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If a government employee being caught taking bribe or embezzling funds from the budget, even single time, remove presumption of innocence from all his assets (house, land, car, jewelry, bank account etc) and require him to prove source of the income from which he had acquired these assets. If he cannot prove legality of his incomes, confiscate ALL properties belonging to him or transferred to his relatives after investigation started.

For many corruptioners prison time is nothing! After serving few years he can start living like a millionaire having money he stole.

Good day, I am from the Philippines.. Here in where I live, the government has already made that mandatory, as a law, and shall be done by any official employee of any government offices, they shall declare their SALN (statement of assets and liabilities and Net worth) 30 days after assumption, they shall declare it, and once a year, April IIRC, they shall submit such documents, and before they left their position...

Under that law, an officer, his wife, children under their custody, shall document each property they have...  :)

And what happens if his declaration mismatch?

No mismatch that will happen, it will be declared by the official himself before he take the office and yearly and before he left the office, he is going to file new one and it will be reviewed by a certain branch your office belongs, and submitted to the appropriate agencies in the government.

As far as I know they will be removed from the office that they are holding... it depends on the gravity of your case...

There are already public officials here that are removed from the office due to that. Even judiciary branch of the government is not safe from that... One good example of this was the late chief justice renato corona....  :)

Honestly, I don't know what we will do to my country. As of these days, I don't know to whom will I believe most especially in the politics , the government. Because for me, all I can see to them is just getting the money of the country, the money of my fellow Filipinos. I'm hoping this time that all the corrupts will be in jail and get their consequences so that no one will do the same mistake.

It will never happen and do you know why? Because these laws would have to be made and accepted by the same corrupt politicians.
They will never jeopardize their wealthy lives and the lives of their families, so they will never allow such law to pass.

Those under the table deals are very hard to find. You need to catch them red handed. The best solution to that is to really make them declare their wealth and the source of it. So when they make reaches out of nowhere, there is a possibility that they are doing something malicious in their office.

If caught in the act, then all their unexplained wealth shall become the property of the government, and can be sold so it can be used as extra fund.

Efficient way? I don't think people in the government (in my country) will agree to investigate to them because I know in our country most of the people or should I say 98% of the people in the government is doing corruption. So what can a normal people can do to avoid those corruption? Too bad! I really hate politics!

combination company and goverment can get big corruption and very dificult in eradicating

We cannot 100% eradicate it, but one way to lessen it to have transparency in each country. In our country we encouraged to have transparency to all government officials. Corrupt people are everywhere even an ordinary person can do it. I am not generalizing it, but it is the truth. So for me, I'd rather change myself before accusing other people and let God punish them.

I want to justice to be served on this world not another.
When someone is saying that we can't do anything and instead we should let God to do his job, it feels like major sign of helplessness.

I heard many theories and tips from people who claim to know how to stop corruption, they are not perfect. For example:

1. Pay better money in government jobs - people are greedy to the point that if they are corrupt they would always want more.
This will eliminate only the most pettiest corruption attempts.

2. Keep log of transactions, bills, online bank account monitoring etc. - how about old fashioned cash? You can't track it.

3. Cameras in government facilities - if you want to bribe someone you can do it after working hours...

4. Hire only respected, serious and honest people - great point if we actually could manage to do that. In reality people re cunning to the point of faking their righteousness.

It seems to me that you want to deal with the consequence rather than the cause. If an official takes money in order to bypass some sort of law, then you should think, and whether such a law.

I like you're way of thinking, let God punish them. If everyone thought this way then I would definitely be a drug king pin.

Ineligibility is enough I think. That is a way too hard punishment to take control of all his assets, as people raping or murdering have lower sentences...

Not all assets. Only these for which offender cannot prove legal source of income to buy them.

Do not forget that to prove the origin of their income can not only corrupt, but also those who earn their money honestly just don't want to pay the full taxes. I also don't cry and don't think it's bad.

Proposed confiscation will apply only to the assets acquired after offender took the office. This is penalty for corruption and not tax evasion in the past.

We need a law to dismiss from service if found to be involved in corruption. For instance if you see cases where anti-corruption bureau rides an officers home and finds disproportionate assets, the officer is suspended from employment and taken for judicial trials. But after couple of years you will find them in employment at same or even better positions. So this creates no fear among the officials against corruption.
And we can also keep transactions online and provide bill for every purchase: Many of them do not pay taxes and escape.  This is where bitcoin can come into picture.

