Magister Legum - LLM / This paper seeks to examine the relationship between foreign aid and corruption in Zambia. Drawing from the analysis of the two, it then explores whether the existing legal instruments are adequate and effective to combat corruption in the aid context.

Magister Legum - LLM / Corruption is rampant in Tanzania. It is one of the major obstacles to the economic growth and sustainability of the country. The country loses a huge amount of money through corrupt practices. It is estimated that 20% of the national budget is lost to corruption annually. In recent years, Tanzania experienced grand corruption scandals which involved senior public officials and high political leaders. Between 2005 and 2006, 22 companies stole 133 billion Tanzanian shillings, the equivalent of$96 million, from the External Payment Arrears Account facility at the Central Bank of Tanzania. The discovery of this theft led to the investigation and prosecution of a number of perpetrators, including big businessmen and senior officers of the Central Bank of Tanzania. However, hitherto no assets have been traced and recovered from the offenders, save a handful of money which was paid back by a few perpetrators on condition that they would not be prosecuted. Furthermore, in 2008 a government minister by the name of Andrew Chenge was forced to resign after he allegedly was implicated in taking a bribe of $1 million from the British company, BAE Systems, in relation to a $40 million radar deal. Sources disclosed that Chenge deposited the alleged bribe money in one of his offshore accounts, but this money has not been recovered by the state. In response to the corruption problem, Tanzania enacted various anti-corruption laws. These laws include the Anti-Money Laundering Act (2006), the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act (2007), the Proceeds of Crime Act (1991) and the National Prosecutions Service Act (2007). These laws contain provisions for the confiscation of proceeds of crime as one means of combating economic crimes. However, grand corruption persists in the country and only a few stolen assets have been confiscated to date. It is on this account that this study is exploring confiscation procedures in Tanzania.

Magister Legum - LLM / Corrupt practices such as bribery and other abuses of public functions for private gain have been criminalised in almost all legal systems. Criminalisation of acts of corruption constitutes one of the major dimensions of the international anti-corruption instruments. The clandestine nature of corruption crimes creates difficulties in gathering evidence for prosecution and effective implementation of the law. To overcome such problems, some indicators of corruption such as possession of property that far exceeds legitimate sources of income need to be criminalised. It is also imperative to deal with the challenges associated with such criminalisation. This paper tries to analyse the challenges related to due process of law in the investigation and prosecution of illicit enrichment. Further, complexities associated with the process of recovering illicitly acquired assets, such as resources and expertise, as well as effective co-operation among various jurisdictions, need to be explored. Special consideration will be given to the criminalisation of illicit enrichment and its prosecution in the Ethiopian anti-corruption legal framework.

Doctor Legum - LLD / The international legal framework on money laundering encourages states to put in place effective systems for the identification, freezing, seizure and forfeiture of proceeds and instrumentalities of crime. While the international legal framework obligates countries to adopt conviction-based forfeiture (criminal forfeiture), it only encourages them to consider adopting non-conviction based asset forfeiture (civil forfeiture). This has led to a situation where countries, such as Malawi, adopt only criminal forfeiture and not civil forfeiture. This study analyses the efficiency of the existing Malawian criminal forfeiture regime in curbing and preventing the proliferation of underlying profit-generating crimes and money laundering. This thesis contends, in part, that some countries have not adopted civil forfeiture because there is no international obligation to do so. It argues that the fact that states are not obligated to adopt civil forfeiture by international legal frameworks and national arrangements undermines the deterrent aim of the anti-money laundering and asset forfeiture systems in combating economic crimes. Some justify the casual approach to civil forfeiture by arguing that its implementation harbours the danger of violating human rights and constitutional guarantees. This thesis, however, advocates for the adoption of civil forfeiture within the limits of John Locke’s social contract theory, which guides states on how they can pursue policies and implement laws without limiting the rights of their people arbitrarily.

Magister Legum - LLM

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study assesses the policies for managing recovered proceeds of crime in three countries, namely, Tanzania, South Africa and Nigeria. It considers the role and relevance of asset management in the asset recovery regimes of the three countries. Managing the proceeds of crime divides into two stages: the pre-confiscation stage and the post-confiscation stage. International best practices (IBPs) in asset management have been employed as a yardstick for the assessment. On the face of it, asset management is complementary to asset recovery policy. The management of preserved and recovered assets maintains their value and enables states to apply the assets to other policy objectives after the finalisation of the recovery process. From this perspective, proper asset management arguably lies at the heart of asset recovery policy. Asset recovery as a policy is concerned with the pursuit of two objectives, namely, combating crime and correcting the harm caused by crime. These objectives are encapsulated in two prominent principles: the principle that crime should not pay and the principle of corrective justice. Thus, asset management policy, as an element of asset recovery policy, needs to express these two principles and address their corresponding policy objectives. A number of challenges face the asset management institutions (AMIs) in the three designated states. They fall into two categories: policy challenges and legal challenges. The main policy challenge pertains to unbalanced or skewed policy objectives. Tanzania and Nigeria, in particular, give too much consideration to combating crime and too little to correcting the harm caused by crime to the community. These policy objectives need to be balanced by the states taking seriously the principle of corrective justice as fundamental to asset management policy. In this connection, compensation to victims, funding of institutions dealing with the victims of crime, funding of public good projects and funding of law enforcement agencies are available as ways of addressing the harm caused by the offence and showing commitment to ensuring that nobody suffers loss as a result of crime. Despite the existence and implementation of a proper asset management regime, certain factors affect the value of the preserved and recovered assets negatively. They include enforcement of certain rights in favour of the defendant, such as payment of legal, living and business expenses from the preserved assets, and certain asset recovery procedures, such as plea bargaining, non-conviction based asset recovery and administrative asset recovery. Proper legal controls are required in order to reduce the impact of such factors upon the value of preserved and recovered assets. The study concludes with a focus on the asset management regime of Tanzania. Various recommendations are offered towards the attainment of a Tanzanian regime structured in terms of balanced policy objectives. The recommendations cover three aspects: the general coverage of the law, the functioning of AMIs and the legal control of the factors that were identified as affecting the value of assets during the recovery process.

<p>The aim of this research paper is to examine the legal framework for the recovery of corruptly-acquired assets, with particular emphasis on the Nigerian situation. Its primary focus is a detailed examination of the legal mechanisms for the recovery of such assets in the context of international asset recovery. Despite the success of the Nigerian government in recovering the Abacha loot,8 siphoning off of public funds by public office holders continues, and charges of fraud persist against top bank executives alleged to have converted depositors&rsquo / funds fraudulently. The prevailing criminal or conviction-based forfeiture mechanism in Nigeria appears inadequate to deal effectively with these situations. The need to enhance capacity through the adoption of civil or non-conviction based forfeiture laws therefore becomes imperative.</p>

<p>The aim of this research paper is to examine the legal framework for the recovery of corruptly-acquired assets, with particular emphasis on the Nigerian situation. Its primary focus is a detailed examination of the legal mechanisms for the recovery of such assets in the context of international asset recovery. Despite the success of the Nigerian government in recovering the Abacha loot,8 siphoning off of public funds by public office holders continues, and charges of fraud persist against top bank executives alleged to have converted depositors&rsquo / funds fraudulently. The prevailing criminal or conviction-based forfeiture mechanism in Nigeria appears inadequate to deal effectively with these situations. The need to enhance capacity through the adoption of civil or non-conviction based forfeiture laws therefore becomes imperative.</p>

Magister Legum - LLM / The aim of this research paper is to examine the legal framework for the recovery of corruptly-acquired assets, with particular emphasis on the Nigerian situation. Its primary focus is a detailed examination of the legal mechanisms for the recovery of such assets in the context of international asset recovery. Despite the success of the Nigerian government in recovering the Abacha loot,8 siphoning off of public funds by public office holders continues, and charges of fraud persist against top bank executives alleged to have converted depositors&rsquo; funds fraudulently. The prevailing criminal or conviction-based forfeiture mechanism in Nigeria appears inadequate to deal effectively with these situations. The need to enhance capacity through the adoption of civil or non-conviction based forfeiture laws therefore becomes imperative. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM