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Ildiko Ritter:
Professional Bibliography on Corruption in the
Past Five Years
(January, 1995 - September, 2000)
Journals - Publications
- Books
Corruption has always been present in historical time and
social space at almost any time and place. It’s another question
though what corruption meant at different times and places.
Corruption seems to be growing stronger in societies undergoing
major social, political and economic changes.
The political and economic connections of corruption as
a social phenomenon in Hungary, its forms and function that
have developed since the change in political regime, as well
as the survival of corruption forms of the past are being
examined by an increasing number of researchers and from more
and more different aspects. We have collected professional
articles published on corruption in Hungary in the past five
years (between January 1995 and September 2000). This bibliography
also contains some publications and studies that are not available
in the registries of public libraries.
The study covers each and every Hungarian journal, publication
and book available. It is interesting to note that major journals
such as Századvég, Társadalmi Szemle, Politikatudományi Szemle,
Közgazdasági Szemle and Jogtudományi Közlöny have not published
a single article on corruption in the past five years. The
Szociológiai Szemle and renown professional law journals such
as the Magyar Jog have both published a single study on corruption.
In this respect the Mozgó Világ and the Belügyi Szemle have
dealt with the phenomenon of corruption the most.
The Studies on Criminology and Criminalistics, the annual
publication of the National Institute for Criminology published
an article on corruption almost every year, and it also dealt
with the topic in special publications.
During the past five years only one single professional
book has been published that dealt exclusively with corruption,
under the title "Writings about corruption". In the following
you will find the summaries of these studies, articles and
publications.
Journals
BELÜGYI SZEMLE (Review of Internal Affairs)
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2OOO/2
Ferenc Krémer: The degree of degeneration - a comparative
study in the sphere of corruption
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In the summer of 1998 the Faculty of Sociology of the Police
Academy participated in research examining police corruption
in an international comparison lead by researchers from the
University of Delaware. The sample was created on the basis
of consistent considerations in the various countries. In
Hungary of the 1,000 questionnaires distributed among police
staff altogether 280 assessable forms were returned. The research
leaders supplemented the sample with first-year correspondent
course students from the Police Academy. In the report the
author compares the results from the five countries studied.
He examines the judgement of the structure of corruption,
the inclination to report it, and the difference of opinions
on the sanctions against corruption of respondents in the
countries in question as well as the divergences between the
nationalities. In the second half of the study the author
presents an analysis of the Hungarian data.
József Bencze - Andrea Balaska:Questions of corruption
in the Board of Customs and Excise
In their paper the authors study acts of corruption committed
at the Board of Customs and Excise, their reasons and the
factors, which cause them. They believe that corrupt behaviour
occurring in the organization is induced by numerous external
factors and the specific system of internal relations. The
study examines the forms of corruption of almost thirty years
prior to the customs regulations, which came into force on
1st April 1996, current corrupt behaviour, and the internal
factors of the offences. The corrupt activities experienced
in the Board of Custom’s handling of its duties at the border
customs offices are characteristically the following: carrying
out out-of-turn inspections, superficial inspections, the
entry or exit of goods exceeding the quantity or duty free
limit, fictive entry and exit control, and entry or exit without
record. At the internal customs offices they are characteristically
the following : customs clearance or issuing documents out
of turn, customs clearance of a superficial nature or without
inspection, and the forging of the contents of documents and
issuing fictive documents. The exposure and proving of the
above listed acts is fundamentally hindered by widespread
apathy. In the course of studying the acts the authors found
group involvement in a growing number of cases and the disappearance
of documents presentable as evidence. The authors also examined
the internal measures taken against corruption and their effects.
They state that to make taking measures against offences more
effective new internal methods need to be devised, the number
of staff dealing with it need to be increased, technical devices
need to be developed, and the appropriate statutory background
has to be created on the one hand, and on the other hand co-operation
between the various law enforcement agencies needs to be improved.
1999/1O
Ferenc Krémer: A few characteristics of police corruption
The study summaries the results of a survey using self-completed
questionnaires. The questionnaire was completed by 160 correspondent
course students from the Police Academy. According to the
study interviewees consider corruption to be less in every
respect in the provinces than in Budapest. The interviewees
believed the most common form of corruption in the capital
city was the police officer not issuing a receipt after administering
an on-the-spot fine. In the provinces, however, the most typical
form of corruption was thought to be police officers using
their identity card to avoid being held responsible. Economic
forms of corruption did not feature in the forms of corruption
in the study.
