| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
This is a limited free preview of this book. Please buy full access.
The book identifies the nexus between the fight against corruption and the soundness of the legal and institutional framework for anti-corruption. Policy considerations underpinning the legal and institutional framework are highlighted, and the book is written against the backdrop that Zambia is a State party to three major international treaties concerning the fight against corruption: (a) the African Union (AU) Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Corruption; (b) the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Protocol against Corruption and (c) the United Nations (UN) Convention against Corruption.3 The full texts of the three international legal instruments are provided in the appendices of this book.
Here, suffice it to say, the legal aspects of combating corruption under international law are examined by Posadas elsewhere in an academic journal article, although that study somewhat concerns itself too much with US municipal law while according limited attention to pertinent aspects of international law.4 In the present work, we provide an evaluative and exploratory study of the legal and institutional framework for combating corruption in Zambia, leaving pertinent aspects of international law for the determination of the reader as he or she browses through the appendices of the book.
This book identifies and examines, among other things, notable weaknesses in the legal and institutional framework. Proposals are made to strengthen the framework, arguing that Zambia should consider, for example, the introduction of techniques such as shifting the burden of proof from the prosecution to the accused and lowering the standard of proof from beyond reasonable doubt to the preponderance of probability. Elsewhere, I have examined the nexus between offences of corrupt practices and money laundering, postulating that corruption can predicate and lead to offences of money laundering.5 And Transparency International-Zambia, focussing on a broader range of issues that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of many public institutions in Zambia, such as the Electoral Commission, the judiciary, the Ombudsman, the Supreme Audit Institution, the civil service, the media, some investigative/watchdog agencies, regional and local government and the donor community in the fight against corruption, has put out an impressive study.6