A critical comparative analysis of anti-bribery legislation in the BRICS countries

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Recent years have proven to be quite progressive in terms of the developmentof anti-corruption legislation, especially with the promulgation of the UnitedKingdom Bribery Act, and the increased enforcement of the United States ForeignCorrupt Practices Act by US federal prosecutors.Although the two mentioned Acts have largely overshadowed the anti-corruptiondevelopments in the BRICS (Federative Republic of Brazil, Russian Federation,Republic of India, People's Republic of China and the Republic of SouthAfrica) countries, it to some extent raised the profile and initiated development.The BRICS countries are a grouping of countries understood to be undergoingrapid transformation in their economic environments which often leads to significantcorruption problems, hindering the economic growth that would furtherdevelop these countries into full force economic super powers. The apparentlow impact of the anti-corruption legislation in these countries is concerningdespite their commitment and implemented legislative initiatives.This thesis will critically and comparatively evaluate the current legislation relatingto anti-bribery in the various jurisdictions of the BRICS countries. Thestudy aims to clarify the extent of the application of the anti-bribery legislationand in doing so develop a greater understanding of the anti-corruption environmentof the BRICS countries.It is necessary to first define the concept of BRICS. Thereafter it will be practicableto define the scope of the definition of corruption for purposes of this evaluation and then evaluate the current state of Brazilian, Russian, Indian,Chinese and South African anti-corruption – more specifically bribery – law.Through this study I intend to elucidate and contextualise the many provisionsin the BICS legislative environments.The conclusion of this study will allow for parallels to be drawn between theanti-bribery legislation in the various BRICS countries, which will provide anopportunity to assess the effectiveness of the anti-bribery provisions in thevarious countries.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University