More than one in four people across the globe paid a bribe in the last 12 months when interacting with key public institutions and services, with the police and the judiciary seen as the two most bribery prone, according to a new report.
The largest-ever global survey on corruption by Transparency International, which surveyed more than 114,000 respondents in 107 countries, found that over half the respondents said corruption had worsened over the last two years.
The survey comes at a time of increased public anger against the perceived corruption and self-interest of governments, from Brazil to Egypt and Turkey. It revealed a deep distrust of political leaders. In 51 countries around the world political parties were seen as the most corrupt institution and 55 percent of respondents thought government was run by special interests.
"Around the world, political parties, the driving force of democracies, are perceived to be the most corrupt institution," the report said.
Before the financial crisis began in 2008, 31 percent of people said their government's efforts to fight corruption were effective. This year, only 22 percent thought government responses were adequate. Transparency International chief Huguette Labelle said politicians needed "to take this cry against corruption from their citizenry seriously."
"Strong leadership is needed from the G20 governments in particular. In the 17 countries surveyed in the G20, 59 percent of respondents said their government is not doing a good job at fighting corruption," she said.
Twenty seven percent of respondents said they had paid a bribe when accessing public services and institutions in the last 12 months, revealing no improvement from previous surveys.
Despite the frequency of encounters with corruption, almost 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would act against corruption and two-thirds of those who were asked to pay a bribe had refused, the survey found.
"Bribe paying levels remain very high worldwide, but people believe they have the power to stop corruption and the number of those willing to combat the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery is significant," Labelle said.
Problematically, the survey revealed that many people did not trust the institutions meant to fight corruption. In 36 countries, the police was seen as the most corrupt institution and in those countries an average of 53 percent of people had been asked to pay a bribe to the police.
Meanwhile, 20 countries saw the judiciary as the most corrupt institution, and in those countries an average of 30 percent of the people who had come in contact with the judicial systems had been asked to pay a bribe.
Bribery occurs on all levels of the government within the United States as well as in other countries. Unfortunately, a large number of bribes each year go undetected, resulting in no charges or convictions upon the guilty parties.
The different levels and types of bribery are clearly defined under United States law. The first type is the bribery by or of a public official, who is someone who acts on behalf of the United States, such as a juror or a senator. The intention of the bribe is to influence the action of the official in the discharge of their public or legal duties – in other words, a bribe might be given to a senator to encourage them to vote a certain way on a bill, or to a juror in order to solicit a particular outcome in a trial. A public official who is convicted of bribery will be fined three times the amount of the bribe and/or imprisoned for no longer than 15 years. The public official will also not be allowed thereafter to hold any government or political office in the United States.
The next type of a bribe is by/of a witness. A witness will receive a fine of three times the amount of the bribe and/or up to 15 years in prison if they accept a bribe for them to alter a testimony. The briber themselves will face a fine and up to two years in prison.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 makes it unlawful for a United States citizen, as well as certain foreign issuers of securities, to pay a foreign official in order to obtain business with any person. In 1998 a provision to the Act was added which applies to any foreign firms or foreign-born persons who take any act in furtherance of a corrupt payment while in the United States.
Others may be found guilty of taking bribes as well. If a bank representative accepts a bribe of anything more than $1,000, he or she can be imprisoned for no longer than 30 years, and fined three times the value of the bribe. Sporting officials are also sometimes offered bribes to "fix" a sporting event to ensure an outcome that the briber desires. If a referee or other sporting official is convicted or bribery, the punishment can consist of a fine and imprisonment of no longer than five years.
There are many bribery-related offenses with which an individual may be charged. Some of these include government fraud, extortion, kickbacks, procurement fraud, the health care industry and employee benefits or pension plans, and many others. Each of these offenses will result in punishment or sentencing that reflects the severity of the actual crime that has been committed.
Perhaps one of the most common reasons that bribery takes place is to receive unlawful commissions or pay. This is sometimes referred to as a kickback. Often, kickbacks go undetected. However, financial documents within a company or corporation will sometimes serve as substantial evidence in a criminal case to convict the guilty parties of bribery.
Some famous examples of bribery include a federal case in which two former Pentagon officials were sentenced to 24 years in prison after making $1 million and being provided with prostitutes; and the case of an army major who worked as a contracting officer, and who accepted bribes from military contractors that totalled $9.6 million.
Those facing bribery or other related charges should hire an attorney, regardless of their guilt. The punishments for bribery can be severe and having a professional that can handle the case will be of great assistance. When hiring an attorney for a bribery case, it is imperative that he or she has plenty of experience handling similar cases. It may be wise to ask the attorney questions regarding their experience with related cases. An attorney's fees for handling a bribery case in a criminal case will vary, depending on many factors.
Every state, directly or indirectly, prohibits bribery in obtaining government contracts. But few states restrict campaign contributions from businesses seeking government contracts. We need more laws that stop this "pay-to-play" abuse. Government contracts should go to the companies that do the best work for the lowest prices, not the ones that have cozied up to public officials with campaign cash.
Also, enforcement of existing laws is often lacking. It's often unclear who is even responsiible for enforcing the law — the state ethics agency, the state elections agency, or the state contracting agent. This also means that penalties for violating the law are often unclear because penalties for violating the elections code are often different from penalties for contracting abuses.
