Anti-Corruption

IDLO is working to promote good governance, fairness and equality through the rule of law. While corruption negates the benefits of development, strengthening the capacity and integrity of institutions promotes economic prosperity and increases citizen’s confidence in public administration, justice and the rule of law.

Through its programs, IDLO is working to combat all forms of corruption by making justice institutions cleaner and more responsive, reducing conflicts of interest in procurement and public life, and enhancing the capacity of institutions and justice actors to fight fraud and economic crime.

An overview of IDLO's anti-corruption work

Technical Support and Cooperation with the General Procuracy

Funding and spending patterns of the General Procuracy of the Kyrgyz Republic (GP) have remained relatively invariable since Kyrgyzstan became an independent state in 1991. Stagnant funding has had negative implications for the GP, and the Prosecutors’ Training Center (PTC) requires support to train and retrain prosecutors in accordance with changing Kyrgyz legislation and international human rights standards. Additionally, gender inequalities within the GP remain a significant challenge.

Frontline Service Center opens in Ukraine

‘It is a symbol of new Ukrainian public service. It is also a symbol of change and development for the people in the occupied parts of Ukraine,’ said President Petro Poroshenko at the opening of a Public Service Center in the eastern city of Mariupol in the conflict-ridden Donetsk region.

Ukraine: Supporting Criminal Justice Reform

Ukraine has embarked on a wide-ranging process of reform, and the momentum is there to overcome a legacy of bureaucratic stagnation, arbitrariness and corruption. The government has committed itself to the long-term reform of the Ukrainian justice sector, and the President has developed a strategy that identifies the need for increased independence, transparency, competence, accountability and efficiency of the rule of law and justice institutions.

Empowering civil society for reform

Civil society in Ukraine is well organized and able to exert considerable influence, especially since the Maidan Revolution. It is widely agreed that targeted support for civil society organizations (CSOs) can amplify the success of reforms that strengthen the rule of law and eliminate corruption. With this is mind, we are working to empower CSOs to monitor and engage with the current reform processes in public administration, rule of law and justice sectors.

Reducing Corruption in the Regions

While acknowledging the importance of national reform efforts, our program in Ukraine emphasizes and assists regional reform initiatives. We are helping develop and implement the reform agenda launched in Odessa, in an effort to position the Black Sea region as Ukraine’s de facto anti-corruption capital.

Criminal Justice Reform

In Ukraine, as in most eastern European states, the role of the Public Prosecutor is oversized in relation to the Judiciary and the rest of the legal community. The institution is historically prone to abuse of power and corruption, and skewed towards protecting the interests of the state over those of society or the individual. Regard for human rights is scant; fair trial standards are rarely applied. As a consequence, public dissatisfaction is rife. However, current political will to change the system has opened up an opportunity for meaningful reform.

Fighting Financial Crime in Tunisia

The success of Tunisia's constitutional reforms depends on good economic governance. As part of supporting the country through its democratic transition, IDLO is helping build the capacity of its magistrates and prosecutors to combat financial and economic crime. In September 2012, the Tunisian Government created the Pôle Judiciaire Financier, a first-instance court dedicated to investigating all cases falling under that category.

Conflict of Interest in Kyrgyzstan

Amid pressure to clean up public life in Kyrgyzstan, IDLO has helped draft a bill on conflict of interest. The challenge was both practical and political: Kyrgyzstan is a relatively small country with strong rural traditions, large, close-knit families, and a well-established culture of favors. The new law would ban any payment from interested parties, either in money or in kind, as well as gifts. This includes property, foreign travel or invitations to banquets, shows and sporting events.

Afghanistan's Justice Training Transition Program (JTTP)

Launched in March 2013 in partnership with the Afghan government, the Justice Training Transition Program (JTTP) offers justice professionals unprecedented levels of training in core legal skills and competencies. It provides continuing education courses on Afghan law to provincial courts, the Ministry of Justice and other government bodies. By far our most ambitious program anywhere, JTTP also provides criminal justice training and mentoring for Afghan prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys and investigators.

Key Initiatives

Mongolian Institutional Integrity and Transparency (MINT)

The continued challenges Mongolia faces in implementing its anti-corruption reforms demonstrate a clear need for improvement in the immediate detection of corruption cases and stronger international cooperation and mutual legal assistance in corruption-related criminal matters.
Fighting corruption in the Bahamas

Corruption is a complex social, political and economic problem which undermines democracy, human rights and governance by weakening state institutions, eroding public confidence and hindering the pathway towards sustainable development. The 2019 Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer found that 80% of citizens of the Bahamas considered corruption in government to be an important issue.
Evaluation of the project "Supporting Justice Sector and Anti-Corruption Reforms in Ukraine - Phase 1"

As part of IDLO’s continuous commitment to accountability and results-based management, IDLO is pleased to share this Evaluation Brief (summarised evaluation report): “Evaluation of the project "Supporting Justice Sector and Anti-Corruption Reforms in Ukraine - Phase 1”. The evaluation has been conducted by independent evaluation experts, supervised by IDLO’s Evaluation Unit.
Establishing the High Anti-Corruption Court in Ukraine

Despite the positive momentum from Ukraine’s justice sector reforms, there has been a lack of court judgments in top corruption cases, underscoring the need for greater institutional efficiency, transparency and independence in the process of prosecution. As corruption cases often involve complex financial schemes with elements of money-laundering, there is a strong need to delegate them to a specialized court. In response to these needs, the High Anti-Corruption Court was formally established on April 11th, 2019.
Supporting Somali justice institutions to combat complex crimes

Somalia is striving to strengthen its institutions and to improve the rule of law, however high levels of crime still persist. These include forms of complex crimes, namely extremist violence, organized crime, sexual and gender-based violence and corruption. In recent years, the Somali Federal Government has improved the fight against armed groups and made efforts to improve the capacity of the justice system to handle complex crimes.