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312. Making Anti-Corruption Regulation Effective for the Private Sector
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Transparency International
- Abstract:
- A comprehensive regulatory framework for the private sector is a prerequisite for a transparent, honest and just society: where regulation is weak, corruption risks grow strong. As the primary rule makers and enforcers, governments have a responsibility to ensure the effective regulation of markets, protection of citizens and enforcement of laws. Ultimately, an inadequate or unstable regulatory framework for the private sector — without the will, power or resources to enforce legislation — facilitates the marginalisation of stakeholder rights, distortion of markets and negligent or corrupt practices.
- Topic:
- Security, Corruption, Genocide, Markets, and Law
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United Kingdom, and Brazil
313. Countering Cartels to End Corruption and Protect the Consumer
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Transparency International
- Abstract:
- Cartels are illegal and costly. They inflate prices for consumers, exact an economic toll on countries and undermine the integrity of companies. Cartels can form in any sector, ranging from health care and transport, to construction and telecommunications. They leave no industry untouched or consumer unburdened. When companies engage in collusion by conspiring to fix prices, markets become inefficient and consumers bear unjustified price hikes that can reach up to 100 per cent.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Law
314. Baseless Prosecutions of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia: In the Dock and Under the Gun
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights First
- Abstract:
- IN A CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM plagued by impunity, the tenacity with which Colombian prosecutors pursue human rights defenders for supposed crimes is striking. While corruption and arbitrary actions are a systemic problem throughout the judicial system, those who peacefully promote human rights are singled out for particular intimidation through baseless investigations and prosecutions. Unfounded charges are often widely publicized, undermining the credibility of defenders and marking them as targets for physical attack, often by paramilitary groups.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Law
- Political Geography:
- Colombia and Latin America
315. In Pursuit of Justice: Prosecuting Terrorism Cases in the Federal Courts — 2009 Update and Recent Developments
- Author:
- Richard B. Zabel and James J. Benjamin
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights First
- Abstract:
- In May 2008, Human Rights First released In Pursuit of Justice: Prosecuting Terrorism Cases in the Federal Courts.1 Based on a comprehensive review of more than 120 actual prosecutions dating back to the 1980s, In Pursuit of Justice concluded that the criminal justice system is well-equipped to handle a broad variety of criminal cases arising from terrorism that is associated—organizationally, financially, or ideologically—with selfdescribed “jihadist” or Islamist extremist groups like al Qaeda. The roster of cases chronicled in In Pursuit of Justice ranges from blockbuster trials against hardened terrorists who planned or committed grievous acts around the world to complex terrorism-financing prosecutions and “alternative” prosecutions based on nonterrorism charges such as immigration fraud, financial fraud, and false statements. Many of these cases have been preemptive prosecutions focused on preventing and disrupting terrorist activities. In Pursuit of Justice acknowledged that terrorism prosecutions can present difficult challenges, and that the criminal justice system, by itself, is not “the answer” to the problem of international terrorism, but it found that the federal courts have demonstrated their ability, over and over again, to effectively and fairly convict and incapacitate terrorists in a broad variety of terrorism cases.
- Topic:
- Islam, Terrorism, War, and Law
- Political Geography:
- United States
316. Justice in Times of Transition: Lessons from the Iberian Experience
- Author:
- Omar G. Encarnación
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- A key contention of the transitional justice movement is that the more comprehensive and vigorous the effort to bring justice to a departed authoritarian regime the better the democratizing outcome will be. This essay challenges this view with empirical evidence from the Iberian Peninsula. In Portugal, a sweeping policy of purges intended to cleanse the state and society of the authoritarian past nearly derailed the transition to democracy by descending into a veritable witch-hunt. In Spain, by contrast, letting bygones be bygones, became a foundation for democratic consolidation. These counter-intuitive examples suggest that there is no pre-ordained outcome to transitional justice, and that confronting an evil past is neither a requirement nor a pre-condition for democratization. This is primarily because the principal factors driving the impulse toward justice against the old regime are political rather than ethical or moral. In Portugal, the rise of transitional justice mirrored the anarchic politics of the revolution that lunched the transition to democracy. In Spain, the absence of transitional justice reflected the pragmatism of a democratic transition anchored on compromise and consensus.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Politics, International Affairs, and Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Spain, Portugal, and Iberia Peninsula
317. Global Corruption Barometer 2009
- Author:
- Juanita Riaño
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Transparency International
- Abstract:
- Transparency International's (TI) 2009 Global Corruption Barometer (the Barometer) presents the main findings of a public opinion survey that explores the general public's views of corruption, as well as experiences of bribery around the world. It assesses the extent to which key institutions and public services are perceived to be corrupt, measures citizens' views on government efforts to fight corruption, and this year, for the first time, includes questions about the level of state capture and people's willingness to pay a premium for clean corporate behaviour.
- Topic:
- Corruption, International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, Governance, and Law
318. Hunt, Board and Pay: The future of the Marine War Risk Policy to cover the acts of piracy
- Author:
- Capt. Rakish Suppiah
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Maritime Institute of Malaysia
- Abstract:
- A contract of insurance must impose an obligation upon the insurer to indemnify the assured in the event of a loss from an insured risk provided that other contractual provisions have been fulfilled. In other words, there must be a legally enforceable agreement in order to properly refer to it as a 'contract'. Accepting that the contract between a member and his club is a contract of insurance, a further issue to consider is whether the contract of insurance amounts to a contract of marine insurance.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, War, Maritime Commerce, and Law
- Political Geography:
- Southeast Asia
319. The Asymmetry of European Integration or why the EU cannot be a "Social Market Economy"
- Author:
- Fritz W. Scharpf
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
- Abstract:
- Judge-made law has played a crucial role in the process of European integration. In the vertical dimension, it has greatly reduced the range of autonomous policy choices in the member states, and it has helped to expand the reach of European competences. At the same time, however, “Integration through Law” does have a liberalizing and deregulatory impact on the socio-economic regimes of EU member states. This effect is generally compatible with the status quo in “Liberal Market Economies”, but it tends to undermine the institutions and policy legacies of Continental and Scandinavian “Social Market Economies”. Given the high consensus requirements of European legislation, this structural asymmetry cannot be corrected through political action at the European level.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, and Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe
320. Neighbourhood Europeanization through ENP: The Case of Ukraine
- Author:
- Andrea Gawrich, Inna Melnykovska, and Rainer Schweickert
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
- Abstract:
- We contribute to the literature of European Studies by introducing the approach of Neighbourhood Europeanization. Based on insights from Membership and Enlargement Europeanization, we reveal important inconsistencies of Neighbourhood Europeanization through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) as well as a lack of robust empirical support for its effectiveness. We also define core dimensions and determinants of Neighbourhood Europeanization and implement this analytical framework for the case of Ukraine. Our analysis clearly demonstrates substantial asymmetries in the ENP for Ukraine across three dimensions we chose – democracy promotion, economic cooperation, and Justice and Home Affairs, which clearly reflect the inconsistency of the ENP concept, that is top-down formulation of EU interests combined with weak conditionality. However, our analysis shows that despite Ukraine's growing frustration because of the lack of a membership perspective, there is a lot of room for keeping up Ukraine's motivation for Europeanization reforms. Especially, widening and strengthening the linkage-mechanisms would allow to overcome ENP inconsistency and to improve the effectiveness of Neighborhood Europeanization.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, Regional Cooperation, and Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Ukraine