It can't be eradicated. Corruption has been going on since recorded history. People will always be tempted, bribe so essence, its already corruption. Corruption though is more prevalent is 3rd or developing countries. Laws are always there very bad people will corrupt police, government official just to get what they want because of money.

The best way to eradicate corruption and crime is to ensure a strong job market where everyone is able to work and have a good job, without needing to resort to nefarious means to provide for themselves & their families.

It invokes wealth and wage equality, a fair and decent standard of living for poor to middle class income earners.

Crime and corruption are what people turn to when they feel abandoned by politicians, world leaders & feel as if they have no hope. Crime is a last resort.

The authorities already do this in my country. But the criminals are smart and they hide what they stole. Even after serving time they come out and are funded to keep doing crime. Its a state of mind you cannot change someone's mind even with prison.

If the person is corrupt, it is always possible to find the money to forfeit. Just investigation are the same corrupt as he is and therefore the money does not find. To fight corruption it is necessary that the journalists were investigating transferred materials to Prosecutor's office and got a piece of the confiscated property.

Have the criminals corrupt themselves.
As they say: Evil will do upon itself and eradicate the wicked from all of this earth. ;D

That would just worsen the scenario. If they are corrupting themselves, they will soon corrupt the system and all will do the same and will result to much worst. Better to stop them while they are doing it and eradicate them.  But that's true, if they kill each other because of it, that's great, which is highly unlikely to happen, as they would just connive with each other to do a much bigger conspiracy to corrupt more.

The best way to eradicate corruption is to begin at home. The government must focus on the child rearing and child nurturing of parents to their children inside the family to strengthen the values and morals of the children so that they will have strong will to overcome greed that is the main source of corruption. If the government together with the parents will not focus on this aspect then corruption will not leave all sectors of society.

Yeah i agree. It's already proven that a lot of corrupt people who actually were sent to jail can live luxurious lives even inside correctional institutions. These people already have a lot of money that can influence those who uphold the law so there's ni sense in sending them to prison where they'd just live like kings. I admire the people from japan who up to know still value moral and honor. I think corrupt people should be given the most severe punishment because they affect more people's lives than regular criminals

And who can watch over this? Corruption to persist unites the corrupt officials in the club. They are everywhere and we care about each other in order for this phenomenon is preserved.

Justice is a myth as long as money is a factor

Politicians and police and anyone in the government can be trusted just as much as the people in prison or people that live on the street.

This is a pretty hard question. As much as the people would like corruption to stop, there are a lot of politicians who would rather make themselves rich. We can just hope and pray that later on these people will realize that it's going to result in a major disaster if they don't stop.

To eradicate corruption  there should be  transparency and openness in government spending. In our country every public official should submit their SALN before and after their term. But the best way is to pay the civil servants well. In that case , they'll not be attempted to get funds from the government illegally. IN contrary, people who is preoccupied in getting rich will do anything just to get what they want even using illegal means. That's the sad truth.

Confiscate all of his wealth is a great idea however the one take took the effect is not only him, but also his family, and prison means nothing for the corruptor, i think the best way is exile them or maybe a dead sentence

I think that just to confiscate funds and property from corrupt will not work. All their wealth on relatives and friends. They have nothing. I think that the corrupt officials to impose the death penalty and be given the opportunity to pay off.

Exiling them to other country would just excite them and probably make them free of any charges the state might file, or if the state did, probably they would escape since they are already outside the country. Putting them in prison, removing all their rights, including their right to communicate with people outside the prison, and isolate them from other prisoners with just water and food is enough. So others may learn how hard it is to be in prison because of corruption.  :) That's cruel I think.

those people who are found guilty in corruption must be sentence to death for them to fear the law !Since they will just go to prison these people don't fear anything if ever they will found guilty ! these people are stealing people money so it is just right for them to suffer this kind of consequences ! I am pretty sure that when it become implemented government officials that are corrupt will be lessen but will not vanished!

No, that's not going to be effective. Death penalty won't be a solution to corruption, in fact it can become a reason the case might end and the suspected corrupt official had already relayed his wealth to other family member... With that said, death would just make the process short, but never really solve it... When we punish, lets prolong the agony, in short lets make them suffer more...