Ferenc Sárközi: Corruption in the police
The public safety director of the Pest County Police Headquarters
examines in his study the typical forms of appearance of acts
of corruption in the ranks of the police. He looks at forms
of behaviour, which carry the danger of corruption, he explains
the difficulties of uncovering and proving acts of corruption,
and analyses known acts of corruption. At the end of the study
he proposes suggestions to hinder corruption within the police
organisation and to prevent such acts from happening.
Issue 10, 1998 of the Review of Internal Affairs dealt
entirely with the topic of corruption .The following are resumes
of the studies in this issue:
Laszlo Lengyel:Essay on political corruption.
In his study the author deals with the influencing and corrupting
of political organizations, institutions and politicians for
private aims, which are contrary to public purposes. In addition
to assessing the specialist literature on political corruption,
he illustrates the characteristics of the existing phenomenon
by examples from literature, history and current public life.
He mentions the forms of corruption occurring in the crisis
of Kadarism, analyses corruption without a clientele and the
anti-corruption activity of the second government after the
change of regime, the MSZP/SZDSZ government, which the author
believes escalated the corruption process rather than stopped
it.
István Szikinger: The legal sources of police corruption
While the author was still working as a senior member at
COLPI he proposed that the laws themselves may generate corruption.
In his study he reviews a few issues concerning the corruption-generating
effect of legal norms and of problems relating to their creation.
The essence of corruption examined by him is abusing executive
power to gain private profit. He pays special attention to
the connections of legal values and the personality of the
policeman as well as regulations directly promoting corruption.
Ferenc Krémer: A few problems of the police subculture
and corruption
The author in his study outlines the main characteristics
of the employment culture of policemen, and examines whether
there is a connection between this culture and police corruption.
In relation to analysing the employment culture of policemen,
he states that an average policeman bases his acts on a dichotomous
view of the world. From this three essential consequences
arise:
- the policeman is unable to sense and handle the variety
of this society,
- self-reflection is lacking from his way of thinking,
- he assesses every activity on the basis of the rules of
his own internal world.
The author believes the connection of the police subculture
and corruption is fundamentally determined by two factors:
on the one hand the pressure of corruption exercised by the
society on official organisations and on the other the community
and organisations of the policemen itself.
Dr. Imre Kabai - Dr. József Kiss: The connection...
The authors are research workers at the Current Research
Institute and Foundation. In their study they published the
results of their survey of the inhabitants of Hungarian towns
conducted by the Institute between 1995 and 1997 on official
influence and corruption. The study examines how big a role
public opinion of the towns attribute to corruption in a broad
sense in how they arrange and how they can arrange their affairs
in the town hall. Their results show that the inhabitants
of larger towns are forced to live together with the various
forms of corruption. It is present to a lesser extent and
in milder forms in smaller, more transparent and more easily
inspected communities.
Sándor Rubicsek: Thoughts on corruption
In his article the author deals with the issue of the dangers
of economic corruption and the effectiveness and necessity
of the fight against it. He holds the view that all citizens
should be obliged to make a property declaration and report
property changes.
Dr. István Pintér: The prevention of corruption and its
early detection in the justice system
The author agrees with the presumption that corruption involving
large sums of money is present at a high level in the justice
system. Through the appointment of high ranking public officials,
politics can obtain such influence which in certain cases
can ensure that some people are above the law. The author
carefully examines the forms of corruption which appeared
in the socialist justice system, giving special significance
and attention to the complex tasks of prevention (selecting
leaders, guaranteeing suitable living and working conditions,
and continuous internal inspection). He considers it necessary
to devise internal regulations against corruption that can
be observed and are enforceable as well as to introduce an
ethical code into the justice system.
Dr. Béla Blasszauer: Corruption in the health service
The bioethicist author particularly examines the topic of
gratuities, experiments on people and corruption at the pharmacy.
He explains corruption as an accompanying phenomenon in medicine
and finds the fight against corruption in the health service
wanting. He does not regard the explanation that certain forms
of health service corruption are socially acceptable to be
acceptable. He studies the amoral sending of patients from
pillar to post, the scientific fraud, the abuse of state administrative
rights, the waiting lists, and corrupt behaviour in connection
with breaches of confidentiality. In his opinion the corruption
to be found in the health service has serious consequences
for the fate of the patient but also for the morals of society.