Public Citizen supports well-targeted pay-to-play restrictions to foster fair and open competition in the contracting process and to eliminate corruption — and the appearance of corruption.
The largest-ever global survey on corruption by Transparency International, which surveyed more than 114,000 respondents in 107 countries, found that over half the respondents said corruption had worsened over the last two years.
The survey comes at a time of increased public anger against the perceived corruption and self-interest of governments, from Brazil to Egypt and Turkey. It revealed a deep distrust of political leaders. In 51 countries around the world political parties were seen as the most corrupt institution and 55 percent of respondents thought government was run by special interests.
"Around the world, political parties, the driving force of democracies, are perceived to be the most corrupt institution," the report said.
Before the financial crisis began in 2008, 31 percent of people said their government's efforts to fight corruption were effective. This year, only 22 percent thought government responses were adequate. Transparency International chief Huguette Labelle said politicians needed "to take this cry against corruption from their citizenry seriously."
"Strong leadership is needed from the G20 governments in particular. In the 17 countries surveyed in the G20, 59 percent of respondents said their government is not doing a good job at fighting corruption," she said.
Twenty seven percent of respondents said they had paid a bribe when accessing public services and institutions in the last 12 months, revealing no improvement from previous surveys.
Despite the frequency of encounters with corruption, almost 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would act against corruption and two-thirds of those who were asked to pay a bribe had refused, the survey found.
"Bribe paying levels remain very high worldwide, but people believe they have the power to stop corruption and the number of those willing to combat the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery is significant," Labelle said.
Problematically, the survey revealed that many people did not trust the institutions meant to fight corruption. In 36 countries, the police was seen as the most corrupt institution and in those countries an average of 53 percent of people had been asked to pay a bribe to the police.
Meanwhile, 20 countries saw the judiciary as the most corrupt institution, and in those countries an average of 30 percent of the people who had come in contact with the judicial systems had been asked to pay a bribe.
Bribery occurs on all levels of the government within the United States as well as in other countries. Unfortunately, a large number of bribes each year go undetected, resulting in no charges or convictions upon the guilty parties.
The different levels and types of bribery are clearly defined under United States law. The first type is the bribery by or of a public official, who is someone who acts on behalf of the United States, such as a juror or a senator. The intention of the bribe is to influence the action of the official in the discharge of their public or legal duties – in other words, a bribe might be given to a senator to encourage them to vote a certain way on a bill, or to a juror in order to solicit a particular outcome in a trial. A public official who is convicted of bribery will be fined three times the amount of the bribe and/or imprisoned for no longer than 15 years. The public official will also not be allowed thereafter to hold any government or political office in the United States.
The next type of a bribe is by/of a witness. A witness will receive a fine of three times the amount of the bribe and/or up to 15 years in prison if they accept a bribe for them to alter a testimony. The briber themselves will face a fine and up to two years in prison.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 makes it unlawful for a United States citizen, as well as certain foreign issuers of securities, to pay a foreign official in order to obtain business with any person. In 1998 a provision to the Act was added which applies to any foreign firms or foreign-born persons who take any act in furtherance of a corrupt payment while in the United States.
Others may be found guilty of taking bribes as well. If a bank representative accepts a bribe of anything more than $1,000, he or she can be imprisoned for no longer than 30 years, and fined three times the value of the bribe. Sporting officials are also sometimes offered bribes to "fix" a sporting event to ensure an outcome that the briber desires. If a referee or other sporting official is convicted or bribery, the punishment can consist of a fine and imprisonment of no longer than five years.
There are many bribery-related offenses with which an individual may be charged. Some of these include government fraud, extortion, kickbacks, procurement fraud, the health care industry and employee benefits or pension plans, and many others. Each of these offenses will result in punishment or sentencing that reflects the severity of the actual crime that has been committed.
Perhaps one of the most common reasons that bribery takes place is to receive unlawful commissions or pay. This is sometimes referred to as a kickback. Often, kickbacks go undetected. However, financial documents within a company or corporation will sometimes serve as substantial evidence in a criminal case to convict the guilty parties of bribery.
Some famous examples of bribery include a federal case in which two former Pentagon officials were sentenced to 24 years in prison after making $1 million and being provided with prostitutes; and the case of an army major who worked as a contracting officer, and who accepted bribes from military contractors that totalled $9.6 million.
Those facing bribery or other related charges should hire an attorney, regardless of their guilt. The punishments for bribery can be severe and having a professional that can handle the case will be of great assistance. When hiring an attorney for a bribery case, it is imperative that he or she has plenty of experience handling similar cases. It may be wise to ask the attorney questions regarding their experience with related cases. An attorney's fees for handling a bribery case in a criminal case will vary, depending on many factors.
Every state, directly or indirectly, prohibits bribery in obtaining government contracts. But few states restrict campaign contributions from businesses seeking government contracts. We need more laws that stop this "pay-to-play" abuse. Government contracts should go to the companies that do the best work for the lowest prices, not the ones that have cozied up to public officials with campaign cash.
Also, enforcement of existing laws is often lacking. It's often unclear who is even responsiible for enforcing the law — the state ethics agency, the state elections agency, or the state contracting agent. This also means that penalties for violating the law are often unclear because penalties for violating the elections code are often different from penalties for contracting abuses.
Public Citizen supports well-targeted pay-to-play restrictions to foster fair and open competition in the contracting process and to eliminate corruption — and the appearance of corruption.
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