On the occasion of the tenth session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division hosted a special event on “Judicial specialisation in the fight against corruption” on 15 December 2023, in Atlanta, United States.

In the last two decades, countries have adopted various measures and mechanisms aiming to ensure effectiveness in the action against corruption. One such measure has been the introduction and establishment of the specialised anti-corruption authorities responsible for preventing and combating corruption. In this regard, a particular emphasis was also put on the specialisation, particularly in the prosecution services and the judiciary.

Depending on the legal and political context, countries have taken different policy approaches in developing this specialisation, by either introducing specialised sections on the fight against economic crimes including corruption within the judiciary, or by introducing specialised anti-corruption courts. While these developments are a positive step contributing to strengthening the anti-corruption efforts, questions remain on the effectiveness in practice, the impact these have on the trust in the “regular” judiciary, sustainability, funding, special treatment of the judges of such courts and other underlying issues.

The special event aimed to contribute to the ongoing debates on trends and practices of special courts and specialised judges in the anti-corruption area. Most notably, the speakers presented the key considerations and conclusions from the Council of Europe’s comparative analysis on the rationale and approaches for the establishment of specialist anti-corruption courts and the use of specialised anti-corruption judges.

For further information, thank you to consult the Council of Europe’s comparative analysis “Trends and practice of special courts and specialised judges in the anti-corruption area”.