Tag Archives | impunity

When transparency rules

What is the real power of “access to information”? Recently in El Salvador the authorities confirmed that citizens have the right to ask for information on the assets of public officials. What happened next is a powerful contribution to the debate around the effectiveness of transparency tools for accountability and citizen mobilisation. Since the ruling […]

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Judiciary the weakest link in Cambodia’s Integrity System

An independent judiciary that is free of corruption and external influence is a vital component of a healthy democracy. Yet Transparency International Cambodia’s first National Integrity System assessment (NIS), shows that although it has made huge progress since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodia’s judiciary still has quite a long way to go. […]

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Messi and the International Impunity System

The ongoing prosecution of football super star Lionel Messi for alleged tax evasion made global headlines last week. Messi and his father Jorge are accused of evading 4.2 million euros (US$5.6m) in tax on sponsorship earnings in court documents submitted by the prosecutor. The alleged tax evasion scheme was based on using a web of […]

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Italy: Putting the brakes on Berlusconi’s impunity

As victories in the fight against corruption go, the confirmation yesterday that former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi did commit tax fraud is a major battle won in a war that is still going on. Berlusconi was sentenced for a 2012 conviction that initially gave him up to four years’ jail with a five-year ban […]

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UNCAC Coalition asks UN meeting to take action for transparency and accountability

Originally published 21 May 2013 on UNCAC coalition On Thursday 30 May 2013, UNCAC Coalition civil society representatives will gather in Vienna at the United Nations to call for more government transparency and accountability and an end to impunity for corruption crimes. During the whole week of 27 May, the UN is holding a “governments […]

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BAE still needs to come out clean about its past

Magdalena Reinberg works with Transparency Austria in Vienna, Tiffany Clarke with Transparency’s International Defence & Security Programme in London and Christian Humborg with Transparency Germany in Berlin. They write about recent corruption allegations against British weapons manufacturer BAE Systems. As mentioned in TI-UK’s blog from 5 February 2013, the revelations in the Sunday Times show that it […]

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The legalisation debate: why allowing bribery won’t work

Imagine having to pay a bribe in order to register your marriage, get a passport, report a crime or even to claim on your medical insurance.  These are just a few examples taken from over 20,000 stories shared online on the Indian website, ipaidabribe.com.  Similar stories of petty bribery can be heard in Greece, Zimbabwe […]

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Will Berlusconi sentence stick?

Exceptionally high numbers of cases are being dismissed in Italy: from 2005-2009, 10 to 13 per cent of all criminal court proceedings have been closed because they ran out of time, meaning that one in 10 trials ended with impunity for the alleged offender. That is more than 150 000 cases a year. In Hungary, the rate was less than one per cent. In Finland, it was less than 0.1 per cent.

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No Impunity: Armenian politicians duck justice

It is nothing new for Armenians to see their politicians accused of corruption. Usually the accusations have little effect and in a few instances people may change jobs but they rarely get punished. In July 2012, however, a court in the United States returned a guilty verdict against Vardan Ayvazyan, a former environment minister and […]

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Impunity or Justice – what will exiled leaders find returning to Haiti?

Marilyn Allien, head of La Fondation Heritage pour Haiti (LFHH), the Transparency International chapter in Haiti, reflects on what the return of former president Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier after 25 years in exile means for Haiti. Truly, we in Haiti are having a very hard time digesting this event and what it means for governance […]

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