Accords hors procès avec des entreprises La lutte contre la corruption transnationale entre concurrence et coopération
La justice négociée dans la corruption transnationale – entre transparence et confidentialité
Revamping Anticorruption Criminal Law – The Making of (In-)Transparency
Impression management in corporate corruption settlements: The storied self of the prosecutorial authority
Transnational corporate bribery cases are increasingly resolved through non-trial resolutions called settlements. These settlements lead to a considerable shift of the prosecutorial authority’s role. Drawing on Goffman’s impression management framework (1959), this article conceptualises settlement procedures as ‘backstage criminal justice’ that aims to shield criminal justice practice from public view and showcase a team-crafted narrative. Our narrative analysis of a publicly available settlement in England and Wales investigates the prosecutorial authority’s impression management strategies within settlement storytelling. The analysis reveals three distinct and sometimes conflicting narratives of the prosecutorial role in settling criminal justice. These conflicting narratives reflect the ambiguities inherent in enforcing national criminal laws transnationally against economically relevant companies.
Shadow state structures and the threat to anti-corruption enforcement: evidence from Uzbekistan’s telecommunications bribery scandal
The role which corporate and financial secrecy vehicles play in enabling transnational corruption has justifiably received growing scholarly and policy interest. Less attention, however, has been given to the enabling role played by political secrecy vehicles. Political secrecy vehicles denote arrangements that allow individuals to clandestinely exercise public authority, which is concealed by a formal bureaucratic façade. This article develops analytical categories for deconstructing political secrecy structures and pinpointing the threat they pose to anti-corruption enforcement. These structures and threats are then empirically explored through an investigative case study. The case study plots how shadow political space in Uzbekistan and the simulacra of impartial public administration, was utilised by a kleptocratic syndicate to conceal an international bribery scheme, and then weaponised by the conspirators to successfully frustrate enforcement efforts in Europe. Drawing on key lessons from the case study, proposals are made for how the threats posed by political secrecy structures can be jurisprudentially and practically counteracted.
Procédures pénales consensuelles avec des entreprises en matière de corruption transnationale : quel rôle pour l’Etat lésé ?
Negotiating without the victim state: the exclusiveness of anticorruption settlements
Purpose Corporate foreign bribery can have devastating consequences on communities and states. Over the past decade, there have been several promising developments, both national and international, that might increase the chances of victim states to receive remediation for the harm they suffered from foreign bribery. In particular, awareness has risen that victim states must be considered and new innovative items have been added to the toolbox of prosecutors in the fight against corruption that is assumed to also improve victim states’ standing in these procedures. This study aims to assess whether indeed victim states receive compensation through these novel procedures. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the three case studies of Switzerland, France and England and Wales for a comprehensive empirical and normative analysis of settlement agreements between defendants and prosecution authorities and of court jurisprudence. Findings This study shows that although de jure, it seems warranted to order the payment of remedies to victim states within domestic criminal proceedings, in practice, this rarely happens. A number of legal and practical obstacles account for this situation. This study, therefore, calls for the formulation of international guidelines containing the obligation to inform victim states of ongoing criminal proceedings on corporate foreign bribery, and guidance on how to identify the victim of this crime, as well as the damage caused. Originality/value This is the first contribution to verify whether claims that settlement agreements, recently introduced in England and Wales and France (and similar procedures are available in Switzerland), are beneficial for victim states in their quest to receive compensation. As this study shows that this is – not yet – the case in practice, this study proposes solutions that could lead the way for remediation of the harm caused by corporate corruption – and thereby, ultimately, to a more just outcome.