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The unintended consequences of anti-corruption measures: Regulating judicial conduct in Ghana

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Abstract

There are endless possibilities of court users seeking to influence judges' decisions on cases in many countries. As a result, authorities often seek to reduce corruption opportunities by regulating judicial conduct and limiting access to judges. Using interview data from 15 judges drawn from a larger study of justice and anti-corruption officials in Ghana, this paper presents judges' interpretation and observation of rules around judicial conduct and the impact on corruption opportunities. The results suggest that judges interpret their obligations under these regulations broadly, including isolating themselves from the public to remove them from the possibilities of corrupt exchanges. However, it was found that instead of decreasing corruption opportunities, regulating judicial conduct in this way can produce unintended consequences. This anti-corruption measure, while well-meaning, can increase corruption opportunities, shift corruption opportunities to lower-level court officials, decrease transparency and guardianship, and even motivate judges to engage in corruption. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the results for preventing corruption in judicial systems.

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Notes

  1. The CHRAJ is an independent institution that was established in Ghana by the CHRAJ Act (1993), as directed by Article 216 of the 1992 Constitution. It serves as Ghana’s primary anti-corruption institution as one of its mandate is to receive and investigate corruption allegations against public officials.

  2. See Clarke (2017), Clarke and Brown (2017), and Tunley et al. (2018) for discussions of the strategies and techniques of the SCP.

  3. The larger study interviewed 65 officials comprising 22 high-level police officers, 10 prosecution lawyers, 3 defence lawyers, 15 judges, and 15 anti-corruption officials (see Amagnya, 2020).

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks Professor Janet Ransley, Professor Susanne Karstedt, and Dr Kieran Hardy of Griffith University for their guidance and direction during the writing up of this paper. A very big thank you to Professor James Treadwell, Dr Nana K. Agyeman and Dr Leanne Savigar-Shaw for their editing of the paper.

Funding

This study was supported by Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship and Griffith University Publication Assistance Scholarship.

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  1. Institute of Policing, School of Justice, Security and Sustainability, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK

    Moses Agaawena Amagnya

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Amagnya, M.A. The unintended consequences of anti-corruption measures: Regulating judicial conduct in Ghana. Crime Law Soc Change 79, 153–174 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-022-10039-w

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