Law Commons^™

Dispute Resolution In Pandemic Circumstances, George A. Bermann

Faculty Scholarship

The peaceful resolution of disputes is among the most important earmarks of a regime attached to the rule of law. Even in countries in which, for one reason or another, courts do not work especially well, civil peace is of paramount importance. The absence of effective institutions for the administration of justice between and among private parties would spell a high degree of social disorder.

Even in the absence of a crisis such as we are experiencing, justice systems face a number of challenges in this day and age. Does a jurisdiction have a sufficient number of persons qualified to …

Canadian Corruption And The Snc-Lavalin Affair, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

On February 7, 2019, The Globe and Mail published a report alleging that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, together with his aides and cabinet officers, had attempted to improperly influence former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould in the Canadian Justice Department’s prosecution of Montreal construction firm SNC-Lavalin. SNC-Lavalin is a major company, which employs thousands of workers and reported 10 billion Canadian Dollars in revenue in 2018. The charges against them centered around allegations that they had made numerous bribes to Libyan officials from 2001-2011 in order to secure contracts. Due to these charges, SNC-Lavalin faces a potential ban on bidding …

From The Basketball Court To Federal Court: Perils Of The Prosecutorial Approach To Wire Fraud In The Ncaa Basketball Cases, Paul Tuchmann

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Three similar criminal cases involving college basketball are currently progressing through the Southern District of New York. The first to go to trial, United States v. James Gatto, Merl Code, and Christian Dawkins, No. 17 Crim. 686, culminated in a guilty verdict on October 24, 2018, with all three defendants found guilty on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York alleged that the Gatto defendants participated in a scheme in which the defendants—former Adidas employees Gatto and Code, as well as aspiring sports agent …

Report Of The Task Force For The Promotion Of Public Trust: City Of Atlanta, Leah Ward Sears, Derek Alphran, O.V. Brantley, Linda Disantis, William S. Duffy Jr., Robert M. Franklin Jr., Maryanne Gaunt, Lawton Jordan, Don Penovi, Michael T. Sterling, Joseph Wilkinson Jr., Paul Zucca

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

The Task Force for the Promotion of Public Trust was formed out of a desire by the Mayor and Atlanta City Council to strengthen the City’s ethical environment and analyze the City’s existing resources pertaining to oversight and investigations currently divided among a number of City agencies. The Task Force was also asked to assess the role of the City’s Independent Compliance Office, a new investigative office created by Ordinance earlier this year. The mandate of the Task Force was to juxtapose an analysis of the operational roles of the multiple offices in Atlanta responsible for investigations, ethics, oversight, audit, …

The Guatemalan Presidential Election, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

With current President Jimmy Morales’ term concluding in 2020, the presidential election is currently underway in Guatemala to determine his successor. The Constitution of Guatemala prohibits incumbent presidents from running for a second term and several prominent political figures are competing to replace President Morales, with many accusations about their checkered political past.

Corruption In Basketball: Understanding United States V James Gatto Et. Al., Cara Christina Maines, Edward Popovici

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

In United States v. James Gatto et. al., federal prosecutors successfully argued that violations of rules adopted by private associations can form the basis for federal criminal prosecution. The convictions in the Gatto case established that rules promulgated by the National College Athletic Association, the NCAA, could serve as the basis for felony charges of, among others, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The Gatto trial was part of a much larger investigation by the FBI into NCAA sports corruption. This paper will look at the NCAA investigation with a focus on James Gatto and his associates, …

The Corruption And Human Rights Connection: Government Acquiescence In Torture, Edward Popovici

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Corruption has human rights consequences. That was the conclusion of a 2009 study by the International Council on Human Rights Policy and Transparency International and it is a conclusion that the 9th Circuit implicitly reached in Parada v. Sessions, a review of a dismissal of asylum case decided on August 29th, 2018. Despite the fact that such a conclusion enjoys widespread support, courts have been slow to recognize the relationship between corruption and human rights abuses. Parada v. Sessions represents an effort by the 9th Circuit to give legal cognizance to the corruption-human rights link. The holding of the …

