PREVENTING CORRUPTION:
EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE & CRIMINAL JUSTICE MEASURES
Haruhiko UKAWA,
Deputy Director, UNAFEI

It is my pleasure to open the discussions at the Fifth Regional Seminar on Good Governance forSoutheast Asian Countries. Before going into this year’s seminar topic, let me provide a brief
introduction to the activities of UNAFEI and our Good Governance Seminar.
I. INTRODUCTION
UNAFEI1 is an international training and research institute in the field of crime prevention andcriminal justice, established in 1962 by agreement between the United Nations and the Government ofJapan. A major focus of its activities is to provide training programmes for criminal justice practitioners
from around the world in a multinational format.
While the Japanese Government now bears the sole responsibility for administrative matters such as
funding, facilities, and personnel, UNAFEI continues to be run under the joint auspices of the United
Nations and the Government of Japan, and it endeavours to assist in the sound development of criminal
justice systems and international cooperation among UN Member States, particularly in the Asia andPacific Region, in line with the UN Conventions and its Standards and Norms.
Every year, UNAFEI offers four multinational training courses that last for five to six weeks, eachof which addresses a different subject. The spring course covers offender treatment; the summer course
is UNAFEI’s basic anti-corruption programme; the autumn course tackles various criminal justice issues
in investigation, prosecution, adjudication and international cooperation; and the winter course is called“The International Senior Seminar” and is designed for senior officials.
In choosing the specific topic to be addressed in each programme, every effort is made toincorporate the priority issues identified by the United Nations. As a result, we find ourselves more
frequently and regularly choosing topics related to the challenges posed by transnational organized crimeand corruption.
This provides the background to the present seminar. The Good Governance Seminar is a recent
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United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders-1--5-

initiative, begun in 2007, in order to enhance our capacity-building and networking efforts in the field ofgood governance and anti-corruption. Every year, we choose one topic of substantive importance related
to UNCAC,2 and invite participants from eight Southeast Asian countries for discussion.
The topics for the first four seminars have been “Corruption Control in the Judiciary andProsecutorial Authorities”, “Corruption Control in Public Procurement”, “Asset Recovery andAnti-Money Laundering”, and “Measures to Secure Witness Protection/Co-operation,” respectively. The
first two seminars were held in Bangkok, in partnership with the Office of the Attorney General of theKingdom of Thailand, and the next two were held in Manila, in partnership with the Department ofJustice of the Republic of the Philippines.
This year, for the first time, we chose Tokyo, the home of UNAFEI, as the seminar venue, and took
the opportunity to double the number of participants that we invite. Therefore, this year, we haveparticipants not only from general criminal justice authorities but also from specialized anti-corruption
agencies. Another advantage of this year’s format is that we were able invite a number of speakers fromJapanese government authorities. These features have enabled us to address issues and challenges thatrequire multidisciplinary responses.
This brings us to this year’s seminar topic, “Preventing Corruption: Effective Administrative &Criminal Justice Measures.”
II. PREVENTING CORRUPTION“Corruption threatens the integrity of markets, undermines fair competition, distorts resource allocation,
destroys public trust, and undermines the rule of law. Corruption is a severe impediment to economic growth,and a significant challenge for developed, emerging and developing countries” – G20 Anti-Corruption Action
Plan (2010).

