Netzwerk Ost-West Berlin - 2014 Netzwerk Ost-West

Juristische Fakultät der Humboldt Universität Unter den Linden 9 10099 Berlin

Projektleiter: Prof. Dr. Martin Heger, Prof. Dr. Bernd Heinrich Dear Reader,

the Network East-West is a well But there is more to the Network East- established exchange programme by the West than the academics: We all got to know Faculty of Law of Humboldt University. a new country, its people and culture, by For 18 years students have been given the spending time with our exchange partners, opportunity to participate in international talking, laughing and going out with them. seminars with partner universities in We learned a lot about Armenian history eastern Europe. In 2014 it was the first by the varied programme provided to us time though for a group from Humboldt in Yerevan, and also about our very own to travel to ‘s Russian-Slavonic politics and judicial system by our visits to University in Yerevan. It was also the minsteries and legal institutions in Berlin. first time for one of the seminars to be For all of us participating in the Network held in English, dealing with the topic of East-West has been an unforgettable „Combating Corruption in Armenian and experience. We want to express our German Criminal Law“. gratitude to the DAAD for its generous During the two weeks we spent together sponsorship - thank you for enabling us with the Armenian participants in to make this experience on an academic Yerevan and Berlin we heard ten different and personal level! presentations, each one focussing on a This journal puts together a diary of the certain aspect of the topic and each one two weeks in Yerevan and Berlin (p. 6- given by one Armenian and one German 24) and the abstracts of our papers and student, who talked about the situation presentations (p. 26-36). We hope that it in their country. We had many long and will be an insightful documentation of fruitful discussions and learned a lot about the seminar for everyone interested in the problems of fighting corruption and learning more about it and a memory for how the two different criminal codes deal everyone who participated in it. with it. It was a great chance to look at law Have fun reading! in a different, more intensive and creative way than we do in our regular studies. Selena Nastvogel & Veronika Widmann NOW 2014

Participants

Berlin Yerevan Michael Jahn Tutors John Hayrapetyan Hendrik Pekárek Aram Vardevanyan

Julia Ehmann Anna Baghdasaryan Matthias Holland Organisers Tsialla Makaryan Josefine Siegmund Samson Martirosyan

Tanja Altunjan Narek Abgaryan Timur Ina Aram Aramyan Stefan Klauser Grigor Grigoryan Agneta Melikyan Nina Grigoryan Selena Nastvogel Anush Hakobyan Kristina Schimpf Sona Mantashyan Jo Siebel Haik Movsisyan Till Sudkamp Sargis Terzikyan Jonathan Thüringer Tatevik Zakaryan Veronika Widmann

 NOW 2014

Daily Reports

Yerevan Arrival in Armenia ...... 6 5.8...... 7 6.8...... 8 7.8...... 10 8.8...... 11 9.8...... 12 10.8...... 13

Berlin 11.8...... 15 12.8...... 16 13.8...... 17 14.8...... 19 15.8...... 21 16.8...... 22 17.8...... 23 18.8...... 24

 NOW 2014 Arrival in Armenia

he seminar started on the third of International Cooperation at Russian- Sightseeing of August. We met at the main Armenian (Slavonic) University, Suzanna in Yerevan: The station at noon to get from Shamakhyan. After the nice welcome we opera house on Berlin to Prague by train. After got to know our partners and had a short the left, a newly theT arrival in Prague we had some free tour across the university. constructed time at the airport. In general we spend In evening we had a tour through the church in the the first day on the journey to Yerevan. city and got the chance to see Yerevan middle. And on We finally arrived in Yerevan very early by night. This walking tour provided us we go to the in the morning and were picked up by an a very beautiful side of Yerevan by night. university... Armenian organiser who brought us to We passed e.g. the opera house and the the hostel. Cascade, which is an impressive staircase Most of us went directly to bed in order and boulevard with works of art all over to get some sleep before the first day in the different terraces. Yerevan. After some hours of sleep we To sum it up we got during our first day walked into the city and found a nice café in Yerevan after a full day of journey a at the Opera square for breakfast. We had great possibility to see some popular some chance to get a first impression of and also magnificent spots of the city. Yerevan and not only saw the Opera but Moreover we were very friendly welcomed also a very old church and an impressive so that the first day in Yerevan has built new one which is being built right next the ideal basis for the two-week seminar to it. In the afternoon we were welcomed between the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) at the university and the program for University in Yerevan and the Humboldt- the following week was presented by University in Berlin. one Armenian seminar tutor, John Hayrapetyan, and the Head of Department Kristina Schimpf

...where we are welcomed by Suzanna Sha- makhyan, John Hayrapetyan and our Armeni- an partners

 NOW 2014 Tuesday, August 5th

fter another short night’s told us, contains a short treatise on the sleep and meager breakfast at distinction between the internal and the the hostel we were picked up external aspect of sovereignity. by Samson, our neuköllnishly We enjoyed the end of the day over a dressedA and abundantly patient guide from exquisit meal in the vaulted cellars of the Slavonic University’s international the Caucasus Tavern together with the office. His mere presence was enough Armenian students before we went back to enduringly cheer up a group of heavy to the hostel to catch some sleep. eyed Germans which is probably why he, by tacit agreement, was designated our Stefan Klauser journey’s ‘mascot’. Having arrived with mostly empty stomachs at the university the four hours until lunch first seemed like eternity, but from the moment we started preparing the presentations our appetite was superseded as we were getting into the state of flow. For most of us, the hours of preparation were driven by lively conversations about the topics each of us prepared over the past weeks and months. Bit by bit, the presentations took shape. This first phase of comparative work left us with the feeling of already having learned a great deal about the challenges imposed to and decisions made by Armenian and German criminal law in the particular field of corruption as well as the prospect of a rewarding seminar week. Lunch, finally! It is almost a truism that travels to faraway countries not only broadens the cultural, but also the culinary horizons. It proved to be particularly true for the combination of pizza and ketchup which henceforth became inseparable for some and remained a mystery for others. Our cultural afternoon program led us to the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, named after the inventor of the Armenian alphabet (362-440 AD). It is also refered to as which roughly means library. Besides preserving, restoring and reproducing manuscripts in Armenian and other languages including Hebrew, Greek and Latin the Matenadaran also serves as a museum. We were taken Hard work in on a furious chase through the history the morning, a of Armenian manuscripts, the art of visit to the Mes- book illumination and some of the most rop Mashtots precious exhibits. One of them is a 14th Institute of century example of the Datastanagirk Ancient code of law. Interestingly this early piece Manuscripts of writing, as the Armenian students

