Nexus Magazine 'Summer Edition' 2015

1

Corruption and Development: The Clean Hands Scandal /12

no12 2015 Summer

TED TALK:“WHY 3O IS NOT THE

NEW 20” /30

DEBATE:WHAT SHOULD THE EU’S ROLE BE

IN THE REFUGEE CRISIS? /24

INTRODUCING:THE 7TH NEXUS

BOARD /6

2NEXUS SUMMER 2015 |

COLOPHON NEXUS MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015 / 2016

Date of Publication12 September 2015

NexusNexus Student [email protected]

Nexus Magazine Committee 2015-2016Nathalie Bienfait (Editor in Chief)Mihaela Astinova (Secretary)Bart van der GeestChristian Skrivervik

Contact us at: [email protected]

Founder Nexus MagazineGemma Torras Vives

Graphic DesignNathalie Bienfait

Cover PhotoNathalie Bienfait; model: Martin Herz

LogoRE_Oslo

AuthorsNathalie Bienfait / Claudia Skibniewski / Theo Verdi / Bob Roth / Mahlet Techan / Jonah Thompson / Daria Surdu / Aron Senoner / Bart van der Geest / Felicitas Serle / Cameron Whitford / Daniel Simpson / Mihaela Astinova

The Nexus Magazine Committee independently obtained and organized the content of this magazine and is responsible for the publica-tion of the Nexus Magazine. The opinions and ideas expressed by authors of articles in this magazine are solely the opinions and ideas of

those authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions and ideas of this magazine or its editors or publishers.) )

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Table of Contents4

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

5SCHEDULE:

Upcoming Nexus Events

6INTRODUCING: THE 7TH Nexus Board

10PRESENTING:

The University and Faculty Councils

13SCHEDULE:

What Not to Miss from Nexus in Semptember, Octo-ber and November

12THEMED ARTICLES: ‘CORRUPTION AND

DEVELOPMENT’Perspectives on the Clean Hands Scandal, Africa and

South America

24DEBATE:

Europe’s refugee disaster? Or a terrorist breeding ground?

28TED TALK:

“Is 30 the New 20”? - MEG JAY


TEXT: NATHALIE BEINFAIT / LLB 2

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful summer, whether you were travelling around the world, visiting friends and family, or maybe getting ready to study in this fantastic city of Groningen! I hereby and with great pleasure bring to you the Summer edition of the Nexus Magazine, 2015.

This edition’s topic is a very exciting one. The rela-tionship between corruption in certain fields or areas of the world and that of the development of that area is always inextricably linked, giving writers from different countries and viewpoints the chance to explore power relationships in our society, as well as reflect on the way that these are intrinsically bound up with development in any area. For example, in this issue Aron Senoner deals with the infamous ‘Clean Hands’ scandal in Italy (by which our front cover was inspired), explaining the roots and con-tinuing practice of corruption in Italian business and politics. In addition, the title of his article - by including the word “blemish” - highlights the way that Italy’s reputation, and therefore development, must have been hampered because of its wide-spread (and notorious) corrupt activities. Bob Roth deals with the equally interesting question of corruption in the developing world, focussing on Africa, and South American countries such as Peru. His article comes from a more humanitarian angle, highlighting the importance of education in order to stop individual atrocities. Bob makes very effective use of examples of the effects of corruption in order to achieve a very emotive article.

In other parts of this issue, the new board of Nexus is

introduced, each of the members (the President, Sec-retary, Treasurer and External Affairs Co-ordinator) have a short introduction piece, which is fleshed out by a group letter explaining their function to incom-ing students as well as their vision for the upcoming year. In addition, the University and Faculty Councils have introductory pages which give an idea of what these bodies do, and how you as students can get involved.

The final part of the magazine is dedicated to off-top-ic articles: the debate section deals with the very current and increasingly fraught topic of the refugee crisis unfolding on the beaches of southern Europe, including opinions from people who have worked in a refugee camp. Additiojnally, the TED talk comes from the secretary of the magazine, Mihaela Astino-va, who has chosen a very relevant talk for a student readership: “Is 30 the New 20” tells us twenty-some-things to make sure we don’t treat their 20s as ‘down-time’, rather as the most important time in which we can shape the rest of our lives.

I hope you enjoy, and don’t forget to give us feedback on the style, opinions or typesetting of the magazine. If you’re interested in writing for us, don’t hesitate to contact the committee at [email protected] or approach me at one of the Nexus events (see page 5 for details).

Kind regards,

Nathalie Bienfait - Editor in Chief.

Corruption and Development

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Dear readers,

5

SCHEDULE 2

UPCOMING NEXUS EVENTS

October

General AssemlyPub Quiz* 5

November

Active Members’ Dinner*LLS Practice Exam* 12

19Notes sale*

9 Party* Marketing Workshop*

16 Masters’ Event*

23 Mocktrial*

24 Environmental Conference

*Items with an asterix are subject to review at the discretion of the new

committees*


With great pleasure...

The 7TH NEXUS BOARD 2015-16

The NEXUS MAGAZINE can introduce

INTRODUCING

7

My name is Claudia Skibniewski Alvarez, and I come from Sweden and Spain. As a child, I lived abroad a lot, so the deci-sion of pursuing an international orientated degree came nat-urally to me, often been told I have a “european spirit”. After studying International Relations for a year, I found my calling in the beauty of argumentation and the study of conflict of laws that an international LLB allows… and “Suits”. This year, as well as improving my Dutch and taking art lessons, I have the honor of being the President of Nexus and my goal is to provide you with events that will boost your legal skills, as well as raising the profile of our members at University and beyond.

The secretary. You know, that kind of person who is picking up the calls, answering the e-mails, and run-ning around the office doing basically everything the other board members are not. This would probably be a rather accurate account of what I will be doing in the board this year. My name is Bob Roth, I am a Dutch native and twenty years old. Like my fellow board members, I am a second year LLB student and an Honours student. I look forward to answering your e-mails, and helping out wherever needed, so do not hesitate to contact me!

THE PRESIDENT

THE SECRETARY


My name is Théo Verdi, I come from Paris where I was born 23 years ago. Before coming to the Netherlands I’ve studied both in France and in England, where I had the opportunity to be involved in several student organisations. After a first very satisfying year in Groningen, I have decided to become more involved with Nexus, as I think it is an important actor of our programme. For the year to come, I wish to make the association even more professional, while preserving its spirit (and its bank account, after all I am the treasurer).

Théo Verdi

Hi everyone! As you can see, Claudia, Théo and Bob are pretty great, and this year Nexus certainly has an inter-national and diverse board. My name is Mahlet and I was born and raised in Sweden, however my parents are Ethiopian (this probably clarifies why I’m not fulfilling the classic stereotype of a Swede). I will be the “the Coor-dinator of External Affairs” and I, along with the board, have numerous ideas that we wish to realise this year. We hope you want to get along, and we will hopefully take you to trips both within Netherlands and abroad. If you have any questions or just want to chat, you can find me in the office or just send me a message.

Ha det bäst!

THE TREASURER

THE EXTERNAL AFFAIRS COORDINATOR

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Dear incoming LLB, LLM and exchange students, welcome to Groningen and congratulations for choosing our city as your study place for the coming months! You may have heard that University is “the time of your life”, and no wonder why; Groningen offers you the best legal education and student life an international student could long for.

So, whilst you attend a major conference, explore the never-ending nightlife and Dutch cul-ture, not forgetting making friends from all around the world, sit back and enjoy the ride: countless ex-periences will imprint your time as a Groninger student; it will be an unforgettable memory, a lifestyle and for some even a state of mind.

As a newly arrived student, you probably have questions about your courses; would like to make long-lasting friendships; and get the best beer deals in town. Or maybe you are curious to learn about what opportunities lay ahead of you after you graduate through our alumni’s personal stories; you would like to travel; meet experts in the fields of International and European Law, and ultimately, make the most of your student life.

At Nexus, the Student Association for LLB, LLM and exchange students, you get all of the above. From getting help with translating Dutch bureaucracy to a little “extra” to ace your exams (see notes, exam preps), debating nights and socials, like our famous Christmas Party. Moreover, you can develop leadership, teamwork, publishing and other valuable skills by becoming an active member joining a committee, a very Dutch student practice. This way you can improve your CV and build up an international network.

This year, the 7th Board of this young, dynamic association will strive to offer you quality academic, social and career oriented activities in a growing multicultural community. We hope you can find in Nexus a home from home, and a platform for achieving the goals, ambitions and dreams with upon which you embarked when you decided to study in Groningen.

Looking forward to a great year together,

Claudia, Bob, Mahlet and Theo. - 7th Nexus General Board

LETTER FROM THE BOARD


THE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL

1. 2.

PRESENTING

The last thing the average student probably saw of the words ‘University Council’ was back in April dur-ing election week; they are most probably wondering who they even voted for, if they won, and if so, what this (now elected) representative is doing now. I am a student representative in the University Council and the time I spent during that week of campaigning for my party ‘Studenten Organisatie Groningen’ was exhausting but paid off, and last Thursday I fulfilled my position as a member of the University Council. The Council’s function is simply explained but suffers from strong critique from students leaving its pur-pose a strangely controversial topic. As to the facts about this piece of university machinery I will try my best to explain. As to my views on how we function, these are strictly personal and I hope will give the reader insight into my motivation to work for stu-dents in our Council here at the RUG.

The Council convenes monthly on the last Thursday of every month and is manned by 24 elected mem-bers, 12 students and 12 staff and 1 chairman of the Council. At the head of the table is the Executive Board, the heart of the University’s decision making

power. As for us council members, the rest of the month is spent preparing for this meeting by speak-ing with contacts at associations, faculty councils and sitting for hours at computers researching and writing memos. Memos are a party’s best chance at proposing policy within the University, however, whilst they are considered by the Executive Board, they do not have to be acted upon. Between each Council session a handful of committees sit to deal with specific areas of business ranging from educa-tional to the future of the University Library. During these small meetings a Council member can have effective input into the future of policy regarding an area that his or her party regards as important.

The reasons for the Council, I feel, gravitate around one thing - the need for democracy in higher educa-tion. As council members we honestly try to see that this is met. Students and staff should be able to advise upon the future of their university. At our university, students are given a democratic right to elect and to be elected to the University Council. Whilst under 40% of students actually exercise this right, it’s still a considerably successful figure compared to other Dutch universities.

11

- RUG University Council Member 2015-16

Contact me: [email protected]

Submit a suggestion:www.studentenorganisatie.nl

Observe a University Council session:

http://www.rug.nl/gmw/organization/board/faculty-council/meeting-schedule?lang=en

JONAH THOMPSON / LLB 2

3.

It is often claimed by abstaining students that they don’t necessarily do so out of disinterest but out of dissatisfaction with the lack of powers that are given to elected members. This isn’t a wholly unreasonable stance to take at first glance, because at the RUG, the executive board isn’t in fact account-able to students and staff but to the government appointed Board of Advisors who elected them. In short, for the Exec-utive Board to keep their jobs, the Council’s approval isn’t needed. I can say that I agree that this isn’t enough, but my argument in defense of the democracy we have is this: Before decisions are made on a university scale, the ranges of con-sensuses are aired by different interest groups, there is a final forum of discussion and input, this takes place within the Council. Not to mention that we are lucky enough that there is a good chance that suggestions made in memos at the Council or within its committees will have a positive effect.

Lastly, but by no means the least important point, is that every student’s input is what keeps student parties running and trying to influence the university’s policy in our inter-ests. Therefore, I use this opportunity as a call to arms, to urge those reading - as students, as growing academics and as those affected by the policy that we try to influence - to make use of your opinion.