Corruption By Card: How Police Association Cards Allow Law Enforcement To Cloak Self-Dealing As Discretion​, Andrew Kuntz

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Law enforcement abuse their discretion by providing favorable treatment to individuals that demonstrate a relationship to the law enforcement community. Private organizations affiliated with law enforcement have capitalized on this by creating association cards which are distributed by members to friends, family members, and others. Card holders present the card during encounters with law enforcement to signal that they have a relationship with law enforcement, with the expectation that they will receive favorable treatment. Though the cards have no formal authority behind them, strong norms in the law enforcement community punish officers that fail to honor them. Because the cards …

Funding Integrity: Comparing Inspector General Funding Approaches, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that inspectors general require adequate funding to effectively perform their duties. Whether or not funding is adequate depends on the funding mechanism, but no particular method for budgetary allocations is used universally. CAPI reviewed different approaches throughout the country to better understand how budgets for inspectors general offices are set. This issue brief describes four different budget approaches used in various jurisdictions and examines their pros and cons. The Appendix lists the offices examined and provides information on their funding methods.

A Diagnostic Of Urban Corruption In Mexico, Ana Grajales, Paul Lagunes, Tomas Nazal

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

In spite of the promises of urban life, cities are no panacea. Their governments have been known to promote policies that disadvantage the poor and other vulnerable residents (Piccato 2001). In the developing world, urban population growth can result in overcrowding (Abu-Lughod 2004), and the worsening of environmental problems (Molina and Molina 2002). Criminality and violence are additional concerns (Caldeira 2000 ; Moncada 2009). In Mexico, between 2006 and 2017, more than one-hundred mayors were murdered in the context of an ongoing drug war (Valencia 2017).

Corruption And The 2018 Mexico Election, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

The 2018 Mexican election was the largest in the country’s history, with more than 3,400 legislative seats open nationwide in addition to the presidency. The election, held on July 1, 2018, presented voters an opportunity to voice their frustration with the ongoing corruption scandals in Mexico’s government.

The Netanyahu Investigations, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Benjamin Netanyahu is the current and longest serving Israeli Prime Minister. He has held office for 12 years, most recently from 2009 to present, and previously between the years of 1996 and 1999. As chairman of the right-wing Likud Party, Prime Minister Netanyahu has led a conservative and defense focused coalition in Israel’s parliament. His career in public service has also included time spent as the Minister of Finance from 2003-2005, the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002-2003, and as Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations from 1984-1988.

United States V. Pawlowski: Prosecuting Corruption In A Post-Mcdonnell World, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Edwin “Ed” Pawlowski is the former mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Pawlowski first became mayor in 2006, and he held the office until his resignation on March 9, 2018, when he was found guilty of 47 charges in total:

• one count of conspiracy,
• eleven counts of federal program bribery,
• two counts of attempted extortion,
• six counts of mail fraud,
• nine counts of wire fraud,
• two counts of honest services mail fraud,
• six counts of honest services wire fraud,
• seven counts of making false statements to federal officials,
• and three counts of Travel Act bribery.

Profile In Public Integrity: Jaime Torres Melo, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Jaime Torres-Melo is the Veedor (Ombudsman) of the city of Bogotá. The Veeduría Distrital is responsible for citizen oversight, corruption prevention, procurement controls, accountability and handling complaints and claims in the district and local administrations within the city. The agency seeks to promote citizen oversight, improve public management in Bogotá and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public policies. Jaime holds a MSc. in Development Management from The London School of Economics (LSE). Jaime has been a professor at several universities and held a number of positions within the non-governmental sector and the Colombian government, among other roles.

Guide To Land Contracts: Forestry Projects, International Senior Lawyers Project, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Agricultural investment contracts and forestry projects can be complex, with complicated provisions that are difficult to understand. To assist non-lawyers in better understanding agricultural investment contracts, such as those available on the Open Land Contracts repository, CCSI has developed a Guide to Land Contracts: Forestry Projects.