Csaba Bedo: Tasks against corruption and organised crime
in the spirit of EU accession
The author believes that legislators and dispensers of justice
taking measures against corruption and organised crime are
at a significant disadvantage in pursuing the appearance of
new forms of crime in corruption. It is not by chance that
the European Union has made significant efforts to broaden
the fight against organised crime and corruption. In the spirit
of this the EU Commission accepted an action plan in April
1997. The author presents and analyses this action plan in
the study.
Dr. Imre Grecskó - Dr. György Léhner: Professional border
guarding - spreading corruption?
The authors of the study examine the forms of corruption
present in border guarding. Among the crimes committed for
profit by abusing official positions they give special emphasis
to the forms and circumstances of committing bribery and foreign
exchange offences by an official person. They analyse the
difficulties of proving crimes involving corruption, the problems
of holding people responsible and the role of accusation and
court proceedings in suppressing corruption.
1998/11
Péter Csonka: The prospects of the fight against economic
and organised crime in the Council of Europe
The author, who works for the Council of Europe’s legal directorate,
deals especially with the topic featuring in the title in
conjunction with the Council of Europe’s European committee
for problems caused by crime (CDPC). In the study the author
examines the possibilities for co-operation, the tasks for
the suppression of transborder economic and other crimes belonging
to the sphere of organised crime, and the chances of harmonisation.
1995/2
Dr. Sándor Nyíri: The economy, corruption and ethics
The author examines the effects of domestic economic and
social changes on the appearance of the various forms of corruption.
He highlights the problem of defining the concept of corruption
and finds a generally accepted definition wanting. The study
concludes with an analysis of the need and tasks of an anti-corruption
programme at a state level.
MOZGÓ VILÁG
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The journal’s 1995/1 issue dealt exclusively with the
phenomenon of corruption. The summaries of these articles
are presented hereunder.
1995/1.
Lengyel László: Esszé /László Lengyel: Essay/
The author - without actually using the term corruption -
provides an overview of the (part-)owner layer originating
from the Kádár era, the impact of economic changes on the
structure of society, as well as the influence of social changes
on the operation of the market. The article examines the adaptation
skills of society and individuals, then goes on to analyze
the phenomenon and effects of the intertwining of economy
and politics after the political changes.
A korrupcióról (Tarnói Gizella interjúi) /On Corruption
(Interviews by Gizella Tarnói)/
Gizella Tarnói interviews Gábor Kuncze, Tamás Sárközy and
László Antal.
Kuncze Gábor: A jogrenddel valami baj van /Gábor Kuncze:
There’s something wrong with legal order/
The subject of the interview, the then Minister of the Interior,
Gábor Kuncze says that there are corrupt practices are mainly
characteristic of privatization, but they are around in public
procurements as well. He points out that it is not only money
that might underlie corruption, but positions, relations,
friendships and other commitments, too. It is based on the
principle of service-counterservice. The biggest problem is
caused by moneys which were simply removed from state property
and became private property. In answer to the question whether
he can imagine a decrease in corruption under his term, he
said that he would be satisfied if there were a feeling that
corruption was being pushed back without any spectacular changes
having to be made.
In his opinion this could be achieved by drawing some conclusions
from the anti-corruption measures taken in the past and by
modifying the legal system, we should consistently take the
necessary measures to restrict the potentiality of corruption
as much as we can.
Sárközy Tamás: Halálos bun /Tamás Sárközy: The deadly
sin/
The subject of the interview, Tamás Sárközy took part in
the preparation of the Anti-Corruption Act. In his opinion
corruption in the narrowest sense means that public administration
employees get bribed so as to ensure certain advantages. Public
administration employees will be bribed if public administration
has scopes of authority that make such efforts worthwhile.
Corruption in the public administration sector has grown such
a burning issue because the state apparatus has centralized
certain scopes of authority again. In his opinion corporate
abuses do not belong to the domain of corruption. The phenomenon
can be handled at the level of prevention: scopes of authority
should be divided so that the institutionalization of corruption
is made impossible by way of counter-weights. He emphasizes
the important role of transparency and public notice. Corruption
should be given greater emphasis in criminal investigations,
but - along with strict laws - the normalization of salaries
of public administration employees could also be a means of
prevention.
