The World Is Getting More Corrupt, and These Are the 5 Worst Offenders

In the article below, notice that lawyers aren't on the Top Five in the world list of those considered guilty of corruption.

But perhaps lawyers should be counted as part of the judiciary. After all, who becomes a judge? A lawyer! And who bribes the corrupt judges? My guess is that it's usually a lawyer. 42% of respondents in United States felt that judiciary was corrupt/extremely corrupt. 15% of Americans reported paying a bribe to the judiciary.

I had little personal experience with court corruption until my current case before San Diego Judge Judith Hayes, who was forced out of the criminal courts in San Diego Superior Court. I do not know that she received a bribe in my case, but I know that she declared things to be true that were absolutely false. I cringe to think of what she must have done to people accused in criminal court. I have heard for decades that verdicts could be bought in some courtrooms in San Diego, but I was still shocked when I heard Judge Hayes' deliberately false statements.

I also have some evidence that the selection of a judge for a given case is not always random in San Diego Superior Court. The Administrative Office of the Courts is in charge of this. (See all my posts about the AOC here.)

To put judicial corruption into perspective, I should point out that 34% of respondents in United States felt that education systems were corrupt/extremely corrupt, with 11% reporting having paid a bribe to education services.

43% of respondents in United States felt that medical and health services were corrupt/extremely corrupt.



The World Is Getting More Corrupt, and These Are the 5 Worst Offenders
By SANTIAGO WILLS
ABC News
July 10, 2013

On Tuesday, Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International released its Global Corruption Barometer 2013, a worldwide survey of 114,000 people that analyzes bribery and corruption in 107 countries.

The report found that corruption and bribery are prevalent across both developed and underdeveloped nations: More than 50 percent of respondents in the world said corruption had worsened in recent years, and 27 percent admitted to paying bribes in order to access public services and institutions.

Few respondents see an easy way out of this growing problem. The majority of people don’t believe in their government’s capabilities to fight corruption. Nearly 88 percent think that their leaders are doing a poor job at it, and most blame public institutions as the main corruption sources.

Here are five of the world’s most corrupt institutions, according to the survey:

1) The Police

For years now, many people in rural areas of countries like Mexico and Venezuela have learned an important lesson: If you have a problem with the law, avoid the police, because you might end up with even more problems.

In Mexico, cartels pay municipal police $100 million every month, and more than 93 percent of drivers think traffic policemen are corrupt. (One solution to that problem: female police officers.) In Venezuela, the interior minister excoriated his entire force last month.

Those are some of the most extreme cases, but they reflect a general worldwide distrust of cops. Across the globe, police received 3.7 rating on a 1 to 5 scale, where 1 means ‘not at all corrupt’ and 5 means ‘extremely corrupt’.

2) Judges

Few forms of corruption can hurt a country more than judicial corruption. The rule of law tends to disappear when people don’t trust the justice system. If you don’t think a judge can help you, there is a greater chance you will take justice in your own hands or allow those who wronged you to escape with impunity.

There are 20 countries where people think the judiciary is the most corrupt institution. In these countries, 30 percent of the survey’s respondents admitted that they had a paid bribe in order to help their cases.

3) Public Officials and Civil Servants

Government employees in charge of land, registry, health, and education have a privileged position controlling access to certain grants or assistance. They can easily ask for bribes.

This sort of corruption has mostly affected countries like Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia –- countries where agrarian and civil conflicts have divided the population and enabled governments to centralize power in big bureaucracies.

On average, public officials received a 3.6 for corruption on the 1-to-5 scale.

4) Political Parties

Citizens of Argentina, Greece, Colombia, the United States, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Vanuatu, Uruguay, and Jamaica share one belief: They think political parties are their country’s most corrupt institutions. In total, 51 countries around the world expressed contempt for political parties in the survey.

More than half of respondents think that their countries are run by big interests looking out for themselves “entirely” or to a “large extent.” It’s no surprise, then, that protesters in countries like Turkey, Egypt, Chile, Spain, and Brazil have used political corruption as a rallying cry.

In the U.S., 76 percent of respondents said that political parties were affected by corruption. In Greece, the number is currently at 90 percent.

5) The Citizenry

One of the largest problems when dealing with public corruption is the people themselves. According to the report, 27 percent of respondents said that they had paid a bribe in the past 12 months. As Transparency International and other NGOs have repeatedly stated, this ultimately sustains and encourages corruption.

The same goes for citizens' failures to report incidents of corruption. The study found that 21 percent of the people surveyed are not willing to report these incidents, and there are 16 countries where a majority of respondents would prefer to remain silent, for fear of reprisals and lack of faith in their governments.

Time to play "Did this judge take a bribe?": Why did judge in Cyrus release 11th member of Russian spy ring?

UPDATE: Perhaps the odd actions of the judge in Cyprus were just an attempt to avoid a political crisis. The suspect probably would have been part of a spy swap if he had not been released.

ORIGINAL POST:

"Suspects arrested on the island are almost always held in custody for fear they may attempt to flee through the internationally unrecognised Turkish-run enclave of northern Cyprus. Both Turkey and Syria are only short boat rides away."

Russian spy ring suspect jumps bail in Cyprus

The Russian espionage drama intensfied tonight as the alleged paymaster in the "deep cover" spy ring failed to answer bail in Cyprus.

An arrest warrant was issued for Christopher Metsos, the 11th suspected member of the operation, after he failed to report to a police station in Larnaka, the Guardian has learned.

Metsos, 55, was arrested in Cyprus on Tuesday but, to the surprise of Cypriot police, was released on bail. Ten other accused are in custody in the US, after the FBI broke up the alleged ring on Monday.

"An arrest warrant has been issued and if found he will be arrested immediately," an officer at the police station in Larnaka told the Guardian. "He has broken his pledge to be here."

Metsos was first stopped at 9am yesterday at Larnaca airport by officers acting on an Interpol "red notice", moments before he was about to board a plane to Budapest.

Appearing before a district court judge, Metsos was told he could walk free, pending an extradition hearing within 30 days, if he posted €20,000 (£16,000) bail.

Metsos, who is thought to have been travelling on a Canadian passport, is believed to have returned immediately to his hotel in Larnaca, which he had checked out of only hours before.

Suspects arrested on the island are almost always held in custody for fear they may attempt to flee through the internationally unrecognised Turkish-run enclave of northern Cyprus. Both Turkey and Syria are only short boat rides away...