My name is Daria Surdu, I am 19 and a second-year Interna-tional and European LLB student. During my first year in Gro-ningen I was looking for a challenge to keep me busy next to my studies, and so I decided to join the faction for TBR, a political party which campaigns for seats in the Law Faculty Council. The Council is a policy-making body that creates a framework for consultation and discussion, in order to help identify expecta-tions, needs, initiatives and proposals made by students. Further-more, it makes decisions which affect all students within the Law Faculty. For example we discuss: the quality of English spoken by lecturers; consistency of reading material to lectures; and right to fairly review to former examinations. In my opinion such a structure is as vital to achieving the highest quality of education possible. As a result, our day-to-day task is to help form a set of feasible solutions to the problems that concern students, as well as commit our time in the meetings of Faculty Council which take place once a month. It is an amazing opportunity for us to make a team-effort and have the power and influence to make a change for all the students in the law faculty.

This year my party, ‘Ten Behoeve van Rechtenstudenten’ (TBR) did very well in achieving five seats, compared to ‘Progressief Rechten’ (PR) which acquired four seats. In 2016 we aim to gain even more seats, so that we can achieve even more and, as a result, receive the top quality education by strongly expressing any concerns that we have. TBR remains the only party in the Faculty Council which has international representatives, some-thing which is very important, because international students, like myself, make up 12% of the overall faculty, therefore have the right to adequate representation of our interests.

DARIA SURDU / LLB 2

2.

1:

2:

3:

PHOTO: THE FIRST UNIVERISTY COUNCIL MEETING

PHOTO: TBR FACTION

PHOTO: PR FACTION

3.

PRESENTING

THE FACULTY COUNCIL

13

DO NOT MISS FROM NEXUS:

SCHEDULE 2

28 DEADLINES for:• Applying for Active Membership• Applying for the Mentor System

September

5October

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

24 November

ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE

15


THEME

THE CLEAN HANDS SCANDAL: Corporate Corruption in Italy

SURVIVAL OF THE WEAKEST: Corruption and Develoment in Africa

and South America

PHOTO: NATHALIE BIENFAIT; MODEL: MARTIN HERZ


Ironically, when remembering its foundations of the Ancient Roman Empire as the cradle of law and public governance in Europe, Italy is now facing considerable problems. Problems ranging from high youth unemployment (having reached 44% in June 2015 alongside a public debt of 132% of GDP) to a henceforth chronic public distrust in politics and administration, registered in a decrease in the elector-al turnout from 72,25 % in the 2013 General election to 53,90 % in the 2015 Regional election. Latter developments have a common denominator, which is not only one of the major causes for the current situation, but additionally, if not tackled effectively, will further nurture its vicious cycle, hindering any efficient economic, as well as cultural, revival of the country. This denominator is known as public cor-ruption. Its high level of diffusion depends on variables such as the possible yield from public finance, the discretion of politicians and public officials, the degree of transparency, and the ineffectiveness of corrup-tion control. In fact, the 2014 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index ranks Italy in the worst position amongst European states.

This article will start from an overview of the development of corruption in Italian politics after World War Two, in light of its previous cultural roots, touching upon the Tangentopoli scandal in 1992 and finally focus on the reluctance of politics to impose effective legal meas-

ures to fight this practice which is so disastrous for society.

THEME

A Blemish on Italy: Corruption as a persisten social burden camouflaged by illusory change

THE CLEAN HANDS SCANDAL

17

TEXT: ARON SENENOR / LLB 2

The Italian Case

Unlike other economically stable EU countries such as Germany, Sweden or the Netherlands, where corruption occurs to a lesser extent, mostly in form of single and isolated acts, in Italy it rather flourished as a systematic practice inherent to every-day public governance, thus establishing a widespread and liter-al market with typical characteristics: rules of behav-ior and accepted standard practices. For instance, as Alberto Vannucci, politics professor at the University of Pisa, exemplifies, commonly accepted ‘rights’, such as the right to receive the service one has bribed for,

or fixed-percentage bribe rates, matured in practice in order to reduce transaction costs and facilitate negotiations. Moreover, whilst other European countries already yield the fruits of a successful legal implementation of new good governance practices, Italy is yet to overcome its overflow of entrenched bad governance. The involved actors in this market form a typical triangular structure: politics represent-ed by party interests and individuals, public adminis-tration, and private companies and cartels or alter-natively private persons with an economic share in public companies, who over time gained increasing importance as the following paragraph shows.


A Glimpse at the Roots

Several crucial political, administrative and cultural aspects need to be mentioned through which the peculiar phenomena of corruption in Italy might be understood. Nevertheless, it appears impossible to include a complete range of factors with their cul-tural and historical interactions which determine the latter in a short magazine article. Thus a concise categorisation is favorable.

The main political causes of rising corruption af-ter World War Two include the domination of the Christian Democratic Party ‘Democrazia Cristiana’ (DC), which governed Italy almost uninterruptedly from 1946 to 1992. As a consequence, any possibility of efficient counter-control by other parties has been undermined. Furthermore, even the 1974 introduc-tion of the public financing of parties did not avoid the problem of corruption as originally purported. Interesting to note here is that, for instance, due to its neoatlanticist orientation, the DC party had been financially supported by the USA as bedrock against

traditionally strong communist tendencies in Italy in the years following the Second World War, thus backing the DC and enduring its dominance. Ad-ditionally, with the justified aim of post-World War Two economic reconstruction, the state intervened on important economic sectors such as transport, telecommunication, public broadcasting, finan-cial services and metal industry. This was achieved through the public holding company IRI by partial nationalisation of businesses allowing public and private capital to cooperate. Latter development has created a direct interest between the state, or the gov-erning party, private persons and crucial economic sectors, leaving a breeding ground for corruption. As for administration, Italy was and still is affected by highly bureaucratic procedures and an inefficient sys-tem of coexisting regulations allowing arbitrariness and triggering alternative illicit methods in order to accelerate procedures, however, to the detriment of society as a whole. This administrative conundrum also extended at regional and local level, where, at the time, due to the development of corruption as com-mon practice, opposition parties were involved to the same extent. The silent evolution of corruption in

GRAPH: PUBLICALLY REPORTED CASES OF CORRUPTION

19

Italy as a crossing level phenomena leads to its prob-ably most peculiar factor, namely the cultural aspect. In fact, Italy as national state was only established in 1861, this by unifying regions with considerable differences as regards infrastructural and economic development and, peculiarly, as for understanding the welfare: the emblematic preference for social welfare in the North on the one hand, and the pref-erence for family welfare in the South on the other. US sociologist Edward C. Banfield concisely reflected this in his theory on amoral familism as “the inabil-ity of the villagers to act together for their common good or, indeed, for any end transcending the imme-diate, material interest of the nuclear family.” These differences, amongst others, established a marked north-south divide, where the Northern territories historically had strived for self-government since the rise of the autonomous medieval communes, whilst the South had experienced changing foreign and cen-

tralised domination based on feudal structures. As a consequence, despite formal unification, the lack of sense of the state, the distrust in central government, together with regionally scattered organised crime, turned Italian society into traditional clientelism and corruption, the consequences of which proved con-stitutive for the ailing political establishment in Italy.

