Basel Institute on Governance
Quick Guide 24: Internal controls and anti-corruption
Broadly, “internal controls” refers to systems of policies, procedures and practices to prevent, detect and respond to issues, errors and irregularities.
Systems of internal control can be very effective in addressing corrupt conduct, which is the focus of this quick guide. But internal controls can also address other problems that affect an organisation’s efficiency and effectiveness, such as poor employee performance or the failure to accomplish important organisational goals.
The guide outlines what internal controls are, gives examples of internal controls in a public institution, and emphasises success factors – like independence, real consequences and credible reporting channels.
The guide is of broad relevance, but linked to a pilot project of the Basel Institute’s Green Corruption team. The project seeks to assess and make recommendations to strengthen internal controls relating to wildlife crime investigations and prosecutions in three countries.
About this Quick Guide
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, ISSN 2673-5229.
Published
02/2022 (3 years ago)
Author
Rebecca Batts
Related publications
Report
Corruption risks in the forestry sector in Ukraine
2025 | National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) of Ukraine
corruption risksforestrytransparencytimber trafficking
Working paper
Working Paper 53: Good governance and the just transition: Implications for renewable energy companies
2024 | Basel Institute on Governance
Maja de Vibe, Mark Robinson
Guidelines
Guías de orientación práctica: las ciencias del comportamiento en esfuerzos de conservación
2024 |
Claudia Baez Camargo
Guidelines
Designing social norms and behavior change interventions: Guidance resources for conservation practitioners
2024 |
Claudia Baez Camargo
Working paper
(Forthcoming) Working Paper 50: Seedlings of hope: Addressing corruption linked to crimes that impact the environment in line with UNCAC Resolution 8/12
2023 | Basel Institute on Governance
Sophie Lemaître
Working paper
(Forthcoming) Working Paper 49: Dirty deals – Case studies on corruption in waste management and trade
2023 | Basel Institute on Governance
Nancy Isarin, Claudia Baez Camargo, Amanda Cabrejo
waste managementillegal waste tradeBasel Convention
Guidelines
Translating political economy insights into conservation practice: a six-step guide
2023 | Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
Micol Martini, Saba Kassa
Guidelines
Conflict of interest guidelines for Indonesian public institutions (Pedoman tentang Konflik Kepentingan)
2023 |
Niels Wohlwend, Lakso Anindito, Justin Snyder
Research case study
Research case study 4: Deconstructing a criminal network involved in illegal wildlife trade between East Africa and Southeast Asia
2023 | Basel Institute on Governance
Jacopo Costa
social network analysisnetwork ethnographyillegal wildlife tradeinformal governanceEast AfricaSoutheast Asia
Guidelines
Guide to strengthening internal controls to prevent corruption in illegal wildlife trade enforcement
2023 | Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
Rebecca Batts
internal controls
Article
Guide to conducting corruption risk assessments in a wildlife law enforcement context
2023 | Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
corruption risk assessment
Working paper
How corruption threatens the forests of Ukraine: Typology and case studies on corruption and illegal logging.
2023 | Basel Institute on Governance
Yehor Hrynyk, Andrii Biletskyi, Amanda Cabrejo
Article
Internal controls and illegal wildlife trade: A systemic approach to corruption prevention and law enforcement integrity
2023 | Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
Rebecca Batts
Article
Law enforcement, criminal justice and natural resource corruption - a TNRC guide
2022 | Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
law enforcementcriminal justice systemconservationnatural resource corruptionenvironmental corruption
How political economy analysis can support corruption risk assessments to strengthen law enforcement against wildlife crimes
2022 | Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
Saba Kassa, Jacopo Costa, Cosimo Stahl, Claudia Baez Camargo
Report
Basel Gold Day II: Recycled Gold – From awareness to collective action on recycled gold and artisanal mining
2022 | Office Pieth; Precious Metals Impact Forum
gold laundering
Article
Illicit financial flows and natural resource corruption - a TNRC guide
2022 | Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
illicit financial flowsconservationfollow the moneynatural resource corruptionenvironmental corruption
Policy brief
Policy Brief 10: Using anti-money laundering frameworks to fight illegal wildlife trade in Uganda
2022 | Basel Institute on Governance
Tom Walugembe
illegal wildlife tradeAnti-money launderinglaw enforcementfinancial investigationsEast Africawildlife crimeprosecution
Article, Commissioned study
Working Paper 39: Behavioural drivers of corruption facilitating illegal wildlife trade – Problem analysis and state of the field review
2022 | Basel Institute on Governance; TRAFFIC
Claudia Baez Camargo, Gayle Burgess
natural resource managementillegal wildlife tradesocial normsbehavioural insights
Article, Commissioned study
Where are the weakest links in the illegal wildlife trade enforcement chain? Lessons from corruption risk assessments with agencies in three countries
2022 | Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
Manuel Medina, Juhani Grossmann, Taradhinta Suryandari, Monica Guy
corruption risk assessmentillegal wildlife tradewildlife crimelaw enforcementcorruption risk management