ADB OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific: The Criminalisation of Bribery in Asia and the Pacific

Criminalisation is a key component of all international anti-corruption instruments. For example, the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (Anti-Bribery Convention) and the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) both require States Parties to enact specific criminal offences on bribery. The Asian Development Bank (ADB)/Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Anti-Corruption Initiative's Action Plan commits countries to ensure the existence of legislation with dissuasive sanctions which effectively and actively combat the offence of bribery of public officials. However, criminalisation can be a challenging task, as experienced by many countries Party to the Anti-Bribery Convention. This report reviews the criminalisation of bribery offences in Asian countries under the UNCAC. Drawing on the experience of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention's monitoring mechanism, the review focuses on each member's implementation of UNCAC Articles 15, 16 and 26 (domestic and foreign bribery by natural and legal persons). The review also identifies trends and challenges across the Asia-Pacific region.Table of Content : Main Abbreviations and AcronymsExecutive SummaryIntroduction, Scope and MethodologyPart I Overview of the Criminalisation of Bribery in Asia-Pacific-1. Elements of the Active and Passive Domestic Bribery Offences-2. Bribery of foreign public officials -3. Defences-4. Liability of legal persons for bribery-5. Jurisdiction to prosecute bribery -6. Sanctions for bribery -7. Tools for investigating bribery -8. Enforcement of bribery offences -9. Conclusion and recommendations-Annex 1 Excerpts from UNCAC (Articles 15 and 16); OECD Anti-Bribery Convention Articles 1-3 Annex 2 Summary of Maximum Sanctions for Domestic Bribery in the Initiatives MembersPart II Criminalisation of Bribery in the Initiatives 28 Member Jurisdictions-Australia -Bangladesh-Bhutan-Cambodia -P.R. China -Cook Islands-Fiji Islands -Hong Kong, China-India -Indonesia-Japan-Kazakhstan-Korea -Kyrgyzstan -Macao, China -Malaysia -Mongolia-Nepal-Pakistan -Palau -Papua New Guinea -Philippines -Samoa -Singapore -Sri Lanka-Thailand -Vanuatu -Viet Nam