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Catchick, Paul (2013) Fraud and corruption in the international governmental organisation: identifying the extent to which the investigation function of oversight offices in international organisations may be considered as a policing function and assessing the mechanisms for accountability thereof. Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitan University.
Intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) such as the United Nations have long endured the same types of misconduct common to other employers, including fraud, corruption and mismanagement, exemplified by the seemingly ubiquitous Oil for Food programme. This thesis examines those bodies set up as a response to financial misconduct, the internal investigation offices. In doing so, the thesis addresses two fundamental questions: (i) to what extent can the internal investigation function be considered as policing; and, (ii) how accountable is the investigation function? In researching these issues, the thesis compares the investigation functions of two IGOs, the UN and the OSCE. Both organisations enjoy various diplomatic privileges and immunities, which in turn has a profound impact upon both the sovereignty and accountability of the investigation office. It assesses the investigation function by reference to public and commercial policing characteristics and also to policing accountability frameworks. The thesis subsequently proposes a dedicated accountability framework for internal investigations in the IGO environment, which is used to identify the applicable accountability mechanisms and relationships that the oversight office is subject to, and to assess the effectiveness thereof In applying this framework, it is found that a number of accountability lacunae exist, and that some of these can be addressed through the use of existing mechanisms, while others require changes to regulations that can only be implemented by the IGOs ' member states. The contribution of this thesis is in aligning the internal investigation function firmly with a public policing model, and thus permitting the application of a framework based on policing principles by which the effectiveness of accountability in the IGO context can be comprehensively assessed Keywords: intergovernmental, policing, oversight, investigation, audit, governance, accountability, framework, sovereignty, immunity, democratic, colonial.
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