Summary of a research paper developed for CiFAR: prepared by Amber Madden-Doyle, Dora Anghelache, Hanna Berndt, Mathilde Colinet, and Victoria Damore, under the supervision of Dr. Cecily Rose, Associate Professor, Leiden Law School for the University of Amsterdam LLM course: Amsterdam International Law Clinic. Paper reviewed by Clara Czuppon, Lewis Kundai and Jackson Oldfield (CiFAR).
Corruption erodes the rule of law, undermines human rights, and negatively impacts economic growth. Traditional methods for identifying victims of corruption, especially grand corruption, however often fail due to the diffuse nature of the impact, which often affects broad sectors of society and often causes indirect harm.
Corruption includes bribery, embezzlement, trading in influence, abuse of functions, and illicit enrichment. Victims of corruption can be categorized as:
- Individual Victims: Citizens can suffer from deteriorating public services due to corruption or due to funds being taken away from a service they would otherwise receive, for example, though proving direct harm can be challenging.
- Collective Victims: Societal groups may experience widespread harm as a result of corruption, however this can make legal standing complex.
- Foreign Governments and Public Entities: Governments can be recognised as victims when public funds are misappropriated, for example, or when the harm is to the country as a whole or as representatives of harmed groups.
- Legal Persons: NGOs and corporations can also suffer harm due to unfair competition or direct financial losses. NGOs can also represent individual and collective victims.
While anti-corruption treaties, including the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), outline corruption offenses, they do not clearly define victims of corruption, nor do they include provisions for their inclusion in criminal, civil or administrative proceedings. Further, bribery cases in particular often conclude with non-trial resolutions (settlements), which may further limit participation where there are no public court cases.
The role of international human rights law
International human rights law, on the other hand, while not explicitly recognizing corruption as a human rights violation, does guarantee victims’ right to an effective remedy. This right is enshrined in multiple treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). These require states to provide victims with access to justice and redress mechanisms.
This includes:
- Pre-Trial Rights
- Right to Information: Victims must be informed about legal proceedings, asset recovery efforts, and potential remedies.
- Right to Investigate: International law obliges states to conduct thorough investigations into corruption cases.
- Statutes of Limitations: Short limitation periods can prevent victims from seeking justice. Human rights law requires that time limits do not unfairly bar claims before victims become aware of corruption’s impact.
- Standing: Courts have debated whether indirect victims have legal standing. Recent human rights rulings suggest a broader recognition of victim status should be considered.
- Trial Proceedings
- Participation Rights: Victims should be allowed to present evidence, submit opinions, and engage in decision-making during trials.
- Settlements: Some corruption cases resolve through negotiated settlements, which often exclude victims. Consideration should be given to facilitating victims’ perspectives in settlement negotiations.
- Post-Trial Rights
- Reparation Mechanisms: Compensation should be directed toward affected individuals and communities rather than solely to governments.
- Monitoring of Asset Recovery: Victims and civil society organizations should be involved in overseeing how recovered funds are used to ensure transparency and accountability.
Corruption is far from a victimless crime, yet current anti-corruption frameworks fail to adequately recognize and involve victims. The broad and diffuse impact of corruption makes victim identification and participation challenging. While anti-corruption law provides some avenues for victim inclusion, these remain limited.
International human rights law can offer additional legal tools for ensuring victims can participate in corruption proceedings, seek remedies, and monitor asset recovery efforts. Greater alignment and dialogue between anti-corruption and human rights frameworks can strengthen victim participation and promote accountability in asset recovery processes.
Read the full research paper here