Besides, corrupt officials are clever, who knows, they might find a escape goat and they are already free from charges...  :)

In my country corruption imprisoned in a very luxurious by paying some money. One of the TV station in my country broadcast a prison corruption perpetrators is like apartments and there are many facilities such as tv, laptop, bathroom, dining room, and even they can get out to meet her family with a certain time limit. More ironically again the corruption money is not returned so it can be enjoyed by the perpetrators and their families. Efficient way to eradicate corruption maybe with a maximum prison and bring back the money stolen, or may be able to emulate China which execute  the perpetrators of corruption with hanged or shot.

corruption has been always a part of politics maybe even in the beginning of politicscorruption  will never be out of role , I believe it's because of lack of guidelines regarding that that the punishment is too low for them to be afraid ! if someone will just speak up and raise a bill regarding corruption acts that will insanely be afraid those are corrupts maybe it will stop or it will be lessen close to non

Because people nowadays don't really contented and satisfied what they do have and if you are in politics it is to get money so they are persuaded in money. Although not all people can do that but sad to say almost all politicians can especially here in our country. Maybe because they want to secure themselves and their family in the future.

The corrupt will never be able to protect themselves. It always depends on the authorities. As soon as the authorities which he pays for silence will change it is always possible arrest, but his family will be provided for all.

I am happy you said 'if' so which means if I am not caught, I am not corrupt and the government wouldnt have stopped any corruption in the first place even in countries where there is capital punishment for corruption people still engage in it. So they would have done more if the worst that would have happen to them is losing the wealth. The best way is to block the source of the wealth when there is no too much money only few will be available for stealing.

I do not agree. Corrupt always takes money for something that helps to circumvent any provision of the law. It seems to me that the best way to fight corruption is to cancel such provisions of the law.

For me, the most efficient way to eradicate is to give a lot's of powers to medias (TV, news papers, etc....)
And we must also to be held laws very restrictive.

you cant cure corruption entirely caz they goverment it self made the laws that made sure corruption is okay and not 100% detected

We always discuss corruption forgetting that the coin has two sides. There are also people who allow the corrupt officials to make money. They are no less guilty. The fight against corruption also applies to them.

Well Im thinking that what if, for example, the father is the mayor then after that no one in the family can enter the politics anymore. So that no one will follow the step of that father and we dont know if hes doing good or bad. Well just a thought. :)!

It is called political dynasty, here in our country it has been a big issue because some politicians just won because their father is a former Mayor or a governor etc. and it is sometimes has negative effect because some politicians don't have experience in public service or don't even study political course, they just won because of their last name.

I know I once read of a study somewhere where an African country attempted to eradicate corruption within the police force by raising the pay of the workers and even hiring more people. It actually lead to the exact opposite happening in the country where there was the same amount of more corruption occurring, the person who led the findings had stated that the reason for corruption still occurring is because the police in the country had a much higher pay in mind for the type of work they're doing.

People are never going to leave corruption, its part of us as GREED is one with people. You commit such acts of stealing to make some money due to the greed inside you, the greed to never have enough and keep wanting more and more. You won't be able to remove corruption entirely, but with a strong centralized government where such corruption acts are punished with high punishments it will limit the amount that occurs.

In many industries there is a family dynasty. Good or bad? If the child sees how politics is done if his father teaches with specific examples, what's wrong? I think that son will be a good politician.

That will be unfair to the children of the politicians. They have the right to enter politics, and you can't bar them from doing that by saying that the parent was a politician. But still, I am against family rule in politics.

Unfortunately, clan politics is not know-how. And not only in politics. What you do not know your family clans in medicine? By the way, and in medicine, I did not see that the children were at the level of their parents. But more skilled workers not their families are not allowed.

That is the reality, those son and daughter nowadays are really following the footsteps of their parents and yes it is unfair for those who really deserves to enter politics, but how can you blame the mindset of people they are just telling what they are seeing. And sometimes other just use the name of their parents not because they deserve to.

The best way to stop it is to implement a death penalty out of it. Or if others don't approve it just cutting their fingers if they have proven to bribe the money of the country. In that way I think no onw will brine again. Who wants to lose fingers anyway?

In China, corruption is sentenced to death and what? I think in China there is no corruption? Wrong. I think the only way to fight corruption is not to make unnecessary restrictions in the legislation.

Killing them will be ineffective, you just shorten their sufferings... Cutting their fingers too, man can live without one finger, even without one arm... The best solution to those caught corrupt politicians is to strip off all their wealth, assets from the time they entered public service, then throw them to jail with only food and water for a life time...   :)

It is only on the first sight this type of prison is cheap! In fact, if you count high security costs, offender's life here will cost taxpayers enough for a flight to Mars.

