in-brief-human-rights-at-the-united-nations-no59-crime-prevention-and-criminal-justice-oct-1994-4-pp

The draft Anticorruption Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (APUNCAC) seeks to implement aggressive measures to fight corruption and impunity, including United Nations inspectors who would conduct independent investigations into allegations of corruption and hand cases to dedicated domestic anticorruption courts. APUNCAC is designed to be a free-standing proposal. However, it could be combined with Judge Mark Wolf’s proposal for an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC). An advantage of combining IACC + APUNCAC is that the combination defuses the key arguments against the IACC. This article reviews evidence suggesting that leaders of nations that currently experience endemic corruption might find it politically expedient to adopt the proposed reforms. The article discusses the advantages of combining IACC + APUNCAC. The combination would establish an independent corps of elite investigators, endow them with strong powers to conduct independent investigations, and enable them to refer cases to dedicated anticorruption courts staffed by judges vetted by the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. APUNCAC establishes mechanisms to ensure accountability of judges serving dedicated anticorruption courts. By addressing the key arguments against the IACC, the proposal to combine IACC + APUNCAC may enable broad public support in nations that would require public support in order to secure ratification.

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Compendium of United Nations Norms in Criminal Justice

International Journal of Legal Information ◽

10.1017/s0731126500006740 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 221-223

Author(s):

Robert W. Schaaf

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Criminal Justice ◽

United Nations ◽

Crime Prevention ◽

Political Rights ◽

Cultural Rights ◽

Rights Of The Child ◽

Convention Against Torture ◽

Civil And Political Rights ◽

Prevention Of Crime

Included among the documentation prepared for the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana August 27-September 7, 1990, is an item that should be of interest to readers of this journal. This is a Compendium of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Issued with the date May 11, 1990, the document carries the symbol A/CONF.144/INF.2 and covers 140 pages. Part I on “Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice” includes the text of 22 norms and standards and runs to 80 pages. Part II, entitled “Human Rights,” is not detailed here, but includes the texts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two International Covenants—on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights (instruments collectively known as the International Bill of Human Rights). Also included in Part II are the two optional protocols to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, the recently adopted Convention on the Rights of the Child (see below) and two other norms concerning the rights of prisoners.

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