Corruption Control and Monstering: Government Agendas, Community Expectations and the ICAC Solution

• Main Author: FINDLAY, Mark
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1991
• Subjects: Criminal Law; Law and Society
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2053; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4005/viewcontent/CorruptionControlMonstering_1991_CICJ.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In 1818, the Governor of the Chinese province of Shansi reported the case of Chan Lin who, while gatekeeper for the district magistrate, maintained "external criminal connections". Using his position he endeavoured to get a money changer to accept for exchange more than 300 ounces of sub-standard silver. Upon being rebuffed he took steps to have the money changer locked up. The Board of Punishments (which was a senior court of appeal in China during that period) held that because the act differed in no way from extortion as practised by rapacious government underlings, it would be improper to show leniency to the accused simply because he did not succeed in gaining an unfair pecuniary advantage. In this regard personal servants of an official would be punished on the same scale as minor government functionaries. This example of what might be termed public corruption raises several interesting issues which will be developed in this paper.