 NOW 2014 Wednesday, August 6th

View of Yerevan from the historical Erebuni fortress

he first destination of the third subtle distinctions between German and day was the historical Erebuni Armenian traffic habits: where Germans Fortress, the geographical and tend to use the indicator or the brake, etymological cradle of todays the Armenians prefer the horn. Having Yerevan.T Founded in 782 BC by the arrived at the university, those who were kings of as a military stronghold to present their topic the following day it was later turned into their residence. gave their presentations the final polish. The ancient city was not discovered until Others tried to decipher the cyrillic 1947. During the excavations, enormous inscriptions on the coffee dispenser (with ceramic jars and numerous cuneiform varying success and to the amusement of inscriptions were found that are now the three ‘gatekeepers’). displayed in the which As it was Grigor’s birthday that day, was opened in 1962 to commemorate we could not go out for dinner without Erebuni’s 2 750th birthday. singing the German birthday song to him Due to the romantic charm of the ruins and surprising him with an improvised and their location high on a hill with a great birthday cake. He was touched. After view over the city, it was not easy to get us the musical performance we went on off again. Especially the mural paintings to another excellent restaurant serving and the giant ants that were crawling . For all of us and for the around attracted a lot of attention. The vegetarians in particular who meanwhile walls of the fortress even caused a sudden made up almost half the group, the food urge to climb, jump and fly some of us was so overwhlemingly good that we just could not resist to follow. decided to come back one of the following We took cabs to the university. It was a nights. long drive which allowed us to see a big part of the city. It also made us aware of the Stefan Klauser

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A walk through the ruins of Erebuni fortress, en- joying the view of the city.

Dinner at a traditional Armenian restaurant - no one had to go home hungry.

 NOW 2014 Thursday, August 7th

n our fourth day in Armenia, Schweinsteiger – would be criminally liable A day full of things finally got serious. for accepting benefits under German presentations In the past few days, we law. (We learnt that he would not. The and interesting had gotten to know our principal of a business enjoys impunity discussions on partnersO and prepared our presentations, for passive bribery.) the topic of settled in to our hostel and explored the After a quick lunch break at our corruption city of Yerevan. Now it was time for the favorite Italian restaurant, we headed presentations and discussions to begin. back to Slavonic University for the third The first presentation of the week presentation of the day. It was given by – ‘Corruption in Public Administration’– Hayk and Stefan and centered on the was given by Jo and Tatevik who set the term ‘benefit’, a decisive element to all bar high for the rest of us. In the course anti-corruption laws. Stefan gave us an of only thirty minutes, they introduced overview on German case law on this the German and Armenian criminal complicated issue, while Hayk offered systems and explained the basic structure the group an in-depth explanation of of the corruption offences. This served how corruption is perceived in Armenian as an important basis for the discussions society. The discussion focused on how throughout the rest of our seminars. The to qualify a gift as a criminally relevant group then attempted to come up with benefit, a problem recently illustrated by a suitable definition of corruption, but the corruption trial of former German soon had to realize that this was almost president Christian Wulff. We realized impossible. that different cultures will have different Different understandings of the nature solutions for this issue; this would turn of corruption were also visible during the out to be a major theme of our seminar. second presentation of the day. Kristina A long but very interesting day of and Anush talked about ‘Corruption in presentations and discussions was topped Domestic Business Transactions’. This off by a visit to a rooftop bar at Yerevan’s led to a very lively discussion about Republican Square where we had already the differences between Armenian witnessed an impressive fountain show and German law on corruption in the earlier in the week. This time, we were not commercial sphere and posed quite a only treated to a selection of Armenian challenge to the moderators keeping track (and sometimes Georgian) desserts, but of the speaker’s list and the time limits. also enjoyed a wonderful view over the The question arose whether the owner city lit up by fireworks. and only employee of a beer-brewing company – appropriately named Friedrich Tanja Altunjan

10 NOW 2014 Friday, August 8th

ur fifth day in Yerevan started now split up, some wanted to go and visit with a nice wake-up call from the Ararat Brandy Factory in Yerevan, Fine. As usual, no one of us while the others went to have some wanted to get up. relaxed lunch and just enjoy their time OFinally everyone was ready to go and off a little bit. Later on we all met at the ‘our’ Armenians came to pick us up. History Museum of Armenia. Our brandy Having arrived at university we started tasters with lots of brandy in their bags with the presentation from Agneta and maybe slightly tipsy. and Sona. Their topic was ‘Collusion, For once we had a nice guide, an older Conspiracy and Illicit Agreement – The lady that led us through the museum and Core of Anti-Corruption Laws’. The told us interesting facts. One thing we discussion afterwards was mostly learned is that the Armenian symbol, the dominated by trying to get the distinction pomegranate, stands for the earth. It has from collusion, conspiracy and illicit a hard shell but on the inside it carries the agreement because they all mean different seeds of life. things in the German language, which got Afterwards there were two options again; some of us students confused. Both, Sona one could either go shopping to the mall and Agneta, tried their best to answer our with some of the Armenian girls or play questions and clarify the terms. In the end soccer against some Armenian boys. Only our dear tutors admitted that they might a few went on the shopping trip, some have initiated the confusion because of went to see the blue mosque and most of their choice of terms. our students went to play soccer (or cheer After a short break this discussion was for the players). Since Germany won the followed by the presentation by Veronika world cup this year it is not surprising how Discussions and Nina on the topic of ‘Corrupt Politics the game ended: 7 goals for our German in the morning, – Buying and Selling Votes’. When they Students and 2 goals for our Armenian football and a finished their nice presentation there was team. Our day ended with ‘help yourself visit to the lots of interest in their topic, too and a dinner’ and some card games. Ararat Brandy vivid discussion developed. Factory in the Around 1 pm we were done with the afternoon ‘academic part’ of our day. Our group Jo Siebel

11 NOW 2014 Saturday, August 9th

inally, after long days of preparation and presentation, we had our first day off. There is probably no better destination thanF that we chose to be our refuge in another hot and sunny day. Located roughly 70 km away from Yerevan, it lies like an oasis between the barren hills that are so typical for the Armenian landscape. We started our trip in a small bus, still big enough for (almost) everyone to fit in and very much like our hostel room creating a class trip atmosphere. The trip itself took us about one hour in which for the first time we were able to see how Armenia looks outside of Yerevan. We were not disappointed: the lake is located approximately 900m higher than the capital and the way to it gave us the opportunity to look down flat sloping hillsides or see the wide town of Yerevan from a far distance. Having arrived, there were only few things left to do: after putting on sunscreen we looked for a place as close as possible to the lake and jumped in! Or at least some of us did. Afterwards everybody enjoyed the five or six hours we spent at the lake individually: some of us by bathing in the sun, others by reading, swimming, walking around the lake, playing card games with our Armenian fellows or enjoying the waterslides in the open-air bath nearby. The torrid sun clearly left its traces on the participants: exhausted many of us fell asleep on our way back to the hostel. There, organizers and participants arranged a modest dinner mostly consisting of juicy fruits and Armenian bread we could get in a little shop nearby. In the evening some of the Armenian participants came back to fetch us at our hostel. We went to a traditional Armenian bar where we spent some couple of hours together talking. The German students who left a bit earlier from the bar spent the rest of the evening playing board A relaxing day games at the hostel, where shortly after in the Armenian everybody of us exhaustedly fell asleep. countryside on beautiful Lake Jonathan Thüringer Sevan

