Analysis of the activities of law enforcement authorities in the field of combating crime and corruption offences
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-07-2021-0073 |
| Published date | 20 September 2021 |
| Date | 20 September 2021 |
| Pages | 700-716 |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
| Author | Oleh M. Omelchuk,Ihor Yo. Haiur,Olena G. Kozytska,Anna V. Prysiazhna,Natalia V. Khmelevska |
Analysis of the activities of law
enforcement authorities in the
field of combating crime and
corruption offences
Oleh M. Omelchuk
Department of Criminal Law and Procedure, Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi
University of Management and Law, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine
Ihor Yo. Haiur
Department of Law and Law Enforcement, Beatitude Vladimir, Metropolitan of
Kyiv and all Ukraine Khmelnytskyi Institute, Interregional Academy of Personnel
Management, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, and
Olena G. Kozytska,Anna V. Prysiazhna and Natalia V. Khmelevska
Department of Criminal Law and Procedure, Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi
University of Management and Law, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study is to analyse the activities of law enforcement bodies in the field of
combatingcrime and corruption offences.
Design/methodology/approach –In modern conditions in Ukraine, effectivecooperation between law
enforcement bodies and authorities at all levels, as well as with partner organisations and agencies at the
national, regional and international levels to effectively combat crimes related to organised crime and
corruption is of particular importance. Improving the investigative and detective capacity of the criminal
justice system, combined with effortsto intensify cooperation, contributes to a deeper understanding of the
role of joint struggle in this area, thus helping to deter, detect, punish and prevent crime and corruption
offences. They must be directly part of a sustainable, long-term and comprehensive strategy to reduce the
scope forcorruption and open the political and economicsystem to greater competition.
Findings –The results of this study allow substantiating that the Ukrainian leadership understands the seriousness
of corruption and organised crime: the state takes decisive legislative measures based on international experience.
Originality/value –The obvious mechanisms for reducing the level of corruption and organised cri me in
Ukraine can be: implementation of measures to ensure business freedom; the formation of anti -corruption business
strategies; introduction of special methods of anti-corruption education; approbation in Ukraine of positive
normative legal acts and practices of law enforcement of preventive nature of the European Union for joint activity
of law enforcement bodies and civil society in the field of combating crime and corruption offences.
Keywords Bribery, Anti-corruption reform, Fight against corruption, Preventive practices
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
At present, it is impossible to talk aboutsignificant achievements in combating corruption,
owing to the fact that it has become systemic, largely because of inefficiency of public
administration, the peculiarities of public mentality, the specifics of political culture and
underdeveloped civil society institutions to control executive authorities. In addition, the
JMLC
25,3
700
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.25 No. 3, 2022
pp. 700-716
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-07-2021-0073
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1368-5201.htm
socio-economic and political conditions of society are constantly changing, the “corruption
field”of social interactions is renewed through the addition of new actors. In other words,
the range of objects and subjects of corrupt relations is constantly expanding. Almost all
citizens face corruption, while only some officials who have committed corruption are
manifested and punished. As a result, it undermines the principle of inevitability of
punishment and nullifies the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures.In some definitions,
such as those provided by the UN Secretariat’s Anti-Corruption Manual, corruption is
interpreted as a combinationof three classification groups of criminal offences as follows:
(1) theft, plunder and misappropriation of state property by officials;
(2) abuse of office for unjustified personal gain; an
(3) conflict of interest between public duty and personal gain (Drapkin and Zlochenko,
2002).
As A.I. Dolgova notes, “it is corruption that allows not only to neutralise dangerous for the
criminal group actions of relevant civil servantsand public figures, but also to subordinate
their activities to their goals, to use themfor these purposes, official structures of society, to
be implemented in them”(Dolgova,1993).
The inefficiency of legal policyin this area is also because of weak state control over anti-
corruption, imperfect legislation (the presence of legislative gaps, legal conflicts, confusion
of legal norms, many bylaws, etc.), as well as reduced spiritual and moral potential of the
society because of dominant legal nihilism, distrust of citizens in the inevitability of
punishment for the selfishnessof officials. In modern conditions,internal destructive factors
are very powerful associated with the progressive level of crime and corruption, which,
according to D. Shvets, causes significantdamage to the potential of Ukrainian statehood on
the path to self-preservation and progressive development of the state (Shvets, 2019). Law
enforcement bodies are also largely affected by corruption, lacking sufficient capacity and
the necessary real independenceto fight institutional corruption. The conglomerate “corrupt
bureaucracy –criminal business –organised crime,”called the “iron triangle,”lives by its
own laws (Tuli, 2015). Corruption in public authorities remains particularly dangerous. In
this case, it is a symbiosis of a monopoly of power, discretionary powersof civil servants in
decision-making and the lack of strict legal accountability and control of officials. As
practice shows, corruption destroys theentire system of public administration, contributes
to the decline of the authority of state powerand the prestige of the civil service. It hinders
economic development and promotes the latest organisedcrime, especially in the economy.
The use of the state machine by organised crime is mainly associated with corruption as a
way of transforming state powers into private property. Moreover, certain individuals and
criminal groups are attacking the state, the institutions of civil society and its values. It can
be stated that without solvingthe problem of corruption, it is impossible to effectivelysolve
the problems of public administration.
Modern corruption and crime are characterised by transnationality and systemicnature,
as well as a significant diversification of structuresthat not only carry out illegal activities
but also join the international mechanisms of the shadow economy. Committing acts of
corruption involves the use of various mechanisms: political, social and economic (bribery,
payoff, material gain, etc.). Mechanisms of blackmail and threats, as well as espionage and
other illegal activities, togetheraccumulate a complex system. In Ukraine, corruption exists
in inseparable connection with organised crime, which is made profitable and unpunished
by corruption. L.V. Bagriy-Shakhmatov came to the fair conclusion that Ukraine has now
approached the threshold at which the merging of power with the mafia begins. The
Combating
crime and
corruption
offences
701
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