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The New Anti-Corruption Approach: Removing the Roots of Corruption
Project summary
LFMI proposes a project to introduce an effective approach to the fight against corruption, promoting measures and policies designed to remove the roots of corruption. The traditional remedies for fighting corruption - severe penalties, pay rises for officials or "clean hands" commissions - have failed to give desired results, as they are targeted at symptoms of corruption rather than its root causes. LFMI will develop and propose viable means to reduce the opportunities for the abuse of official power, thus enriching anti-corruption strategies and increasing the number of means for the fight against corruption.
The project proposed by LFMI will incorporate policy analysis and formulation with an active advocacy, media outreach and dissemination strategy. The project will be targeted at lawmakers, government executives, regulatory and judicial authorities, and legal intermediation institutions. It will bring significant results for ordinary citizens and entrepreneurs. Project activities will also be directed towards international organisations, interested NGOs and associations, academia, and the media.
The project will entail several tasks and methods. LFMI will explore the experience of renowned international organisations, such as Transparency International, the World Bank and PHARE, in the fight against corruption. The results of this task will help to utilise the existing experience in building workable anti-corruption strategies and to combine the measures promoted by the said organisations and those developed as a result of this project. Subsequently, LFMI will carry out focused, policy-oriented research and analysis in two areas that are particularly vulnerable to corruption: the judiciary and the regulatory system. The specific objectives of the project will thus be twofold: (i) to analyse, and assess the effectiveness of, the judicial system as a means for exposure and reduction of corruption, and (ii) to carry out research into selected government regulations, aiming to appraise the opportunities for the abuse of official power.
LFMI will explore court practices and judicial procedures, as well as relevant legislation governing legal intermediation. Case studies in the area of regulations will focus on hygiene and labour regulations. A survey and interviewing will be used to elicit public opinion and derive first-hand information. The research will provide a solid basis for formulating policy proposals. Recommendations will be developed to make the judicial system more transparent and effective in exposing and combating corruption. The policy study will outline what regulatory powers should be removed or narrowed, in what areas discretionary actions of officials should be minimised and what changes are needed to simplify administrative procedures.
An intensive policy advocacy and dissemination activities will be launched to submit the policy studies and proposals to decision making authorities and to ensure public presentation. To gain passage for suggested changes, the policy advocacy campaign will include testimonies before, and meetings with, high ranking government executives and officials. These efforts will be facilitated by LFMI's long-standing involvement in policy debates, open communications and issue briefings with decision makers at the legislative and executive levels. In the dissemination campaign, LFMI will utilise mass media, its newsletter, and a seminar.
The implementation of the project will result in the introduction of an effective approach to corruption problems. The curtailment of government regulations and simplification of administrative procedures will help undermine opportunities for the abuse of official power. The removal of weaknesses in the judicial system will contribute to enhancing its effectiveness as a means for exposure and reduction of corruption. This will be essential for facilitating people's affairs, unleashing new opportunities for private initiative and restoring public confidence and faith.
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