That is too rude, anyway, we should not waste our time and energy with them just to see them suffering. I'd rather go with a lethal injection, so they'll just be gone in a second or public execution would do. And all their wealth should take possession by the government and give to poor people or to build schools etc.

All the corrupt officials working in the government. Do you think that if you take money from the corrupt ones and give them to other corrupt officials that they will build the money to schools? I'm just funny!

Corruption is punishable by death in some of the countries, like China. However in Western nations, the white-collar crimes are always treated lightly. Even if someone steals billions of USD (such as Bernie Madoff), he will be out of jail in a few years.

This situation not only in the United States. In many countries of the former USSR the corrupt do not put. They are all respected and are in power. The more people steal, the less likely that it will be put in jail.

You really cannot say like that because in countries like China you could face a jail sentence for corruption or even get executed .So it all depends upon which country you are talking about and cannot generalize things like that. Corruption is like a cancer and it is not that easy to eradicate completely,each individual is responsible if you want to eradicate corruption.

Ex-USSR is riddled with corruption. A Russian minister (Alexei Ulyukayev) was recently arrested for taking bribes. In Moldova, corrupt officials stole about one-sixth of the GDP in a matter of few days. And the thieves are yet to be caught.

It's based on a simple fact. Countries with high unemployment rates and low wages will always face corruption problems. There are maps of corruption available, that show poor countries are the most corrupt and old USSR is just a small part of the former Soviet Union that is known for the things a bill under the table can do for you. My father used to travel through that region in the 80s and when you were caught by a militsiya patrol (communist police) you'd always put a note between the documents and they'd take it to the car to check and bring you back without it and wish you a pleasant trip. Many people were brought up in corruption and they are used to it

So are you telling that your father was doing some shady business to bribe the officials :D Most of the poor countries have the most corrupt officials because of the wage difference they have and it is hard to eradicate corruption altogether.

I think what his point is, instead of his father being question by the military police during checkpoint and to avoid hassle on their end, he will just slipped money on the documents and the police will simply let you go away without question.

But I agree, usually corruption is rampant in third world countries because the police has a meager salary so they will accept bribes without blinking an eye because the salary they are getting are not enough to feed his family. Corruption is very difficult to really remove or eradicate.

Unfortunately there are instances when the police on the contrary pay large salaries and this does not help to fight corruption. Here we need very different ways. Just in poor countries is very great temptation to make money.

Sometimes, all in the government is politics, most  of them wants to drag each one down... Sometimes their cases takes just the same as their term, and after they are done, critics would also slow down.... With that said, hanging them or killing them might be a mistake... Who knows, the accused is only played by crooks so they could make their name or as I've said to drag one down... They might need retrial... Unless it is very obvious...  :)

They should choose between hanging them in public, or they do seppuku/harakiri due to shame...  :D

It has only a small dependency on the wages. Even if you suddenly increase the wages by 10 times, more than 90% of the corrupt officials will continue to accept bribes. These people are greedy, and their greed is insatiable.

I think all corrupt officials should be put in jail. Confiscate all property purchased and him and his family. And ban them permanently from holding positions in which it is possible to have the proceeds of corruption.

In my country, too, all cops are corrupt. How many of them do not pay salaries, they still want more. I don't know why they have such a pathological greed for money. Probably power over people corrupts.

Corrupt officers will always consider benefit/risk ratio. If you have a salary equals middle corporation CEO from one side and risk losing it, all assets acquired while in office and good pension, you will think twice before taking a bribe or kickback.

What do you order that before you take a bribe, he would think twice? The main thing that he will take her. The more you fight corruption, the more bribes and more sophisticated methods of obtaining it. That makes all the difference.

Before thinking of the consequences, we should consider the causes of this problem.
What is the cause of corruption?
We are weak people, confused, without a moral compass...
Where is the origin of absolute value and morality?
In God.
Since we are separated from God, we lost sense of morality.
We replaced absolute morality from God with our own, human morality, relative and changeable.
Because of this, we see corruption and selfishness in the world, as result.
 

And I think that it's much easier. God has nothing to do with it. I'm sure that it is not. The more likely cause of corruption is the imperfect legislation. Corrupt help people to get around them. To successfully combat this phenomenon it is necessary to simplify the legislation.

I agree to some aspects of this, instead of focusing on the punishment, i think it is important that we look into methods of stopping corruption from happening in the first place, i think what we need are governments that are completely transparent to the general public in every possible way

100% eradication is not possible. But by taking some steps like giving better salaries in government jobs, increasing the number of workers, speeding up the work process in different types of government institutions etc can hardly help to eradicate corruption. Now-a-days it has become a severe issue. So, along with governments we all should also be alert of this.

