Prosecution of corruption is a particularly difficult endeavor and successes in this field still too rare. The detection rate is often low due to the lack of verifiable information that is received from public servants or other citizens. Particular difficulties arise when an investigation involves prominent politicians and wealthy businessmen, or when dealing with international bribery cases that require the assistance from foreign jurisdictions in order to collect evidence. Shortcomings that are at the root of these problems can be found at legislative level; in addition, many law enforcement agencies are technically not apt to deal with complex crimes such as corruption in an appropriate manner.

Considering the need for capacity building that countries of the Asian and Pacific region have expressed for capacity building in this reform area of the Action Plan, the ADB/OECD Initiative organized a master training seminar on Effective Prosecution of Corruption.

This document assembles the seminar’s background papers and case studies, and the experts’ and participants’ views on the key topics that formed the basis for discussion at the seminar. As such, the publication aims to make the expertise exchanged and acquired during the seminar accessible to a broader public and thus to contribute to the overall aim of combating corruption in the new millennium.