Evaluating the global anti-­corruption regime — The case of UNCAC in PNG

摘要

This thesis critically analyses the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) using the case study of Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is the first major empirical study on the implementation of UNCAC in PNG.The thesis builds on the five-stage model developed by Nadelmann and Andreas to explain the evolution of global prohibition regimes and applies it to the evolution of the global anti-corruption regime (the regime).The goal of the thesis is to understand the diverse values and interests that have shaped the evolution of this regime and to evaluate why the regime has failed to achieve the final stage of evolution: a substantial reduction in corrupt activity globally.The thesis addresses four risk factors that critics suggest may limit the effectiveness of UNCAC, prevent regime evolution, and result in harmful social, economic and political outcomes if the regime is misapplied.Four research questions are answered, using a combination of critical legal analysis, interview research, and fieldwork in PNG:1.How has UNCAC evolved within the emergent global anti-corruption regime?2.What impact has UNCAC had on PNG’s approach to combatting corruption?3.Does PNG’s experience with implementation and enforcement of UNCAC support the existing theoretical and practical criticisms of UNCAC and the emergent global anti-corruption regime more generally?4.What insight does the PNG case study provide in terms of potential improvements to UNCAC and its implementation and enforcement, with the goal of securing the final stage of evolution for the global anti-corruption regime?The research identifies a new risk factor and suggests that criticism of UNCAC may overstate the Convention’s coercive influence. On this basis, the thesis concludes that UNCAC is best understood as a flexible tool to support diverse anti-corruption efforts. Increased education about and engagement with UNCAC, and with governments involved in implementing and enforcing UNCAC, may be a powerful method for increasing the domestic relevance of the regime, particularly in developing state such a PNG. Such an approach may neutralise the risk factors documented by the research and support evolution of the regime to the final stage, substantially reducing corrupt activity globally.