Antal László: Korrupció és rejtett gazdaság /László Antal:
Corruption and the hidden economy/
László Antal says corruption and the hidden economy are built
on one another. It’s obvious that intertwined personal interests
have always had great significance. This is what the entire
system was based on. Where black economy is as extensive as
it is in Hungary, corruption will be around in a similar magnitude
as well. Where tax evasion is not considered a criminal offence,
corruption will also find its way with ease. The respondents
say that corruption would lose ground if black and hidden
economy were pushed back. Mr. Antal thinks that corruption
is a police issue rather than an economic one. The duty of
economic experts is to decrease the potentialities of corruption,
the majority of which are related to the hidden economy, gaps
in statutory regulations and loopholes.
Nyikos László: Állami pénzek, közpénzek és ellenorzésük
/László Nyikos: State funds, public funds, and their control/
In his study the author examines the difficulties of the
transition to social market economy. He points out that the
key problem in our society today- and for quite some time
- is economy. He describes the changes that have taken place
in lawfully produced new value in the economy (GDP) in recent
years and adds that large incomes are created and exchanged
in the illegal economy as well. Thus a country’s actual income
is greater than the official GDP of the open economy. It is
estimated that this income might have been about 25-30% of
the open GDP since the change in political regime.
Corruption is often mentioned in connection with privatization
and the spreading of the gray and black economy. The concentration
of power - as the source of corruption - can occur in any
field of life. Society must find ways to fight this e.g. internal
control against institutional corruption, which requires control
built into administration processes under regular management
control. Business corruption can be pushed back by regular
or ad hoc external control. Political corruption can be detected
by public control, a multi-party parliament and an independent
press. However, this is worth nothing - says the author -
without clear and transparent rules and strict sanctions.
"Corruption will flourish anywhere where the principles of
the allocation of assets have not been clarified and where
the executive (asset distributing) layer can make the population
believe that a particular decision depends on their judgment
or willingness" - he quotes Elemér Hankiss.
Tábori Zoltán: "Néha tehetetlenek vagyunk, de nem felejtünk"
Riport a gazdasági rendorségrol /Zoltán Tábori: “Sometimes
we are helpless, but we don’t forget” A report on the economic
police/
The author interviewed investigators at the Economy Protection
Department of the Budapest Police Headquarters to describe
the department’s activities, operation and problems. He points
out that corruption is only one of 50 different economic crimes
to be investigated ex officio. However, it is one of the most
complicated ones in terms of investigation and finding evidence.
Both the briber and the bribed commit a crime, so it is in
their best interest to keep things secret. The police expects
passive players in corruption cases to show more readiness
to cooperate when and if mitigating circumstances are applicable
without any limitation.
Szikra Zsuzsa - Adorján Dóra - Fekete Edit: Korrupciós-puzzle
/Zsuzsa Szikra - Dóra Adorján - Edit Fekete: The Corruption
Puzzle/
The authors compiled a press chronology containing 1994 cases
and articles covering an indefinable, unidentifiable suspicion
of corruption. They quote from dailies, weeklies and journals,
including interviews with Péter Hack and József Torgyán. Although
the press compilation is not supplemented with a commentary,
it still gives a realistic picture of the different forms
of corruption, corruptive behavior, and the effects of the
measures taken for its detection in Hungary.
Tódor János: Vegyi ügyek /János Tódor: Chemical issues/
The author presents two clear cases of corruption in Hungary,
one related to the production of drugs and the other to manipulations
with oil. The author made interviews with people who were
involved in these cases, and also with experts. Typically,
the experts pointed out the impossibility of proving corruption
and the impossibility of enforcing statutory regulations in
the drug case, noting that similar cases will surface on an
everyday basis until Hungarian statutory regulations prevent
foreign criminals from becoming businessmen and establishing
joint ventures in Hungary.
Daniell Bell: A korrupció örök /Daniell Bell: Corruption
is eternal/
The essay was published in the August 1993 issue of The New
Republic under the original title: The Old War. Cynical commentators
say corruption is around in all political formations, but
it always takes different forms. In the totalitarian society
it takes the form of practicing power in an arbitrary manner
and in a democracy it is money that corrupts. Businesses striving
to get orders bribe executives to receive an order or politicians
ask for money for assigning them an order. The author uses
examples from history to examine the different forms of corruption
and the effects of anti-corruption measures. He states that
lack of confidence in politicians is growing in almost every
society. In democracies the corruptive effect of money can
symbolize the collapse of confidence.
