Special Issues

edited by Annika Engelbert and Ina Kubbe

The special issue is online available here

It is undisputed that law is an indispensable element of the fight against corruption as it defines the boundaries of interaction among – potentially corrupt – individuals or organizations, and provides remedies in case these rules are breached. Law determines what is allowed and what is not; this implies, in return, that unethical acts cannot be labelled as corrupt as long as they are not prohibited by law. From a legal point of view, it is therefore a matter of special importance to define and examine formal rules.

Yet, the codification of anti-corruption norms poses several problems. First, corruption is a global phenomenon that occurs beyond national jurisdictions. It is therefore necessary to establish a set of international anti-corruption norms that provide a framework for transnational cooperation and prosecution – a norm-building process heavily influenced by the interests of governments and international organizations alike. Second, law is not the only norm governing human behavior. According to the principle of law and intrinsic motivation, legal norms that contradict informal norms are severely limited in their effectiveness. Third, despite many attempts to define corruption, there is no precise judicial term for it. Instead, penal codes typically list statutory offenses that are considered to be particular manifestations of corruption.