The UN Convention against Corruption was signed as early as 2003 and ratified within two years by a sufficient number of states to come into effect. But it took more than ten years for Germany to ratify the internationally binding contract. The reason for the delay was a required amendment of the existing German legislation on bribery of members of the parliament - resulting in a vigorous debate among parliamentarians. Focusing on the question, how the lines were to be drawn in the grey area of representation of interests, lobbying and corruption, the delegates feared their work could be criminalized. The necessary decision on the amendment could finally be reached as recently as 2014.
In HSFK-Standpunkt "Nur ein Feigenblatt? Deutschlands langer Weg zur Ratifikation der UN-Konvention gegen Korruption"Max Lesch addresses the question whether the legislation can be seen as an effective new regulation or just mere cosmetics. He traces the origins of the global norms against corruption and sheds light on the German parliamentary debates on the topic, in order to point out the reasons for the long delay.
The HSFK-Standpunkt is available as a free PDF download (German only).