Managing Conflict of Interest - Organisation for Economic Co ...

The United Nations Convention AgainstCorruption (UNCAC): A fundamental tool toprevent conflict of interestDimitri VlassisChief, Crime Conventions Section, Division for Treaty AffairsUnited Nations Office on Drugs and CrimeThe International Framework: An Emphasis on PreventionIncreasingly, countries are joining forces to develop strategiesto address and prevent common challenges. Multilateral conventionsand international protocols are commonly used tools to facilitateinternational cooperation and consensus. The United NationsConvention Against Corruption (UNCAC) is a critical part of theinternational legal framework established to prevent and controlcorruption, as it is the first global instrument with a broad and comprehensivescope ranging from prevention to international cooperationand asset recovery.With the common goal of prevention at the forefront of thefight against corruption, one area of attention of internationalefforts has been to determine and isolate root causes. Conflictof interest (COI) has been identified as an indicator, a precursor,and a result of corruption, if left unchecked. Moreover, there isgrowing consensus that preventing conflict of interest is criticalto combating corruption. A comparative study conducted in theEuropean Union further notes that “Most of the time, corruptionappears where a prior private interest improperly influencedthe performance of the public official…thus conflict of interestprevention has to be part of a broader policy to prevent and combatcorruption.” 1In order to prevent COI, it is necessary to understand what it isand how it can occur. The Council of Europe indicates that “ Conflictof Interest arises from a situation in which the public official has a1EU. 2005. Conflict of Interest and Practices in Nine EU Member States: A ComparativeReview. Paper prepared for the SIGMA Programme of OECD and theEuropean Union. December.ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific