Pursuant to HRC resolution 41/9, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been requested to prepare a report on the challenges faced and best practices applied by States in integrating human rights into their national strategies and policies to fight against corruption, including those addressing non-State actors, such as the private sector, and to submit the report to the Human Rights Council at its forty-fourth session.

Summary

The report takes into account recommendations from United Nations human rights mechanisms and the Implementation Review Group of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption. It complements the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on best practices to counter the negative impact of corruption on the enjoyment of all human rights (A/HRC/32/22).

The issue of the negative impact of corruption on the enjoyment of human rights has also been addressed by the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee (A/HRC/28/73). While that issue is not the focus of the present report, it was emphasised in several submissions, including that of Paraguay, in which it was pointed out that there was a lack of scientific research to measure the negative impact of corruption on the enjoyment of human rights.

Anti-corruption efforts can conflict with international human rights standards. Where relevant, these are indicated as challenges for integrating human rights into national anti-corruption strategies.

The report is structured along the substantive pillars of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, namely those on preventive measures (chap. II), criminalisation and law enforcement (chap. III), international cooperation (chap. IV) and asset recovery (chap. V). It focuses on the complementarity between anti-corruption measures and commitments made under international human rights instruments. Each section highlights the challenges faced and the best practices applied by States in integrating human rights into anti-corruption efforts.

The four substantive sections are preceded by a section on general observations and a section on States' duty to combat corruption as a corollary of their duty to make the maximum use of available resources to realise all human rights. The report ends with conclusions and recommendations for further mainstreaming the anti-corruption and human rights agendas.