HSE University Anti-Corruption Portal
Portal Updates: New Profiles of Countries and International Organizations

The profiles of some countries and international organizations have been added to the Portal.

The information about countering corruption in Iceland, Israel, Malaysia, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay and Costa Rica is now published in the section “Country Profiles”. It contains, among other things, the overall scores of these countries in different anti-corruption rankings, information about their participation in international agreements and organizations, and main legal acts in the field of the fight against corruption.

Iceland is the northernmost country in Europe and a developed economy. The General Penal Code of Iceland provides for liability, both of natural and legal persons, for active and passive bribery, abuse of functions, and other corruption crimes. At the same time, some international organizations state that Iceland’s anti-corruption legislation needs further improvement. GRECO for instance, indicated in its 2018 report that it was necessary to introduce the obligation to disclose conflicts of interest, develop mechanisms for countering the negative effects of the revolving door, and establish the standards for public officials concerning, for example, the acceptance of gifts and non-pecuniary benefits.

Israel is one of the most economically developed countries of Western Asia. The national anti-corruption legislation is underpinned by the Penal Law that provides for liability for such corruption crimes as bribery, solicitation, embezzlement, abuse of functions, etc. Israel imposes restrictions on the employment of former public officials aiming at minimizing the adverse effect of the revolving door, prohibits the acceptance of gifts and establishes mechanisms for the protection of whistleblowers.

Malaysia is a developing country, consisting of peninsular and insular territories in East Asia. The national anti-corruption legislation is underpinned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009. In accordance with this act the national Anti-Corruption Commission, a special body modeled after the leading foreign anti-corruption agencies to investigate corruption crimes, was established. The act has also criminalized a number of corruption crimes in the public and private sectors, including active and passive bribery of public officials, solicitation and abuse of functions. In 2018 Malaysia introduced criminal liability of legal persons for corruption.

Chile is a country in Latin America, whose authorities seek to develop the national anti-corruption legislation in accordance with the best international practices. Chile for example, was the first country in Latin America to introduce criminal liability of legal persons for corruption crimes. The Chilean Criminal Code and the Law “On Criminal Liability of Legal Persons for the Crimes Related to Money-Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Bribery” criminalize most corruption crimes, including active and passive bribery of Chilean and foreign public officials. Moreover, the national anti-corruption legislation continues to rapidly improve: for instance, in 2019 commercial bribery was criminalized and the notion of bribery itself was broadened, now including non-pecuniary benefits.

Peru is a developing economy in South America. The national Criminal Code provides for liability for corruption offences, criminalizing solicitation, active and passive bribery, including the bribery of foreign public officials, and other crimes. In 2018, after the incumbent and two former presidents of Peru along with a number of other top officials had been subject to investigation in the wake of a big international corruption scandal over the Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht, Peru introduced administrative liability of legal persons for corruption.

Colombia is a country in Latin America. Its anti-corruption legislation is underpinned by the Criminal Code and the Law “On Establishing Rules for Strengthening the Mechanisms for Preventing, Detecting and Punishing for Corruption Offences and Enhancing Control over Public Administration”. These legal acts criminalize active and passive bribery, solicitation, abuse of functions, bribery of foreign public officials and other corruption crimes. Colombia imposes restrictions on the giving and acceptance of gifts by civil servants and obliges the latter to submit the declarations of income and interests. Starting from 2020, in the case top public officials such declarations should also be made publicly available.

Uruguay is one of the most developed countries of Latin America. The Criminal Code of the country criminalizes most corruption crimes, introducing liability of both natural and legal persons for corruption. The Law “On Transparency and Accountability of the Actions of Public Officials” imposes restrictions and bans for public officials, meanwhile the Law “On the Code of Ethics for Public Administration” obliges certain categories of public officials, whose list is compiled by the Council for Transparency and Public Ethics, appointed by the president, to disclose their income.

Costa Rica is a country in Central America with the most developed economy in the region. The main anti-corruption provisions are laid down in the Criminal Code of Costa Rica and the Law “On Countering Corruption and Illicit Enrichment in Civil Service”. These legal acts provide for liability, also of legal persons, for corruption crimes and the measures for preventing corruption offences (for example, the obligation for public officials to declare conflicts of interest).


The section “Profiles of International Organizations” now contains information about the International Anti-Corruption Academy and BRICS.

The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) is the first educational and research entity that studies anti-corruption at an international level. At present, IACA is focused on providing post-graduate education to the individuals whose activities are in some way related to anti-corruption. The Academy has two regular master programmes and develops tailor-made trainings. In addition, IACA organizes different open trainings, most notably, the annual Summer Academy. The organization also conducts research: in-house research works and Master’s theses of its alumni are available on the IACA website. Besides that, IACA has the observer status in the following international organizations and bodies: UN General Assembly, GRECO, ECOSOC, and International Organization for Migration. Its representatives also actively participate in different international events.

BRICS is an association of five emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It was created for coordinating the actions of the abovementioned countries in order to collectively increase the rate of economic growth. In 2015 the BRICS leaders decided to establish a BRICS Working Group on Anti-Corruption Cooperation (WGAC) with the participation of representatives of the national diplomatic services and law enforcement bodies. The WGAC holds joint educational programmes on countering corruption for public officials and coordinates the exchange of experience of national law enforcement bodies in the investigation of corruption crimes. In 2020 it was Russia that assumed the BRICS presidency: the annual summit is tentatively scheduled to take place in Saint Petersburg on July 21-23, 2020. The preparations of the first special session of the UN General Assembly against corruption in 2021 are an important item on the WGAC 2020 agenda.

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