Anti-corruption conventions are written international agreements concluded between groups of countries, or states. These agreements recognise corruption as a worldwide and cross-border affliction, and express a high level of shared political commitment to addressing this problem.

Each convention establishes a framework of rules and standards that promote domestic action on the issue and facilitate international cooperation. Some are very broad in scope; others are narrower and may cover only a limited number of countries or anti-corruption measures.

Conventions are binding instruments. That is, once signed and ratified by a predetermined number of governments, they become compulsory to uphold for those governments.

Apart from conventions, there are also other, non-binding instruments. These too advocate for the prevention, detection and sanctioning of corruption, but serve as mere recommendations, relying more on goodwill of states for implementation.

The major anti-corruption conventions and instruments of importance today are global, inter-regional, regional and sub-regional, covering all regions of the world.

For a list of anti-corruption instruments and conventions, see the overview page.