Context:
20 years of United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
United Nations Convention against Corruption:
- Signed in Mexico.
- Entered into force in 2005.
- Only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument.
- Parties – 190 (including India)
- Covers different forms of corruption, such as bribery, trading in influence, abuse of functions, and various acts of corruption in the private sector.
- 5 main areas –
- Preventive measures (establishment of anticorruption bodies etc.)
- Criminalization and law enforcement (States are obliged to establish some offences).
- International cooperation (States bound to render mutual legal assistance)
- Asset recovery
- Technical assistance and information exchange.
- Custodian&Secretariat–United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
- Conference of the States Parties – main policymaking body of the Convention.
- Meeting –every 2 years
Source: UNODC
Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements:
1. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) has a ‘Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.
2. The UNCAC is the ever-first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument.
3. A highlight of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) is the inclusion of a specific chapter aimed at returning assets to their rightful owners from whom they had been taken illicitly.
4. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated by its member states to assist in the implementation of both UNCAC AND UNTOC.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2019 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (c)
Explanation:
The protocol against the smuggling of Migrants by land, sea and air comes under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and not UNCAC. United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) includes “Returning Assets to their rightful owners from whom they have been taken illicitly”.
