Michael Bowes QC at the world’s largest anti-corruption conference, Panama

Panama Papers and Investigative Journalism at the heart of the agenda

The 17th International Anti-Corruption Conference will take place from 1st – 4th December in Panama City. Leading experts from a wide variety of disciplines will discuss how to best take the fight against corruption forward under the theme Time for Justice: Equity, Security, Trust. The four-day event will be opened by the President of the Republic of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez.

With more than 1,500 participants from all over the world, this edition of the conference will have a particular focus on the enablers of corruption and investigative journalism with in-depth discussions of the Panama Papers.

Michael Bowes’ panel session is entitled “Integrity Pioneers and Community Solutions to Combating Judicial Corruption“. The judiciary has a key role to play in reducing corruption by acting as an effective safeguard and sanctioning the culprits. Unfortunately the judiciary is globally perceived as the second most corrupt sector (TI, 2013). Judicial officials can be part of the problem when they are themselves contributing to grand corruption and avoid to sanction corrupt elites. On the other hand judicial officials can be part of the solution when they take a clear stance against corruption.

An interactive workshop will be taking place that aims to encourage dialogue among key stakeholders (judiciaries, civil society and development partners) on the role of judicial officials in fighting grand corruption and ultimately sanctioning the corrupt.

Please click here to find out more.

The panel moderator is José Ugaz, world Chair of Transparency International. He served as Ad Hoc State Attorney of Peru and was responsible for the successful prosecution of the corrupt Fujimori regime. Other members of the panel are:

• Thuli Madonsela – Former Public Protector, Government of South Africa
• Pavlo Petrenko – Minister of Justice of Ukraine
• Victor Alistar – Executive Director, Transparency International Romania
• Elodie Beth – Programme Advisor, Governance and Peacebuilding, UNDP Bangkok regional Hub
• Theodore Te – Chief of the Public Information Office, Supreme Court of the Philippines

News 28 Nov, 2016