Section 3: Corruption and Remedies against it

Text 1 During a research recently carried out by TRANSCRIME on corruption in the 15 European Union countries, six main patterns of corruption and different patterns of criminal responses to corruption were outlined: § systematic corruption (Italy, France, Spain and Belgium); § emerging systematic corruption (Germany and Greece); § sporadic corruption (Ireland, Austria and Portugal); § casual corruption (the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Sweden); § English corruption (United Kingdom); § managing others' corruption (Luxembourg). With reference to legal responses the main criteria used for this analysis were: a) the definition of the crime of corruption; b) the distinction between passive and active corruption; c) the definition of passive and active subjects involved in the crime of corruption; and d) sanctions. The results show that there is less homogeneity with respect to the definition of the crime of corruption. The differences in definition are related to the fact that corruption takes on different forms in the various European countries, depending on each cultural and social context. It is important to study the cultural background of the various countries in order to discover the constant elements of corruption and thus to adopt the most effective preventive measures. For instance, when referring to «corruption prone environment» in Italy, we are talking about a phenomenon that is deeply rooted in the cultural tradition of Italian society, in the sense that corrupt activities are practised and accepted by normal citizens. The penal codes of the United Kingdom and Germany envisage various levels of corruption crimes (misdemeanours or felonies), according to the position held by the actor. Another distinction is related to the nature of the corruption act, in that it may be linked with, or contrary to the functional role of the actor. In the case of the passive receipt of a bribe by a public official in order to speed up a service for which he/she is competent, the penalty of a fine is envisaged. On the other hand, a public official who authorises the issuance of a licence although this is not under his/her competence, is committing an offence. In Austria (Article 304, paragraph 1), Denmark (Article 144), Finland (Article 40), Germany (paragraph 332), the Netherlands (Article 363) passive corruption involving abuse of the public function is punished with a higher penalty than in the case of corruption that does not involve the abuse of a public function.

§ Vocabulary notes

	remedy	['remIdI]	1) средство от болезни, лекарство; 2) средство, мера (против чего-либо); 3) средство судебной
			защиты, средство защиты права
	pattern	['p{t@n]	модель, система
	sporadic	[sp@'r{dIk]	единичный, случайный
	casual	['k{Zju@l]	1) случайный; 2) непреднамеренный;
			3) случайный, нерегулярный
	criterion (Lot.)	[kraI'tI@rI@n]	критерий
	pl. criteria	[kraI'tI@rI@]
	distinction		различие, отличие, разница
	homogeneity	[,hom@u³e'nI:@tI]	однородность
	to be related		относиться, иметь отношение
	background		предпосылка, данные, объяснения, фон, истоки
	prone		склонный
	prone to anger		вспыльчивый
	He is prone to		Он склонен к быстрым действиям.
	prompt action.
environment	[In'vaI@r@nm@nt]	окружающая обстановка, окружающая среда
rooted		вкоренившийся, коренящийся
penal		уголовный
the penal code		уголовный кодекс
to envisage		предусматривать, рассматривать
misdemeanour	[,mIsdI'mI:n@]	судебно наказуемый проступок,
		преступление
felony		уголовное преступление
contrary to		противоположный
bribe		взятка

§ Words and Grammar

a Write down the nouns formed from the following verbs:

to research – research

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