12 NOW 2014 Sunday, August 10th

At the Garni his day began with another during a huge earthquake in 1679 and Temple we excursion, this time of was rebuilt between 1969 and 1974. The enjoyed the cultural background. Our first Armenian students who were familiar with historic site destination was the Pagan the history of the temple gave us a little and the nature TempleT of Garni, located roughly 32 guided tour and showed us parts of the around it km southeast from Yerevan. The temple complex such as the ancient bathrooms. is part of a complex that used to be a Our next stop was the Geghard summer residence for the Armenian Monastery which is listed as UNESCO royal family back in the third century BC. World Heritage Site for its walls carved It is the only pagan temple in Armenia partly out of the mountain. At its entrance that survived the Christianization of the waited a unique opportunity to get a wish country that took place in the beginnings of your choice granted: you merely had of the fourth century. It had collapsed to throw a rock into a little hole about

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two metres above our heads. As we tried For our way back to the hostel we we had to realize it was not as easy as it provided ourselves with different kinds looked, but still two of us managed to of dried fruits and other products made throw in a rock after a few tries. thereof, as well as loafs of bread that The monastery itself was crowded with turned out to taste similar to German tourists attempting to take a good picture Streuselkuchen and were so huge they in one of the light beams that found their actually still fed us in the train we later took way into the dark halls that were only from Czech Republic back to Berlin. illuminated by dim candlelight. The noisy In the evening we enjoyed our last Geghard crowd left little of what was supposed Armenian dinner and chose a traditional Monastery: to be a place of silence and devotion. restaurant we had eaten at a couple of impressive from A baptism that took place in the main days ago - once again everything tasted the outside as chamber was the only reminder that the delicious. well as from monastery is still inhabited by monks. Jonthan Thüringer within

14 NOW 2014 Monday, August 11th

After a long trip we arrived in Berlin and were welcomed by professor Heinrich

t about midnight we found our at 8:35 am. About five hours later, we way back from the restaurant arrived in Berlin. Freshly showered, but to our hostel. There we packed still tired, the Armenian and the German our bags and, after that, sat group met in a Seminar room at Humboldt- atA the hostel yard for one last time and University around 4 pm. Professor Bernd enjoyed the atmosphere of Yerevan at Heinrich held a speech, in which he gave night. After we said goodbye to an Iranian an overview of German anti-corruption couple we made friends with at the hostel, laws. Subsequently, a discussion between we were taken to Zvarnots International Professor Heinrich and the participants Airport with cabs shortly after 2 am. developed. After that, Hendrik, one of Samson accompanied us to the airport. the German tutors guided a tour through At the airport, we checked in and passed Humboldt-University. To end the day, all the necessary security checks. Our flight participants then went to the restaurant was delayed slightly, but at 5:10 am, the Villa Rixdorf in Neukölln. There, with aeroplane finally took off. pooled forces, we ate two of the famous The German group arrived in Prague at giant pizzas. Finally, at 9 pm, everybody 7 am. Because of the delay, we hurried to went home and we could finally get some Prague central station and, fortunately, sleep. caught the train to Berlin which departed Till Sudkamp

15 NOW 2014 Tuesday, August 12th

t 8:30 am, all participants met Joseph-Albert Weiß, Commissioner for in front of the Federal Foreign Corruption Prevention and Head of Office. After we passed the Internal Auditing at the Federal Foreign security check, we proceeded Office. Mr. Weiß gave a presentation about toA a seminar room in which we met Florian the in-house corruption prevention at the Pötter, who gave a presentation on the Federal Foreign Office. He explained some bilateral relations between Armenia and principles used to prevent corruption like Germany. The three main topics of the the principle of rotation and the many eyes presentation were the Armenian genocide, principle. After that, he handed out some the relationship between and sheets with guidelines on handling gifts, Armenia and the Armenian process of which are regularly given to employees of rapprochement to the European Union. the Federal Foreign Office. In the following discussion, the Armenian We left the Foreign Office around 11 am participants were especially questioning and went to the cafeteria of Humboldt- why Germany officially does not recognize University to have lunch. After that we the Armenian genocide. Another topic of all took a tour through the exhibition high interest was the Nagorno-Karabakh ‘Topographie des Terrors’, where we were conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. informed about the machinations of the After this fruitful discussion, we met secret state police and Schutzstaffel in the National Socialist Period. At 3 pm we held our seminar at Humboldt-University, where Selena and Narek gave their presentation on the topic ‘Cultures of Corruption – Disadvantages and Advantages of Criminalizing Benefits, Favours and Gifts’. After the presentation we went to a shopping mall where we had dinner. Everyone picked what he/she wanted. Especially our Armenian friends liked to get food from McDonalds as there is no McDonalds in Armenia. After the dinner some still went shopping and others just went home to catch some sleep.

Till Sudkamp

On our first day in Berlin we visited the Federal Foreign Office and the Museum „Topo- graphy of Terror“

16 NOW 2014 Wednesday, August 13th

A group pic- n Wednesday we went to the Consumer Protecting concerning the ture on top of Federal Ministry of Justice prevention of corruption. In September the German and Consumer Protection. 2014 there is going to be a change in parliament in There we met Markus Busch German legislation concering the fight the historic whoO is responsible for the Compartment against corruption. A woman showed us Reichstag for Fighting Crimes related to the around through the Minstery where one building Economy, Computers, Environment and of the highlights was that we went into the Corruption. Their main responsibility office of Heiko Maas, who is the German at the Ministry of Justice is to prepare Minister of Justice. At his office we were legislation. Mr. Busch told about their allowed to take pictures which was fun. different offices in the Ministry of After lunch in the cantine of the ministry Justice and Consumer Protection but as we had some free time. Some of us went well about the other Ministries. He gave shopping, others when to the Berlin us an handout which showed all of the Cathedral and to a German chocolate ministeries and their duties. He also shop . passed around the Complicane Report At 2. 40 pm we wanted to meet at the on Armenia which was quite interesting Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) especially for our Armenian friends. where we originally wanted to give our After these introductions Mr. Busch Armenian friends some information about talked about the offences concerning this important place. However, none of bribery of public officials (sec. 331-338 them showed up due to problems of CC). He pointed out the public offical arriving. That‘s why we met directly at the advantages in the German legislation. Bundestag where we had an appointment. Then he talked about the taking and Our guide first explained the history of giving of bribes in commerical practice the building. Amongst other things he (sec. 299-302 CC). As there is a draft bill talked about the fact that in 1991 the by the Federal Ministery of Justice and German Bundestag decided that the seat

