Police corruption is a form of police misconduct in which law enforcement officers end up breaking their political contract and abuse their power for personal gain. This type of corruption may involve one or a group of officers. Internal police corruption is a challenge to public trust, cohesion of departmental policies, human rights and legal violations involving serious consequences. Police corruption can take many forms, such as bribery.
The Philippines suffers from widespread corruption, which developed during the Spanish colonial period. According to GAN Integrity's Philippines Corruption Report updated May 2020, the Philippines suffers from many incidents of corruption and crime in many aspects of civic life and in various sectors. Such corruption risks are rampant throughout the state's judicial system, police service, public services, land administration, and natural resources. Examples of corruption in the Philippines include graft, bribery, favouritism, nepotism, impunity, embezzlement, extortion, racketeering, fraud, tax evasion, lack of transparency, lack of sufficient enforcement of laws and government policies, and consistent lack of support for human rights.
Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index scores Ireland at 74 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Ireland ranked 13th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison, the best score was 88, and the worst score was 11.
Corruption in Italy is a major problem. In Transparency International's annual surveys, Italy has consistently been regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the Eurozone. Political corruption remains a major problem particularly in Lombardy, Campania and Sicily where corruption perception is at a high level. Political parties are ranked the most corrupt institution in Italy, closely followed by public officials and Parliament, according to Transparency International's. But in the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer report, Italy is in 17th position in front of the United Kingdom (18th), Switzerland (21st) and the United States (22nd).
Corruption in France describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in France.
Corruption in Romania has decreased in recent years. In particular since 2014, Romania undertook a significant anti-corruption effort that included the investigation and prosecution of medium- and high-level political, judicial and administrative officials by the National Anticorruption Directorate. The National Anticorruption Directorate was established in 2002 by the Romanian government to investigate and prosecute medium and high-level corruption related offenses, using a model of organization inspired by similar structures in Norway, Belgium and Spain. Adrian Zuckerman, the US Ambassador in Romania, has stated in 2021 that "the rule of law has been strengthened in Romania". Since 2022, the effectiveness of the investigation and sanctioning of high-level corruption further improved, including by advancing on cases that had been pending for years for procedural reasons.
In general, Belgium has a well-developed legal and institutional framework for fighting against corruption.
Corruption in Lithuania describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in Lithuania.
Corruption in Sweden has been defined as "the abuse of power" by Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). By receiving bribes, bribe takers abuse their position of power, which is consistent with how the National Anti-Corruption Unit of the Swedish Prosecution Authority specifies the term. Although bribes and improper rewards are central in the definition of corruption in Sweden, corruption in the sense of "abuse of power" can also manifest itself in other crimes such as misuse of office, embezzlement, fraud and breach of trust against a principal.
Corruption in Denmark is amongst the lowest in the world. According to the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International, Denmark scored 90 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Denmark shared first place with Finland and New Zealand among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country or countries ranked first are perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison, the worst score was 12. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported in 2014 that Denmark has consistently been in the top-4 since the publication of the first Corruption Perceptions Index report in 1995.
According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2013, corruption is a large concern in the public sector as more than half of the surveyed households consider Parliament, police, public officials, and particularly the judiciary and political parties very corrupt.
Levels of corruption in Luxembourg are generally said to be very low, and there a strong legal framework for combating corruption in the country. Surveys however indicate that a majority of the population believe political parties are either "corrupt" or "extremely corrupt."
In 2013, a report by Transparency International revealed that political parties, Parliament, the judiciary and the military are the most corrupt institutions in Portugal. Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index ranks the country in 33rd place out of 180 countries in the Index.
Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index scored Germany at 80 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Germany ranked 10th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison, the best score was 88, and the worst score was 11.
Corruption is rare in the Netherlands in all major areas—judiciary, police, business, politics—as the country is considered one of the least corrupt within the European Union.
Corruption in the Czech Republic is considered to be widespread by a majority of the Czech public, according to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2013.
Corruption in Slovenia is examined on this page.
Corruption in Slovakia is a serious and ongoing problem.
There are several sectors in Ethiopia where businesses are particularly vulnerable to corruption. Land distribution and administration is a sector where corruption is institutionalized, and facilitation payments as well as bribes are often demanded from businesses when they deal with land-related issues.
The Telekom Austria Affair surfaced in 2011 and is one of the major corruption complexes in recent Austrian history. The affair has been the subject of numerous investigative and judicial proceedings. It consists of different, partially unrelated subareas and is based on management misconduct by executives of partially state-owned Telekom Austria as well as some business partners and politicians of the 2000 – 2007 government coalitions in Austria.
