American-Russian Regional Dialogue on Combating Corruption

2009/11/17

American-Russian Regional Dialog on Combating Corruption

On November 17, 2009 the U.S. Consulate General in Yekaterinburg organized a digital video conference (DVC) on the topic of Government Ethics and Confronting Corruption. Ms. Jane S. Ley, Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and Ms. Wendy Pond, International Programs Specialist in the Office of International Assistance and Governance Initiatives of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics presented their experience with the subject of fighting corruption in the United States. They held a 90 minute discussion with their Russian colleagues explaining the history of anti-corruption initiatives in the United States and the variety of measures taken by the Office of Government Ethics to provide transparent government. Following their presentations the Russian side initiated a lively Question and Answer (Q&A) period that delved deeper into the mechanics of fighting corruption at all government levels through legislation, regulation and enforcement.

The video conference was initiated by the faculty of the Ural Institute of Economics, Management and Law, the lead regional institution in the research of the legal, civic and ethical aspects of transparent governance. Approximately 25 Ural scientists, lawyers and students took part in the conference along with representatives of non-governmental organizations and the regional legislative assembly. Despite the tight time-frame Ms. Ley was able to answer multiple questions related to the legal mechanisms of anticorruption, civic response and government ethical codes in the United States. Among the issues discussed were democratic political institutions and processes, the legal system that can operate independently as a fair, non-corrupt, and effective arbiter of criminal prosecutions and civil disputes, and governmental and public instruments essential to practical responses to the challenge of corruption. The U.S. speakers discussed the valuable role of the American non-governmental organizations in protecting the rights of citizens and promoting public debate through the media. Ms. Ley also underlined the importance of efforts made by both governmental and public organizations to improve public understanding of human rights and expand access to justice. Both American and Russian specialists who took part in this dynamic dialogue found it useful and essential to continue to develop ways to learn from each other. 

Conference materials (download links):

• corruption bibliography.pdf  (PDF 90Kb)
• corruption handbooks.pdf (PDF 45Kb)
• corruption key documents.pdf (PDF 49Kb)
• corruption links.pdf (PDF 37Kb)
• OECD Convention on Combating Bribery.pdf (PDF 463Kb)
• publications_unodc_convention-r.pdf (PDF 550Kb)

Additional information:

http://www.oge.gov/international/govt_docs/general_info.aspx - general information about the Office of Government Ethics, includes links to the “Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch”

http://www.oge.gov/international/intl_info_links.aspx - provides links to “Other Ethics and Anticorruption Organizations, Efforts and Legal Instruments”