Prof Robert Barrington

Read the new blog by @devipillay.co.za for @giace.bsky.social!

New blog by Robert Barrington explores the risks of applying anti-terror laws to protest groups & what it could mean for civil society’s role in anti-corruption. Reflects on UK & global trends.
🔗 Read more: bit.ly/3UjVK04
#Governance #CivilSociety #RuleOfLaw

Is the designation of #PalestineAction as a terrorist group relevant to the UK's anti-corruption architecure? Regrettably yes - this new blog explains how blogs.sussex.ac.uk/centre-for-t... @spotlightcorruption.org @transparencyuk.bsky.social @ukanticorruptioncoalition.org

Why it matters whether #PalestineAction are really terrorists - blog exploring implications of using anti-terror laws vs Palestine Action, arguing that applying such laws to campaigners can set dangerous precedent which a future government could abuse to silence its critics and cover up corruption

We’re excited to welcome @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social as the new Programme Director of GI ACE!

We’re thrilled to have her leading the next phase of GI ACE’s work to advance integrity and evidence-based anti-corruption strategies.

Read more about Liz’s background: giace.org/about/

Just announced: the UK's most famous libel firm, Carter-Ruck, is being prosecuted before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for recklessly enabling a $4bn fraud

It's astonishing how reckless Carter-Ruck was - likely causing $$$ more to be lost to fraudsters

The full story:

Competing rights, colliding ethics: reconciling client acceptance, state capture and the concept of a public profession Lawyers have been characterised as a keystone in the architecture of professional services providers who enable grand corruption and kleptocracy to take place. A multistakeholder Taskforce on Busin...

Delighted to have published this paper on the ethics of lawyers who represent kleptocrats - Competing rights, colliding ethics: reconciling client acceptance, state capture and the concept of a public profession www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

📚 Highlights from the CSC Summer Academy!

Two days of rich discussion on state capture, grand corruption, integrity in sport, and more. Interested in anti-corruption?
Apply to our MA in Corruption & Governance:
lnkd.in/e-vEK2sb
#AntiCorruption #GoodGovernance #CSC

Many small steps make a long journey. But we now need big steps+a short journey. Loss of trust in politics is a severe problem - ethics & integrity a big contributory cause. Parties talk such a good game on this - but only in Opposition. From that to wardrobe-gate and footie freebies. What a shame.

New ethics commission welcome, but stronger rules - backed in law - are needed.

Government plans for a new Ethics Commission are welcome, but without laws that enshrines the existence of the Ministerial Code of Conduct, ministerial standards will still rely on the ‘good chaps’ theory of government.

Our full statement 👇
www.transparency.org.uk/news/new-eth...

UK to introduce standards regime to fine ministers over post-office jobs breaches ‘Essentially toothless’ watchdog Acoba to be replaced by Ethics and Integrity Commission

"It is unclear how the new financial penalties will be enforced and there are no changes to the rules on the revolving door, which urgently need strengthening"

Our thoughts on the Government's new ethics announcements in the @financialtimes.com ⬇️

www.ft.com/content/0ff2...

Really interesting set of research gaps/questions published by NCA and Home Office: nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/p... @spotlightcorruption.org @transparencyuk.bsky.social @bcowdock.bsky.social @duncanhames.bsky.social @suehawley.bsky.social @jamesbj.bsky.social

🎙️ New Kickback episode: Mo Ibrahim joins @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social to talk about founding the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, African-led governance, the IIAG & leadership prize. Inspiring insights on self-reliance & reform.

🎧 Listen: apple.co/46MHZOD | bit.ly/4eWj9Ot | bit.ly/KB136Soundcloud

Anti-corruption champion sent to UK offshore haven amid secrecy concerns Foreign Office sending Margaret Hodge to British Virgin Islands to investigate slow progress against financial crime

Dame Margaret Hodge, the UK's anti-corruption champion, is being dispatched to the British Virgin Islands to challenge authorities there on their glacial progress towards promised beneficial ownership transparency reforms www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

‘Come meet us in Dubai’: the new offshoring of grand corruption Sensitive business is moving towards more permissive jurisdictions in response to tighter regulations and greater media attention.

Laws and rules to counter kleptocracy must have greater extraterritorial reach and/or more effective multijurisdictional partnerships to meet a challenge which is becoming even more transnational in form.

With Ricardo Soares de Oliveira.

theconversation.com/come-meet-us...

How to secretly pour £60m into British politics Exposed: The loophole that AfD-linked billionaires, hard Brexiteers and other anonymous donors use to bankroll politicians

NEW: Over the past 2 decades, more than £60 million has flowed into British politics through exploiting critical loopholes in our election laws.

In 2025 alone, close to £700,000 has been handed to political parties through these routes.

Read more⬇️: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/how-to-sec...