17 NOW 2014 of Parliament and Government would be moved to Berlin. Quite interesting were the graffit which were left by Soviet troops. Our Armenian friends found some Armenian sayings as well. Our guide showed us the eagle which hangs in the heart of the Bundestag. She told us that the eagle has two sides. On the front side one sees the eagle as the German landmark however on the other side one sees the interpretation of Norman Foster. He is an English architect

who renovated the Bundestag and he In the Federal said, that the German eagle is not able to Ministry of Justi- fly. Therefore he designed another eagle ce and Consumer which is able to. Protection we We also saw the chapel where everybody heard a very who works in the Bundestag has the interesting option to pray or to spend some time in presentation on it. The chapel has a lot of art work by corruption Guenter Uecker, who is known as the ‚Nail Artist‘. The chapel is open for every religion not only for Christians. When we were at the top of the building we had the option of taking audio guides. The view from this point is brilliant. One has a perfect overview about the city. Then we went back to the university where we had our seminar. This time Sargis and Till had their presentation about the topic : Corruption and Corporate Criminal Liability. Exceptional was that Sargis hold his part of the presentation in German. Afterwards we went to the SpätzleExpress in Kreuzberg where we had a traditional southern German dinner together. The food was good and the conversations very nice.

Selena Nastvogel

18 NOW 2014 Thursday, August 14th

hursday was the most does not seem to be too uncomfortable. interesting day in our week This impression was mainly created in Germany. The day started by the relaxed manner between the with the walkthrough of a guards and the prisoners. The guards prison,T went on with a visit of one of are not armed, they only carry a whistle, the biggest chanceries in Germany and keys and a walkie-talkie. Dangerous ended with a guided tour through the inmates are held under control by letting German Chancellery. two guards accompany them. The The prison which we visited, the atmosphere seems even more relaxed ‘Justizvollzugsanstalt Moabit’, is as the prisoners are allowed to walk considered to be one of the toughest around wearing private clothes, play in Berlin. The prison population can videogames and watch cable TV from reach about 1100 inmates. A number their home country. Furthermore the that generally is exhausted. However, food served to the cells can be ordered the most interesting information about as vegetarian, halal or even vegan. The the prison, of course, are not those one cells are considered as homes. Hence can look up in the internet but those smoking is not prohibited. Mr. Wenk told us when giving us a tour Nevertheless, not everything is fine through the different parts of the prison. and the JVA still is a prison. Drugs Just to name the most unexpected facts: are constantly found and violence Starting with the negative ones we among inmates is not rare. Crystal Thursday was were surprised that only two visitation meth, though, has not been found yet so busy that hours per month are allowed. Moreover although the first addicts have already there was hardly there is absolutely no possibility to been taken into the prison. Obviously a any time to take have an internet connection. Studying prison, although looking like a place for pictures - only at a distance university is only possible vacation compared to other countries, is some of the visit by being transferred to another prison. not a place someone would like to stay. to the Nevertheless, many of us were Hence sometimes inmates try to escape. Chancellery astonished that the daily life in prison Mr. Wenk told us that several questions

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cannot be answered at the moment involved. Mahnke on the other hand Yet another concerning the successful escape of two could offer her first-hand experience on group picture. prisoners in May 2014. When Mr. Wenk Hengeler‘s trainee programme which Nice view you explained how they could flee showing might once become interesting for some got, Mrs. Merkel! the exact places it was somehow hard of us. We were surprised to hear that the not to admire the prisoners. Since it was salary at HM only depends on the time so interesting we stayed in the prison someone has been working there and not for four hours instead of two and a half on the deals he or she landed. We were shifting the seminar to the next day. also told that for being successful at HM After having lunch at an Italian it is important to work as a team rather restaurant, we went to the law firm than competitively. Our visit to the Hengeler Mueller (HM) at Französische law firm ended with a tour through its Straße. HM being one of the top German library from where the backyard of the law firms welcomed all of us, the Humboldt University can be seen. Armenian and the German students in The German Chancellery was rated as their impressive office with drinks and a beautiful building by most of us, the snacks. John Flüh and Anja Mahnke portrait of Gerhard Schroeder by some took so much time for us that we could of us. In the end we were glad to have even ask personal questions in the some time in its garden to think about end before taking a look at the private this eventful day. library of the law firm. Once again our expectations were exceeded: We learnt Timur Ina a lot about how a big law firm like Hengeler Mueller works from both an experienced partner and a young trainee. Flüh told us about one of Hengeler‘s most important cases and how he was

20 NOW 2014 Friday, August 15th

he fifth day in Germany began with the presentation early in the morning. It was the turn of Timur and his partner Grigor andT the turn of Jonathan. We started with the presentation of Timur and Grigor, which was about ‘Preventing and Battling Corruption through Administrative and Civil Law, Extralegal Sanctions and Compliance Mechanisms’. Afterwards Jonathan talked about ‘The Applicability of National Anti-Corruption Laws in Transnational Cases and Settings’. Both presentation were very interesting. In the discussion it was interesting that we talked about the case of the Australian right wing extremist Fredrick Toben who got punished because he denied the holocaust. We looked at the situation in Armenia and Germany and how such a case would be handled in each country. After the presentations and a coffee to go we visited the court of appeal which is located in Berlin Tiergarten. Inside the building we met the press speaker Dr. Tobias Kaehn who gave us a lot of information about the court. First of all we learned a lot about the impressive interior design of the building and afterwards we went to a courtroom where we got some important facts about trials taking place in the court of appeal. After finishing our tour through the court we went to a charming Italian restaurant where we had our lunch and could resume all the information that we had gained from the court. Afterwards we had some free time at our hands. Some of us did a sight-seeing tour with their partners, others had a shopping tour. The best part of the day was the get- together in the evening. We had a party with all participants of the NOW programme at the University. After a Everyone was short speech of Professor Heinrich the quite impressed party started. We met some nice students by the court from Ukraine, Georgia and Latvia, tried building with its ‘Riga Black Balsam’, a traditional Latvian elaborate stair- herbal liqueur and had a great time. cases and high ceilings. Agneta Melikyan

