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%28 %b. %2013|News
GOPAC Initiates Efforts to Prosecute Grand Corruption as a Crime Against Humanity
Ottawa, Canada – The Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against
Corruption (GOPAC) has released Prosecuting Grand Corruption as an
International Crime to frame options for international prosecution of the
perpetrators of the worst crimes of corruption.
The document will serve as the centrepiece of deliberations amongst the world’s
parliamentarians, at the fifth Forum of Parliamentarians on 27 November 2013, held
during the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption,
in Panama City.
“We believe there are some forms of corruption so grave, whose effects on human
life, human rights, and human welfare are so catastrophic, that they should shock
the conscience of the international community and mobilise the will of nations to
act across borders,” said Akaash Maharaj, Executive Director of GOPAC. “Through
this initiative, we will stand together and stand against these injustices.”
GOPAC proposes four potential paths for prosecuting grand corruption: the
International Criminal Court; national courts with universal jurisdiction; regional
courts; and/or new mechanisms. The deliberations in Panama City will help decide
which paths GOPAC will pursue.
At the February 2013 Global Conference of Parliamentarians Against Corruption
held in the Philippines, GOPAC’s worldwide network of parliamentarians voted
unanimously to seek the widespread adoption of international legal instruments and
strategies to apprehend, prosecute, judge, and sentence perpetrators of grand
corruption - the gravest forms of corruption.
GOPAC is a worldwide alliance of parliamentarians working together to combat
corruption, strengthen good government, and uphold the rule of law. Based in
Ottawa, Canada, GOPAC has 49 national chapters on 5 continents. GOPAC
supports its members’ efforts through original research, global anti-corruption
capacity building, and international peer support. Visit GOPAC on the web at
gopacnetwork.org, on Twitter at twitter.com/GOPAC_Eng, and on Facebook at
facebook.com/gopacnetwork
The discussion paper on this topic can be found here
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