1. Home
  2. CII Guidelines

CII Guidelines

CII Principles & Guidelines

The Conference of International Investigators (CII) encourages the development of general principles and guidelines to uniformly guide the conduct of the various investigative activities by the Investigative Offices of its participating organisations. Although CII-endorsed publications are non-binding on its participating organisations, the CII Secretariat encourages the organisations to adopt or use CII-endorsed publications as applicable within the context of their organisation’s regulatory framework and investigative mandates.

The CII Secretariat has developed the following procedures for the endorsement and publication of CII general principles and/or guidelines. These procedures were endorsed by the CII at its 20th Conference (2019).

DOWNLOAD THE PROCEDURES FOR CII ENDORSEMENT AS A PDF

Best Practices on Addressing Allegations of Abusive Conduct

Endorsed by UN-RIS member organizations this guidance document presents Best Practices on addressing allegations of abusive conduct in the workplace (including Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Abuse of Authority and Discrimination).

READ MORE

Uniform Principles and Guidelines for Investigations, 2nd Edition

Soon after the creation of the CII in 1999, the investigative offices of participating international organisations recognized the value of harmonising their practices.

READ MORE

General Principles for Financial Forensics

As part of its function, an Investigative Office may conduct activities known as financial forensics. Financial forensics is a growing field that, in the context of an Investigative Office,

READ MORE

CII General Principles for Core Investigative Activities

Six volumes of General Principles for conducting core investigative activities that greatly expand on the principles within the CII’s Uniform Principles and Guidelines for Investigations

READ MORE

General Principles for Proactive Integrity Risk or Fraud Detection Activities

As part of its mandate, an Investigative/Integrity Office may conduct activities to assess and detect the exposure of certain operations and processes to fraud or corruption and/or the risks of prohibited conduct 

READ MORE

General Principles for Reviews of CII Investigation Offices (conducted by external experts)

In 2012, at the 13th Conference, the participating organisations recognized the value of developing general principles and guidance for conducting reviews of their investigative offices 

READ MORE

Investigation of Sexual Harassment Complaints investigator’s manual

A subgroup of the UN’s CEB Task Force on Addressing Sexual Harassment developed this manual to enhance the handling of formal reports of sexual harassment by strengthening and harmonising investigatory capacity and improving the quality of investigations of sexual harassment.

READ MORE

Copyright © 2025 | Conference of International Investigators

Position Paper on Best Practices for Addressing Abusive Conduct Allegations

In February 2020, the UN-Representatives of Investigation Services (UN-RIS) formed a Working Group to address the question of how to most effectively and efficiently address allegations of abusive behaviour.

The envisioned methodology to address the question was to look at comparable data across agencies and compare how different organizations and institutions are handling these issues. However, the present paper will not address allegations of sexual harassment, as such matters would normally be investigated in light of the nature of the conduct and under the provisions and guidance of the CEB manual on the Investigation of Sexual Harassment Complaints in the United Nations.

Since its inception in November 2020, the Working Group has met on a near-monthly basis and engaged in discussions addressing the problem, its impact on various organizations, its fundamental challenges, and different approaches that organizations and investigative offices have applied in the attempt to address the issues.
This paper presents, for the UN-RIS community’s review and discussion, a summary of the key points distilled from the Working Group’s deliberations, as well as best practices and recommended approaches for the handling of this developing issue.

DOWNLOAD THE Position Paper on Best Practices for Addressing Abusive Conduct Allegations as PDF

Uniform Principles and Guidelines for Investigations, 2nd Edition

Soon after the creation of the CII in 1999, the investigative offices of participating international organizations recognized the value of harmonizing their practices. In April 2003, at the 4th Conference, participants endorsed a set of common principles and guidelines for investigations. With the aim of continuously improving investigative practices, a revised set of Uniform Principles and Guidelines for Investigations was endorsed by participating organizations in 2009, at the 10th Conference.

As the name suggests, the Uniform Principles and Guidelines are intended to be used as guidance in the conduct of investigations subject to the regulations, rules, policies and the privileges and immunities applicable in each organization. They do not and are not intended to bind the organizations or confer, impose or imply any duties, obligations or rights actionable in a court of law or in administrative proceedings on the organizations. To this end, nothing in the principles and guidelines should be interpreted as affecting the rights and obligations of each organization per its rules, policies and procedures, nor the privileges and immunities afforded to each organization by international treaty, customary international law and the laws of the respective member state.

DOWNLOAD THE PROCEDURES FOR CII ENDORSEMENT AS A PDF.