This Guide, prepared by International Senior Lawyers Project staff and volunteers in collaboration with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, aims to assist the Open Land Contracts repository users in unpacking the technical provisions and language typically found in forestry contracts in order to better understand the contracts and the potential implications of …

Taking A Byte Out Of Corruption: A Data Analytic Framework For Cities To Fight Fraud, Cut Costs, And Promote Integrity, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

In recent years, the emerging science of data analytics has equipped law enforcement agencies and urban policymakers with game-changing tools. Many leaders and thinkers in the public integrity community believe such innovations could prove equally transformational for the fight against public corruption. However, corruption control presents unique challenges that must be addressed before city watchdog agencies can harness the power of big data. City governments need to improve data collection and management practices and develop new models to leverage available data to better monitor corruption risks.

To bridge this gap and pave the way for a potential data breakthrough in …

Recent Reforms Of Switzerland's Anti-Corruption Laws: What They Mean For International Sports Organizations, Nicole Gütling

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Switzerland is perceived as one of the least corrupt countries in the world based on international rankings. According to the “Corruption Perception Index” of Transparency International, Switzerland has regularly been rated among the top eight least corrupt countries since 2009. Even before then, since 1995 in fact, Switzerland has consistently received good rankings on integrity. However, recent corruption allegations in the world of football, particularly the cases involving the FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022, have led to international scrutiny of the effectiveness of Switzerland’s anti-money laundering and anti-corruption regimes. This issue is particularly significant for Switzerland, which is home …

The Corruption Case Of Former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Sheldon Silver is the former Democratic Speaker of the New York State Assembly, a post he held from 1994 until January 2015. He represented Manhattan’s Lower East Side from 1976 until November 30, 2015, when he was convicted on four counts of honest-services fraud, two counts of extortion and one count of money laundering. On July 13, 2017, his convictions were overturned.

The Lulu Stipend, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

A “lulu” is a stipend available to New York State legislators for their work in leadership roles, such as committee chairperson. The stipends are in addition to legislator’s $79,500 base pay. Stipends range in value, from $9,000 for a ranking minority member of a committee, up to $41,500 for the temporary president of the Senate. The head of each State legislative body, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Temporary President of the Senate direct the payment of these stipends. By law, no legislator may receive more than one stipend at a time. Because legislators routinely serve in more than …

America's Familial Tribalism: Will It Impact Education Internationally?, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, Alexandra Seeman

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

With President Trump in power, the United States may have entered a new era of familial tribalism, a style of governing that could best be depicted as a sudden disruption to the traditional democratic governance and merited mobility the United States has historically promoted both at home and abroad. With this form of familial tribalism, a new level of power has been given to the members of the First Family, resulting in the United States increasingly mirroring the modus operandi of many developing countries that it had formerly criticized for their own lack of ethics, transparency, and competence …

Snowing And Towing In Montréal: The Inspector General's Fight Against Collusion In Two Industries, The Office Of The Inspector General Of Montréal

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs) provide a highly valuable service by fostering and promoting integrity, transparency, and accountability in government. These offices provide independent oversight and monitor governmental operations, acting as watchdogs for the people and helping to maintain or restore the public’s confidence in their institutions.

The mandate of Montréal’s OIG is to conduct administrative investigations and to oversee contracting processes and the implementation of contracts by the City of Montréal in order to prevent breaches of integrity and violations of rules. Created in 2014, Montréal’s OIG has already had a meaningful impact on public procurement and management policies. …

Assessing Australia's National Integrity Framework: A New Way Forward, Anita Das

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Historically, Australia has not been regarded as a particularly corrupt country. In 2012, Transparency International ranked Australia as the 7th least corrupt country in its Corruption Perceptions Index. This ranking has deteriorated six places in four years; in 2016, Australia landed in 13th place on the same index.

This sharp decline, in conjunction with continued revelations of corrupt conduct in the public, private and union sectors, has resulted in unprecedented national attention on corruption issues. As a result, the Australian federal government is currently considering a suite of reforms related to anti-corruption enforcement, including the introduction of deferred prosecution agreements, …

Independent Inspectors General Under Siege: A Tale Of Two State Inspectors General, Mary Jane Cooper, Stephen Street

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Advocates for transparent and corruption-free government agree that independent Inspectors General are a critical asset in ensuring that public funds are not wasted or endangered by corrupt officials. More and more states and cities in the U.S. now have Inspectors General as part of their oversight structures, and the numbers keep going up.

