It is possible that corruption was not only in prehistoric society, when people ate exclusively fruits from trees and mammoth meat. They had enough of these gifts of nature and there was no need to give the tribal chief or priests bribes to seize a more generous section of the field from the neighbor. But as soon as the first official appeared, and this person felt the taste of power, instantly corruption became inevitable. Already Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia knew this devastating phenomenon. In our developed society there are even more temptations for unclean not the hand of officials who do not disdain to demand bribes for their services.
History of the fight against corruption
To fight with this evil have been trying for a long time. The old letters tell us about the laws that kings and emperors accepted against their greedy subjects. Judgment of Ivan the Terrible, which the tsar signed in 1561, said that the death penalty was threatened by a judicial officer for taking bribes. There are examples of popular resistance against the arbitrariness of civil servants. Muscovites in 1648, organized such pogroms that even a part of the capital was burnt. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was forced to extort to the people's crowd two of his ministers - the heads of the Zemsky and Pushkarskiy orders. A year later, in the Cathedral Code of 1649, criminal liability was instituted for bribery.
The problems of fighting corruption were also troubled by Peter I. During his reign, embezzlement reached alarming proportions. After his death, Prince Menshikov was able to withdraw several million rubles from gold and jewels from foreign banks. Not less for him at the expense of the state, other officials were enriched. Severe laws were introduced, anti-corruption measures were toughened, high dignitaries periodically punished, but none of the princes could completely eradicate this harmful phenomenon.
Party corruption first appeared in Western Europe. Large corporations and firms for lobbying their private interests paid tribute not to a particular concrete policy, but directly to the party cash register. In the countries of the third world, the ruling regimes brought their states to that point, that it is impossible to solve anything without a monetary offer. For example, in Indonesia, President Suharto clearly outlined the bribe for foreign corporations that he had to pay to his family clan for permission to work here.
International fight against corruption
The war with this evil is hampered by some differences in the legal systems of different powers. In some countries only bribers are punished, and in others only for bribes. The supply of money is not a crime for them. In the US, an official promotion can only get from his government, and for violation of this rule, up to two years in prison. For bribes in general in this country, the terms of imprisonment up to 20 years are provided. Therefore, here the level of corruption is much lower than in other countries. In 1989, the countries belonging to the Group of Seven created the International Group on Money Laundering, which developed and helped to implement a number of measures against the fight against this evil. In 2005, the United Nations Convention against Corruption entered into force. Gradually, the world community is trying to bring to common standards the criminal legislation of all developed countries. Between the states there is an exchange of information, extradition of persons who committed a corruption crime. No less important are the social measures to combat corruption, which are gradually introduced in all countries to prevent crime.
Anti-Corruption Day
The first day of the International Day against Corruption began to be celebrated on December 9, 2003. That day at the highest level in the Mexican city of Merida a large conference took place. The UN Convention Against Corruption was opened for signature. All states that signed this document were to criminalize bribery, money laundering, theft of public funds. All means should be confiscated from the criminals and returned to the country where their theft was committed. Conferences, demonstrations, meetings should be held on the International Day against Corruption. All people who consider this phenomenon a crime must share their experience, unite their efforts and together fight against evil.