Specialized Regulatory Bodies in the Prevention of Bribery Crime in Iranian and Iraqi Laws (An Analytical Inductive Study)

Abstract

The crime of bribery is one of the serious forms of administrative and financial corruption that threatens the existence of societies and states and the integrity of public office and the transparency of dealings in the public and private sectors, due to the undermining of the rule of law, the weakening of trust in institutions, and the hindering of economic and social development that this crime causes. It has become a global phenomenon that is not limited to a specific country but extends to include different countries to varying degrees, as it is one of the most important challenges that states may face and is considered one of the issues that still arouses global concern and controversy due to the increasing pace of its spread and the diversity of its scope. Furthermore, it is currently not limited to what it was known for, namely the crime of bribing a national official, but has extended beyond this traditional form to its modern forms addressed by international and regional conventions, such as the crime of bribing a foreign official, officials of international institutions and organizations, and bribery in the private sector. This is because these latter forms have corrupted international commercial transactions and undermined the values of justice, development, and growth in contemporary societies, posing a danger to the economies of states and threatening them with economic, service, and even security collapse, loss of their international reputation, violation of their sovereignty, and weakening them before their citizens. This necessitates that states review their preventive policies and establish sound preventive policies in their legislations to combat this new and dangerous epidemic, which has expanded in scope and forms, represented by the crime of bribery in its traditional and modern forms, and to establish mechanisms and means to control, confront, and combat it. This research will address these mechanisms and means through the oversight bodies in Iran and Iraq and their mechanisms for the prevention and combat of bribery in accordance with comprehensive strategies, and it concludes that the effectiveness of combating and preventing bribery requires deep and updated institutional reform, integration between national legislations, and international cooperation, while enhancing transparency and accountability.