December 9 - International Day against Corruption
Every year, since 2004, December 9 is the International Day against Corruption.
In 2003, in the city of Merida (Mexico), at a political conference of the countries of the world, one of the most important official documents of the UN "Convention against Corruption" was opened for signing, adopted by the UN General Assembly on November 1, 2003, Resolution No. A / RES / dated November 21, 2003 58/4.
More than 100 states, including the Russian Federation, which have signed the convention, have recognized bribery, bribery, abuse of office and other abuse of office as “Criminal Crimes”, and have also decided to cooperate for a large-scale suppression of corruption in all its manifestations.
The purpose of the establishment of the International Day Against Corruption, as set out in the UN General Assembly resolution, was to enhance understanding of the problem of corruption and the role of the Convention in preventing and combating corruption. The resolution does not contain the usual calls in such cases to widely celebrate this day and hold appropriate events, but today events dedicated to the International Day against Corruption are held annually in all countries that have signed this convention.
At the moment, 185 countries of the world have joined the convention. The participating States have committed themselves to implementing anti-corruption measures in the areas of legislation, government institutions and law enforcement. Each of the parties to the Convention is called upon, in accordance with the principles of honesty, responsibility and transparency, to develop and implement policies to combat and prevent corruption, improve the efficiency of existing institutions, anti-corruption measures, and develop cooperation in combating corruption at the international and regional levels.
The signing of the convention in the Russian Federation was carried out on December 9, 2003, ratification took place on May 9, 2006.
Federal Law No. 40-ФЗ of March 8, 2006 "On Ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption" contains statements on individual articles and paragraphs over which the Russian Federation has jurisdiction. This list did not include: Art. 20 “Illicit enrichment”, art. 26 "Liability of Legal Entities", Art. 54 “Mechanisms for the seizure of property through international cooperation in confiscation”, art. 57 "Recovery and disposal of assets."
According to experts, one of the requirements that the Russian Federation undertakes to fulfill is ensuring the efficiency and transparency of the work of civil servants (Article 7 of the Convention).
In order to increase the efficiency of combating corruption and deepen cooperation between the States Parties to the Convention, a special permanent conference has been established, the UN Secretary General provides the necessary information to the States Parties, and also ensures coordination at the international level. The conference takes place every two years.
On December 16 - 20, 2019, the 8th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption was held in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). As a result of the Conference, 15 resolutions were adopted on various topics. Among them is the resolution "On Preventing Corruption in Sports" initiated by Russia and co-sponsored by 14 CPC member states from all regional UN groups.
The next session of the Conference is scheduled to be held in Egypt in 2021.
Additional Information:
Official page of the day on the UN website
https://www.un.org/ru/observances/anti-corruption-day
Official page "Corruption" on the UNODC website http://www.unodc.org/unodc/ru/corruption
Official website of the UN Campaign "Break the Chain of Corruption" http://www.anticorruptionday.org
Information on ratification of the UN Convention
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/ratification-status.html
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
https://www.mid.ru/o-8-j-sessii-konferencii-gosudarstv-ucastnikov-konvencii-oon-protiv-korrupcii