21 NOW 2014 Saturday, August 16th

omething very unusual happened this morning: We got to sleep in! So when we met up at the university around noonS we were ready to listen to the very last presentation of our seminar. It was Tanja’s and Aram’s turn to explain to all of us how international and transnational organizations fight or try to fight corruption. While Aram focused on the United Nations and their convention against corruption, Tanja gave an excellent overview on how the European Union tackles the issue. Afterwards there was a lively discussion about the significance and effectiveness of international treaties and conventions and about the European prosecutor which some of the EU-countries want to establish soon. It perfectly topped off two weeks of very interesting presentations and discussions: From the national level on the German and the Armenian side we had come to an international level and it once again became clear how difficult it is to fight the “victimless” crime of corruption. After lunch at a (surprise!) Italian restaurant the group split up to enjoy their free afternoon in the city. Some of us followed Jonathan’s lead to a world of delicious chocolate. Others went to the Berlin Dome and climbed all the way to the top where they had a spectacular view of the city. Some even had enough energy left to go on a bus tour and visit Charlottenburg Castle. When we met up again in the evening, everybody hat gotten ready for a night out around Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg. Some of us started it off with delicious Falafel and Döner. Then we all went to a bar to have some beer – what else would you drink in Germany? There was some surprise on the Armenian side though when it came to glass-sizes: ‘This is small?’ After a couple of small glasses we had to end the night Berlin- Some went to style of course – and go dancing till our see the Berlin feet hurt. Dome, others preferred the Berlin Bear made Veronika Widmann from chocolate.

22 NOW 2014 Sunday, August 17th

hey might still have hurt a The most beautiful part was still to come: little when we met up again The castle and park of Sanssouci, which in the morning to take a train was once the summer residence of King to Potsdam. Everyone was on Friedrich II. Sanssouci means ‘without timeT though and we could take off to the worries’ and without worries we wandered capital of Brandenburg, which was a new through the park, enjoyed the fountains experience for all Armenians and at least and flowers and the relaxing atmosphere. one of the Germans. Many pictures were taken and even the sun Matthias had prepared a tour and lead decided to show up every now and then. us through the beautiful old town of Finally our tour to Potsdam ended at - yet Potsdam. We started off at the Parliament another - Brandenburg Gate, from where of the state of Brandenburg, which had we took the tram back to the train station. been refurbished recently with the help Only a couple of hours later we met again of donors. After visiting two different to have a farewell party, thanks to Tanja churches and strolling through the Dutch who offered to invite everyone to her In Potsdam Quarter and the main street we were place. We had a great last evening and - as we enjoyed the ready to have lunch. None of us was up John put it - ‘we hope that our German- gardens with for more pizza so we decided to go to a Armenian friendship will continue’. their beautiful Burger restaurant and did not regret the castles. decision. Veronika Widmann

23 NOW 2014 Monday, August 18th

e couldn’t believe how and Aram who were so very curious about fast two weeks had passed German law and enriched our discussions. when we actually had To Mr. Heger and Mr. Heinrich, who put so to say our Goodbyes to much time into promoting and improving ourW Armenian and also to our German the Network East-West. To the Russian- friends after breakfast. Our gratitude goes Armenian Slavonic University, especially to everyone who was involved in planning to Suzanna Shamakhyan, who did a great and organizing this seminar: To Fine, job expanding the program into Armenia. Julia and Matthias who did an amazing And last but not least to the DAAD who job putting together an interesting and made it possible for all of us to spend varied program and somehow got us all these two weeks together, experience a to Armenia and back safe and sound. To new culture and a new culture of law and Anna, Cialla and Samson who took care of simply to learn so much in such a short us in Yerevan and made sure we didn’t get period of time. Thank you! lost. To Hendrik and Michael who were the most wonderful tutors, always helpful Veronika Widmann on behalf of all and always up for any kind of fun. To John participants

24 NOW 2014

Some last Impressions from Armenia and Germany

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26 NOW 2014

Combating Corruption in Armenian and German Criminal Law

- Abstracts -

27 NOW 2014

Abstracts

1 Corruption in Public Administration...... 29 2 Corruption in Domestic Business Transactions ...... 30 3 ‘Benefit’ as the Central Term in Anti-Corruption Laws ...... 31 4 Collusion, Conspiracy and Illicit Agreement ...... 32 5 Corrupt Politics - Buying and Selling Votes ...... 33 6 Cultures of Corruption ...... 34 7 Beyond Criminal Law ...... 35 8 Corruption and Corporate Criminal Liability ...... 36 9 The Applicability of National Anti-Corruption Laws in Transnational Cases and Settings ...... 37 10 Battling Corruption through International and Transnational Law and Organizations ...... 38

28 NOW 2014 1 Corruption in Public Administration

here is no single corruption interest protected by the anti corruption definition. It is also not laws. Another opinion states that the mentioned in the German protected legal interest is the objectivity Criminal Code. of government actions. The preferable TThe basis offenses are § 331 StGB and prevailing opinion thinks of the protected § 333 StGB. The §§ 331-334 StGB have a legal interest as a cumulative interest. It mirror-like classification. The qualification combines both opinions into one. o § 331 is § 332, and the qualification to § The bribery act can be compared to 333 StGB is § 334 StGB. a contract. There is a synallagmatic In §§ 331, 332 StGB the public official connection between the benefit and is taking bribes. This is called passive the official duty in form of an injustice bribery. In §§ agreement. The three stages oft he 333, 334 StGB contract-like act are the negotiation part, someone is the agreement part and the obligation The bribery act can be giving bribes part. The injustice increases with each compared to a contract to a public stage. official, which The competent public authority can is called active authorize benefits. There are four bribery. different kinds of permissions: the In opposite to §§ 333, 334 StGB, which previous authorization, the acceptance are general offenses that can be committed with reservations, the alleged reservation by anyone, §§ 331, 332 StGB are so called and the subsequent authorization. Their special offenses. These special offenses can difference lies in their time of approval. only be committed by public officials. The trust oft he general public decreases General and special offenses, they can with each authorization whose time of only be committed by public officials. approval is less recent. There are different opinions on the The definitions of public official etc. protected legal interest. From the are legally defined in § 11 of the German jurisdiction’s point of view the trust oft he Criminal Code. public in the integrity and incorruptibility of bearer of state offices, is the legal Jo Siebel

