(March 14, 2007) U.K. legal expert Anita Esslinger compares British anti-corruption laws to pornography in terms of clarity. Drawing on a quote by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who once famously said that although he might not be able to define pornography, “I know it when I see it.” The same might be said for the definition of “corruption” under laws applicable in the United Kingdom, writes Esslinger.
Developing countries are amateurs in the corruption game
(March 13, 2007) Exporting countries are only paying lip service to the enforcement of anti-corruption laws, according to the results of a new Transparency International survey that rates the tendency of companies in the top 30 exporting countries to pay bribes abroad.
Iraqi anti-corruption head says graft worse than in Saddam’s time
(March 8, 2007) Corruption in Iraq is now worse than it was during Saddam Hussein’s regime, the Chairman of Iraq’s Commission on Public Integrity (CPI), Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, said in an interview published by the Arabic-language Asharq Alawsat newspaper. "There are eight ministers and 40 general directors against whom corruption charges have been brought and they [have] all fled abroad," he said.
Steering clear of Chavez
(March 8, 2007) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is behind a growing Latin American economic challenge to the United States, foreign investors and multinational companies, claims a recent analysis of the president’s influence in the region.
Amnesty needed for U.K. firms caught in corruption crackdown
(March 26, 2007) British businesses caught by the current round of anti-corruption investigations in the U.K. are in need of an amnesty arrangement, says global construction trade magazine, International Construction Review.
Lugar supports EBRD decision
(March 2, 2007) The decision marks the first time any development bank has debarred a company for fraud or corruption committed in a project financed by another MDB.
Zambia: Let the looters pay the vultures
(February 28, 2007) A recent British high court ruling that permits a so-called "vulture fund" to pursue an enormous profit on its purchase of Third World debt from Zambia has provoked a backlash from global debt campaigners. However, U.S. law professor Larry Cata Backer argues that, within an odious debts context, the fund ought to be able to seek repayment but not from the people of Zambia.
Wolfowitz takes actions to gear up World Bank for Iraq
(February 16, 2007) The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has learned from inside sources that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is currently negotiating a contract with a new resident Iraq Country Director. This step strongly suggests that Wolfowitz intends to expand Bank-funded projects there dramatically in the near future, despite the deteriorating security situation and recent disclosures of massive corruption in "reconstruction" efforts.
Keep off the graft
(February 12, 2007) British Prime Minister Tony Blair released a much anticipated Commission for Africa report which called on the developed world to help Africa curb corruption by cleaning up its own act (The Guardian). The report signalled a new and hopeful direction for the Blair administration’s advance on the scourge of global graft. Blair talked about changing U.K. banking laws to speed up the return of public funds pocketed by corrupt African leaders. His government also issued new anti-corruption rules aimed at cracking down on kickbacks paid by U.K. exporters to win contracts overseas; href=”http://www.ft.com”Financial Times”
Rich nations prodded on ‘illegitimate’ lending
(February 12, 2007) Industrialised countries that knowingly lent billions of dollars in "irresponsible" debts to corrupt and dictatorial regimes in poor nations should cancel the debts and reconsider their harmful policies, a new study says.
Hiding Africa’s Looted Funds: Silence of Western Media
(February 9, 2007) Quite often when you read newspapers, listen to radio and watch television in the West you learn how poor Africans are and how corrupt African leaders are. But you will never watch, read or hear anything in these media outlets about the role being played by Western banking institutions; property development and estate companies; the big corporations; and the western political and business elite in promoting corruption in Africa.
Report: Skeletons in the Cupboard: Illegitimate Debt Claims of the G7
(February 9, 2007) If the Group of Seven (G7) nations are serious about cleaning up corruption and promoting good governance and transparency, they should look to the past. A damning new NGO report presenting case studies of past loans made by the Group of Seven nations (Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S.), reveals that some loans are not legitimate and that the lenders are at fault.
A Law-and-Economics Analysis of Odious Debts
(February 7, 2007) Much of the debate surrounding odious debts begs the question of whether the ‘odiousness’ of a debt can serve as a qualification for the rule of state succession. The legal and economics rationales of the rule date back to the classical writings on the subject and can be derived from state practice.
A Law-and-Economics Analysis of Odious Debts
(February 7, 2007) Much of the debate surrounding odious debts begs the question of whether the ‘odiousness’ of a debt can serve as a qualification for the rule of state succession. The legal and economics rationales of the rule date back to the classical writings on the subject and can be derived from state practice.
Legal scholars to hold another public debate on odious debt
(February 7, 2007) In an unprecedented run of public debate on the issue of odious debts, North Carolina will again serve as the setting for a second conference on odious debt.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 