Preventive and Repressive (Political and Legal) Measures for Curbing Corruption

In its broadest sense of the word, corruption refers to the fraudulent conduct and abuse of power in attaining personal interest. From a penal and legal perspective, however, it defines acts of bribery and unlawful intermediation. Hence, in curbing corruption, contemporary legislatures mainly choose two pathways-building strategies for preventive legal and political measures and penal repressive measures: raising public awareness, implementing a code of conduct at workplaces, abiding by the principles of transparency, increasing work efficiency and effectiveness, improving the executive, tax and penal regulations and practice, as well as designing penalties schemes and specific penal measures to prevent and deter the occurrence of this unlawful act. The starting point of this paper is the following thesis: adopting repression as the sole answer to corruption results only in elimination of the predicaments in individual cases, while the reasons, motives and circumstances leading to corruption remain untackled. Reflecting global trends in pursuing an effective preventive action against corruption, research indicates that curbing corruption should first and foremost be based on prevention, disclosing the reasons and circumstances leading to corruption, as well as their eradication, and resorting to repression merely as a corrective measure to be applied in individual cases.