Consider the following statements:

1. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) has a ‘Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air’.
2. The UNCAC is the ever-first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument.
3. A highlight of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) is the inclusion of a specific chapter aimed at returning assets to their rightful owners from whom they had been taken illicitly.
4. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated by its member States to assist in the implementation of both UNCAC and UNTOC.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2019 Prelims]

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2, 3 and 4 only

(c) 2 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer: (c)        

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect. The protocol against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea, and air is indeed part of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), not UNCAC.
• Statement 2 is correct. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument and covers various forms of corruption.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. While UNCAC addresses the issue of returning assets to their rightful owners, it is not the only focus of the convention.
• Statement 4 is correct. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated to assist in the implementation of both UNCAC and UNTOC, along with the UN Drug Conventions, and these conventions form the basis of UNODC’s operational work.