As the UN convention against corruption-2003 is being repeatedly referred by the members of “civil society” in support of their demand for a strong Lokpal on the face of government toughening its stand on brining the Prime Minister under its ambit, the provisions of the convention would throw a light on what the world body had actually recommended to the member nations.
After the adoption of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) on October 31, 2003, the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had recorded that “corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on society. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and it allows organised crime, terrorism and other threat to human security to flourish.”
In this context, he referred to Article 6(2) of UNCAC, which provides that each country should establish an “anti-corruption institution” as was referred in “paragraph-1” of the Article and give such a body the “necessary independence” as per the fundamental principles of the “legal system” of that particular nation, to enable the anti-graft institution to carry out its functions effectively and free from any “undue influence”.
The Article further stated that the government of each UN member country should provide necessary material sources and specialised tasks as well as training to the staff, which might be required by the anti-graft body to carry out its function.
The preamble of UN Convention Against Corruptionstated that the member countries were adopting the resolution as they were “concerned about the seriousness of the problems and threats posed by the corruption to the stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethical values and justice and jeopardising sustainable development and the rule of law”.
The resolution stated that the evil of corruption had though affected all the countries — big and small, rich and poor — but its effects were far more “destructive” on the developing countries. “Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining the government’s ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice and discouraging foreign aid and investment. Corruption is a key element in economic under-performance and the major obstacle to poverty alleviation and development,” the convention said.