Petrocz György: Maffia, korrupció és politika Olaszországban
/György Petrocz: The Mafia, corruption and politics in Italy/
The author commences the study by stating that „The Mafia
in Sicily and corruption are two different worlds.” The center
of one is in Palermo and the center of the other is in Milan.
In one they threaten, bribe and murder people, while the other
favors the more civilized techniques of granting favors to
one another. The author is looking for an answer to the question
„what the Italian aggravating circumstance might be” - because
organized crime, corruption and disclosures take place everywhere,
causing not only the fall of politicians and political parties,
but entire political systems as well. What might be the cause
and effect relation between the Mafia and Corruptopolis -
which are so vastly different - in Italian politics? The author
describes the emergence of Italian Mafia-type organizations,
the reasons for their survival, and goes on to examine the
operation of Corruptopolis. Corruptopolis is the capital city
of the vast country of corruption with a population of entrepreneurs,
civil servants and party politicians. Noone has any doubts
any longer that the connection of politics and the private
economy in Italy - as opposed to other western democracies
- is not an abnormality but a system. The author describes
how the Mafia and corruption are intertwined through various
cases. He analyzes the Enimont-case and the "clean hands"
movement, and the role of state prosecutors in unveiling this
system. In his opinion politics and state prosecutors broke
ties in the fall of 1994, when a group of state prosecutors
from Milan put forward their own Bill for terminating the
corruption scandals which were causing so much suffering to
the entire country. The initiative was widely criticized by
the profession. Today, everybody agrees in Italy that the
process of calling people to account for corruption should
be terminated in some way, because, among other reasons, there
seems to be no end to legal proceedings which block wide areas
of public administration and the economy, and create the psychosis
of incalculable nature and uncertainty in the country.
1995/3
Sükösd Miklós: A vasháromszög megroppanása - Strukturális
korrupció, média és politikai változás Japánban /Miklós Sükösd:
The rupture of the iron triangle - Structural corruption,
the media and political changes in Japan/
The author examines the causes and forms of corruption, and
anti-corruption measures in present-day Japanese society.
Japanese and in a wider sense Far Eastern corruption is originated
in numerous factors. The author mentions 4 such factors as
the main causes of corruption. At the deepest level there
is the effect of long-term historical factors - characteristics
of a political culture and institution system that is rooted
in Confucianism. Secondly, there is the impact of rapid modernization
and industrialization which started in the second half of
the last century: and which was advantageous for the creation
of monopolies, the intertwining of industrial and governmental
institutions, and thus corruption. Thirdly, the period since
1945 has brought the survival of the economic structure of
the pre-war period in a new form. Ever since the US occupation,
corruption has remained an integral part of modern-day Japan’s
economy and politics, closely related to the operation of
power institutions. Finally, 1992 signaled the start of a
new age: a series of corruption scandals and resulting government
crises lead to the transformation of Japan’s political life.
The author studies these factors and the operation of anti-corruption
enforcement institutions.
1997/1.
Szalai Erzsébet: A bunbakképzés anatómiája /Erzsébet Szalai:
The anatomy of creating scapegoats/
"Hungarian society is in a political, economic and moral
abyss. Citizens’ confidence in the whole of the political
sector has been shattered. In the long run, it is the moral
crisis that is the most worrying. This is best indicated by
the exponential increase of the stimulus threshold: corruption
is becoming more and more widespread, it is only abuse and
stabs in the back that will cause an outcry." The author commences
the study with these words, taking the so-called Tocsik-case
as a well-illustrated example of creating a scapegoat from
among the most recently revealed economic scandals. The social
tensions that are manifest in creating scapegoats can be traced
back primarily to relations within the economic elite. The
late-Kádárian technocracy, the owners and managers of multinational
companies, and the related economic elite circles concentrate
an ever-increasing portion of power. The leaders of the economic
elite are gaining increasing power advantage over the political
and cultural elite, and they are making efforts to turn the
political and cultural elite their servants. The author expects
fierce clashes within the economic and the entire elite, and
social discontent is expected to grow as well. As a result,
the self-reflection ability of the elite will decrease significantly,
being less and less capable of facing real tensions and showing
alternatives, and a new wave of searching for scapegoats is
likely begin.
