Corruption
The Justice Initiative works to combat high-level, transnational corruption, which drains resources from developing countries and fuels repression and violence.
We support a broad, global effort by Open Society to combat corruption in all its forms, with our legal efforts aimed largely at challenging international networks of corruption.
We seek to break through the complex financial and legal structures used to conceal corrupt money flows, seeking prosecutions and the effective return of corruptly acquired assets. We also seek new approaches that expand the reach of the law, such as holding corporate actors accountable for the war crime of pillage, or using human rights law to challenge corruption’s impact on economic, social, and political rights.
Swiss Criminal Investigation Targets War Crime of Pillage
Swiss prosecutors are investigating the alleged illegal trade of minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following a complaint filed by TRIAL International and the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Justice Initiative Joins Calls to Defend Legacy of Guatemala's CICIG
The Justice Initiative joined over 200 organizations in a public statement, calling on Guatemala's new government to safeguard the advances of CICIG, the U.N.-backed anti-corruption commission.
Legal Remedies for Grand Corruption
This collection of essays explores how civil society groups have been taking innovative legal approaches to hold to account those responsible for high-level corruption, and looks at possible new strategies for the future.
Cases
TRIAL v. Argor-Heraeus S.A.
This complaint sought to initiate an official investigation by Swiss federal prosecutors into allegations that a Swiss gold refinery processed several tons of goal pillaged from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Magnitsky v. Russia
Sergei Magnitsky died in pretrial detention in Russia after being denied essential medical care, in retaliation for exposing a $230m fraud involving senior Interior Ministry officials.
APDHE v. Obiang Family
This case before a Spanish court involves massive sums of money allegedly diverted by the President of Equatorial Guinea to buy property in Spain and the Canary Islands for his family.
Recent work
Almost a Decade after his Death, Sergei Magnitsky Gets a Measure of Justice
The ruling from Europe's human rights court validates the underlying rationale for the laws adopted by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and some other countries to impose sanctions on designated individuals implicated in gross human rights abuses.
Q&A: Mothers Are Leading the Search for Mexico’s Missing People
Mexico continues to break records for its rates of deadly violence and disappearances, but criminal accountability remains virtually absent. A group of mothers in the state of Coahuila have taken up their own fight for truth and justice.
Legal Remedies for Grand Corruption
This collection of essays explores how civil society groups have been taking innovative legal approaches to hold to account those responsible for high-level corruption, and looks at possible new strategies for the future.
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