Implementing Article 45 of the UN Convention against Corruption in Africa: prospects and challenges

Abstract

Article 45 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption empowers states parties to enter into bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements on the transfer of offenders convicted of offences in one country to serve their sentences in another country. Many African countries have ratified the Convention against Corruption . This article discusses the prospects for the implementation of Article 45 and the challenges likely to be encountered in its implementation. The author deals with the following issues: a brief comparison between the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and the UN Convention against Corrup tion; the available options for African countries to implement Article 45; the role of the courts in the transfer of offenders; the consent of the offender to the transfer; the issue of human rights in the context of the transfer; the sentences that could be imposed and whether there should be continued enforcement or conversion thereof in the case of a transfer, the people subject to the transfer and the costs of the transfer.