KORTÁRS
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1997/3
Czakó Gábor: Bunállam /Gábor Czakó: Crime state/
Amidst today’s sensational corruption, constitutional and
other scandals probably a lot of people ask the question:
is all that normal? The author says thinking and attentive
individuals are becoming inclined to say „yes”. Scandals,
fraud, theft etc. have become systematic. It would be abnormal,
that is ’non system specific’ if public property were not
stolen and the government did not violate laws again and again.
Certainly, crime has always existed, but every society fought
against it, considering it ’non system specific’. The author
takes examples from history and literature to illustrate the
forms and possible effects of the fight against crime. He
looks at the institutionalization of corruption and organized
crime in Hungary from the Kádár system to the Tocsik-case.
"This tainted existence where the individual deteriorates
into a mass atom, waiving any intellectual goals and replacing
human relations with relations of interests. In this tainted
existence crime becomes a business and virtue seems as the
waste of society " - concludes the author.
KAPU
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1996/4.
Dr. Kránitz Mariann: Korrupció Magyarországon /Dr. Mariann
Kránitz: Corruption in Hungary/
The author, who is a criminologist, gives her opinion on
the occasion of an anti-corruption conference. She demonstrates
the individual sub-structures of the phenomenon of corruption,
the reasons behind its existence and its consequences, then
raises the question: What can a country do to fight off corruption?
It can change its fundamental living conditions, it can introduce
a whole range of anti-corruption laws and it can operate these
laws properly. However, there is one thing the state cannot
do - or if it does, it will undoubtedly be doomed to failure
ipso facto: the state penal power cannot undertake restricting
the fight against corruption solely to the use of the means
of penal law. It is because the fight against corruption ab
ovo does not involve the use of the means of penal law, as
corruption strives in the world in its particular economic
and social contexts, and has long outgrown its framework marked
by country borders. It has become a worldwide phenomenon therefore
its prevention strategy must also become one.
EURÓPAI SZEMLE
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1996/2.
Karin Priester: A korrupció diszkrét bája /Karin Priester:
The discreet grace of corruption/
The study was published in issue Nr.2 volume Nr.43 of the
Die Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte, in 1996. The author
starts off from a statement by Hans-Magnus Enzensberger warning
that Europe is heading straight for "Italianization". According
to several observers the political sectors of more and more
European societies are showing signs of the "do ut des" (I
give, so you can give) principle, which has deep historical
roots, and its mature form is particularly characteristic
of the political culture of Italy. Some social scientists
such as Pizzorno and Della Porta talk about a new type of
politician, the „business politician” rising from a relative
social depth, who operates in the network of financial interests
like a businessman. These individuals are lead by the inner
morale of the system of liaisons and everything occurs according
to the particular, highly „ethical” rules of this system.
But where is the borderline between lawful favors, generous
services to friends, the domain of public relations, lawful
liaisons and corruption? It is difficult to draw this line
in a gray zone such as networking, whose operation has become
a substantial element of political activities of the „business
politician” at many places. Luhmann supposes that "the network
system washes away the boundaries of corruption with its super-encoding
method, first and foremost by super-encoding acceptance and
exclusion". As a conclusion, the author quotes a famous line
from Tomasi Di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, according to which
everything must change in Italy so that everything could remain
the same as it was.
VALÓSÁG
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1998/5.
Dr. Kránitz Mariann: A korrupcióról kicsit másként /Dr. Mariann
Kránitz: On corruption from a different aspect/
The author who is a criminologist uses real examples to demonstrate
the process of corruption cases or cases suspicious of corruption,
the forms of corruption, and the effects of anti-corruption
measures. Regardless of what corruption was called, the phenomenon
can be detected even at the earliest times in history in certain
fields. Corruption was a well-known phenomenon in Ancient
times, but in spite - or maybe because - of the closed, hierarchical,
highly regulated system of dependence, it flourished in Medieval
times as well. In addition to dealing with the historical
continuity and universal nature of corruption, the author
examined the ratio of corruption crimes within all criminal
activities. The number of corruption cases with criminal proceedings
did not reach one thousand in any of the years after the change
in the political regime.
What is the difference between corruption and corruption
criminality? The author tries to answer this question after
defining the concept of corruption. Corruption at the societal
level is a social phenomenon, which carries the general characteristics
of every other social phenomenon. Its specialty derives from
the fact that it produces its correcting, distorting, and
modulating effect in society’s distribution relations both
in a financial and a non-financial respect. Corruption - at
the level of the entire society - means secondary income,
a system of distribution, a redistribution system, whose existence
and functionality is always dependent on the primary distribution
order.
