Corruption as a human rights violation

Khulekani Moyo

Chapter 29 in Research Handbook on Human Rights and Poverty, 2026, pp 500-515 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In response to the phenomenon of corruption, intergovernmental organizations, individual states, and civil society have started to focus on the relationship between corruption and human rights. A critical legal question that this chapter seeks to address when drawing a nexus between corruption and human rights is whether corrupt acts can and must be regarded as human rights violations. This chapter demonstrates that the thrust of the argument to infuse human rights in understanding the impact of corruption on society is that corruption not only has identifiable victims but also has deleterious effects on the realization and enjoyment of human rights. The victim-oriented approach stemming from a human rights-based approach in the fight against corruption could complement the existing approaches to curb corruption. Importantly, elevating any issue to the level of a human right is that it establishes a universal norm that becomes more difficult to disregard and emphasizes the duties of states, and in some cases non-state actors, as well as the rights of those negatively impacted by corruption.

Keywords: Corruption; Human rights; Violations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035350506
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