{"id":7989,"date":"2022-03-24T15:54:31","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T19:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wrmcouncil.org\/?p=7989"},"modified":"2023-12-13T10:49:52","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T15:49:52","slug":"allan-rock-on-the-creation-of-an-international-anti-corruption-court-iacc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wrmcouncil.org\/es\/news\/analysis\/allan-rock-on-the-creation-of-an-international-anti-corruption-court-iacc\/","title":{"rendered":"Allan Rock on the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Refugee & Migration Council Special Advisor Allan Rock spoke at the University of British Columbia Peter A. Allard School of Law\u2019s event International Anti-Corruption Court: An Idea Whose Time Has Come? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) is one of the WRMC\u2019s Canadian Task Force Against Global Corruption<\/a>\u2019s priorities. However, any proposal to change existing international legal architecture should be done so with humility. The task is massive and challenging, with complex issues to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating an IACC would be advantageous due to the scale of grand corruption. Grand corruption globally is enormous, and while difficult to estimate, the Global Financial Integrity<\/a> thinktank notes that developing countries lose to corruption an amount ten-times greater than they receive in development assistance. Existing methods to tackle the scourge of grand corruption are not fit for purpose to stem this flow of corruption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite everything that is being done to confront it, grand corruption remains at the root of many problems around the world, including forced displacement. The close nexus between grand corruption and forced displacement causing refugees and internally displaced persons is very clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corruption does not flourish due to the lack of laws or norms. 189 UN Member States have signed up to the UN Convention Against Corruption which requires signatory nations to enact domestic laws aimed at curtailing corruption. The problem is enforcement. The worst offenders are kleptocrats that not only control national politics but also the police, military, and entire aspects of the state\u2019s enforcement mechanism. It is not in their interest to enforce the laws on the books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creation of the IACC does not start from zero. There exists a sturdy infrastructure already in place and growing.  The International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre<\/a> has, since 2016, established mechanisms for states to cooperate in anti-corruption efforts. There is the Financial Actions Task Force<\/a> that does the same, and since September 11, 2001, states around the world have put into place mechanisms to track and trace financial actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advantage of the IACC is to lend a coherent and coordinated effort through a single court to enforce the laws in question \u2013 a global effort. It would have complimentary jurisdiction, meaning it would only act if the state impacted by grand corruption was unable or unwilling to address it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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