With eye on economic offenders’ extradition, stolen assets recovery, G20 anti-graft group to meet in Kolkata

The G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group’s third and final meeting will be held in Kolkata from August 9-11, with a focus on issues such as extradition of fugitive economic offenders and recovery of their assets from foreign jurisdictions, according to a statement issued on Tuesday. Over 154 delegates from G20 members, 10 invitee countries, and international organisations will be attending the meeting being held under India’s G20 presidency.

It will be followed by the G20 anti-corruption ministerial meeting on August 12, which will be chaired by Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh, it said. This second ministerial meeting of the Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) will be the first to be held in-person.

“The deliberations at the level of ministers will impart a further political impetus in combatting corruption as ACWG plays a crucial role in leading international efforts to combat corruption,” said the statement issued by the personnel ministry.

Under India’s G20 presidency, the ACWG has been able to achieve significant progress on anti-corruption cooperation regarding action against fugitive economic offenders and return of assets. This has been guided by the nine-point agenda presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to G20 nations in 2018 for action against fugitive economic offenders and asset recovery.

During the first and second meetings of the working group held in Gurugram and Rishikesh, respectively, India was able to forge a consensus in G20 to advance the international anti-corruption agenda by finalising three outcome documents (high-level principles) on important and sensitive issues.

These pragmatic and action-oriented highest-level commitments will contribute towards prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of corruption offences, strengthening domestic anti-corruption institutional frameworks, extradition of fugitive economic offenders and recovery of assets of such offenders from foreign jurisdictions, the statement said. The high-level principles on promoting integrity and effectiveness of public bodies and authorities responsible for preventing and combatting corruption will provide a guiding framework for strengthening the independence, transparency and accountability of anti-corruption institutions, it said. It will help in addressing the root cause of corruption, including institutional weakness and lack of accountability, the statement said.

The high-level principles on strengthening asset recovery mechanisms for combatting corruption are a set of guiding principles to support the establishment of a robust and effective framework for the expeditious recovery of proceeds of crime.

These principles will deter economic offenders who seek refuge in foreign jurisdictions, the statement said.

The high-level principles on strengthening law enforcement related international cooperation and information sharing for combatting corruption is a six-point plan to enhance inter-agency cooperation and international cooperation through information sharing among law enforcement agencies and countries, it said.

“It will ensure timely and effective action against corruption offences, prosecution of offenders and recovery of proceeds of crimes,” the statement said.

The ACWG is also focusing on the role of audit institutions in tackling corruption.

Earlier this year, side events were also organised to highlight the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in reducing corruption in public administration and delivery of public services and gender-related issues of corruption.

The discussion on impact of corruption on women initiated under India’s presidency will generate further concrete action towards collective initiatives for adopting gender-sensitive and gender-responsive approaches in anti-corruption strategies, the statement said.

The third ACWG meeting in Kolkata will give direction to the future work of the group and further the commitments made on law enforcement cooperation, strengthening asset recovery mechanisms, and enhancing integrity and effectiveness of anti-corruption authorities during India’s G20 presidency, it said.

The meeting will also enable exchange of valuable insights and best practices related to combating corruption across different sectors by G20 members, invitee countries and international organisations (IOs).

G20 engagement groups, including civil society (C20), women groups (W20), think tanks (T20), supreme audit institutions (SAI20) and business groups (B20), will also update the G20 ACWG on work pertaining to anti-corruption issues in their areas, the statement said.

These discussions will feed into the anti-corruption ministerial meeting, it said.

“The second G20 anti-corruption ministerial meeting is a significant milestone in the journey of the group since its inception in 2010, reflecting the growing recognition of corruption as a multi-faceted challenge that demands increased international cooperation and strong political impetus to address corruption on a global scale,” the statement said.