Latest content: Governance and law

National efforts to enhance transparency and thwart corruption in the Caribbean will be strengthened by a Commonwealth conference hosted this week in Jamaica.

Corruption is a problem no economy can choose to ignore. It is worth more than 5 per cent of global GDP (USD 2.6 trillion) and increases the cost of doing business by up to 10 per cent globally. At the same time, globalisation and advances in technology mean the laundered proceeds of crime can be quickly transformed and moved across borders and between jurisdictions.

The realisation of human rights is central to successfully achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told a Commonwealth audience in London last Friday.

Commonwealth kinship and affinity, and the similarity of our systems of law and governance, will help in the fight against cybercrime, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said today.

It is well-known that parliamentarians have a special role in the promotion and protection of human rights, a responsibility which they share with the executive and the judiciary.

A leading international academic on the prevention of violence says the Commonwealth is uniquely placed to take forward cross-sector policy interventions that could protect millions of lives.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has made her inaugural speech at the High Level Segment of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

Commonwealth countries are rated among the least corrupt in Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index.

From the Archive: Commonwealth leaders agreed a programme of economic sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa in 1986.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera has expressed hope that the Commonwealth will continue to fight for the values that have strengthened Sri Lanka in recent times, such as human rights, rule of law and democracy.

A blog by Roger Koranteng, anti-corruption adviser and head of public sector governance at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

1969: Arnold Smith addresses Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

Parliamentarians and ministers at a Commonwealth meeting in Namibia have committed to urgent action to tackle cybercrime.

Anti-corruption agencies in Africa have received training from the Commonwealth on how to best manage evidence in corruption cases.

The Commonwealth Secretariat, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have just published a new book which brings together guidance on how to tackle corruption.

Senior officials from across the Commonwealth have outlined their rule of law priorities for 2017. Meeting in London, representatives from 22 countries set the agenda for next year’s law ministers meeting to be held in the Bahamas.

Commonwealth Secretary-General tells journalist Gabriella Jóźwiak of devex.com about her ambitious agenda for action

Exactly a quarter of a century ago, on 20 October 1991, Commonwealth heads of government signed the historic Harare Commonwealth Declaration which defined the association’s fundamental political values.

October 1991: Commonwealth vows to safeguard democracy and human rights

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland's statement on receiving news that the Maldives Government has today decided to leave the Commonwealth.

Grenada’s prime minister, Keith Mitchell, has praised a Commonwealth anti-corruption initiative in the Caribbean which is supporting efforts by national authorities to combat illegal practices such as fraud and bribery.