Corruption as a criminal phenomenon is always narrower than
corruption as a social phenomenon. The Hungarian penal code
in effect today sanctions bribing, abusing influence, but
does not consider e.g. giving and receiving tips, gratuity
and slush funds a penal law phenomenon. Underlying the corruption
that flourished at the time of the change in political regime
in Hungary were our historical traditions, the peculiarities
and contradictions of the period of change, the obstacles
of making the switch to market economy, change in ownership
and owners, privatization, the emergence of major social and
income differences, low salaries of public servants and executives,
unemployment, a general crisis of values and many other factors
which all played a direct or indirect role.
2000
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1998/9.
Szilágy Ákos: Lex Simulata. A kriminális korrupció Oroszországban
/Ákos Szilágyi: Lex Simulata: Criminal corruption in Russia/
In an effort to answer the question whether there is any
sense in fighting against corruption, the author first describes
the corrupt nature of the late-Soviet society. The „ruthless
fight, the holy war” announced against corruption closely
follows the corrupt nature of the late-Soviet society and
the new Russian state born from the „great criminal revolution”
which was dramatized as a fight for freedom and at the same
time legitimized it. In the year following the change in regime
in 1991 it was only the extremist „left-right” press that
saw corruption everywhere and in everything. It was only as
late as 4th April 1992 that the new state first indicated
publicly that it was aware of the existence of corruption
and that it intended to take counter-measures. The Presidential
decree was aimed at ad hoc (that is non-structured, non-systemized)
corruption, in other words the minor corruption of office
holders. The author examines the relation between Russian
social and economic development and corruption, and the role
and components of the fight against corruption as a means
of legitimization. Since the basic problem was cleptocracy,
the structural intertwining of criminal elements and the corrupt
circles of office-holders - in his opinion - targeting ad
hoc corruption was either a mistake or a deliberate shift.
The politically exciting publicity of ideas was increasingly
replaced by the esthetically exciting publicity of money.
In conclusion he states that where the state itself is built
on a corrupt (cleptocratic and criminal) structure, the fight
against corruption will inevitably become a means of legitimization
for the corrupted.
1998/11.
Gombár Csaba: A korrupció, mint közrossz /Csaba Gombár; Corruption
as the public enemy/
The author examines the global spread of corruption and its
causes. Globalization forces made corruption global as well
- he says. The local manifestations of global corruption -
violation of local rules and their ad hoc sanctioning is like
shooting at a rhinoceros with a slingshot. Through the problem
of how to define corruption the author approaches the phenomenon
by analyzing the different varieties of modern corruption,
and by trying to outline what we consider the opposite of
corruption. The author illustrates the existence of the phenomenon
and the effect of anti-corruption policies with historical
examples. Corruption is a political phenomenon, which can
be fought with legal regulations, but its effect depends primarily
on morals. It is only a political counter-force that can step
up successfully against corrupt conditions in political mechanisms.
SZOCIOLÓGIAI SZEMLE
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1998/5
Vásárhelyi Mária: A korrupció a közgondolkodásban /Mária Vásárhelyi:
Corruption in public thinking/
The author analyzes the judgment of corruption in public
thinking and its changes in the study. According to available
data from investigations, the public pays more end more attention
to the phenomenon of corruption. The judgment concerning the
magnitude of the social threat this issue poses is increasing
parallel to the demand that law enforcement bodies should
take firmer steps against such phenomena.
The Hungarian social context and our traditions have significant
influence on the peculiarities of corruption in Hungary. Public
thinking draws a clear line between small corruption and large
corruption - taking the position that small corruption is
not corruption, which means that as soon as they get involved
in such an „everyday” case, they immediately absolve themselves
from the burdens of a guilty conscience - if they have a guilty
conscience at all. If corruption is mentioned, everybody points
a finger at somebody else, and a sort of a shifting mechanism
comes into operation. The public is pointing upwards while
executives are pointing downwards to society.
MAGYAR JOG(Hungarian Law)
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1995/6
Dr. Imre Kertész: Against corruption - by means of criminal
law (on Austria’s anti-corruption laws)
In the section entitled ‘Foreign Legal Review’ the author
presents the creation of and changes to Austria’s anti-corruption
laws. The Austrian parliament enacted anti-corruption laws
in 1964 and 1982, and the comprehensive supplementary criminal
law of 1987 contained the reform of these. In the study the
author examines the contents of these and the reasons for
their creation. While the first corruption law was preceded
by export contributions fraud in the 50s and 60s, the second
was preceded by several serious economic abuses, which at
the time filled the front pages of newspapers and were a matter
that public opinion has not been able to drop since then.
