The African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) was adopted in

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on 11 July 2003 to fight rampant

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, in ...

on the

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n continent. It represents regional consensus on what African states should do in the areas of prevention, criminalization, international cooperation and asset recovery. Going beyond other similar conventions, the AUCPCC calls for the eradication of corruption in the private and public sector. The Convention covers a wide range of offences including bribery (domestic or foreign), diversion of property by public officials, trading in influence, illicit enrichment,

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

and concealment of property and primarily consists of mandatory provisions. It also obliges the signatories to introduce open and converted investigations against corruption. Those measures attracted criticism in the

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, where Peter Schroth argued that the convention disregards other aspects of the rule of law, like e.g.

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and the

presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present com ...

. In 2007, it was reported that the following nine countries had legal gaps relating to this Convention and United Nations Convention against Corruption.: Algeria,

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

, Kenya,

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, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, and Uganda. As at 1 January 2020, the treaty was ratified by 43 States and signed by 49.

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Corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

Anti-corruption measures Treaties concluded in 2003 Treaties entered into force in 2006 Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Benin Treaties of Botswana Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Burundi Treaties of Chad Treaties of the Comoros Treaties of Ivory Coast Treaties of the Republic of the Congo Treaties of Ethiopia Treaties of Gabon Treaties of the Gambia Treaties of Ghana Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of Kenya Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Treaties of Lesotho Treaties of Liberia Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of Mali Treaties of Malawi Treaties of Mozambique Treaties of Namibia Treaties of Niger Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of Rwanda Treaties of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Treaties of South Africa Treaties of Senegal Treaties of Seychelles Treaties of Sierra Leone Treaties of Tanzania Treaties of Togo Treaties of Uganda Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe International development treaties 2003 in Mozambique {{africa-law-stub