Canadian Task Force Against Global Corruption

Combatting Grand Corruption Internationally: Repurposing Assets for the Forcibly Displaced

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The bad governance that so often causes forced displacement is almost always associated with corruption. Grand corruption weakens and distracts governments, making it less likely that they will meet their responsibility to protect their own population. Furthermore, corruption discourages donors, compounding the difficulty in funding efforts to assist refugees and the internally displaced.

The World Refugee & Migration Council (WRMC) addressed the scourge of corruption in Un llamado a la acción: Transformar el sistema global de refugio, stressing accountability and proposing that when stolen funds are found offshore, they ought not only to be frozen but also confiscated and re-purposed for the benefit of the displaced, as Canada has now done under its Special Economic Measures Act. That legislation is based on the proposed Frozen Assets Repurposing Act advanced by the WRMC with independent Canadian Senator Ratna Omidvar.

The Task Force has three key priorities:

  • Promote the repurposing of frozen and seized assets, including under Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act and its regulations, as a complement to existing Magnitsky legislation and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act.
  • Outline specific ways to effectively implement anti-corruption measures by strengthening existing frameworks and institutions under the principles of accountability and restorative justice. These measures will play an essential role in complementing the road to criminal prosecution of the perpetrators of grand corruption. 
  • Support efforts to reform the international anti-corruption regime.

Publicaciones

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Leading by Example

This paper by Robert Currie, Fen Hampson and Allan Rock examines the precedent-setting nature of Canada’s new legislation on foreign-owned asset forfeiture and some of the legal issues raised following the adoption of this new legislation. It also discusses policy and legislative initiatives underway in other countries following upon Canada’s ground-breaking legislation

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Canadian Ukrainian Social Impact Reconstruction Trust Fund

Alison Lawton & Lauren Casey Discussion paper produced as part of the World Refugee & Migration Council’s Canadian Task Force Against Global Corruption. Abstract According to international law, Russia must provide full reparations and compensation to Ukraine for the harm inflicted during an undeclared war. In response, Canada has enacted legislation allowing

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News & Analysis

Write us at info@wrmcouncil.org with inquiries or to receive updates about the work of the Task Force.

Integrantes del grupo de trabajo

Hon. Lloyd Axworthy

Chair, World Refugee & Migration Council

Prof. Olabisi Akinkugbe

Viscount Bennett Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Prof. Robert Currie

Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Dr. Peter German

President, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform, Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia

Ms. Maja Groff

Global Governance Forum and Convenor of the Climate Governance Commission

Fen Osler Hampson

Prof. Fen Osler Hampson

President, World Refugee & Migration Council and Chancellor’s Professor, Carleton University

Ms. Alison Lawton

Founder, Mindset Venture Group

Mr. Ian Lynch

Integrity Initiatives International (observer)

Hon. Peter MacKay

Former Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs

Lorna Marsden

Hon. Lorna Marsden

Former Canadian Senator and president of York and Wilfrid Laurier Universities

Ms. Sabine Nölke

Ambassador (Ret.)

Ratna Omidvar

Hon. Ratna Omidvar

Human Rights and Migration Advocate

Ms. Maureen O'Neil

Former President of the International Development Research Centre

Mr. Christopher Ram

Counsel to Justice Canada, Lawyer and Criminologist (Ret.)

Dr. Angus Reid

CEO & Founder, Angus Reid Global

Hon. Allan Rock

Former Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice

Mr. Farid Rohani

Member of the Board, Integrity Initiatives International

Jeff Stoub

Mr. Jeff Stoub

Director of Public Affairs, World Refugee & Migration Council

Hon. Mark Wolf

Integrity Initiatives International and Senior United States District Judge (ex officio)