I am writing this article from a hotel room in Boston where I am attending a worldwide workshop on an attempt to assemble a series of course outlines to be used by business and law schools around the world to sensitise and educate people on corruption and anti-corruption tools. My trip was sponsored by the North Eastern University Boston and the United Nations Organisation on Drug Control (UNODC) among others.
Representatives of this workshop include:
• Representative of the OECD Anti-corruption Division;
• Assistant secretary general and Registrar of UN Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda;
• Representative of the International Bar Association;
• Representative of the Administration of President of Russia Federation;
• Harvard Law School;
• Representative of FUNDE Argentina and co-chair of UN/PME working group on Anti-corruption
• Representative on International Transition Team (IACA)
• Representatives of UNODC;
• Representatives on UNDP;
• Dean, Beijing Normal University, College for Criminal Law Students;
• Deans/Chairs and Directors of Law Schools/Business Schools in Boston and the wider USA.
In nearly all cases, the representatives were either chairs/directors or the top actors of the respective organisations. I have been, it seems, the only nominee from the Caribbean attending the workshop-a strange phenomenon and perhaps a strange selection. I convince myself, however, that my selection may have been as a result of my involvement in public policy and citizen security, or perhaps as a result of my work on regulation or perhaps because of my work on money laundering. The lead academic in the area seems to suggest that my invitation has to do with what he describes as my 'passion' which he picked up from a paper I had delivered on money laundering this year. Whatever the reason for the selection, it has been so far an extremely useful workshop. The workshop has been extremely intense. A large contingent of participants in this workshop is from Latin America. I have been advised that these people are the leaders in both the academic and business fraternity in the areas of crime, law and criminal justice. The suggestion around the table is that young people-in this case the initial target was students in the law and business schools-should be exposed or sensitised to what constitutes corruption. The syllabi that were designed were comprehensive.
They included major areas including:
• The history of corruption
• Contemporary forms of corruption;
• Specific vulnerabilities;
• Corruption, cultures and values;
• Public corruption;
• Corruption and development;
• Corruption and governance;
• Corruption and organised crime;
• Corruption and multi-level governance;
• Code of ethics and good practices;
• Self-regulation and sanctioning;
• Board management
• Internal control.
• Other areas....
One of the first debates emerging was who were expected to be the target audience. The discussions are strangely out of sync with the realities of Trinidad and Tobago at this time. It was the opinion of the majority of participants that the law schools and business schools should be the major targets-for it was reasoned that the lawyers needed to be sensitised in what are the major elements of corruption and the business schools-while students at the MBA level would one day be the business leaders.
In speaking to professors from the different faculties, one approach applied in the case of law and MBA students in particular, is that they are usually co-opted to a law firm or business school as part of their formal training. While it may be actually what we in the faculty of social sciences refer to as a type of 'practicum'. In the case of these students there is no long arm supervision, or short arm supervision, rather the training is beneficial to both the law students as well as to the firm and the grading is made by the firm.
Professors of the law and business school find it strange when I explain that in Trinidad we are now starting a Faculty of Law. They ask whether students will be co-opted by the law firms and whether the current MBAs are co-opted by business firms. This is where there is a major difference between the small and the large-the developed and the developing. In retrospect, one can question who are the major law firms, also who are the major business firms and more importantly, can they accommodate students? I look at the buildings in Boston, I see the clean streets, I am shocked that there are no traffic jams, no paper on the streets, no clogged drains, no broken pavements, pedestrian crossings where cars stop for pedestrians to cross and pedestrians who actually cross at these crossings. I see order and beauty. I see plants that remain planted and are allowed to bloom. I meet people who are polite. I question the concept of corruption that these people may have and those that we in the West Indies and other developing countries may have. In the West Indies, and in particular in the case of Trinidad and Tobago, hints or allegations of corruption seem to be a daily news item. It seems to be the norm that citizens see no wrong in coming late for work or meetings, using government or private property for their own gain, using their office to obtain speedier services, or even for job opportunities.
Those who speak publicly on Code of Ethics or Corruption in Public Life are often "silenced" once they are appointed to a board, commission or committee. Access to power easily silences allegations of corruption. Even so, however, there is no doubt that in the Caribbean it is important to raise the issues of corruption on a more formal level. It is agreed, for instance, at this meeting that corruption discussions should begin as early as the primary schools. In fact, in China, members were told that there is a comic book superhero who is the major corruption fighter. Clearly, anti-corruption discussions should form a major part of the syllabi for a number of disciplines, including those in the social sciences, in law, in medicine, in International Relations and in the area of Criminology.
Most importantly, however, it should move beyond talk to actual training in corruption tools. It is evident, though, that the challenges in the West Indies will be numerous if we are to introduce a course in corruption. One issue will be: will students elect to take this course since it may be reasoned that it may not bring worth to a job application, or will it? Another challenge facing this working group is how to introduce this in the various regions and more importantly how to sustain teaching in this area. There, no doubt, will be challenges in introducing courses to sensitise students and public officers on the elements that constitute corruption, the laws governing corruption and the tools that can be applied to minimise corruption. This workshop is a starting point and hopefully when it continues, countries across the world would no longer be faced with the excuses of "I did not know" or the so-called 'grey areas' by leaders, public officers and business officials. The timeliness of introducing this area is therefore very opportune at this time.