Criminal Offences of Corruption in Comparative Criminal Law

Abstract

Criminal offences of corruption are special kinds of criminal offences which actually represent various forms and shapes of an abuse of official position. The issue in question is in various forms of active (giving) and passive (taking) bribery which are well recognized by a great number of contemporary criminal legislations, and also by a number of international acts, primarily those of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union. Due to a high degree of danger from corrupted behaviors of individuals and groups, the international community (universal international organization exemplified in the United Nations, as well as regional organizations, such as the Council of Europe and the European Union) has through a number of international legal acts established a solid legal basis and instruments for organized joint action in discovering, processing and combating these illegal practices.

On these bases, all contemporary states in their systems of criminal legislation foresee criminal responsibility and the system of criminal sanctions (penalties in the first place) for several criminal offences of corruption, incriminating different forms and ways of abuse of public authorities from officials and responsible public authorities’ personnel. Therefore, in this paper, we shall point out key characteristics of comparative solutions by which some contemporary states are trying to combat and fight against corruption as a dangerous societal evil.