29 NOW 2014 2 Corruption in Domestic Business Transactions

hinking about corruption in This problem is enlarged by business transactions often current legislative work. The planned leads oneself to famous cases implementation of the principal-agent like the Siemens or MAN case model beside the existing competition thatT got enormous publicity. Sec. 299 model of sec. 299 GCC entails enormous GCC can be seen as the starting point for following problems. possible criminal liability of corruptive The employee’s and agent’s criminal business actions not only in a national but liability for a breach of duties against the also in an international frame. principal is not only problematic because The determination of the legally protected of a possible unconstitutionality regarding rights is already very controversially to the principle of legal certainty but also discussed. A consensus, however, exists because of the systematic, teleological concerning the mainly protection of a and historical fair and free competition in a market preconditions economy. This fact can be seen by taking of the existing The right protected by into account the historical development form of sec. 299 of the offence and the required objective GCC. Another § 299 is controversial elements. controversial The mirror-like structure of the offence point is that the requires on the one hand an employee or impunity of the principal is not going to agent of a business who demands, allows be changed but the circle of an employee’s himself to be promised or accepts a bribe or agent’s criminal liability is enormously as consideration for an unfair preference enlarged. International legal pressure is to another in the competitive purchase preferred to these negative consequences of goods or commercial services. On cause by the amendment. the other hand someone is criminally Another current legislative project is the liable who offers, promises or grants planned passage of a bill that implements an employee or agent of a business a criminal liability for a corruptive action in benefit for himself or for a third person the healthcare sector (sec. 299a GCC). in a business transaction for competitive All in all it can be seen that corruption purposes as consideration for an unfair in business transactions, laid down in sec. preference in the purchase of goods or 299 GCC, is a very controversial offence commercial services. but has a high theoretical and practical Dissociation problems exist most of all relevance in the system of economic to other offences like embezzlement (sec. criminal law. 266 GCC) and fraud (sec. 263 GCC). Kristina Schimpf

30 NOW 2014 3 „Benefit“ as the Central Term in Anti-Corruption Law

ny application of sec. 331 et. anyway, benefits resulting from a valid seqq., Criminal Code, faces contract, benefits that maintain the status the question of what qualifies quo, benefits resulting from the fulfilment a benefit as a benefit. The of the official’s duty, mere prospects of mostA commonly applied definition still benefits and benefits for the general requires interpretation as shows the case public. Generally, all benefits for third law. The paper’s scope is thus to elaborate parties are covered by the new version the major dogmatic problems concerning of sec. 331 et. seqq. In the cases of the this crucial term of anticorruption law. recipient being an entity of public law, It concludes the public official can absolve himself/ that ‘benefit’ herself by strictly observing the respective The term does not only has an ample directives and standards that regulate the scope which acceptance of, for instance, donations cover pecuniary benefits was enlarged and external funding. Finally, the paper considerably examines the solutions proposed to limit due to the the range of the corruption offences revision of the anticorruption provisions by limiting the term ‘benefit’. A reliable that went into force in 2000. distinction between punishable bribery The term does not only cover pecuniary and tolerable actions is not provided by but also so called immaterial benefits. the letter of the law nor established by the Jurisdiction on the latter kind has changed jurisprudence of the BGH. So far made over the years from a broad interpretation attempts by the way of obiter dictum give to a more restrictive one covering only rise to constitutional concerns and are benefits that can be measured objectively. hardly eligible for generalisation. Several groups of cases are dealt with more in depth: benefits that are available Stefan Klauser

31 NOW 2014 4 Collusion, Conspiracy and Illicit Agreement

orruption is everywhere und or other reasons you cannot punish him always present. It canbe either for being corrupt. in the administrations of In §§ 331, 333 of the German criminal large companies or in sports. code it is sufficient that the benefit is ThereforeC our criminal code has some granted in order to the discharge of an provisions, which punish the ones, who official duty. There does not have to be a are giving or taking bribes. discharge of a specific official duty. The The provisions against corruption in the concept of an ‘official duty’ is interpreted criminal code are divided in state office broadly. It includes any activity that belongs corruption, captured in §§ 331-335 and to the task corruption in business transaction to be of a public found at §§ 299-300. official. Till Collusion is an essential Besides granting a benefit there is one 1997 it was other seminal element in all German anti- regulated element of corruption corruption laws: The element of collusion differently: which we call ‘Unrechtsvereinbarung’. according The benefit is only being granted in to the law, the bribe had to be given for a order to make the official decision in a special official act, so cases like sweetening particular way. In other words there has someone were not ascertained. to be a connection between benefit and Meanwhile in §§ 332, 335 the bribe has the official’s decision/act - collusion. to be in return for the fact that the public For the legal practice this means that it is official either performed or will in the not evidence enough to show two isolated future perform an official act and thereby benefits, this would not be sufficient. It violated or will violate his official duties. must be proven, that there had been a To sum it up one can say that without silent agreement between both parties. illicit agreement the offence of corruption This means that if it is not proven that would not be fulfilled. someone is doing it just to be polite or his behavior is based on the common usage Agneta Melikyan

32 NOW 2014 5 Corrupt Politics - Buying and Selling Votes

t is a rare occasion when The last part of the paper is dedicated representatives of all political to the new version of § 108e, which was factions, non-governmental adopted in February 2014 and will become organizations, jurisdiction and effective on 1 September of the same year, jurisprudenceI agree on an issue of legal evaluating the changes that have been policy almost unanimously. This is the made and their consequences. It comes case though when it comes to criminal to the conclusion that the new version prosecution of political bribery in Germany: of § 108e StGB is far from perfect: The In 1999 and 2003 Germany signed two phrasing ‘by order or instruction’ is not international treaties concerning the fight a fortunate one, as it does not describe against corruption. Both remain unratified the phenomenon of corruption very well. up to this day due to one section in the It is also not evident why subsequently German Criminal Code: § 108e ‘Bribing granted benefits should not be punished Delegates’, which does not comply with as bribery. Nevertheless, the new version inter national of § 108e is an enormous improvement standards. This compared to its predecessor: It covers Two international treaties paper examines immaterial benefits and more than just the criticism it the buying and selling of a specific vote. remain unratified so far faces and – most As all commentators agree, it enables i m p o r t a n t l y Germany to finally ratify both the – the reform Criminal Law Convention on Corruption it was recently subjected to. In the of the Council of Europe and the UN- beginning it is discussed, why political Convention on Corruption. Of course corruption is criminalized and whether one might argue that this again is a purely this is compatible with the free mandate of symbolic step since an act of legislation delegates. A historical overview outlines says nothing about the level of corruption the development of the norm before its found within a state. Still, in a world that is insufficiencies are discussed in detail. The becoming increasingly aware of the harms main point of critique is its very restricted of corruption it must be in the interest coverage and applicability: The old version of a democratic state under the rule of of §108e sanctions only the explicit law to fight bribery as best as possible, buying and selling of a specific vote. It to comply with international standards leaves unsanctioned all other parts of a and to communicate its will to do so delegate’s work and immaterial benefits. domestically and towards other countries. It is the main reason why Germany to The reform of § 108e was therefore an this date was not able to ratify important important step in the right direction. international treaties. Veronika Widmann

