Influence peddling is a type of crime included in some criminal codes, but not in all. This circumstance is due to the difficulty in defining precisely what influence peddling is. As a general rule, this crime consists of taking advantage of a privileged situation to obtain one's own benefit or to favor another person. Normally the concept of influence peddling is applied to public officials, who can access sensitive information and trade it for an illicit purpose.
However, sometimes the concept of influence peddling is applied to individuals who are not civil servants but exert some kind of influence over them for the purpose of obtaining some profitability, for example, a legal permit, an authorization, a public subsidy, a employment contract, etc.
Influence peddling in public administration
Jurists usually use the idea of influence peddling in a restrictive way. Thus, in strictly legal terms, this concept refers to officials of the administration of justice who traffic in information to get something or for a third party to benefit. Some penal codes contemplate the crime of influence peddling in relation to any area of the administration.
In any case, this crime presupposes that someone uses their ability to influence to pressure another person who has a certain important decision-making power.
A hypothetical example of influence peddling
An entrepreneur has a project to build a block of flats in a place where it cannot be built. This businessman has money but does not have the power to change the legal regulations that allow him to get a building permit.
Consequently, this individual gets in touch with someone close to him who does have the power to change the norm, that is, a government official. Therefore, there is an individual who uses his ability to influence the employer) so that another, the official who is known to the employer or his friend) does something irregular from the legal point of view.
The above hypothetical example highlights the difficulty in proving the crime of influence peddling. This circumstance makes it legally very complex to determine an accusation of influence peddling. Regardless of the legal complexity to have evidence to prove this crime, it is clear that it is a form of corruption.
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