But setting up an Inspector General’s office and providing it with some form of independent powers and a budget does not always guarantee a happy ending for seekers of honest and efficient government, even when an OIG is demonstrably successful at its mission of saving taxpayer money …

Sports Corruption: The History And Challenges Of Anti-Doping Regimes In The U.S. And Abroad, Shlomo Fischer

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

The International Olympic Committee first began drug-testing in response to the death of Knud Enemark Jensen, a Danish cyclist who collapsed of heatstroke during the 1960 Olympics in Rome and whose autopsy suggested that amphetamines played a role in his death. A wide range of performance enhancing substances was formally banned, and doping tests were administered to preserve the integrity of competition and to protect the health of athletes. The IOC’s initial regime was neither systematic nor robust, lacking both methodologically and technologically. However, the gap between doping and monitoring gradually began to close as testing became more accurate and …

Data Analytics, The Next Frontier: Taking A Byte Out Of Corruption, Shlomo Fischer

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

In June 2017, CAPI presented the second installment of our signature conference, Global Cities II, which brought together anti-corruption leaders from government and civil society worldwide, including delegates from Bogotá, Cape Town, London, Melbourne, Miami, Montréal, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and San Francisco, to discuss important topics such as using data analytics to combat corruption, government transparency, enforcement challenges and victories, and innovations in oversight.

Balancing Integrity With Privacy Interests: Fighting Cyber-Corruption With Background Checks, Robin J. Kempf, Chelsea Binns

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Cybercrime is a serious threat to the public sector, especially as more of the public’s business is automated. In recent years, malicious actors have successfully infiltrated systems at the U.S. Department of Defense, the Navy, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Yet despite all the media attention on external hackers, especially those coming from foreign countries, employees remain the biggest cyber risk to governments. While background checks may promote employee integrity among those in public service, privacy concerns exist. This brief discusses how background checks are utilized to mitigate employee risk of cybercrime in the financial industry. The practices of this …

Innovations In Oversight: Cities' Proactive Approaches To Fighting Corruption, Adoree Kim

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

In June 2017, CAPI presented the second installment of our signature conference, Global Cities II, which brought together anti-corruption leaders from government and civil society worldwide, including delegates from Bogotá, Cape Town, London, Melbourne, Miami, Montréal, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and San Francisco, to discuss important topics such as using data analytics to combat corruption, government transparency, enforcement challenges and victories, and innovations in oversight.

The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network: A Model For Public-Private Cooperation Against Graft, Alison Taylor, Martin Benderson

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Firms operating in global markets often face systemic corruption issues, such as frequent demands for operational facilitation payments (“grease payments”), sometimes paired with extortion and shakedowns. Many anti-bribery regimes prohibit such payments and the OECD has decried the “corrosive effect of small facilitation payments, particularly on sustainable development and the rule of law.” However, any firm that sets an internal policy against such payments risks being snubbed by government officials in certain markets where facilitation payments are expected. Scholars call this a “collective action problem,” in which the incentives motivating individual firms or government agents toward selfish behavior are misaligned …

The Fifa Report, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

This week a report by former FIFA Ethics Committee Chairman, Michael Garcia, was released by FIFA shortly after being leaked. Previously, only a forty-two page summary of the report, published by FIFA in 2014, had been available; Garcia disputed this summary’s accuracy and soon thereafter resigned. The full report reveals the details of “improper” payments and activities by bid teams around the world. The report is a result of a two-year investigation into allegations of significant corruption during the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which are to be held in Russia and Qatar, respectively.

Profile In Public Integrity: Amie Ely, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Amie Ely is director of the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute’s (NAGTRI) Center for Ethics and Public Integrity as well as NAGTRI program counsel. She is staff liaison for the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Relations Working Group.