The Tangentopoli Scandal

As already outlined, several factors stimulated a new rise in public corruption in Italy after World War Two, whilst controls were ineffective. A gradually growing bubble, later named Tangentopoli (Italian for ‘bribes village’), was uncovered in February 1992 when Milanese public prosecutor Antonio di Pie-tro ordered arrest of a local politician for bribery. Following further judicial investigations in the case, then named Mani Pulite (clean hands), a nationwide

systematic network of political and administrative corruption, mainly in the field of government con-traction without precedent, was uncovered. In fact, over the following years cases were brought against some 4,520 individuals. Amongst them were five former prime ministers, almost half of the members of the Chamber of Deputies, and important business-man, for finally convicting or ordering plea-bargains for 1300. Alongside these remarkable numbers, a far more important event took place: nearly all parties which had dominated the political landscape since the formation of the Republic in 1948 collapsed before 1994 as a result of the indictment of several of their political leaders and the publicly untenable situ-ation. An exemplary judicial investigation in the sit-

uation may most evidently be shown with the case of the then deputy of the Socialist Party, Bettino Craxi, one of the five indicted former prime ministers. Since December 1992 he, together with many other prominent politicians, was handed several notices of investigation alleging charges of corruption and violations of the 1974 norm involving illicit fund-ing to parties. Desperately, the Government tried to defuse the approaching arrest warrant by issuing a retroactive decree decriminalising illicit funding of parties. This decree was, however, not signed into law by the President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro due to alleged unconstitutionality. Tensions within Italian society however continued, culminating on 30th April 1993. Statutorily, for Craxi, because, being Member of

PHOTO: NATHALIE BIENFAIT; MODEL: MARTIN HERZ


Parliament, it was up to the Chamber of Deputies to vote on the ‘authorization to proceed’ on his arrest as requested by the investigators. Unexpectedly, through secret ballot, the Chamber voted against Craxi’s arrest causing extensive public outrage and protests all over Italy, followed by the resignation of several resentful ministers of the two-days-old technical Ciampi Government. After convening new elections with a new electoral law in 1994, the defin-itive end of the First Republic was sealed. Following the election, as soon as Craxi’s parliamentary immu-nity was extinguished, he fled to Tunisia to escape prosecution. In fact, he was declared a fugitive and eventually sentenced in absentia for illicit party funding, and for corruption in the case concerning the private insurer SAI for winning a contract with

the state-controlled oil company ENI by a 17 billion Lire bribe. The Craxi case is only one example out of many following the Mani Pulite investigations; nevertheless it portrays the nature and extent of systematic public corruption, which, according to economist Mario Deaglio, amounted to a ten-thou-sand billion Lire annual cost for taxpayers during the years at the height of the corrupt practices.

Legal instruments and the power of media

On a general view again, the fourth area shaping corruption, beside the political, administrative and cultural ones, is strictly legal. It is a feature which

appears twofold based on the lack of effective legal instruments on the one hand together with public desensitisation through media on the other hand. Both aspects are intrinsically connected. In fact, efficient legal instruments to prevent, prosecute and punish corruption are provided by the legislator. The acts of the legislator, however, depend on political will which itself should be backed by popular sup-port.

As will be shown, the aftermath of Tangentopoli resulted in inauspicious developments regarding both aspects. These developments found their roots in the fact that the new political elite was not able to

dissociate itself from corrupt practices due to their entrenchment in everyday politics, as well as person-al involvements, and the overall vicious cycle which had been created. In fact, despite some changes following the 1992 scandals, such as the constitution-al amendment on parliamentary immunity, a new electoral system and a try to reorganize administra-tion, Alberto Vannucci notes that the elaboration of explicit anti-corruption measures experienced closed political filibuster, as is further shown.

Media

Firstly, for tackling corruption, it is pivotal that soci-

PHOTO: HUFFINGTON POST; HUFFPOST.COM

21

ety is aware of the social and economic damages that such practices can induce, and thus be encouraged to report any cases in order to publicly condemn them. Ideally, through open elections, society is the only force which may foster a change in the political ap-proach to corruption. In the latter regard, the media bears a crucial role when it comes to making society aware of this problem, or also, on the contrary, in the unfortunate way it has been experienced in Italy, in its marginalisation; as if it has been covered up. In fact, research shows, as visualised with the graph, that media coverage of corruption cases decreased disproportionately in the years following the Tangen-topoli scandal. As a consequence, the interest of the population in this deliberately silenced problem is

diminished. In fact, the national public broadcaster RAI is strongly dependent on political appointments, whilst the second largest broadcaster Mediaset is in direct private possession of Silvio Berlusconi, who served as Italian Prime Minister in 9 out of 15 years between 1994 and 2009, not to mention the tradi-tionally and emphatically political newspapers.

Legal instruments

Most importantly, however, beside avoiding desen-sitisation the problem of corruption, laws on public procurement, concessions and private-public part-nerships were highly inadequate; efficient anti-cor-ruption provisions were almost inexistent. According

to Gerardo d’Ambrosio, a magistrate involved in the Mani Pulite investigations, legislation, for instance, often allowed recourse to emergency procedures, hence circumventing transparency controls. Despite the acknowledged weaknesses, real change was not initiated. In fact, already after the ascension of the new political leader, Silvio Berlusconi, in 1994, who then dominated the political scene until 2009, de-spite his financial holding company Fininvest hav-ing been, and still being, subject to investigations, attempts to soften legislation on corruption were undertaken, and successfully implemented. Thus, attempts to tackle corruption post-Tangentopoli were undermined by a continuously surging conflict

of interest, seeing close personal interest of various political figures across different parties opposed to national interest. Whereas measures to tackle cor-ruption therefore remained superficial if not absent at all, rather peculiar legislation was passed with the adverse effect. Three examples may elucidate upon the political reluctance to fight the problem of cor-ruption.

Firstly, in 2002 accounting fraud, used as means to create black funds used for engagement in corrupt activities or to occlude tax evasion, had been de facto decriminalised in several situations, providing for administrative fines only, despite still recognizing it

PHOTO: CBINIGERIA.COM

“Italy was and still is affected by highly bureaucratic procedures and an inefficient system of coexisting regu-lations allowing arbitrariness and triggering alternative illicit methods in order to accelerate procedures

”


as illicit. Secondly, in 2005 the period of prescription attached to a crime was equalised to the maximum length of the respective penalty, thus drastically reducing the terms for some crimes, inter alia for corruption. As a consequence, as reported by the EU Commission, 11.14% of the ongoing criminal cases extinguished in 2007 against an EU average which did not cross the 2% mark. Thirdly, in 2011 the par-liamentary majority controlled by the centre-right party of Silvio Berlusconi had set a time limit of three years for deciding criminal proceedings of first instance on charges providing less than ten years of detention, after which expiry the case had to be dropped. Strikingly, most crimes involving corrup-tion in Italy do not provide for a maximum detention of more than ten years. Moreover, the collection of evidence by investigators has been restricted and

procedural rules been made more intricate as delay-ing tactic.

Summing up the past twenty years, it can be asserted that, whereas the centre-right majorities appeared to actively favor corrupt activities, the short term centre-left majorities were not able or not willing to effectively implement strong measures to fight the problem either. With the 2011 Monti govern-ment, however, an anti-corruption law increased the respective penalties. Despite this apparent change of direction and increased interest of the population, several laws favoring corruption remained un-touched.

Conclusion

PHOTO 1: GALLERY HIP; PHOTO 2: tORANGE.US1.

23

Based on several examples, this article has tried to shine a light on the highly convoluted and peculiar problem of corruption in Italy. It has become evident that its roots are to be found in various aspects of public life. Although earth-shaking scandals such as Tangentopoli provoked public and political outrage and indignation, these feelings remained temporarily. In fact, the vicious cycle of corruption turned itself into a resilient and accepted standard on which basis every actor engaging in it seemed to benefit, whilst neglecting the disastrous economic effects on public finance as well as deterring several na-tional and foreign investors leading to a further blockage in economic development. However, in the last years, the problem of corruption has regained public interest, not at least due to the growing inequality in society and new scandals such as those regarding the Expo World Expo-sition in Milan or the administration of the City of Rome. Pushed by continuous revelations, the

current Renzi Government has recently passed its own anti-corruption laws including new provisions against accounting fraud alongside the establishment of a new anti-corruption authority. Nevertheless, the measures are subject to harsh critiques by the opposition and legal scholars, blaming the government for not treat-ing the problem at its roots; again leaving gaping legal loopholes. It appears to be an ever repeat-ing plot, following the adage in Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s ‘The Leopard’: “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” In the end, however, there is a glimpse of hope lying in the upcoming generation to finally succeed in fighting corruption at its roots and to definitively change the course for the better. It might be the only way to tap Italy’s full econom-ic and cultural potential which has all too often been stifled by illicit practices to the detriment of common social and economic development.

2.


BOB ROTH / LLB 2

The sun comes up in what seems to be a peace-ful Peruvian village. A brutal illusion, as it turns out: around 5 o’clock in the morning a bang is heard on the door of a little house, and Jhon, an eleven-year-old, slowly opens it. Seconds later, Jhon, joined by his uncles and aunts, all living in the same little house, hurry down the gravelly main street to a sidewalk where a small crowd had gathered. The location looked familiar, it had been a place of celebration the night before. Jhon had graduated from primary school and his parents had spent the last bit of money they had to organise a party for relatives and friends to celebrate this significant milestone, which was actually a milestone for the entire impoverished population in this small community. The entire

crowd consisted out of these ‘poor people’, or ‘nobodies’, as they frequently call themselves. As Jhon made his way through the crowd with difficulty, he saw Yuri, his 8 year-old sister, motionless on the streets, with wire cables bind-ing her hands and legs, and her panties rolled down to her ankles. She had bruises and scrapes everywhere, and as his aunt Carmen added: “she looked like a lamb split open”…

Gary Haugen, CEO and executive director of International Justice Mission elaborated upon this story in his book The Locust Effect, which contains a staggering account of what happens to vulnerable, impoverished people if they have no access to law enforcement. For Yuri and her

SURVIVAL OF THE WEAKEST:BREAKING THE VICIOUS CYCLES OF CORRUPTION IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

25

SURVIVAL OF THE WEAKEST:

family there was no justice, at all. Above the party hall a mattress was found, soaked with Yuri’s blood. All evidence pointed out that the family owning the party hall, the father and son (a nineteen-year-old) in particular, had brutally raped and murdered Yuri. Although evidence was extremely obvious, the police, prosecutors and judges appeared to be so corrupt that for a couple of dollars DNA samples disappeared, innocent ‘nobodies’ were prosecuted and tortured for false statements, and obvious perpetrators were acquit-ted. One of the lawyers who stood up for Yuri and her family concluded the case in one confronting phrase: “If they don’t have money, nothing will happen.”.

