PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR LEGAL AFFAIRS

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR LEGAL AFFAIRS

Corruption is a major obstacle for development efforts, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Hans Corell, told correspondents this morning at an advance briefing for next week’s conference for the signing of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in Merida, Mexico.  The Convention is the first binding legal agreement to tackle corruption on a global scale.

The high-level political conference to be held from 9 to 11 December follows the General Assembly’s adoption of the Convention against Corruption on 31 October, which came on the heels of the entry into force of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime on 29 September.

Those two treaties were major achievements in the global fight against corruption, which had gathered substantial momentum in recent years, said Mr. Corell.

“Corruption is a poison that permeates any society where it’s present”, he said.  “It destroys all efforts to establish a society under the rule of law.  It destroys efforts to attract investments and efforts to lift living standards of the poor.”

He noted that the Convention focused on prevention measures to enhance the fight against corruption.  Education was a key tool, he said, in promoting the values of integrity and self-respect, which were critical aspects of preventing corruption.  Prevention also necessitated national monitoring systems for keeping track of money flows and unusual payments, he added.

The Convention also sought to address the need for a common criminal justice framework across borders, so that a criminal act would be recognized as a crime on both sides of a border.  That would allow for greater cooperation among States to better enable police and prosecutors to bring cases before the courts.

There was no definition of the crime of corruption, he said, but the Convention contained provisions explaining what corruption was.

“When you see certain behaviours, it’s rather simple to see whether they should fall within the frame of a criminal provision or not”, he said. 

“Many of these acts are already criminalized at the national level but the Convention brings all this into a common framework so that States will find it easier to cooperate.”  Furthermore, the Convention seeks to address the problem faced by States in recovering assets across borders, said Mr. Corell.

He explained that following the signing of the Convention in Merida, the Convention would need 30 ratifications in order to enter into force.  States parties would then monitor and follow-up the implementation of the Convention.

Responding to a question about government representatives expected at the conference, he said heads of State, heads of governments and ministers were expected to attend.

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