UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL LEGAL MECHANISMS OF ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

Abstract

Problem. This article presents a scholarly examination of the system through which anti-corruption policy in the construction sector is shaped by international legal mechanisms and implemented by international intergovernmental institutions, including the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, and the World Bank Group. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to examine the international legal regulation and institutional foundations of international anti-corruption policy, as well as the patterns of its implementation by international intergovernmental institutions, and to formulate evidence-based recommendations for incorporating Ukraine’s anti-corruption policy in the construction sector into the international legal framework for ensuring legality and the rule of law in construction-related legal relations. Methods. The study reviews the current state of scholarly research on the problem, identifies a set of insufficiently explored issues, and outlines a research methodology based on methods employed in political and legal sciences, including systemic, comparative, formal-legal, institutional, and political-legal methods. The article also characterizes the principal global and Ukrainian trends in manifestations of corruption in construction, their destructive impact on the economy, and the relative weight of corruption in the construction sector compared with other sectors of the economy. Results. The main body of the article provides a detailed analysis of international instruments governing the formation of anti-corruption policy in construction and its implementation by international intergovernmental organizations. The instruments examined include the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), OECD recommendations, the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, and the Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants. Conclusions are drawn regarding the anti-corruption mechanisms contained in these instruments, and recommendations are formulated for their implementation in Ukrainian national legislation with a view to improving the institutional and legal foundations of Ukraine’s anti-corruption policy. The analysis of international instruments is supplemented by an examination of the bodies of international intergovernmental organizations responsible for implementing this anti-corruption policy. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the study identifies the principal directions for improving Ukraine’s anti-corruption policy in the construction sector through the incorporation of selected elements of these international legal mechanisms into the formulation and implementation of a national implementation programme as a component of Ukraine’s European integration policy.