Unfortunately, Yuri’s case is not rare, even in to-day’s ‘civilised’ world the lion’s share of states have troubles with corruption on a considerable scale. Indeed, numerous Western states also are far from clean, despite the generally more substan-tive transparency they observe (which is, for that matter, rather to be considered disturbing than it is reassuring). However, the difference with third world countries is that in most Western states even the impoverished of society have relatively seen proper general access to law enforcement, justice and public security, that is, they are better protected against the ‘bad guys’ compared to the ‘nobodies’ of the developing world. According to experts, this latter form of protection is either rare or even completely absent in many of these devel-

BREAKING THE VICIOUS CYCLES OF CORRUPTION IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

THEME


oping countries. Disturbingly, in the third world, police forces are often ‘off duty’ during weekends, simply because there is no money to maintain them. Hypothetically, if one sends abundant amounts of money and aid to a developing coun-try for education and healthcare, one will conse-quently see impoverished people become victims of violence on their way to schools and hospitals. Hence, at least the same amount of effort has to be invested in law enforcement as is put in edu-cational and healthcare aid programs, for if the nobodies are not protected in their everyday life (that is every single day, including weekends), they will never become ‘somebodies’ able to legal-ly access justice. To make the seriousness of this

absence of law enforcement and justice abundant-ly clear: in India, slave owners are more likely to be struck by lightning than ever to be prosecuted, simply by paying the prosecutors for not doing their job. These are appalling facts, especially if one takes into account the fatuous amount of enslaved people today. In India alone there are over 14 million people in the grip of slavery. Inev-itably, prosecutors in India and other developing countries are paid so little that corrupt activities are almost inevitable, disregarding the absence of actual excuses for corruption, prosecutors also have mouths to feed. Hence, the fight against corruption in the developing world must first and foremost concentrate on those most victimised by

corruption, which , sadly, are usually the poorest of society.

If one distinguishes between two levels of govern-ment - upper and lower levels - the argument is simple: local public sectors, or lower levels, serve to protect the citizens directly by means of police forces, local prosecutors, and first instance courts; the regional or national public sectors (depending on state forms and levels of decentralisation), or upper levels, serve the citizens in supporting the lower levels by carrying responsibility, providing

man-power, rules of law and money. Corruption in lower levels is inevitable in many developing countries, as low-level officials are paid so little, and are expected to pay more than their small wages to the official above him, which in his turn pays even more to the one above him and on and on it goes. In this way, corruption on several levels are maintained and stimulate each other, creating a human food chain of exploitation whilst those on top utilise their own citizens on massive scales, hiding successfully from critics, international law and foreign pressure behind a protective curtain

PHOTO: IMJINDIA

27

called ‘sovereignty’. Today, international policy concerning the fight against corruption has ex-tracted, as its spearhead, bodies which it primar-ily directs at these very curtains. Indeed, mainly governments, (former) presidents and other high ranking state officials within states are the prima-ry focus of this strategy. The international media is corresponding to this ambitious policy and shows the world almost exclusively the upper level corruption, for example, the protests in Brazil against the corruption scandal of president Dil-ma Rousseff and her Worker’s Party, or Sri-Lan-kans who reject their former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in election for corruption, as well as protests in Central America against the respec-

tive, and corruptive, governments of Guatemala and Honduras are popular topics, not to forget government corruption scandals in Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, and many more. From an international perspective, however, these curtains are seldom penetrated, as international law plainly has too many shortcomings as well as a funda-mental lack of authority concerning corruption. Consequently, the initiative optimally has to come

from within the state at issue, and political reform plays a crucial role in this development. As Man-fredo Marroquín from Transparency Internation-al Guatemala strikingly put it: “Without major po-litical reform, elections will just be about choosing the next group of thieves.” Marroquín’s opinion, in concentrating on changing the upper levels of government, is as intelligent as it is significant and attractive for anti-corruption organisations, since positive and free media attention is essentially the most welcome kind of promotion. Nevertheless, the lower levels of government are indisputably

the other half of the vicious cycle called corrup-tion, and if not tackled in these areas, all effort put into the upper levels might just as well be point-less after all.

Regarding corruption in developing countries, another interesting link can be made: poverty attracts corruption and vice versa. The second vicious cycle appears, if impoverished people are not protected against corruption they will stay poor, and if the poor stay poor they will always be vulnerable to corruption. To tackle this form


of corruption in lower governmental sectors like police forces, local prosecutors and judiciaries, there needs to be investment in the local rule of law. If the rule of law is strengthened public secu-rity increases, which protects the nobodies from their bullies so that they get access to education and healthcare without being raped or murdered on the way, eventually, the nobodies, now educated and protected individuals, will turn into somebodies, they will be able to stand up for themselves and their families both financially and legally, creating concerted resistance against violence and corrup-tion. Organisations like International Justice Mis-sion perform increasingly well in fighting corrup-tion: by investing in local law enforcement, thus creating a safe society in which people can develop themselves. Additionally, as many organisations already support and practice, investing in educa-tion is crucial in the fight against corruption, as the former president of India, the well-known Abdul Kalam, pointed out that ‘the father, mother and the teacher’ have the most influence in raising a cor-ruption free generation, in order for a transparent state to be established. Connecting to education, Transparency International puts vast amounts of effort in teaching the youngest of society about eth-ics, corruption, integrity, and transparency, training the future generations of somebodies in alterna-tive ways of sharing in a society. If these elements are fulfilled, the fundament of a corruption-free state is beginning to appear, and the vicious cycle of corruption in developing countries will start to collapse.

Conclusively, poor people are the main victims of corruption in developing countries, because they are nobodies; uneducated, unprotected and unable to stand up for themselves. To change nobodies into somebodies one consequently must invest in education and healthcare. However, the absence of everyday protection and law enforcement deserve also receive the same amount of attention, as with-out these, all aid and money put into development would be rendered useless. As the latter areas of government, police forces, judges and prosecutors, are also polluted by corruption, exploiting nobod-ies on substantial scales, one vicious cycle appears. Besides, the human food chain of exploitation is in need of vast amounts of attention, forces, judges and prosecutors, are also polluted by corruption,

“Without major political reform, elections will just be about choosing the next group of thieves.” - Marroquín

exploiting nobodies on substantial scales, one vicious cycle appears. Besides, the human food chain of exploitation is in need of vast amounts of attention, which it increasingly receives, as up-per levels of governmental corruption are main subjects of international media forums. To create a new corruption-free generation international policy must first aim at strengthening the rule of law, law enforcement, judiciary and prosecu-tion offices; secondly, every level of government needs political reform so that transparency, and horizontal and vertical mutual control of govern-mental organs is observed; finally, and by far the most important step in fighting corruption, those victimised by corruption need a stage, the impov-erished of society need education and healthcare

29

“Without major political reform, elections will just be about choosing the next group of thieves.” - Marroquín

healthcare and education including classes in ethics, integrity and transparency; and then give them a voice and a stage. In that specific order nobodies will inevitably become somebodies, and only somebodies can break the vicious cycles of corruption.