33 NOW 2014 6 Cultures of Corruption - Advantages and Disadvantages of Criminalizing Corruption

arek and I talked about the or their whole role not only as a mother role of culture in corruption. and housewife. We noted that the level of While the other presentations corruption will not change the position looked at corruption from of the women in anyway. It is rather a theN legally point, we looked at culture. problem in the first case that countries that Therefore we wanted to give first a suppress women tend to be more corrupt. definition of corruption and of culture. However the problem of corruption will As the other presentations showed there not change when they promote women is no agreed definition of corruption due to work in higher positions. This was to the fact that is a phenomena which a really interesting point whereas the has a lot of different ramifications. It is study by Seleim and Bonits could not not right to understand corruption as a find a strong connection between those ‘game of one actor’ rather one has to see dimensions, level of corruption and level it as an active interaction between two or of gender egalitarianism, other studies even three parties. This is why corruption showed some connections. As mentioned includes a supply side and a demand side, above, a strong connection between those meaning someone who accepts the bribe two will never be and someone who asked for it. found because this The relationship between culture and is not the origin corruption is controversial seen. Some problem. As well Whistleblowers need an argue that corruption is equal to culture, we talked about whereas others see corruption as a protection of the ombudsman they can trust dysfunction of culture and yet others whistle blower and see corruption is reproduced by culture the importance of tradition. To investigate the relationship it. Persons who are whistle blowers have between culture and corruption we an insight knowledge and understanding talked about the study by Bontis and of their company. If those people are Seleim. They investigated how factors in a protected they will be more willing to tell political system might be correlated with about the wrongdoing in their company. corruption. The cultural dimensions of It is essential to use an ombudsmen, a values as the following ones: uncertainty objective person from outside, so the avoidance, power distance, individual whistle blower does not have to be afraid to collectivism, performance orientation, tell him or her the wrongdoing. Nowadays future orientation, human orientation, whistleblowers tend to rather say nothing institutional collectivm, assertiveness because telling the trust often means from and gender egalitarianism. During our them to face the consequences such as discussion we talked about the effect dismissal or bullying. There is a need of of gender egalitarianism. Among other those ombudsman in order to prevent things we discussed the question: Why corruption in companies and there are countries with high level of gender already some known companies that egalitarianism tend to have more women have ombudsmen and it is proofed that in higher positions. That means that those corruption in those companies is less countries are more open to the role of likely. women in society in terms of job positions Selena Nastvogel

34 NOW 2014 7 Beyond Criminal Law - Preventing and Battling Corruption through other measures

his paper deals with two hand to manipulate the employees in special aspects: Firstly it is a positive way by reminding them to not about criminal law and follow the regulations. On the other hand secondly measures of preventing responsibility can be pushed away to the corruptionT are introduced. It is divided compliance officer if something goes into two parts: legal methods and extra- wrong. legal methods. Starting with administrative So corruption can be prevented, but also law it goes on with civil law and ends detected and responded to by a working with compliance as an extra-legal way to compliance-system. For preventing combat corruption. corruption some general measures are In order to have a standardised legal system accepted. One is the four-eyes principle civil law must not accept corruption. The meaning that important decisions in emphasis is put on the nullity of contracts. corruption-prone areas have to be made Of course, contracts concluded under by at least two persons. The rotation corrupt circumstances somehow should principle, the need-to-know principle be nil and void. This can be reached by and separation of functions are nearly using article 134 self-explaining. The ombudsman system and article 138 is used to detect corruption. Here a of German Civil whistleblower is given the opportunity to Corrupt contracts are nil Code. Art. 134 report corrupt behavior or the suspicion of says that contracts it anonymously. To ensure this the position and void under civil law infringing a law of an ombudsman should be taken by a are void. The lawyer since lawyers can awoke lawyer’s infringed law can duty of secrecy. The whistleblower’s be the German Criminal Code including feeling of trust concerning the protection the articles concerning taking and giving of his identity is very important. bribes. Art. 138 says that contracts being Administrative law has several possibilities unconscionable are void. Neither the to combat corruption one of which is term ‘unconscionable’ nor its definition codifying preventive measures that are is clear enough. After that a contract is voluntarily used in enterprises. Another unconscionable if it contradicts common one is the creation of a corruption register. decency. Thus the jurisprudence has The first register for placing of orders and developed two groups of cases to precise award of contracts in Germany has been this vague definition. They assume codified in North Rhine-Westphalia in unconscionability in cases of ‘rejected 2005, listing natural and legal persons that commercialisation’ and ‘injury of the have acted corruptly it has both a repressive principal’. Hence the private autonomy and a preventive effect. Nevertheless an can be restricted while the legal protection immediate striking off is intended if the is denied. reliability is re-established. Compliance is a preventive measure to As a result it can be said that establishing fight corruption. It can be described as a preventive measures either voluntarily or system to ensure that everybody working due to laws helps combatting corruption. for an enterprise behaves legitimately. Non-criminal preventive and sanction To achieve this purpose companies measures are a necessary but not a mostly adopt codes of conduct which sufficient condition for the fight against determine the expected behavior. The corruption. idea behind compliance is on the one Timur Ina 35 NOW 2014 8 Corruption and Corporate Criminal Liability

