing numerous tools to combat corruption such as codes of conduct, increased bank scrutiny of "politically exposed persons" and anti-money laundering measures. However, it is the "return of assets" that has been singled out as "a fundamental principle of this Convention". This Brief examines why the return of assets is so critical, the obstacles standing in the way of recovering stolen monies, and what donors can do to make the situation better.