International Anti-Corruption Commitments

Title of the document

Doha Declaration on integrating crime prevention and criminal justice into the wider United Nations agenda to address social and economic challenges and to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels, and public participation

(https://www.unodc.org/ropan/en...)

Issuing body

United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Brief description

Member states reaffirmed their shared commitment to uphold the rule of law and to prevent and counter crime in all its forms and manifestations, at the domestic and international levels, to ensure that criminal justice systems are effective, fair, humane and accountable, to provide access to justice for all, to build effective, accountable, impartial and inclusive institutions at all levels, and to uphold the principle of human dignity and the universal observance and respect of all human rights and fundamental freedoms

Relevant excerpts

We endeavour to enhance further international cooperation to stop the systematic exploitation of large numbers of individuals who are forced and coerced into a life of abuse and degradation. We therefore strive:

(e) To implement effective measures to detect, prevent and counter corruption, as well as the transfer abroad and laundering of assets derived from corruption, and to strengthen international cooperation and assistance to Member States to assist in the identification, freezing or seizure of such assets, as well as in their recovery and return, in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in particular its chapter V, and in this regard to continue discussing innovative modalities to improve mutual legal assistance in order to speed up asset recovery proceedings and render them more successful, while also drawing on the experience and knowledge built through the implementation of the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

(f) To develop strategies to prevent and combat all illicit financial flows and emphasize the urgent need to adopt more effective measures to fight against economic and financial crimes, including fraud, as well as tax and corporate crimes, especially in their relevant transnational dimensions;

(g) To strengthen or, as appropriate, adopt procedures to more effectively prevent and counter money-laundering and enhance measures for the identification, tracing, freezing, seizure and recovery of the proceeds of crime, including money and other assets that have not been accounted for and that are found in safe havens, for the purpose of their eventual confiscation, including, where appropriate and in accordance with domestic law, non-conviction-based confiscation, and for the transparent disposition of confiscated proceeds;

(h) To develop and implement adequate mechanisms to manage and preserve the value and condition of frozen, seized or confiscated assets that are the proceeds of crime, as well as to strengthen international cooperation in criminal matters and to explore ways of affording one another similar cooperation in civil and administrative proceedings for confiscation purposes;