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
Corruption Resilience
Convention Implementation
Score by thematic sections and measures
Anti-corruption conventions timeline
2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
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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
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).