ÜGYÉSZEK LAPJA(Attorneys’ Journal)
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Ügyészek lapja 1995/6
Dr. Endre Bócz: Property declaration, property inspection
and the prevention of corruption
The author interprets corruption as a total of corrupt deeds.
A corrupt deed is any act, which in part or in full originates
from a decision which was caused by an irrelevant motive from
the point-of-view of the social function of the given decision.
The study examines the characteristics of corrupt agreements,
the role and interests of those involved, and measures taken
to suppress corruption. The author finds that from the point-of-view
of measures taken to suppress this phenomenon the social and
moral atmosphere of the society in question is of determining
significance. Where the giving (and acceptance) of a bribe
is customary, measures against corruption will hardly have
any effect.
1999/3
Dr. Árpád Kovács: Corruption - through an auditor’s eye
The author, who is the president of the State Audit Office,
prepared his study using SAO documents. Besides interpreting
the concept of corruption, his paper examines the forms of
domestic corruption in the 80s and 90s, and supplements this
with the State Audit Office’s experiences of inspections.
He reveals that in the last ten years their organisation has
come across smaller or greater infringements of regulations
in almost all areas of the management of public funds. Their
examinations proved the widespread existence of the black
economy and its connection with the phenomena of corruption.
The author discusses the usefulness of the audit office’s
experience in the fight against corruption and underlines
the responsibility of the social and political elites in the
suppression of the phenomenon of corruption.
Special issue 1996
Denis Robert: Justice system or chaos
The editorship of Ügyészek lapja (Attorneys’ Journal) published
the Hungarian translation of the author’s work. The volume
consists of interviews and conversations with a public prosecutor
from Geneva, an attorney from Milan, an examining magistrate
from Madrid, and the head of the Madrid anti-corruption public
prosecutor’s office. The volume basically deals with the themes
of corruption, its realisation, strategies to avoid and suppress
it, and the difficulties and dangers of proving it. The attorneys
and examining magistrates questioned recounted their experiences
and opinions on this phenomenon. We are given a genuine picture
of transborder economic crime, money laundering, and the forms
and extent of corrupt behaviour. The reader can gain an insight
into the problems of the realisation of measures taken to
suppress economic crimes and corruption in the various countries
as well as the potential reasons for the lack of these measures
and strategies.
FŐISKOLAI FIGYELŐ(Academy Observer)
(The scientific periodical of the Police Academy )
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1997/1.
Mihály Fogarasi: Corruption and cognitive dissonance
The author examines the psychological reasons and processes
of corruption, the communication of those taking part in it,
the experienced conflicts and last but not least the subsequent
mental events happening in the bribed person. The study seeks
an answer to the question whether the representation, resulting
from a case of corruption, of a case, which is contrary to
the person’s views and attitudes and causes troubles to others
could exercise influence on the doer’s original attitude.
The author presents Festingerand Carlsmith’s theory of cognitive
dissonance, which proposes that attitude moderation is the
result of forms of behaviour contrary to attitudes created
alongside conditions of low motivation. Then he examines the
problems of the corrupt individual. The author believes the
theory of dissonance analyses the intensity relations of motivation
determining action, and thus he always attributes events appearing
as a consequence of behaviour contrary to the attitude to
the motivational field existing when deciding to end a conflict
situation and/or when the behaviour starts.
1995/2
Dr. Mariann Kránitz: The “white collar crime”
In her study, after presenting the qualitative and quantitative
development of domestic crime, the author defines the concept
of the “white collar crime”. The author believes, the term
“white collar criminals” covers people who commit their particular
crime using the means of their economic or social power, use
these as a defence, which is itself particularly suitable
for disguising the deed. Every one of the crimes belonging
to white-collar crime has is roots in economic life. Behind
them there is always some economic interest or, closely connected
with this, the protection or increase of social or political
power. The concept and contents of white-collar crime is always
and fundamentally criminal-dependent. The author, having examined
the extent of white-collar crime, proceeds to discuss types
of crime belonging to this conceptual sphere, considering
every form of corruption as most typical of white-collar crime.
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