CORRUPTION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Bridging Economic and Legal Perspectives

Tina Søreide, Professor, Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), Norway (2016)
ISBN: 978 1 78471 597 7

    • The author addresses the role of criminal justice in anti-corruption by investigating assumptions in the classic law and economics approach and debating the underlying criteria for an efficient criminal justice system. Drawing on real life challenges from the policy world, the book combines insights from the literature with updated knowledge about practical law enforcement constraints. Political and administrative incentive problems, which may hinder the implementation of efficient solutions, are presented and debated.

 

    • Criminal law efficiency is a concept often referred to but seldom defined. Clarity, the author argues, is necessary for finding practical solutions to fundamental challenges in this area of law, especially with the criminal justice system itself at risk.

Tina Søreide offers views in contrast to mainstream ideas on optimal criminal law responses to corruption,
with emphasis on the fundamental role of the criminal justice system in the fight against corruption, and the effect this can have on other mechanisms in society. Her analysis explains the concept of criminal law efficiency through economic approaches and why many criminal law responses to corruption are at risk of becoming ‘façade strategies’ that may, in fact facilitate corruption.
Corruption and Criminal Justice offers insights into the obstacles that policymakers and government advisors cannot ignore. It serves as an invaluable resource for advanced students and academics interested in law, economics, and large corporations.

‘This book is a rigorous attempt to address the problem of corruption by using various methodologies and perspectives. Among other innovative mechanisms, Søreide proposes to extend responsibility to those who benefit indirectly from corruption. She also suggests extending the duties of private actors to help the government in addressing corruption. She discusses the nature of sanctions and she proposes empowering courts to debar suppliers for public contracts. Søreide’s analysis is careful, attentive to the evidence, and provides practical solutions to some of the most difficult challenges facing contemporary societies. This book should be read and influence theorists, economists, lawyers, government officials and policymakers.’

– Alon Harel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel