INTRODUCTION
Definition
Bribery is an act of giving money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty.
The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.
Example Case of Bribery
An International Officer has indicated to an overseas agent that he is underperforming against targets and needs to meet to discuss this. The agent arranges the meeting so that it takes place in the late afternoon. The International Officer makes clear that the agent's performance is such that there is serious doubt as to whether the contract will be renewed when it expires. The agent is apologetic, offers some reasons for underperformance, and offers to take the Officer out for a 'quick bite to eat' as it is the end of the day, and there are still one or two things he'd like to discuss. The 'quick bite' turns out to be dinner at an expensive restaurant, with plenty of food and drink on offer. The Officer indicates that the level of hospitality is inappropriate, but the agent insists that such hospitality is a cultural norm for his country. Towards the end of the meal, the agent presents the Officer with an expensive gift-wrapped watch as a token of his esteem for the University and to show his intention to try harder in order to meet his targets. While it may be unreasonable in the circumstances in which he has been placed for the Officer to refuse the meal, he should politely refuse the watch and make clear to the agent that the University's standards of conduct prevent him accepting such a gift. He should ensure that the he reports the incident to his line manager at the earliest opportunity and advise the agent that he will be making such a report in accordance with the University's standards of conduct.
Following a lecture at the end of the day, Dr B, a male Senior Lecturer, finds himself walking away from the Campus with a female student, Miss C, who has just attended his lecture. His journey home takes her past her house and she invites him in for coffee. After some small talk, Miss C raises the subject of his assessment of her assignment for the module he has been teaching. She explains how hard she has worked on the assignment and how important a good mark is to her. She hopes that Dr B will take this into consideration. She suggests to Dr B that "it would be worth your while" to ensure that she has a good mark for her assignment. This could be construed as an attempt to bribe Dr B. Dr B should advise Miss C that it is not appropriate for him to discuss this with her and politely excuse himself. He should advise a senior manager in the College of the conversation at the earliest opportunity.
The World's Most Corrupt Nations, 2013
Since the turn of the new millennium, Transparency International (TI) has published the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) annually ranking countries "by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys."
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory's score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 - 100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is perceived as very clean. A country's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories included in the index.
In the 2013 survey, the 20 top countries that were ranked as having the lowest perceived levels of corruption were :
RANK
COUNTRY
CPI SCORE
RANK
COUNTRY
CPI SCORE
1.
2.
Denmark
91
11.
Luxemborg
80
New Zealand
12.
13.
Germany
78
3.
4.
Finland
89
Iceland
Sweden
14.
United Kingdom
76
5.
6.
Norway
86
15.
16.
17.
Barbados
75
Singapore
Belgium
7.
Switzerland
85
Hong Kong
8.
Netherlands
83
18.
Japan
74
9.
10.
Australia
81
19.
20.
United States
73
Canada
Uruguay
Then, the 20 bottom countries that were ranked as having the highest perceived levels of corruption were:
RANK
COUNTRY
2013 CPI SCORE
1.
Somalia
8
2.
North korea
8
3.
Afghanistan
8
4.
Sudan
11
5.
South Sudan
14
6.
Libya
15
7.
Iraq
16
8.
Uzbekistan
17
9.
Turkmenistan
17
10.
Syria
17
11.
Yemen
18
12.
Haiti
19
13.
Guinea Bissau
19
14.
Equatorial Guinea
19
15.
Chad
19
16.
Venezuela
19
17.
Eritrea
20
18.
Cambodia
20
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ON THE ACT OF BRIBERY
The results of economic analysis lead directly to ethical issues. In context of bribery effect to economic analysis is the impact of corruption on a country's imports or exports, the impact of corruption on investment and the impact of corruption on the demands and supply in business activities. It lowers economic growth, discourages investment, and marginalizes and restricts global markets. It erodes support for economic aid and puts a heavy economic burden on the poor and lowers the standard of living of the people. Countries are concerned and are trying to combat corruption.
Supply Side and Demand Side Analysis of Bribery
As we know from basic economics, every transaction has a supply side and a demand side. Corruption or bribery is no different, the demander of a bribe is an official who has the power to offer a government contract, to issue a license, or to allocate some scarce resource, and the supplier is a business person who wants these favors. Legal sanctions an target both sides, but the government's power extends most directly over its own officials. Therefore, the demand that "the Government should act to eliminate corruption" usually means that officials who demand and take bribes should be better detected and more harshly punished by the apparatus of criminal law.
Microeconomic Theories Analysis Of Bribery
Standard microeconomic theories use various economic shocks, such as aggregate supply or demand shocks, to explain the volatility of business cycles. Some economists also use other factors, particularly the structure of a country's financial system, to explain microeconomic volatility.
When there is corruption, it is possible for bad firms to survive because of corrupt officials. If both good firms and bad firms bribe officials, social returns of investments are much lower than private returns. Social returns are even lower if only bad firms are bribing government officials. As such, social returns from bad firms are lower than social returns from good firms. In fact, when bad firms survive in an economy with corruption, social returns from bad firms are negative, although their private returns are positive.
Hence, bribery clearly shows that it is a unethical action, even though by small value. Thus, bribery may effect to economic growth of country. Economic fall is synonym to bribery. Bribery also causes inflation; this will have an impact on the people of a country.
The following are five simple ways in which corruption negatively impacts economic growth:
1) High prices to consumers
When entrepreneurs and businessmen are required to pay bribes before necessary permits are issued, they tend to view it as a cost of doing business and therefore pass that cost onto consumers (that is you and me) who suffer from high prices. Thus for example when a businessman goes to take delivery of goods, all the bribes that are paid may be tacked onto the final price they would charge consumers.
2) Reduced investment leads to reduced goods and services and inflation
In extreme cases, the extortion of bribes from entrepreneurs can be seen as a tax which can reduce the incentive to invest. Foreign entrepreneurs for example will shy away from corrupt countries because they claim the cost of doing business is too high when one factors in the bribes. Reduced investment leads to reduced goods and services, a concomitant reduction in gross domestic product and inflation.
3) Reduced foreign direct investment
According to World Bank Development (1997), FDI may still flow to countries in which corruption is systemic but only if bribery is affordable and results are predictable. Corruption can have a negative effect on foreign investment because for most foreign firms corruption is a cost of doing business to be recouped from revenues. Consequently if the costs become too high or unpredictable, they disengage or shun the country altogether. High levels of corruption increase the risk of a country being marginalized in the international economy.
4) Poor maintenance of public infrastructure
Because of corruption, maintenance and repairs always takes a back seat to new projects. For fear of being exposed, corrupt officials prefer to approve new projects rather than spend to revamp the old corrupt projects they approved in the first place. The result is that new projects are constantly being undertaken whilst existing infrastructure is left to deteriorate
5) Low quality public infrastructure
The allocation of public procurement contracts through a corrupt system leads to inferior public infrastructure and services. For example corrupt bureaucrats might allow the use of cheap sub-standard materials in the construction of buildings or bridges.
LEGAL ANALYSIS ON THE ACT OF BRIBERY
A legal framework is a set of rules through precedent in the common law, which the judgments can be determined in a given legal case. It comes when a judge outlining and applying a rule. And it is also allowed for it to be equally applied to like cases. When there is enough judges make use of this process, then it'll be enough for it to be establish as the right method of deciding like situations.
Bribery in criminal law refers to the improper acceptance by a public official, juror, or someone bound by a duty to act impartially, of any gain or advantage to the beneficiary, including any gain or advantage to a third person by the desire or consent of the beneficiary. A gain or advantage may be a benefit in the form of money, property, commercial interests or anything else the primary significance of which is economic gain.
Case Of Bribery In Johor
"Five men have been charged in the Sessions Court with bribery under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act.
They were charged with offering bribes of between RM50 and RM500 to Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) officers, a traffic policeman and a Johor Bharu City Council (MBJB) officer.
The bribe was an inducement for the officer not to issue him a compound for driving a tourist vehicle and one that did not have a passenger manifest."
There are some examples of this framework (Legal Framework).
1. Framework breach. This term is defined as well-known type of breach which entitles the innocent party to treat it as repudiator and to rescind the contract. In this case, the men who were charged for the bribery, had offered the innocent party – SPAD officers, a traffic policeman and a MBJB officer – as an inducement for the officers not to issue them a compound. The officers are called as the innocent party, and the men who being charged are the men who want to breach the contract. But in any cases where there are people who want to involve in this activity are also involve in corruption or bribery.
2. Laches. It is defined as the loss of rights because of failure to act. For example, when the people who are involved in bribery are fail to act against the law being charged to them. From this case of bribery, these men who were charged on act of bribery failed to defense themselves from the charged. Or if they try to bring it up into the court, the court maybe refuse to hear a case not brought before it after a lengthy period since the right of action arose.
3. Substantial performance is the rules of law that may be apply where the contract has been substantially being performed before the breach is happen. In this case of bribery, if the officers are trying to accept the money, then they are involved with this type of legal framework.
Social forces are defined as the power (force) from the society that is capable to change the cultural ideas or influencing people. From the act of bribery, sometimes the people who are involved in this case are not being forced by the society, or the society do not teach on why the bribery are not legal. It is a public opinion, media or trend that will change politics. This case of bribery has been made into the media, a newspaper in this country.
1. Public opinion. We as the society have the right to give our opinion in this case. When we see or know some people are involved with bribery or corruption, we can talk with them or ask them the reason they want to give or take the bribe. Maybe we can slow talk with them. For example, the above case of bribery shows that these people want bribe the officers but they did not want to consult first about the procedure, so then they may not being issued the compound.
2. Media. The richness of media publicity can indirectly give the lesson to us or especially the people who are involve with corruption. From this case, the media (newspaper) publish about this case. So, when we as the society read the news, then we might be aware on not being involved with this bribery.
So, it is important for us and possible to look at each of the problems that have an ethical content through the framework of legal theory, and relying on the impersonal social forces to decide between "right" and "wrong". If people and organizations follow these rules, members of that society will be treated as justly as possible.
ETHICAL ANALYSIS ON THE ACT OF BRIBERY
ETERNAL LAW
Eternal law is natural law and not changes. It is law from Allah for Muslim and for non-Muslim, they has law from their god. For example of act bribery today is many people do bribery but they hide it with give donation, gift, hamper, and food trick. They do it because because in Islam, bribery is forbidden and illegal law of Islam. But donation, gift, hamper, and food trick is not illegal.
UTILITARIANISM
Theory "the greatest good for the greatest number". It mean when you doing something, you think it good for many people. But not think about another person. For example when a person has a power and give bribery to another person to get a tender job for their employee get work and get income. So he used a theory utilitarianism to get that job.
UNIVERSALISM
Universalism is can be translate into personal duties or obligation. It is mean when you doing something, you do about what you think right without think outcome. For example bribery is when you a policeman take bribery from your superior to make you shut your mouth when superior do bad job. Then you use theory universalism because if you do not accept bribery, you will fired. So you accept and you not think what outcome can happen.
DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE THEORY
Belief in the primacy of justice will lead us to make decisions and take actions that are expected to result in compensating benefits for all, especially the least advantaged member of our society. For example is when someone innocent want you help him to win in court. Furthermore, you also friend with judge in this case. Then you give him bribery in help you win this case and help someone innocent.