If you feel like you have something to add on our theme topic, please get in touch • via email: [email protected];• via facebook: search “The Nexus Magazine”;• or simply come and talk to a committee

member at any of the Nexus events!


WHAT IN THE WORLDARE WE TO DO?

DEBATE

31

The tragic image of a drowned toddler who’s body washed up on the beach in one of Turkey’s most popular resorts went viral this week as the tragedies of the refugee crisis in southern Europe continue to unfold. The 3-year old boy, Aylan Kurdi, and at least 12 other migrants reportedly drowned off the Turkish coast when two boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized. The image received widespread attention and became a trending topic on social media along with the hashtag “Kiyiya Vu-ranInsanlik” which translates as “humanity washed ashore”. Unfortunately this shocking story is only one of many and this humanitarian crisis has only just begun.

Europe has witnessed an unprecedented surge of migrants over the past couple of months. A record 107,500 migrants registered at the European Union’s borders in July 2015, bringing the total number of detections this year to 340,000. Although the EU’s initial response to the crisis was painfully slow, it has finally started to take tentative steps towards deal-ing with this tragic situation. Recently, the foreign ministers of Italy, France and Germany presented the EU with a joint document calling for a revision of asylum rules and a fairer distribution of refugees. However, European officials are yet to come to an agreement on how many migrants and refugees each country should receive; they are set to discuss a

response to the growing crisis on September 14.

Brussels’ hope is that these talks will lead to a Eu-ropean-wide solution in which all European Union states would share the burden of migration, hereby relieving the countries which currently bear the most pressure. Germany, a frontrunner in the dis-cussions, also hosts the most migrants – it expects its number of asylum seekers to quadruple to about 800,000 this year. Sweden currently has 230,000 arrivals, adding more than 2% to its population. Central European states such as the Czech Republic and Hungary are more reluctant to help; they form a strong opposition to Western Europe’s plans. As chaos erupted last week at the Budapest central railway station, the Hungarian government accused Germany and the EU of being at the heart of the problem, while Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico declared that mandatory quotas for the redis-tribution of refugees within the EU would promote “only organized crime”. The crisis has also stirred debate about the wisdom of unregulated movement across European countries.Europe’s migrant crisis has opened up deep rifts be-tween European leaders, but I believe that EU states will have to come to an agreement for a common plan if they hope to address the migrant crisis. If the EU cannot cooperate and set common targets, more tragedies will occur and the EU will increasingly face greater problems.

BART VAN DER GEEST / LLB 3


Europe’s migrant crisis was recently re-phrased as a ‘refugee’ crisis, due to the loaded history that the word migrant carried with it. There has been a massive shift in attitude towards the dis-placed persons due to the recent realisation that this is not a minor problem, it is a problem that grows daily. Such is the contradiction of west-ern media attention that in April, in the British newspaper The Sun a journalist openly referred to refugees as “cockroaches”. That same news-paper has not apologised for the journalists ac-tions and the day the photo was released of the child dead on a beach it had it on its front page.

This aside, at least it has dawned on your aver-age nationalist that something must be done to help these people. Logistically, most Euro-pean countries have the money and resourc-es to cope with a relatively small rise in popu-lation. Germany, expected to receive 800,000 refugees this year, can probably cope with this

influx of 0.01% of the current population. The problem that may people don’t want to con-front is the radical change of culture these peo-ple are going to experience and the repercus-sions this is going to have throughout Europe.

What I mean by this can be made clearer by us-ing the UK as an example. In the UK adult learn-ing funding has been cut to the bone, so without basic knowledge of English and this not being overtly accessible, you can see how conflict can easily ensue within society. This inevitable alter-ation of our social demographics must be treat-ed maturely. In the same way as we are accept-ing the refugees, we should be equally prepared to integrate refugees into our culture, because the conflict in the Middle East does not appear to be ending anytime soon and these people deserve as equal opportunity as we have had.

DEBATEREFUGEE CRISIS: WHAT SHOULD THE EU’S ROLE BE IN ITS RESOLUTION?

A United Kingdom PerspectiveCAMERON WITFORD / LLB 1

33

Last week the infamous picture of the 3 year-old Syrian boy, Aylan, spread over social media. View-ing this photo and reading through the thousands of reactions, that people from all different kinds of so-cial backgrounds expressed, stirred up a lot of emo-tions in me. The mixture of anger and grief, made me ask myself: can it really be that our society is car-acterised by such ignorance, that it takes photos of a drowned refugee child, who has drowned during its escape from a destroyed home in hope of a better future, to catch our attention? Is it true, that only by witnessing this footage we begin to think about the

tragic problems our world is facing today?”

As a humanitarian volunteer at a refugee camp in my hometown, Karlsruhe in Germany, I have been able to gain insight of only a glimpse of what these poor families have suffered. I have learned to see the innocent person or child standing in front of me, not their nationality, their culture or the language

they speak.

We, as the citizens of the European Union, must re-alise that there is no more room for this blindsight-edness. Only once we acknowledge that, at the end of the day, we are all citizens of the same world, will matters begin to change and can we will be able to free ourselves from the chains of selfishness in which we find ourselves, in order to embrace humanity. With the lives that we lead, it is our task to step in; with our great fortune comes even greater respon-sibility. I am convinced, that only once we stop put-ting the rule of gold over the golden rule and present humanity with more value than the economy, can we provide the people who need it so desperately

with a safe haven.

