Transnational governance networks against grand corruption: Law enforcement and investigative journalists
Project Completed
PROJECT TEAM
Professor Elizabeth David-Barrett
University of Sussex
Contact: e.david-barrett@sussex.ac.uk
Liz has 20 years’ experience of researching corruption at the interface of politics and business, with a particular interest in the mechanisms and impact of state capture. In the year 2022-23, Liz is taking leave from the University of Sussex to head the Global Programme on Measuring Corruption at the International Anti-Corruption Academy. In addition to her academic research, Liz has engaged with anti-corruption practitioners globally, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Europe, and has advised the UK government and the G20 on their international anti-corruption work. Before becoming an academic, Liz worked as a journalist in the Balkans for The Economist and Financial Times. She has a DPhil, MSc and MA from Oxford and an MA from the University of London.
Dr Slobodan Tomic
University of York
Contact: slobodan.tomic@york.ac.uk
Slobodan specialises in public management, public policy and regulatory governance, with particular interests in bureaucratic accountability and integrity policies. He joined the University of York in 2019, after completing a post-doctoral Marie Curie project at University College Dublin (UCD) which examined how oversight bodies deploy reputational strategies to shape the conduct of public institutions. Previously, Slobodan spent six years at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he received a PhD in Political Science, an MSc in Public Policy and Administration, and a Masters in Research Methods (MRes) in Political Science.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Grand corruption is a transnational problem requiring transnational cooperation among anti-corruption actors. In the case of law enforcement actors, cooperation is difficult to achieve, and this has been attributed to the political sensitivity of investigations, lack of trust among agencies, difficulties in sharing intelligence securely, weaknesses and discrepancies in capacity, and organisational incentive structures that favour quick and easy cases. However, investigative journalists, who ostensibly face similar challenges, increasingly cooperate across borders to investigate and expose corruption with great success. This research therefore set out to explore these two under-researched sets of anti-corruption actors, specifically the challenges to cooperation and possible solutions (i) among law enforcement agencies; (ii) among investigative journalists; and (iii) between the two groups of actors.
Our case study on the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC) found that the IACCC enhances the global fight against grand corruption by:
enhancing understanding among overseas law enforcement agencies about how to draft a request for mutual legal assistance (MLA) to which the UK authorities can respond, and helping to shepherd requests through the system.
reducing the uncertainty and costs of pursuing grand corruption cases and increasing the ease of access and benefits, in a context where weak resources and political sensitivity often lead national agencies to avoid corruption cases.
using informal relationships to build trust and confidence, particularly between agencies from more- and less-developed countries, allowing agencies with weak resources and working in difficult political contexts to “outsource” some of their need for technical knowhow and capacity to external actors that are less vulnerable to political intimidation from vested interests.
enhancing understanding among overseas law enforcement agencies about how to draft a request for mutual legal assistance (MLA) to which the UK authorities can respond, and helping to shepherd requests through the system.
reducing the uncertainty and costs of pursuing grand corruption cases and increasing the ease of access and benefits, in a context where weak resources and
political sensitivity often lead national agencies to avoid corruption cases.using informal relationships to build trust and confidence, particularly between agencies from more- and less-developed countries, allowing agencies with weak resources and working in difficult political contexts to “outsource” some of their need for technical knowhow and capacity to external actors that are less vulnerable to political intimidation from vested interests.
In the case of transnational networks of investigative journalists, we find that these networks empower journalists in high-risk contexts by providing safety in numbers and facilitating strategic use of different legal frameworks or access to data, methods and standards, helping to bring stories to the public. They serve an important function in identifying individual perpetrators of crimes, but also in uncovering patterns of corruption and systemic weaknesses, informing policymakers about where there is a need for action. Moreover, by creating understanding and awareness about grand corruption and its impacts among the public, they help to create political pressure on office holders to act. Transnational investigative journalism (TIJ) should be seen as a new institution of global governance which adds significant capability and value to our anti-corruption toolkit, although its impact is limited by the insecure nature of its funding.
PUBLICATIONS
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Transnational governance networks against grand corruption cross-border cooperation among law enforcement (SOC ACE Research Paper RP8)
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