The World Bank Legal Review

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The World Bank Legal Review

release”: in other words, the sanctioned party will be excluded from the possibility of participating in Bank-financed projects for a period of time, and, on condition of proper implementation of appropriate compliance measures, allowed to bid once more.73 Operating—as one would expect from bankers—on the understanding that corruption taints the market but that the free market is generally good for all involved, the aim is one of release from debarment and reintegration within the Bank’s (otherwise open) bidding system. Compliance with such measures, as well as the system’s objective of rehabilitation and reintroduction, is facilitated through the guidance offered by the integrity compliance officer (ICO), whose office also monitors and decides whether conditions have been satisfied.74 The Bank, as much as any other organization, strives toward good governance—that is, the process of effectively addressing shared problems through group decision making.75 Good governance comes only through good rapport and good communication between those governing and those who are governed.76 Critical to such a process are the principles of both transparency and accountability.77 Transparency, which is premised on free access to information, guards against the particular problems of capture and conflicts of interest.78 supporting the rule of law; to this end, if INT substantiates findings of fraud or corruption, the Bank will refer cases to national authorities for prosecution. See, for example, Referrals Made to Governments in FY 10–11, Integrity Vice Presidency Annual Report, Fiscal 2011 44 (World Bank INT 2011), available at http://go.worldbank.org/T40HHT3RF0; see also FAQs, Fraud & Corruption, World Bank, at http://go.worldbank.org/JF938Z5CU0.

73 See Leroy & Fariello, supra note 3, at 14–17.

74 Similarly, the integrity compliance officer (ICO) decides whether conditions established by the sanctions board or EO as part of a conditional nondebarment sanction have been satisfied. The conditions imposed are likely to be similar to those imposed under debarment with conditional release, including, for example, adoption or improvement of an integrity compliance program and/or other remedial actions related to the relevant misconduct. See Sanctions Procedures, supra note 4, at Article 9.03 (Compliance with Conditions for Nondebarment and Release from Debarment). The ICO was created in 2010. See INT, Sanctions and Compliance, at http://go.worldbank.org/G9UW6Y0DC0. 75 See, for example, Wesley Carrington, Jim DeBuse, & Hee Jin Lee, The Theory of Governance & Accountability (U. of Iowa Center for International Finance and Development 2008). 76 Huma Haider, Claire Mcloughlin, & Zoë Scott, Topic Guide on Communication and Governance (CommGAP & GSDRC 2011), available at http://go.worldbank.org/7BUHFCCQ70.

77 See, for example, Carrington, DeBuse, & Lee, supra note 75; Haider, Mcloughlin, & Scott, supra note 76. See also Caroline Freund & Mélise Jaud, Democratic Transitions: Successful, Gradual, and Failed, in Accountability and Transparency, World Bank Economists’ Forum 2012 (May 9, 2012); Ryan Booth, Deon Filmer, & Jamele Rigolini, Does Electoral Competition Raise Accountability?, in Accountability and Transparency, World Bank Economists’ Forum 2012 (May 9, 2012); Marco Larizza, Ryan Jabonski, & Audrey Sacks, Electoral Competition and Access to Information on Public Service Provision: Evidence from Sierra Leone, in Accountability and Transparency, World Bank Economists’ Forum 2012 (May 9, 2012); Carolin Geginat, Adrian Gonzalez, & Valentina Saltaine, Access to Information in Business Regulation, in Accountability and Transparency, World Bank Economists’ Forum 2012 (May 9, 2012).

78 “Capture” refers to the manipulation of policy formation and/or to the distortion of the rulemaking process that results in substantial individual gain to the detriment of society or the nation at large; a classic example comes from the profits that accrue to oligarchs of resourcerich countries rather than to the countries and to their citizens. In this context, a “conflict of


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