👇 Good write-up of this exchange by @rowenamason.bsky.social and @kiranstacey.bsky.social in @theguardian.com tonight:

David Lammy has announced a UK-led Summit on illicit financial flows- will it deliver in tackling kleptocracy and corruption? blogs.sussex.ac.uk/centre-for-t... @spotlightcorruption.org @racheldavies.bsky.social @duncanhames.bsky.social @sussexscsc.bsky.social @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social

From @csc-barrington.bsky.social wherein he discusses what "I will never allow London mansions to be the bitcoin of kleptocrats" (David Lammy) might actually mean.

blogs.sussex.ac.uk/centre-for-t...

🔴 How can a captured bank become an engine of grand corruption❓

Our new briefing dives deep into the Congo Hold-Up investigation to reveal the tactics used to embezzle and launder funds through BGFIBank in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

acdatacollective.org/work/inside-...

Inside the Congo Hold-Up: How a Captured Bank Enabled Grand Corruption - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence This briefing reveals how BGFIBank DRC was transformed into a vehicle for grand corruption by Congo’s ruling elite. It details how illicit financial flows were enabled through mis-invoicing, fictitiou...

Financial institutions are the arteries of modern economies—but when captured, they become pipelines for illicit wealth.
@acdatacollective.bsky.social's new brief "Inside the Congo Hold-Up" shows how BGFIBank DRC was hijacked by the Kabila regime to launder public funds.

🔗 bit.ly/ACDCPolicyBr...

Gibraltar Government on Trial for Corruption Today’s Guest Post is by Robert Barrington, Professor of Anti-Corruption Practice at the Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex (UK); and formerly the Chair of Transparency …

My 2024 blog on the significance of this Inquiry is here: globalanticorruptionblog.com/2024/03/21/g... - niche, I know, but important given the role of the UK's Overseas Territories in the global financial system - @stevejgoodrich.bsky.social @spotlightcorruption.org @kathrynwestmore.bsky.social

For those following the important McGrail Inquiry into corruption in the government of Gibraltar, it has just announced that the report will be presented to the government this autumn: coircomp.gi/wp-content/u.... Campaigners will rightly expect it to be released to the public at the same time.

It's time to put an end to financial secrecy in the British Virgin Islands We cannot credibly aspire to be the anti-corruption capital of the world while the British Virgin Islands continues to avoid proper transparency.

🗣️"We cannot credibly aspire to be the anti-corruption capital of the world while the BVI continues to avoid proper transparency"

Important piece from MPs Lloyd Hatton and Sir Andrew Mitchell on the need to end financial secrecy in Britain's Overseas Territories.
www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Lecturer in Politics (Education and Scholarship) Ref: 40472 (Part Time, Fixed Term) - Job page - University of Sussex Job Search

📢 Now hiring! Join the University of Sussex as a Lecturer in Politics (part-time, fixed-term) and help teach on our renowned MA in Corruption and Governance.
Remote teaching possible (UK-based only).
Apply by 21 July: jobs.sussex.ac.uk/job/08e2705d...

135. Nicole Rose & AJ Brown on Corruption in Australia Podcast Episode · KickBack - The Global Anticorruption Podcast · 07/03/2025 · 44m

New KickBack episode out now:

@csc-barrington.bsky.social speaks with Nicole Rose (NACC) and AJ Brown (TI Australia) about corruption in Australia, the rise of “grey corruption,” and how new institutions are responding.

🎧 Listen here:
SoundCloud: bit.ly/Soundcloud135KB

#KickBack #AntiCorruption

The government should not ban public servants from speaking in public | Institute for Government New guidance will damage the quality of government and public discourse.

A private instruction that prevents government officials from speaking at public events is counter-productive. It will lead to a more closed government and less effective policy www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...

SFO and DOJ affirm commitment to joint working to tackle crime The Director of the Serious Fraud Office met with the Head of the Criminal Division at the US Department of Justice this week.

🤝 Great to see the Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice affirm their commitment to continued collaboration in fighting white collar crime, because this cooperation is absolutely vital for ensuring corporate corruption is deterred by the threat of robust enforcement.

The BVI’s company register plans ‘not compatible’ with global transparency efforts, warn anti-corruption campaigners

🆕 The BVI's plans for granting access to its corporate registers don't go far enough.

Genuine beneficial ownership disclosure should expose corruption and empower investigators—not create bureaucratic barriers protecting wrongdoers.

See our full response ⤵️
www.transparency.org.uk/news/bvis-co...

What does state capture mean for UNCAC implementation?
In a new #GIACE blog, Tom Shipley explores how the UNCAC process often overlooks the systemic nature of capture, and what a more effective approach could look like.

🔗 Blog: giace.org/statecapture...
🔗 Also Read: bit.ly/uncaccoaliti...