‘Migrants’ and ‘Refugees’: the PR crisisAs ever, when people’s lives are at stake, the debate has been reduced to semantics. ‘mi-grant crisis’, apparently, suggests those arriv-ing are scroungers, because starving is not enough to be given access to the ‘fit to burst’ United Kingdom, on whose islands a whop-ping 2.5% of land is inhabited. Economic im-migration is belittled by those on all points on the UK political spectrum, so ‘refugee’ is seen as a far better word, emphasising we should only help war refugees. Surely, the cause of fleeing isn’t our issue; instead the fact that they have taken such a dangerous journey? The vast majority of those coming are fleeing war in Syria or Eritrea, but those coming from sub-Saharan nations wanting a better life also deserve our hospitality. However easy we be-lieve their situation was, watching from our terraced houses in London, their desperation should be their ticket. So maybe we should describe these people as refugees, if we are go-ing to convince those on the right, but not be-cause of the makeup of the people, instead as a reflection of our own warped, pseudo-com-passionate society. Long-term solutions must be discussed soon, but, for now, we must help those who have reached Europe, and me-dia conscious and politically correct as we are, we can only do so if we get our PR right.

A Humanitarian Worker’s Perspective

FELICITAS SCHIERLE / LLB 2

A Linguistic Perspective

DANIEL SIMPSON


No matter how trivial it sounds, people are dif-ferent and every single one of us believes in virtues that guide our life choices and define our future. In this line, some people cherish true love and good re-lationships, honesty, faith, or equality, whilst others care more for money, education, or career advance-ment. Nevertheless, there comes a moment in life when people should start thinking of what direction their life should go to; what friends they want to be surrounded by, what career they want to devote to, or what family they want to be part of. Even though in the beginning of our 20’s we all feel relaxed and sure that there is plenty of time to study, change/switch jobs, or meet different people, our future de-pends on the decision we make now. In the Ted talk “Why 30 is not the new 20” the clinical psychologist Meg Jay explains how the age of twenty (and ‘twen-ty-something’) is the perfect age to get serious and become aware that what we consciously choose to do now, impacts on our lives in the near future.

The Talk starts with the story of Meg’s first psy-chotherapy client - a 26-year-old women named Alex, who had a guy problem. Nothing serious you would say. Alex is young and 26 is a normal age to experience emotional, social, or financial prob-lems. Moreover, these days people start working at a later age, get married later, or have children later, and many of us assume that the decisions and life choices in our twenties are not decisive for the time to come. On the contrary, Meg Jay explains that no matter that people settle down later than before, twentysomething year-olds have a great opportunity to build their lives now and to do it exactly the way they want to by picking the right option and explor-ing the various opportunities. In “Why 30’s is not the new 20’s” the speaker urges to explain that the “20’s is one of the simplest, yet most transformative things [we] can do for work, for love, for [our] happiness, maybe even for the world.” She continues by saying that what twen-ty-somethings have recently ignored is the critical period of adult development that takes place in their

TED TALKS “WHY 30 IS NOT THE NEW 20”

By Meg Jay

35

PHOTO: SOURCE TED GLOBAL

TEXT: MIHAELA ASTINOVA / LLB 2


20s. To support her belief that twenty-something is not a decade to neglect, Meg Jey cites Leonard Bern-stein’s saying that in order to achieve great things, you need a plan and not enough time. Therefore, if we continue thinking that we are at the beginning of our 20s and we have enough time before we start planning, we have definitely “robbed [us] of [our] urgency and ambition”. Now is the time to start planning and building our future.

Another example in the Ted Talk is the story of a different patient of Meg - Emma, twenty five years old, who was having an identity crisis because she did not know what to do with her life, or she did not have the courage to do it. Emma wanted to find a job in the sphere of art or entertainment, but she was not sure and worked as a waitress instead. She was living with a short-tempered boyfriend because it was cheaper, and during her hard moments, she calmed herself by saying “You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends.”

The breaking point in Emma’s story was her dis-appointment that at the end of her 20’s she did not have a person she could count on in a critical sit-uation; she could not fill in the blank space in her address book “In case of emergency, please call…” For that reason, in order to help Emma and all the other twenty-somethings to avoid similar situations, Meg Jay gives the following 3 remarks:First, all twenty-somethings “should forget about having identity crises and get some identity capital”, meaning to “do something that adds value to who [they] are”. For instance, the 20s is the time to travel, to explore, to apply for/get internships in another country, to communicate and meet new people, to

“The 20s is the time to travel, to explore, to communicate and meet new people, to try different activities and de-

cide what you want to do and who you want to be in the

near future.”

country, to communicate and meet new people, to try different activities and decide what you want to do and who you want to be in the near future. Second, Jay claims that the concept of the “urban tribe is overrated”. What is meant is that twen-ty-somethings should broaden their social hori-zons and stop relying only on their best friends or like-minded peers because by doing so they limit their knowledge, communication skills and working techniques. Moreover, in order to ex-plore the opportunities in life, twentysomethings should look for people who come from outside their inner circles – “[their] weak ties, [their] friends of friends of friends”. Thus, the chances of success not only in career perspective but in their personal life increase considerably.In her third point, the speaker disagrees with Emma’s maxim “you can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends.” Meg Jay explains that just like Emma, every one of us actually picks their own family by partnering with another person, and the time to pick our family is now. According to Meg, “the perfect time to work on your marriage is before you have one.” To pick your family actually means to choose the person you want to be with and to form the person you want to become rather than “killing time” or “just making it work” with the person who chose you.“Why 30 is not the new 20” is a lecture about the possibilities in life we should not disregard. Jay’s appeal to all twenty-somethings is to claim their adulthood in their 20’s, use their weak ties and pick their families.


FINALLY, WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL CONTRIBUTORS, HELPERS AND READERS FOR MAKING THE COMPLETION OF THIS MAGAZINE POSSIBLE. WE ARE MAKING THIS MAGAZINE FOR YOU - YES, FOR YOU! THEREFORE, WE RELY ON YOUR FEEDBACK, COLLABORATION, INPUT, AND COMMENTS IN ORDER TO KEEP PRODUCING MAGAZINES THAT YOU WANT TO READ. SO, PLEASE BE IN TOUCH! NEXUS MAGAZINE COMMITTEE

Nexus Magazine 'Summer Edition' 2015

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