Corruption undermines every legitimate goal that states strive so hard to achieve. It threatens therule of law and democracy, impedes economic growth, and erodes the over all well-being of a state as awhole.
Anti-corruption efforts require a whole governmental and multidisciplinary approach that consistsof prevention (including awareness-raising/education) and enforcement. This notion is enshrined in theUNCAC, the first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument, which devotes an entire chapter topreventive measures and another to criminal justice measures.
2United Nations Convention against Corruption-2--6-Of these two, it has been pointed out that, first and foremost, corruption requires prevention. Why isprevention so important?
As a general principle, prevention is better than taking subsequent remedial measures, and this isparticularly true of corruption because it is difficult to detect and to prosecute after the fact. Unlike
crimes of violence, corruption leaves no readily identifiable traces such as bloodstains or dead bodies.
On the contrary, offenders will employ sophisticated modus operandi and technology to hide theircorrupt activities and the proceeds derived therefrom. Further, corruption takes place between guilty
parties. There is no victim to come forward and file a complaint; innocent or neutral witnesses are hard
to come by; and the most corrupt and powerful offenders will do everything to discourage witnesses andaccomplices from cooperating with the authorities.3 The nature of the offence thus makes preventive
efforts essential.
It should be noted also that, while it may be difficult to prevent crimes that are committed in theheat of the moment, prevention works for corruption. We know where and under what circumstances
corruption is likely to occur. Public sector corruption occurs in connection with governmental activities
and involves government officials. Opportunities for corruption can be limited by promoting theefficiency, transparency, and accountability of governmental businesses, and corruption risks can be
reduced by improving the integrity of officials.
One particular area identified by UNCAC as requiring special attention is public procurement(Article 9). We invited speakers from the Japanese Fair Trade Commission and Ministry of Finance toexplain how they ensure objectivity and competition in public procurement and prevent corruption.
With respect to the integrity of government officials, UNCAC calls for adequate human resource
management (Article 7.1), and mentions codes of conduct (Article 8.2) and reporting requirements(Article 8.3) for government officials. We invited speakers from the National Personnel Authority andFinancial Services Agency of Japan to offer examples of how they endeavour to ensure staff integrity.
We also invited Ms. Jo Dedeyne-Amann from the UNODC,4 and Mr. Joseph Lee Yat-Sau fromHong Kong’s ICAC.5 The UNODC is the guardian of UNCAC, and Ms. Dedeyne-Amann will talkabout the Convention and prevention of corruption in general. ICAC is Hong Kong’s anti-corruption
3

To remedy these difficulties, UNCAC requires States Parties to: introduce anti-money-laundering
measures, including suspicious transaction reporting (article 14.1(a)); take appropriate witness-protection
measures (article 32); consider adopting whistle-blower protection (article 33); and take appropriate
measures to encourage cooperation with the authorities (article 37).
4
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime5Independent Commission Against Corruption-3--7-

authority, renowned for its success in keeping the Special Administrative Region clean. You will hear Mr.
Yat-Sau talk about ICAC's strategies and measures for preventing corruption in Hong Kong.

III. CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT
Turning now to criminal enforcement, the critical question is this: If preventive measures andawareness-raising/education were appropriately implemented, would that make criminal justicemeasures unnecessary or less important?
The answer is “No.” At the risk of contradicting myself, I need to emphasize that criminalpunishment still is the key in the fight against corruption. Just think of the most corrupt and criminallyminded: preventive measures and education alone will not stop them from taking advantage of theiroffices for personal gain. They will continue as long as the risks of detection and punishment are small.
We need to make corruption a high-risk crime, and the only way to do that is to actually prosecute andpunish those who commit corruption. In that sense, criminal justice measures have a special effect inpreventing corruption – in criminal law parlance, this is known as “deterrence”.

Apart from providing specific and general deterrence, the significance of criminal enforcement ismanifold. It sends out a strong message that corruption will not be tolerated, and especially wheninfluential figures such as politicians or high-ranking officials are prosecuted, it demonstrates thepolitical will and determination of the government to fight corruption. This in turn cultivates a culture ofzero-tolerance and provides a basis for public education, especially of the younger generation. Moreover,the investigation may reveal the shortcomings of the existing system and give impetus for reform thatwould better prevent corruption. Two Japanese laws, which you will hear about during this seminar –The National Public Service Ethics Act of 19996 and the Involvement Prevention Act of 20027 – wereenacted in the aftermath of large-scale scandals and are examples of such reform efforts. They show thatprevention and enforcement are interrelated and that they must go hand-in-hand.
.
IV. CONCLUSION
There is a global consensus that a total anti-corruption package consists of prevention,
6Act No.129 of 1999.
Act on Elimination and Prevention of Involvement in Bid Rigging, etc. and Punishments for Acts byEmployees that Harm Fairness of Bidding, etc. (Act No.101 of 2002).
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awareness-raising/education, and enforcement. There are different approaches and varying options
regarding how countries design, mix, and implement these measures. To better prevent and fightcorruption, learning from other countries’ experiences and looking into emerging good practices shouldbe particularly useful.8 This Seminar is intended as an opportunity to share experiences, exchange ideas,
and to build a network of counterparts. Your fight is our fight, and I hope the seminar will help you inyour efforts to curb corruption.

8Paragraph 7 of the Marrakech Declaration on the Prevention of Corruption (Oct. 2011), adopted at thefourth session of the Conference of the States Parties to UNCAC, requests Member States to promotebilateral, regional and international activities to prevent corruption, including workshops for theexchange of relevant experiences and good practices.
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