argis Terzikyan and me presented administrative fines are publicly associated on the topic ‘Corruption and with bagatelles like parking violations. Corporate Criminal Liability’. Therefore, the sanction of corruption In both countries, Armenia and offences with administrative fines may have Germany,S there is a similar situation a negative effect on the public perception regarding corporate criminal liability: of corruption. Other problems are that De lege lata, corporations cannot be administrative offences are sanctioned by criminally liable, because it is said that the prosecution authorities themselves corporations, as any other legal entities, without being discussed in front of a court, cannot act and cannot be culpable. Since and that the prosecution of administrative guilt and culpability are prerequisites offences, pursuant to section 47 of the for punishment, corporations are act on regulatory offences, follows the consequently not criminally liable. There principle of discretionary prosecution. is, however, an ongoing discussion about Because German and Armenian the implementation of corporate criminal criminal law is deficient for combating liability. corporate corruption, many theories exist Many contributions of scholars have to overcome the obstacles of the lacking shown, that the absence of corporate ability to act and culpability of corporations. criminal liability has certain disadvantages Many of these theories are feasible ways for combating corruption. For example, to overcome corruption offences sometimes remain the problems unpunished, as modern complex with criminal corporate structures can hinder the law theory.In my Corporations cannot identification of individual offenders opinion, after be criminally liable inside a corporation. Another problem considering other is the corporate criminal attitude, which ways of control can develop through small contributions to honor the of a multitude of employees, make principle of criminal law as ultima ratio, itself independent and then negatively corporate criminal liability can and should influence the behaviour of all employees be implemented to combat corporate of a corporation. In such cases, the real corruption more efficiently. cause of and problem behind individual In the subsequent discussion, offences seems to be the corporate the participants asked how exactly criminal attitude, a phenomenon that is corporations could be punished. Besides independent of individual employees and monetary penalties, other penalties like can only be linked to the corporation itself. the exclusion from public contracts or, As a result of these and other arguments, in the worst case, the liquidation of the in both countries draft laws for the corporation, have been suggested by implementation exist. The prospects of scholars. success of this draft laws, though, is still Another question hinted at the reasons for uncertain. punishment, which, in case of corporate The major difference between the criminal liability, are deterrence and situation in Armenia and Germany marking the behaviour as condemnable. is, that in Germany corporations can Throughout the discussion we also be sanctioned directly for acts of talked a lot about the and the prospects corruption with administrative fines. of success of the draft law and its current While administrative offences enable stage in the legislative process. the sanction of corporations, they bring about new problems. For instance, Till Sudkamp

36 NOW 2014 9 The Applicability of National Anti-Corruption Laws on Transnational Cases and Settings

ot only is corruption an Against Corruption. Important objects international phenomenon, of investigation regarding this topic are it is an ancient one as well. the Articles 4 and 5 of the convention. In fact so ancient even Article 4 contains a jurisdictional clause MosesN approached upon the subject by obligating the member states to penalize saying ‘And thou shalt take no gift: for the transnational bribery. The subsequent gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the Article 5 is a necessary measure to forestall words of the righteous’ (Exodus 23:8). an unequal realization of the treaty. The Despite its long existence, the subject OECD Convention was also predecessor matter is as current as always. Lately there and catalyst for the EU-Anti-Corruption has been an international approach on Act (EUBestG) and the Act Against fighting corruption beyond the national International Corruption (IntBestG). borders of a country. States like Germany Before they came into effect in 1998, have been enabled through various treaties the anti-corruption s. 332, 334 GCC to apply their own legislation on cases could solely be applied on national public with a transnational setting, that is to say officials. This was owed to the fact that cases that involve not only national, but a “public official” is defined as someone also international citizens. The questions who after German law is authorized to to be answered are: How is this possible? perform a public duty (s. 11 ss. 1 no. 2 Why can a GCC), thereby not including public state apply its officials of other countries. What both Various parties can own legislation treaties did was extending the “public on foreigners official” terminus on a European as well prosecute a criminal act that may have as an international level, in order that nothing to national legislation could hence be applied do with this on foreign officials as well. legislation? Of course the presented treaties bring In regard to German criminal law the along advantages as well as disadvantages. answer can partly be found in the sections The proceeding globalisation of penal 3-7, 9 of the German Criminal Code legislation makes the prosecution of (GCC). These sections contain different a criminal act through various parties principles that authorize the state to possible and can be an effective measure intervene in transnational cases. The to combat corruption. Even if a state is most essential principles concerning the not able or does not want to prosecute a abovementioned topic are the territoriality corruption crime, another state may still principle as well as the personality attend to the prosecution of the crime. On principle. The territoriality principle the other hand, legislation also reflects the extends the penal power of the state on values of a society. This has to be taken all crimes that have been committed on into consideration especially for criminal its national territory regardless of who law, since acts condemned by criminal committed the crime and against whom law describe behaviours that after the it was directed The personality principle consent of the legal community portray on the other hand originates from the injustice. An interference in this order of special connection between a state and its values through another state implies the citizens. Both principles are very similarly superiority or at least correctness of the realized in the s. 14, 15 of the Armenian own regulations. No state can determine Criminal Code. globally what is and what is not injustice. Germany is unlike Armenia member of the OECD and ratified its Convention Jonathan Thüringer

37 NOW 2014 10 Battling Corruption through International Law and Organizations

orruption is not only a national TFEU and regulations under article 325 phenomenon. It crosses TFEU. These supranational mechanisms state borders and poses a are not available to any other international problem for the international organizations and qualify the EU as the community.C It harms the economy and prime international forum to battle threatens international relations, the rule corruption. Notably, the European of law and democratic systems. The Commission adopted an Anti-Corruption fight against international corruption Package in 2011 which included a new can only be carried out effectively on an monitoring procedure, the EU Anti- international level. In the past twenty Corruption Report. This was published for years, several international organizations the first time in February 2014 and aims to have developed anti-corruption policies promote high anti-corruption standards and legal instruments. across the EU. The report compiles data The international fight against corruption and information from several different was sparked by the United States who had sources and identifies common problems adopted a strict law prohibiting bribery of as well as positive developments. foreign public officials in 1977. This was The EU has also built up an institutional not recognized as a criminal offence in any basis to fight corruption. The Anti-Fraud other state at the time. After twenty years Office (OLAF) has the mandate to investigate of continued US lobbying the OECD corruption affecting adopted a Convention on Combating the EU’s financial Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in interests within The fight against corruption International Business Transactions. The and outside of EU scope of this convention remained rather institutions. Europol was sparked by the US limited. Still, it was a significant step and Eurojust forward and gave an impetus to other coordinate and international organizations. Only a few give assistance to years later, the Council of Europe adopted national anti-corruption investigations and the Criminal and Civil Law Conventions prosecutions. An important step towards on Corruption which has a broader scope a more cohesive anti-corruption policy is and aims to promote democracy and the the establishment of a European Public rule of law. This was followed by the Prosecutor’s Office which is currently being 2003 United Nations Convention against proposed by the European Commission. Corruption, the broadest instrument All actions taken by international thus far. The convention attempts to organizations cannot replace the individual implement minimum anti-corruption states’ commitment. The task of changing standards across the globe. national laws according to international The European Union tackled corruption requirements and prosecuting cross-border with a different objective. In the late corruption rests with them. International 1990s, it adopted two conventions organizations can only support this by dealing with corruption. Both of these promoting common standards and putting instruments originated from the need to political pressure on the states to improve protect the EU’s own financial interests their efforts. The EU, however, has more and the integrity of its administrative, effective ways to combat corruption and is legislative and judicial bodies. Since the currently developing a broader and more Lisbon treaty entered into force in 2009, centralized anti-corruption policy. the EU has even more possibilities to effectively fight corruption. It can pass Tanja Altunjan anti-corruption directives under article 83

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