Costantino Grasso

Manchester Metropolitan University | MMU · Manchester Law School

Schedule 17 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 introduced Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) into the English legal system. It represents a historic turning point as well as an innovation that has the potential to revolutionise the approach to corporate criminal liability traditionally adopted in England and Wales. On 30 November 2015 the Industr...

This chapter assesses the role that energy plays in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations and the growing importance that energy security is acquiring in the US-European Union political agenda. It analyzes the potential effects that the liberalization of trade in energy and raw materials is supposed to exert in both...

Energy security remains a vital issue for the European Union (EU), even more so in the wake of the events that unfolded in early 2014 in Ukraine. The EU’s already fragile position in the international energy arena in terms of security of supply appears to be more uncertain than ever after its umpteenth fallout with its historic energy supplier, Rus...

The current international energy trade governance system is fragmented and multi-layered. Streamlining it for greater legal cohesiveness and international political and economic cooperation would promote global energy security. The current article explores three levels of energy trade governance: multilateral, regional and bilateral. Most energy-ri...

The article discusses the resolution adopted by the 10th Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which focuses on the protection of reporting persons. Given the secretive nature of corruption, especially when it involves influential individuals or authorities, exposing and holding wrongdo...

As tax crimes significantly influence the national and international economy and the global financial system, Tax Crimes and Enforcement in the European Union discusses a timely and valuable comparative study of the legal and institutional background of prosecuting tax crimes, analysing legal measures and institutional practices to combat tax crime...

This special Issue is entitled “Tax Evasion, Corruption and the Distortion of Justice” and has been published in the scientific journal Law and Contemporary Problems (Volume 85, Number 4, 2022). The Symposium, which is available online at https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol85/iss4/, aims to begin filling the research and analytical gap by prob...

In this article entitled "Beyond Bribery: Exploring the Intimate Interconnections Between Corruption and Tax Crimes" the authors probe the manifold interconnections between tax crimes and corruption, identifying and documenting questionable practices beyond blatant tax evasion and simple bribery. Through analysis of the adverse consequences that ph...

This is the foreword of the Special Issue Tax Evasion, Corruption and the Distortion of Justice published in the scientific journal Law and Contemporary Problems (Volume 85, Number 4, 2022). As clarified in the foreword, this Symposium aims to begin filling the research and analytical gap by probing such intimate connections and their complex socia...

This article offers a brief commentary on the October 2022 UK Supreme Court decision BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA [2022] UKSC 25 that focused on corporate directors’ duties to creditors. The article argues that the judiciary has lost a golden opportunity to be innovative and interpret the law adopting a more stakeholder-oriented perspective leading di...

This is a submission of written evidence to the House of Commons Treasury Committee in the area of economic crime, which has been accepted and published on the website of the UK Parliament on the 19th of January 2021. The paper offers recommendations on how to enhance the UK’s anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions regime. Specifically, it cov...

In order to counter corruption and other illicit conducts within its projects, the World Bank has developed an independent sanctions system, which represents a powerful tool that can be used to help ensure that the granted funds are actually used to benefit developing countries. This sanctions regime, although extremely valuable to fight corruption...

Corruption has traditionally been wildly rampant in the energy sector and its effects have proved to be extremely dramatic. For decades energy companies have perpetrated corrupt practices with impunity to obtain from the local governments the green light to construct intrusive energy infrastructures, which have the potential of causing serious dama...

The first section of this chapter will be devoted to an analysis of the various legal sources governing the sanctions process. Moreover, it will be offered an evaluation of the extent to which the legal framework created by the World Bank is respectful of the principle of the rule of law. However, before conducting such an assessment, it is necessa...

The adoption of the World Bank sanctions process appears to be grounded on different reasons: the first being the specific Bank’s aim of protecting its own resources from possible misuses and the second corresponding to the fight against corrupt and fraudulent activities as part of the World Bank’s commitment to reduce poverty and inequality. A thi...

The use of World Bank’s funds for illicit purposes, including allocations for cronyism and politically driven investments (e.g., military spending), arose as a major problem during the last 20 years. Prior to 1997, the immediate question was whether funds that governments misappropriated constituted a breach of contract as stipulated on the grounds...

Sanctions vary according to the severity of offenses and the evidence presented against respondents. They impose different costs on the concerned firms and individuals. The Bank issued Sanctioning Guidelines in order to offer guiding criteria to the SDO and the Sanctions Board. The document specifies that the guiding principles “are not meant to be...

As a general rule, both individuals and firms may be subject to sanction. In order to verify which kind of persons might be investigated and sanctioned, it is necessary to refer to the particular Guidelines under which the case in question is being brought.

In order to avoid the occurrence of a Kafkian situation, any person under investigation should be aware of the specific allegations he or she is under investigation for. When accused parties are aware of the investigative body’s concerns, they have the opportunity to present evidence and legal arguments directly targeted to them or, alternatively,...

This book focuses on the World Bank's sanctions system, which is an innovative instrument of global governance implemented by the leading multilateral development bank in order to impose penalties on legal entities and individuals that are involved in Bank-financed projects. Although similar regimes have also been implemented by other regional mult...

As the Panama Papers, Bahamas Leaks and Paradise Papers scandals have recently demonstrated corruption is rife in our societies. Although corruption has always constituted a plague for human civilization and has also penetrated into unexpected sectors of our communities, such a criminal phenomenon has traditionally been wildly rampant in the energy...

I have recently had the opportunity to review the volume Dirty Assets edited by Colin King, who is Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex, and Clive Walker, who is Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Leeds. I have found the book fascinating in that it focuses on the necessity of interrupting the massive...

Energy security is a burning issue in a world where 1.4 billion people still have no access to electricity. This pioneering book is about finding solutions for energy security through the international trading system. Focusing mainly on the European Union (EU) as a case study, this holistic and comprehensive analysis of the existing legal and geop...

Energy security remains a vital issue for the European Union (EU), even more so in the wake of the events that unfolded in early 2014 in Ukraine. The EU's already fragile position in the international energy arena in terms of security of supply appears to be more uncertain than ever after its umpteenth fallout with its historic energy supplier, Rus...

The paper illustrates how the European Arrest Warrant was enacted in Italy, and highlights some of the contradictions arising out of its reception into Italian law. In particular, the article focuses on issues relating to the compatibility of the EAW with the Italian Constitution and analyses the decisions No. 143 of 2008 and No. 227 of 2010 throug...