The sting operations

It is very difficult to say what possible impacts the ban will have on the anti-corruption drive.

On April 21, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the sting operations that had been undertaken by the anti-corruption agency, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). These operations typically involved the agency’s undercover officers offering cash bribes to public officials, a practice that came close—the Supreme Court apparently thought too close—to entrapment. The Court’s holding is a significant blow to the CIAA, which had been increasingly relying on such operations to nab bribe seekers in public service.