Combating Bribery and Corruption

Welcome to the Ministry of Justice's "Combating Bribery and Corruption" webpage.

New Zealand has signed and ratified a number of important international treaties designed to address corruption and bribery. They include:

• OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions

• UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime

And recently (in 2003) New Zealand signed, and is currently undertaking the work necessary to ratify, the following:

• UN Convention Against Corruption

In October 2006 the OECD examined New Zealand for compliance with the Convention Against Foreign Bribery (above). Attached is a copy of the Executive Summary of that report. The full text of the report is available on the OECD’s web site at: http://www.oecd.org/infobycountry.

• Speech: Minister Welcomes OECD Anti-Bribery Evaluation Team to New Zealand, May 2006 (PDF 12KB)
• New Zealand Phase II Report, Executive Summary, October 2006 (PDF 22KB)
• Media statement: Minister of Foreign Affairs, November 2006:  NZ scores highly in OECD bribery report (PDF  12KB)

The perception of bribery and corruption ranges vastly from country to country. Transparency International's 'Corruption Perception Index' (CPI) ranks countries in the order of which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians.

In 2006, out of 163 counties assessed, New Zealand ranked first with Iceland and Finland as the least corrupt nation in the world. The top 11 rankings were:

New Zealand's excellent standing on this scale is due to our compliance with international obligations, low instances of corruption, and participation at the international level in efforts to eliminate corruption in other countries. But it is also due to our well recognised cultural intolerance to corruption.

This web site is divided into four parts as follows:

PART ONE: LEGAL FRAMEWORK

This section identifies the domestic and international legal and administrative ways to combat corruption. For instance, bribery and corruption offences are found in:

Part One discusses these offences and also contains sections discussing the following:

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions

• The United Nations Convention against Corruption

• The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime

• The Public Service and Codes of Conduct

PART TWO: ACCOUNTABILITY

Part Two discusses some of the more important ways in which corrupt practices can be uncovered or exposed and which make it difficult to conceal corruption.

• The Office of the Controller & Auditor-General

• The Office of the Ombudsmen in New Zealand

• Protected Disclosures Act 2000

PART THREE: CONSEQUENCES

This Part identifies the primary measures that can be taken against people involved in bribery and corruption.

• Asset Recovery

• International Cooperation

PART FOUR: FURTHER INFORMATION

The final part of this web site deals with:

• How to make a Complaint

• Further Information and Links