I think corruption is a criminal act that is highly detrimental to the nation, and it is appropriate that the government provides severe criminal sanctions for perpetrators of corruption, in order to provide a deterrent for the perpetrators of corruption,,,,,

Giving them more salary would just give them an idea that they need more money, much larger than their salary, we are human and we are not contented with what we have...

The best thing that I think could prevent them from corrupting is, there should be no money that are entering their office, signing of papers where money might be involved should be done in one office, with all those that are going to sign are present, and with third party witness and video with proper documentation and those were regularly being send to the higher offices...

One more thing, house them all they should be transported by the car provided by the government back and fort of their quarter, and freeze all their assets while they are in the office and of course, pay their salary after their term... - This are all highly unlikely to happen..  :)

I disagree with you. If the government officials get good salary, the prevalence of corruption will be reduced by a great deal. But we need to implement a carrot and stick approach. Good salaries alone won't do the job. Tough punishments also need to be given out to the corrupt officials.

A government official I thought it was getting a good salary, so maybe it does not work to reduce corruption. Give a better salary is not a good way to eradicate corruption I think, because people will not be satisfied with what they get so that their desire to continue to get better salaries will always be there. Heavy punishment I think a good way to eradicate corruption, if the punishment is done firmly and true I think would make people think back to corruption.

Corruption will never run out, people who were given huge salaries and higher administrative positions will not solve the problem because corruptor is never satisfied. Prison just a hotel to hide away and on vacation. Corruptions number of property seized by government is only a fraction of their total wealth (nominal visible). A good name is tarnished not important because money is everything for them.

I agree with death penalty. This will provide a deterrent for others. Human rights have always voiced about human justice, but they are silent when corruptors continue to dredge nation's wealth without mercy, even after being jailed and free.

Yes, most decisive punishment may be given to corruption, the death penalty is one of the best ways to reduce corruption. Because this will make people afraid to engage in corruption so that corruption can be reduced or even eliminated. Because if jailed, they could be free with pay. And if to return the money, it's not all of them will be returned. But I am sure this will cause the pros and cons for a country that had never done that. But whatever, I also agree with the death penalty for corruption.

I agree with death penalty just like the old times like firing squad, hanging to death etc, but I think in our county this kind of punishment will not likely to happen because there is no existing laws that include government officials with this kind of punishment, too bad.   

Death penalty is not a good solution, unless all that were suspected corrupt politicians are proven guilty with lots of substantial evidence that could prove it including videos and conversation... It would be unfair to public officials who were just framed up or if not, being set up by someone...

Aside from that, judges are humans and they are not perfect in making a decision, that is why there is always a retrial and someone could appeal his/her case in the higher courts...  :)

It is really easy to call upon a firing squad and death penalty for corruption .Why you want to think about extreme measures rather than steps to isolate that individual from the political or government jobs rather than killing them and you can very well confiscate their wealth and if government starts implementing this then we will be able to reduce corruption .

Nobody would ever condone murder as a penalty for corruption in a modern society. Isolation would be a great idea. Such penalties are already used but they are very limited and rarely imposed on politicians.
Such rule applies to teachers, if one is convicted for a major crime he is immediately banned from working in education. Doctors and judges are facing similar penalties if they are found asking for bribes, but these cases are difficult to prove in court unless you have him on camera.
It's funny that one of the most corrupt groups, the politicians, are seldom convicted.

Imprisonment doesn't seem to work when it comes to corruption nowadays, I like how it is in China, they just kill you, death has a way of deterring people from committing doing anything illegal.

In fact, China has rarely kill. Corruption is everywhere. In many countries if corruption will stop these countries paralyzed. Officials have come up with a lot of laws which prohibit all. But corruption allows you to not abide by these laws.

Well that is not right, government officials are still included in this type of punishment, it depends on how high of crime did that government official to punish themnusing the punishment said. There are levels of crime matching their own pusnishments.

Cruelty begets cruelty. The death penalty does not solve the problem of corruption and crime. I think that the punishment system really needs to be changed, but it should be something like penal servitude.

That will not work because those that have the duty to prosecute those felons can be corrupted too and if that happens then corruption will run rampant as it is the case right now.

It seems to me that to fight corruption can only be that you need to destroy not bribes, and the reason prompted the man to bribe. In another corruption not to win.