General Principles for Financial Forensics

As part of its function, an Investigative Office may conduct activities known as financial forensics. Financial forensics is a growing field that, in the context of an Investigative Office, involves the application of specialised knowledge, experience, and investigative skills ideally by qualified forensic accounting professionals to identify, analyse, quantify, interpret and communicate financial information and evidence in the conduct of the Office’s investigations or other fact-finding activities.

The General Principles for Financial Forensics supplements the CII’s Uniform Principles and Guidelines for Investigations and was endorsed by the CII at its 20th Conference. The purpose of these General Principles is to provide Investigative Offices non-binding common uses and principles for its conduct of financial forensics and the professionals conducting them, either with or on behalf of the Investigative Office. Please contact David Wolfe at david.wolfe@theglobalfund.org or a member of the CII Secretariat should you have any questions or need further information on them.

DOWNLOAD GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR FINANCIAL FORENSICS PDF.

CII General Principles for Core Investigative Activities

Six volumes of General Principles for conducting core investigative activities that greatly expand on the principles within the CII’s Uniform Principles and Guidelines for Investigations. Endorsed at the 21st CII, these Principles provide more in-depth, principles-based, uniform guidance to investigators and Investigative Offices conducting these six core activities: Intake and Evaluation, Scoping and Planning, collection of Physical and Documentary Evidence, collection of Testimonial Evidence, collection of Digital Evidence and Evidence Analysis and Reporting of Findings.

As supplements to the CII’s Uniform Principles and Guidelines, each paper sets out non-binding principles establishing uniform standards to guide investigators and Investigative Offices undertaking these activities. They are purposely not prescriptive in technical details nor implementing practices. These Principles will also form the basis for a future CII Investigator Credential and CII Investigator training pathways.

Download Intake and Evaluation pdf  
 
Download Scoping and Planning pdf  
 
Download Physical and Documentary Evidence pdf  
 
Download Testimonial Evidence pdf  
 
 
Download Digital Evidence pdf 
 
 
Download Evidence Analysis and Reporting of Findings pdf

IGeneral Principles for Proactive Integrity Risk or Fraud Detection Activities

As part of its mandate, an Investigative/Integrity Office may conduct activities to assess and detect the exposure of certain operations and processes to fraud or corruption and/or the risks of prohibited conduct impacting these operations/processes. For those functions that undertake such activities, the following agreed principles encourage a consistent approach and common methodology. Proactive activities should be conducted in conformity with the organization’s legal framework and will offer the chance to uncover issues that have not previously been reported to the investigative function. The General Principles provide a framework to guide an Investigative Office in developing and/or executing such activities. The General Principles are a guide only and are non-binding.

The General Principles for Proactive Integrity Risks or Fraud Detection Activities supplements the CII’s Uniform Principles and Guidelines for Investigations and was endorsed by the CII at its 20th Conference. Please contact Dominik Adamski at d.adamski@eib.org or a member of the CII Secretariat should you have any questions or need further information on them.

dOWNlOAD THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR PROACTIVE INTEGRITY RISK OR FRAUD DETECTION ACTIVITIES AS PDF.

General Principles for Reviews of CII Investigation Offices (conducted by external experts)

In 2012, at the 13th Conference, the participating organizations recognized the value of developing general principles and guidance for conducting reviews of their investigative offices by outside peers (so-called ‘peer reviews’). Indeed, the preamble to the Uniform Principles and Guidelines for Investigations (2nd ed.) acknowledges the need for investigative offices to periodically undergo an external quality assessment in order to ascertain their conformity with the organization’s legal framework and generally accepted investigation standards and to promote continuous enhancement of the investigative function.

In 2014, at the 15th Conference, a set of General Principles for Reviews was adopted. The Principles provide a framework to guide an investigative office’s self-initiated review of its approaches and activities by an external peer. The framework is a guide only and is optional and non-binding. It also is not intended to apply to reviews of investigative offices that are not self-initiated.

DOWNLOAD THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR REVIEWS AS PDF.

Investigation of Sexual Harassment Complaints investigator’s manual

A subgroup of the UN’s CEB Task Force on Addressing Sexual Harassment developed this manual to enhance the handling of formal reports of sexual harassment by strengthening and harmonising investigatory capacity and improving the quality of investigations of sexual harassment.

The subgroup developed this manual to reflect a system-wide common approach to, and understanding of, the investigation of sexual harassment complaints. It aims to bolster investigative capacity, harmonise victim-centered investigations, and improve communications with victims and other stakeholders.

This manual, in the hands of investigation services, enhances a common understanding and approach to investigations of sexual harassment complaints and has the potential to strengthen investigations in the long term.

DOWNLOAD THE Investigators’ Manual of Sexual Harassment Complaints