BRIBERY ON RISE

One in four people paid a bribe in dealing with public services and institutions in the past year, according to a global corruption survey. In the world's largest assessment of public opinion on the subject, Transparency International found that political parties are considered the most corrupt institutions, followed by the police, the judiciary, parliament and public officials. Religious institutions are seen as the least corrupt. Transparency International's "The Global Corruption Barometer 2013" is a survey of 114,000 people in 107 countries and it shows corruption is widespread. The survey said that 27 per cent of respondents had paid a bribe, the most direct experience of corruption for a person, with police the most often bribed institution, The Guardian reported. Transparency International said its annual survey shows a crisis of trust in politics and real concern about the capacity of institutions responsible for bringing criminals to justice. "It is the actors that are supposed to be running countries and upholding the rule of law that are seen as the most corrupt, judged to be abusing their positions of power and acting in their own interests rather than for citizens they are there to represent and serve," said the global corruption barometer. According to the survey, many people regard corruption as a very serious problem for their societies. On a scale of one to five, where one means "corruption is not a problem at all" and five means "corruption is a very serious problem", the average score across the countries surveyed was 4.1. Concern was highest in Liberia and Mongolia, which both scored 4.8. More optimistic were people in Denmark, Finland, Rwanda, Sudan and Switzerland, all of which recorded scores below three. Of the 107 countries surveyed, only 11, including Azerbaijan, Rwanda and South Sudan, thought corruption had decreased. Police bribery rates were highest in the Democratic of the Republic of the Congo (75 per cent), Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Corruption in the land sector can be particularly critical. One in five people reported having paid a bribe for services such as registration or land transfer. Those who cannot make illegal payments are left with little or no protection under law, making them vulnerable to eviction and abuse , the report said. High bribery rates were found for land services in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, Liberia, Pakistan and Sierra Leone, which ranged from 39 per cent to 75 per cent.