Law and Transnational Corruption: The Need for Lincoln’s Law Abroad?

Unless and until means can be devised to deter bribery in impecunious nations, globalization can be of scant benefit to most of the people of those nations, for they are destined to be governed weakly, if at all, and to serve as havens here or there for all sorts of gangsters and terrorists. One need not be a humanitarian to take the transnational corruption problem seriously. This essay responds to that concern. It considers some possible reforms of international law that might serve to deter the corruption of weak governments. All its suggestions entail the use of the American practice of private enforcement of public law, a system that minimizes dependence on public officials who are subject to capture by wealthy outsiders. Privatized law enforcement in the American tradition generally threatens legal consequences on harmful practices ex post rather than preventing harmful practices ex ante. It offers the advantage to Business of greater freedom in the conduct of transactions. But its many costs result in resistance by many businessmen in the United States against whom law is often privately enforced and by wise lawyers of other lands blessed with public institutions that can be and are trusted to enforce public law. The relevance of the American practice of privatized law enforcement to the corruption problem results from the historical fact that it is a product of a nineteenth-century culture sharing very limited trust in government and its officers. Its cultural situation thus bears some resemblance to the situations both in impoverished lands and in the community of nations hoping for enforcement of international law prohibiting corrupt practices. It is a system of law enforcement that reduces the law\u27s dependence on the integrity of judges, prosecutors, and other public servants. Wherever public integrity is in great doubt, the American experience may offer useful instruction

NEW PRINCIPLE OF YOUTH PATRIOTISM TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

In the article, the authors suggest steps to intensify the fight against corruption in terms of modern requirements, relying on the principles of patriotism, care, and culture among young people. One of the directions in considering ways of productive work on corruption prevention in Kazakhstan is activation of patriotism of youth. The reasons are considered in comparison with the legislation of other countries and the needs of national values in the fight against corruption are identified

Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures, Governance and Business Environment in Central Asia : A Collection of Papers from Central Asian Guest Researchers Seconded to Lund University

This research report is a compilation of essays written by guest researchers from Central Asia who spent four to twelve months at the Department of Sociology of Law, Lund University, and conducted research on various topics pertaining to legal cultures, governance and business environments in Central Asia. These guest research stays (secondments) took place in the framework of the EU-funded project “Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures and Business Environments in Central Asia” (project number 870647 H2020 MSCA-RISE 2019-2023), which runs from 01/03/2020 through 28/02/2024. The project is coordinated by Lund University and the project consortium includes European universities (University of Zurich, Charles University Prague, Riga Graduate School of Law, Marmara University, University of Latvia) as well as Central Asian partner institutions (L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Khujand Polytechnic Institute of the Tajik Technical University, SIAR Research and Consulting, Tebigy Kuwwat Public Association, Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan, Westminster International University in Tashkent). This research report consists of introduction and five papers that explore contemporary issues and challenges in Central Asia, such as the problems accompanying the internationalization of higher education and research, anti-corruption legal frameworks and the business climate, cultural branding, legal culture education, and the digital economy. The main idea behind publishing this preliminary research report is to provide a platform for Central Asian guest researchers to present the research projects they developed during their research stay in Lund and share their initial research findings with the Central Asian Law project team and the wider academic and policy audiences. Another equally important aim was to empower our guest researchers, given the fact that many Central Asia-based researchers find it difficult to publish their academic work in Western academic venues due to different academic, economic, and ideological factors.Peer reviewe

The Fit Between Changes to the Global Corruption Regime and Indigenous Perceptions of Corruption in Kazakhstan

The study of corruption by both scholars and policymakers has undergone a startling transformation in the last decade. What once underwent almost no scholarly examination now inspires dozens of articles and books.\u27 What once was not even mentioned in international financial institutions is now a centerpiece of reform efforts.2 What once played virtually no role in legal theory now represents-in the form of an overwhelming international consensus that transnational bribery should be criminalized and that other legal reforms should be undertaken-a dramatic change in the international legal regime. The focussing of theoretical attention on corruption and the change in international policymakers\u27 attitudes have not been accompanied by a similar surge in the empirical study of corruption. 4 The lack of empirical research, particularly into attitudes and perceptions toward corruption, is unfortunate for at least three reasons. First, legal scholars and policymakers must have an empirical understanding in order to effectuate the changes to law and policy demanded by the change in the international regime.5 Second, as a theoretical matter-particularly with respect to theoretical explanations of international regime changes-an understanding of other attitudes and perceptions is necessary to deal with issues of imperialism, economic efficiency and allocation, and institutional choice.6 Third, and most interesting, the anecdotal but very persistent notion that corruption is embraced and accepted by some cultures -that it is a normal way of doing business in some places -cries out for empirical testing. This Article reports on and analyzes the results of a survey conducted in the Republic of Kazakhstan, a former republic of the Soviet Union located in Central Asia. Much of the survey asked questions regarding attitudes towards and perceptions of corruption. For those who are interested in non-Western attitudes toward corruption, Kazakhstan represents an excellent source of information. Kazakhstan is culturally distinct from the West and from Asia, a distinction amplified by Central Asia\u27s physical isolation. Kazakhstani ideas of government and other institutions differ markedly from those in the West. Central Asia as a whole has been physically and politically isolated from the West for several generations. Rather than simply asking Kazakhstani respondents whether they embrace corruption or whether corruption is part of the inherent Kazakhstani culture,8 the questions in this survey can be analyzed in four different ways: absolute evaluations of the amount of corruption, relative evaluations of changes in the amounts of corruption, the public salience or importance of corruption, and support for anticorruption regimes.9 These four means of analyzing the responses indicate that corruption is overwheliningly condemned in Kazakhstan and that the vast majority of Kazakhstani support anticorruption reforms. These findings are particularly robust because they cut across ethnic, gender, income, education, and settlement lines; even when respondents are sorted according to these characteristics the rejection of corruption is still overwhelming. These findings have obvious importance to those engaged in the study or implementation of the new global anticorruption regime. The findings lend little support to theories that explain regime change in terms of dictates by hegemons. The findings indicate broad support for anticorruption measures in Kazakhstan and even indicate specific measures that might be undertaken. Before discussing the specific findings, however, it is necessary first to discuss the general nature of corruption

Comparing and Inter-Relating the European Union and the Russian Federation : Viewpoints from an international and interdisciplinary students' project

Over the years Russia has become one of the most important partners of the European Union. Due to this fact a more democratic and modern Russia would have great benefits for the EU and might contribute to the stabilization of the European continent. But existing problems like terrorism, organized crime and environmental pollution are central challenges for the relationship and their solution demands for intensive cross-border cooperation. Therefore a clear strategy is needed in order to establish a successful cooperation. What strategy have the European politicians pursued and which influence have their plans exerted on the actual policy of the European Union? The European Union clearly accentuated the meaning of common values for the relationship towards the Russian Federation in the early and fundamental documents. However, it becomes more and more evident that in day-to-day policy there is a tendency to tolerate even substantial violations of the norms which originate from the concept of common values. One of the main causes for this behaviour is the strong economic interest of the EU towards Russia. For example, the Russian Federation supplies the EU with most of its energy resources, such as gas and oil. On the other hand the EU is the major trading partner of the Russian Federation. The notion of the common shared values is based – as stated in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and in the subsequent documents – on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris. Because such principles are easily stated in a document their impact on the real policy has to be called into question and must be examined further in this essay. --