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LEGAL REPORT: INTERNATIONAL LAW but stronger national and international laws are making life difficult for would-be offenders. Rubbing out THE GREASY PALM R Corruption is endemic in many countries BY SUSAN HUGHE S ecently Indonesia's government advocated a novel weapon in the struggle against corruption. Such offenders as politicians, officials, and businessmen guilty of taking bribes would be forced to wear a brightly coloured uniform as a mark of shame, harkening back to the days of the stocks as public humiliation. The proposal viv- idly illustrates the lengths governments are now willing to go to in order to com- bat this endemic problem. Working around corrupt officials is a major challenge facing international business, both for companies and their lawyers. Although every country has anti-corruption laws making bribery illegal, officials are becoming more so- phisticated in their demands, making it difficult for employees in the field to spot bribes. Corruption can occur any- where — not just in the countries rank- ing lowest on Transparency Interna- tional's "Corruption Perceptions" index. (Canada is ninth on the least-corrupt list, while Somalia, Iraq, and Myanmar have the highest levels of corruption.) In the past, businesses could rely on ethics and codes of conduct to evade liability. Those days are long past, as domestic and foreign laws tackling 48 OC T OBER 2008 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com