Palauan Precepts

A precept is a general rule that helps you to decide how you should behave in particular circumstances. In this section, the Office of the Special Prosecutor will place questions and answers from its public outreach programs and present points of law and legal concepts as interpreted by the Palau Supreme Court relevant to the work of the OSP.

This is not meant to provide legal advice but to make it easier to find relevant law and understand how the OSP applies the law to its work. If you need specific legal advice, please consult an attorney.

May a candidate for state or public office accept a contribution from a foreign national to provide food/refreshments, etc., for a candidate’s campaign rally if the foreign national is a friend of the candidate?

A campaign contribution is not limited to money. If a foreign national, “any individual who is not a citizen of the Republic of Palau, or a business entity, any of the ownership interest of which is held, directly or indirectly, by an individual who is not a citizen of the Republic of Palau,” makes a contribution of anything to a state or national election candidate’s campaign, the OSP would view the contribution as unlawful under the Code of Ethics, 33 PNCA § 607(a).Friendship between a candidate and foreign national would not preclude the application of the Code of Ethics. See Code of Ethics 33 PNCA § 601(j).

If a daughter of a candidate is adopted by a foreign national, and the foreign national gives the adopted daughter money to contribute to the candidate’s campaign, is that permissible?

Under the Code of Ethics, 33 PNCA§ 607(a), the OSP would view the contribution as unlawful. It does not matter whether the campaign contribution coming from a foreign national is made directly to the candidate or indirectly through a third party (in this case through the foreign national’s adopted daughter). If a contribution originates from a foreign national with the intent to give it to a candidate’s campaign, the candidate cannot accept or receive it.

May a candidate for office accept a campaign contribution from a foreign national?

A candidate for any national or state elective office, may not “solicit, accept, or receive” any contribution in connection with the election, whether the contribution was made directly to the candidate or through a third party. To accept such a contribution would be a violation of the Code of Ethics be a misdemeanor punishable and prosecutable by the Attorney General or the Special Prosecutor. See the Code of Ethics found under Title 33, Chapter 6, for the complete list of campaign laws.

What is the definition of white-collar crime?

White-collar crime (also referred to as “corporate crime), as it relates to government officials, generally are those crimes considered to be financially or economically driven non-violent crimes. Corporate or government officials usually have better access to finances in the corporation or government that would allow for abuses under this category.

“White collar” in the U.S. historically referred to non-manual workers wearing suits, white shirts, and ties, as opposed to “blue collar” referring to manual labor workers who wore blue shirts. White-collar crimes may include fraud, extortion, embezzlement, money laundering, cybercrime, wage theft, and forgery.

What is the definition of corruption?

Corruption is “(t)he act of an official or fiduciary person who unlawfully and wrongfully uses his station or character to procure some benefit for himself or for another person, contrary to duty and the rights of others.” U. S. v. Johnson (C. C.) 20 Fed. 082; State v. Ragsdale. 59 Mo. App. 003; Wight v. Rindskopf, 43 Wis. 351; Worsham v. Murchison, 00 Ga. 719; U. S. v. Edwards (C. C.) 43 Fed. 07. – See https://thelawdictionary.org/corruption/.

Corruption, as identified and discussed during the OSP public outreach campaign, may take various forms including bribery, theft, fraud, extortion, misuse of government funds, misuse of government property, etc.