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Antigua and Barbuda

Capital

Saint John’s

Territory

440km²

Population (2020)

97,928

GDP Total (2020)

1.415B USD

GDP Per Capita (2020)

14,450 USD

Icome Group

High income

Convention Implementation

69.5
In progress

Western Hemisphere Ranking

60.7

8th of 31 countries

Caribbean Ranking

54.7

1st of 11 countries

Corruption Resilience

65.6
Moderately Resilient

Western Hemisphere Ranking

54.4

5th of 31 countries

Caribbean Ranking

57.9

2nd of 11 countries

Convention Implementation

Score by thematic sections and measures

Prevention

Core-deficient
28.0

Western Hemisphere 46.3

Caribbean 41.7

Standards of Conduct

Core-deficient
14.0

Western Hemisphere 42.8

Caribbean 24.8

Enforcement of Standards of Conduct

Core-deficient
28.9

Western Hemisphere 50.6

Caribbean 33.4

Training of Public Officials

In progress
43.7

Western Hemisphere 36.8

Caribbean 27.4

Asset and Conflicts of Interests Declarations

Core-deficient
29.6

Western Hemisphere 42.3

Caribbean 27.9

Transparency in Government Contracting

Core-deficient
18.7

Western Hemisphere 33.1

Caribbean 22.9

Elimination of Favorable Tax Treatment

N/A
Not applicable

Western Hemisphere 47.1

Caribbean 31.6

Oversight Bodies

Core-deficient
34.3

Western Hemisphere 36.0

Caribbean 34.3

Measures to Deter Domestic and Foreign Bribery

N/A
Not applicable

Western Hemisphere 36.7

Caribbean 20.0

Encouraging Participation by Civil Society

Core-deficient
23.4

Western Hemisphere 43.0

Caribbean 21.3

Study of Other Prevention Measures

Core-deficient
31.2

Western Hemisphere 44.9

Caribbean 42.8

Criminalization and law enforcement

Implemented
75.2

Western Hemisphere 61.1

Caribbean 55.1

Protection of Those who Report Acts of Corruption

Core-deficient
21.8

Western Hemisphere 30.7

Caribbean 17.8

Scope

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 67.7

Caribbean 53.8

Jurisdiction: Offense-in-Territory

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 74.6

Caribbean 60.0

Jurisdiction: Offense-by-National

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 51.9

Caribbean 27.3

Jurisdiction: Offender-in-Territory

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 58.8

Caribbean 39.5

Passive Public Bribery

In progress
50.7

Western Hemisphere 55.8

Caribbean 55.8

Active Public Bribery

In progress
50.7

Western Hemisphere 56.4

Caribbean 55.5

Abuse of Functions

In progress
57.8

Western Hemisphere 47.0

Caribbean 37.6

Money Laundering

In progress
57.8

Western Hemisphere 55.8

Caribbean 58.5

Participation and Attempt

In progress
57.8

Western Hemisphere 58.4

Caribbean 54.2

Active Foreign Bribery

Implemented
85.9

Western Hemisphere 39.0

Caribbean 34.7

Illicit Enrichment

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 54.7

Caribbean 38.9

Use of State Property

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 79.5

Caribbean 66.9

Illicit Acquisition of a Benefit

Implemented
85.9

Western Hemisphere 52.1

Caribbean 36.6

Public Embezzlement

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 77.6

Caribbean 64.4

Passive Foreign Bribery

Implemented
85.9

Western Hemisphere 25.6

Caribbean 23.4

Private Bribery

Not Implemented
0

Western Hemisphere 22.7

Caribbean 21.8

Private Embezzlement

Not Implemented
0

Western Hemisphere 64.7

Caribbean 59.5

Obstruction of Justice

In progress
57.8

Western Hemisphere 71.4

Caribbean 61.1

Liability of Legal Persons

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 61.3

Caribbean 62.2

Statute of Limitations

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 79.6

Caribbean 68.

Prosecution, Adjudication and Sanctions

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 69.5

Caribbean 63.2

Consequences and Compensation

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 70.3

Caribbean 60.4

Cooperation With Law Enforcement

In progress
68.7

Western Hemisphere 72.2

Caribbean 66.3

Asset Recovery

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 66.4

Caribbean 59.6

International cooperation

Implemented
82.0

Western Hemisphere 68.9

Caribbean 60.9

Assistance Without Criminalization

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 79.8

Caribbean 69.8

Inclusion in Extradition Treaties

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 55.1

Caribbean 54.5

Convention as Legal Basis for Extradition

Not Implemented
0

Western Hemisphere 47.5

Caribbean 31.7

Automatic Application Without Treaty

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 52.7

Caribbean 49.1

Prosecution Without Extradition

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 57.2

Caribbean 56.6

Custody

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 73.4

Caribbean 72.8

Assistance

In progress
54.6

Western Hemisphere 58.0

Caribbean 50.2

Impossibility of Claiming Bank Secrecy

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 84.0

Caribbean 71.3

Limited Use of Information

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 82.6

Caribbean 71.1

Nature of Act

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 84.3

Caribbean 75.7

Designate Central Authorities

In progress
50

Western Hemisphere 75.9

Caribbean 53.9

Responsibilities of Central Authorities

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 71.5

Caribbean 67.1

Communication Between Central Authorities

Implemented
100

Western Hemisphere 67.3

Caribbean 50.8

Special Investigative Techniques

In progress
68.7

Western Hemisphere 56.9

Caribbean 48.5

Technical Cooperation

In progress
57.8

Western Hemisphere 62.8

Caribbean 40.7

Anti-corruption conventions timeline

2004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019

Conventions

  • IACAC - Inter-American Convention Against Corruption
  • UNCAC - United Nations Convention against Corruption
  • OECD Anti-Bribery Convention

Key events

  • Signed
  • Ratifed / acceded
  • Review rounds

Convention Implementation Analysis

Antigua and Barbuda ratified the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC) on January 13, 2004. It is a State Party to the Follow-Up Mechanism for the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) since December 10, 2010. The country also acceded to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) on June 21, 2006. Under MESICIC, Antigua and Barbuda has undergone two rounds of review, which cover the provisions selected for the first, second, fourth, and fifths rounds. The country has also undergone one round of review under the UNCAC review mechanism.

