Syria suffers from a major corruption problem. Over more than 40 years, the Ba'th regime has institutionalized corrupt practices such as bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft and embezzlement. These practises are mostly carried out or encouraged by a bloated bureaucracy and a vicious secret police network. Corruption is the one matter that infuriates citizens the most on a day-to-day level.

The Movement for Justice and Development strongly believes that corruption is symptomatic of a wider malaise afflicting Syria, which is dictatorship. Corruption thrives in a state where there is little accountability, and where major political decisions are made not by elected representatives in parliament, but by shadowy figures in restaurants and nightclubs. Corruption also thrives in states where civil society and the media are besieged, and where the economy is state-managed. Vested economic interest is a major barrier for change as corrupt officials resist democratization in case they are exposed.

The Movement for Justice and Development is nevertheless dedicated to exposing corruption at every level, and to instituting programmes to tackle this endemic problem and to educate citizens of the harm that corrupt practises cause to some of the most vulnerable in society. For the MJD, the struggle against corruption is part of a wider struggle for accountable and representative government.