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3rd International Anti-Corruption Summer School

Under the motto "Practice Meets Science”, the International Anti-Corruption Summer School (IACSS) took place from 9 to 18 July 2009 in Hernstein, Lower Austria.

This ten-day course, founded by the BIA two years ago, was supported by three EPAC partners and, for the third time, co-financed by the EU.  The IACSS 2009 gave participants (including high ranking representatives of foreign police forces, leading investigators, public prosecutors, judges, governmental advisors and functionaries of international organizations and NGOs) from 32 countries, including from the EU, EU candidates, the Balkans, the "European Neighbourhood Policy”, China, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bolivia and others, the opportunity to attend multidisciplinary lectures held by internationally renowned professors, scientists and anti-corruption practitioners on the subject of corruption and the combating of corruption.

Professors from various universities gave lectures at the IACSS, e.g. from the universities of Linz (Austria), Ottawa (Canada), Passau (Germany), Basel (Switzerland), Teesside, Oxford and Nottingham (UK) and Bitola (Macedonia). In addition to this, experts from Interpol, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Austria, the London based weekly "The Economist”, the Swiss daily "Neue Zürcher Zeitung”, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, and the International Council for Human Rights as well as from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) came to speak and create discussion amongst the participants.

Professor Friedrich Scheider from the Department of National Economics at the University of Linz opened proceedings with a lecture entitled "Shadow Economies and Corruption: What do we (not) know?”. He presented data, facts and conclusions on the topic of shadow economies and money laundering and explained how these interact with the phenomenon of corruption.

Wolfgang Hetzer, advisor of the Director General of OLAF, raised the provocative question of "Legalizing Corruption?”. Alan Doig, of the University of Teesside, spoke on corruption from a strategic and operative point of view in his lecture entitled "Anti-Corruption Strategies”.Michel Girodo, Emeritus Professor at the University of Ottawa and scientific member of the Interpol Group of Experts - he is regarded as a specialist concerning the connection of research and practice in the field of police management, ethics and anti-corruption - gave a lively lecture on the subject of "The Psychology of Corruption”.  Danila Serra, lecturer at the University of Oxford, presented her methods of studying the phenomenon that is corruption in a lecture entitled "Studying Corruption through Experiments”. Investigative journalist Declan Hill, who received his doctorate from Oxford University and specializes in reporting on organized crime and international conflicts, talked on the subject of "Match-Fixing” in professional football.

The Director General of OLAF, Franz-Hermann Brüner, introduced his organization and explained its working methods as well as different mechanisms relating to fighting fraud inside the European Commission. Furthermore Stefan Knolle provided an insight into OLAF’s "Fraud Notification System”. Martin Kreutner (Director of BIA) lectured on international conventions and instruments and the specifications they make to national legislators. In addition to this he presented a catalogue of possible parameters referring to the postulated independence of national anti-corruption agencies.

Johann Graf Lambsdorff, Professor of Economic Theory at the University of Passau and scientific father of the "Corruption Perceptions Index”, and his assistants Lotte Beck and Volker Nagel introduced to the participants their research on the measuring of corruption and the resulting methods of fighting it.  Sope Williams, lecturer at Nottingham University, spoke about fighting corruption in the field of public procurement.

To actively engage the participants in the lectures, many lecturers got them involved in case studies, role play and group work. The participants had the opportunity to engage expert panellists and other participants in discussions on various aspects of anti-corruption work during the fireside chats, which took place in a congenial atmosphere during the evening hours.

During the first fireside chat on the subject of "Corruption and the Media” Edward Lucas, Central and Eastern Europe correspondent of the London based weekly "The Economist”, Markus Spillman, chief editor of the daily "Neue Zürcher Zeitung”, and Ilze Jaunalksne, correspondent for TV3-Latvia, were available for questions from the participants and for lengthy discussion on the subject of corruption.Professor Slagjana Taseva, former President of the Macedonian State Comission for the Prevention of Corruption and internationally renowned expert on organized crime, corruption and money-laundering, Drago Kos, Chairman of the Slovenian Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and President of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), as well as Ina Rama, Public Prosecutor General in Albania, spoke on the subject of "Corruption and Politics”.

The third fireside chat took place under the title of "International Anti-Corruption Cooperation". Taking part and discussing current developments and efforts in the field of combating corruption on an international level were Jakub Boratynski, Head of the European Commission’s unit "Fight against Organised Crime”, Demosthenes Chryssikos, officer on crime prevention and criminal justice at the UNODC, Frederick John Lord, assistant director for anti-corruption (Interpol) and head of the Interpol anti-corruption office in Lyon, as well as Professor Mark Pieth of Basel University, chairman of the OECD Working Group on Bribery. The fourth fireside chat entitled "Corruption and the Private Sector" involved Maximilian Burger-Scheidlin, Executive Director of the International Chamber of Commerce Austria, Mark Button, Head of the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies of the University of Portsmouth (UK), Michael J. Herschman, President and CEO of the "Fairfax Group” and co-founder of Transparency International, as well as Klaus Moosmayer, Compliance Operating Officer of the Siemens AG.The final fireside chat was on the subject of "Corruption and Human Rights” on which Julia Kozma, of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights, and Julio Bacio Terracino, from the International Council on Human Rights Policy, spoke and answered questions.

Due to the innovative concept of the IACSS an intensive inter-disciplinary exchange of knowledge takes place that on the one hand gives practitioners the opportunity to examine the phenomenon of corruption from different perspectives and on the other hand lets the professors see things and problems from a practical standpoint. Furthermore the ever growing network of alumni of the IACSS, by now comprising over 150 members from over 40 countries, offers the possibility of further exchange and the strengthening of cross-border cooperation.