Antigua and Barbuda’s record in implementing its commitments to IACAC and UNCAC exhibits a number of successes and failures. With an overall score of 69.5, the measures adopted place the country at the upper middle point of compliance with international norms, surrounded by Nicaragua (67.9), Cuba (69.3), Mexico (69.7), and Brazil (69.8). However, progress in implementation is unequally distributed. Although many measures related to criminalization and law enforcement—as well as international cooperation—have been fully or largely implemented, all preventive measures analyzed were found to be deficient. The prevention of corruption is mostly lacking, classified as “core-deficient” by its average score and with prominent measures given a score below 30—i.e., standards of conduct and their enforcement, systems for registering asset and conflict of interests' declarations, transparency in government contracting, and civil society participation. Preventive measures account for over half of all underdeveloped measures in the country. Within this section, the training of public officials receives the highest score, followed by the state of oversight bodies.

In terms of criminalizing acts of corruption and related offenses, Antigua and Barbuda show satisfactory results. The country is found to have successfully implemented the basic commitments set out by the two conventions, criminalizing active and passive foreign bribery, illicit enrichment, liability of legal persons, and public embezzlement, among others. Other important measures remain in progress, such as those pertaining to active and passive public bribery, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. While these results and the average section score reflect the fact that Antigua and Barbuda have largely implemented its commitments to the criminalization of corruption, a few issues remain. The country has criminalized neither bribery nor embezzlement taking place in the private sector (as required by UNCAC), and the actions taken to implement the protection of whistleblowers are considered deficient for the aims of the conventions.

Antigua and Barbuda is found fully compliant in its commitments to establish jurisdiction over the offenses covered by the conventions, including those that have been committed inside its territory, committed by a national, or when the offender is present in its territory, among other required forms. The country’s active implementation of its commitments regarding international cooperation is another point worth highlighting, with most measures found fully implemented. Among the few shortcomings identified in this section, it is worth mentioning that Antigua and Barbuda do not recognize UNCAC as a legal basis for extradition (the use of IACAC in this regard was not reviewed).

Finally, the review of implementation and/or enforcement activities pertaining to several measures contained in this report could not be elaborated on due to a lack of information. Antigua and Barbuda is frequently cited during MESICIC rounds as providing little or no statistical information to assess the level of implementation of legally adopted measures, including standards of conduct, oversight bodies, and civil society participation, among others. In this respect, both rounds of MESICIC undergone by the country culminate with the persistent recommendation to “[s]elect and develop procedures and indicators, when appropriate and where they do not yet exist, to analyze the results of the systems, provisions, measures, and mechanisms considered in this report, and to verify follow-up on the recommendations made herein.” While lack of monitoring and data collection mechanisms is not exclusive to Antigua and Barbuda, the issue is worth emphasizing in order to support a more detailed and effective assessment.

Corruption Resilience

Score by indicator

Social Context

Resilient
73.2

Western Hemisphere 64.8

Caribbean 69.3

Quality of Government

Moderately Resilient
53.5

Western Hemisphere 50.6

Caribbean 51.0

Rule of Law

Moderately Resilient
69.7

Western Hemisphere 51.1

Caribbean 57.1

Business Stability

Moderately Resilient
55.0

Western Hemisphere 50.5

Caribbean 52.3

Violence & Security

Resilient
76.7

Western Hemisphere 55.0

Caribbean 59.9

Corruption Resilience score over the time

Analysis

Over the last decade, Antigua and Barbuda has experienced fluctuations across all corruption resilience indicators. In terms of societal context, Antigua and Barbuda’s indicator score has ranged between a high of 74.28 points in 2017 and a low of 68.39 points in 2012. More recently, the island nation’s social context indicator fell by 0.79 points between 2019 and 2020—lowering the country’s current score to 73.24.

Across the quality of governance and institutions indicator, Antigua and Barbuda received a score of 53.55—following a decrease of 0.86 points from 2019 to 2020. The country’s highest scores within this indicator were recorded as 63.31 in 2013, while the lowest score of 52.11 was reached only four years later in 2017. The island nation’s quality of institutions score (53.55) was primarily influenced by effective governance and reasonable corruption controls.

The rule of law indicator ranged from Antigua and Barbuda’s lowest score of 49.82 in 2010 to its highest score of 75.47 in 2015. In 2020, the rule of law indicator reflected a score of 69.78—a 1.28-point increase from the previous year—which substantially exceeded the Western Hemisphere regional indicator average of 51.15.

In terms of business stability within the country, Antigua and Barbuda's score is primarily influenced by an effective regulatory system that impacts the private sector. Between 2019 and 2020, the country’s business stability indicator score increased by 7.79 points—resulting in a score of 55.08. Lastly, the violence and security indicator—which varied from a low of 52 in 2010 to a high of 83.05 in 2015—reflected a score of 76.77 for 2020 (a 2.49-point decrease from the previous year).