Overview of corruption in Pakistan:

Corruption remains a substantial obstacle for Pakistan where it is still perceived to be widespread
and systemic. Petty corruption in the form of bribery is prevalent in law enforcement,
procurement and the provision of public services. The judiciary is not seen as independent and
considered to be shielding corrupt political practices from prosecution. Various efforts over the
past years have tried to develop institutional mechanisms to address these problems. A National
Anti-Corruption Strategy, which was developed in 2002, offers a comprehensive plan for
tackling corruption. The executing agency, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), is
endowed with comprehensive powers to investigate and prosecute cases. However, a lack of
political will, coupled with the perceived co-option of the judiciary and the arbitrariness of many
anti-corruption proceedings, are major obstacles.
General overview of corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal activity undertaken by a person or organization
entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire illicit benefit, or, abuse of entrusted power
for one's private gain. Corruption may include many activities including bribery and
embezzlement, though it may also involve practices that are legal in many countries. Political
corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an official
capacity for personal gain. Corruption is most commonplace in kleptocracies, oligarchies, narco-
states and mafia states.
Corruption can occur on different scales. Corruption ranges from small favors between a small
number of people (petty corruption), to corruption that affects the government on a large scale
(grand corruption), and corruption that is so prevalent that it is part of the everyday structure of
society, including corruption as one of the symptoms of organized crime. Corruption and crime
are endemic sociological occurrences which appear with regular frequency in virtually all
countries on a global scale in varying degree and proportion. Individual nations each allocate
domestic resources for the control and regulation of corruption and crime. Strategies to counter
corruption are often summarized under the umbrella term anti-corruption.