Global Corruption: Its Regulation under International Conventions, US, UK, and Canadian Law and Practice - Fourth Edition

Reviewed by Ellen Yee, Professor of Law and Director of International Programs, Drake University on 12/9/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Note: This is a review of the updated 4th Edition which can be found here https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/13759.

The 1252-page text covers an expansive range of anti-bribery and corruption issues in a format that is useful for students as well as practitioners. In the preface to the first edition, the author states the intention for future editions to contain an index. The 4th edition does not yet contain and index, but the PDF format is easily searchable.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate and unbiased. It is thoroughly researched and meticulously annotated.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The law is everchanging and ideally the text would be updated annually. However, given the ambition of the scope and coverage of the text, it is impressive that the four editions were updated and published in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. Moreover, the highly structured organization of the text and the comprehensive footnotes make it easy for content in any section to be updated with further research by the user.

Clarity rating: 5

The writing is very clear. The 6-page table of acronyms is helpfully located in the beginning of the text. Charts, tables, and figures are used throughout to clearly present information.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is internally consistent in its usage of terminology and framework. Most chapters begin with an introduction and many end with a conclusion. The main sources of law are discussed in the same order in each relevant section.

Modularity rating: 5

Each chapter is well organized and covers a distinct topic. Within each chapter, the main topics and subtopics are descriptively titled and clearly enumerated.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion. Most chapters begin with a helpful introduction or overview and many end with a conclusion. Generally, the material is organized starting with international conventions such as the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the OECD Bribery of Foreign Officials Convention (OECD Convention), and then the relevant laws in the US, UK, and Canada. This parallel structure, along with an excellent table of contents, makes the text easy to navigate.

Interface rating: 5

The text is only available in PDF form thus there are no interface problems. The Table of Contents in the 4th Edition allows the reader to hyperlink jump to the corresponding page for the chapter titles and the section headings.

The Table of Contents is also bookmarked to allow quick transitions from one section to another in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Furthermore, the PDF is also easily searchable for terms using the Find tool

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive. It focuses on international standards and the laws of the United States and the United Kingdom because they are influential jurisdictions. It also covers Canadian law because the original author, Gerry Ferguson, is a Canadian legal scholar and teacher. His original purpose was to create a resource to make it easier for Canadian professors to offer a law school course on global corruption. At the time of the first edition in 2015, no Canadian law school had such a course.

Comments

Excellent resource.