Canada, the Netherlands, and Ecuador yesterday supported calls for the establishment of a global court to combat corruption, arguing that this would help fight the "corrupt" at the heads of governments.

The foreign ministers of these three countries backed a campaign to establish a court to combat corruption that, according to its supporters, would operate in the same way as the International Criminal Court, but with some improvements.

"Such a court would provide the international community with an additional tool to enforce current anti-corruption laws," wrote Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra on Twitter after a meeting in The Hague, the Dutch city that hosts many international courts.

About 2,000 billion US dollars are lost annually from global procurement expenditures due to corruption, according to United Nations figures, with US Chief Judge Mark Wolf, who leads the campaign, stating that the court "will focus on high-level officials and those who bribe them."

It is also noted that around 189 parties, including 181 countries, have signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption which aims to put an end to such condemned practices worldwide.

However, supporters of the court admitted that there is still a long way to go before the court becomes a reality, and that it will have to overcome challenges similar to those faced by the International Criminal Court.

It is also noted that the International Criminal Court, which was established in 2002 to try the worst atrocities committed worldwide, lacks, for example, the ability to arrest suspects and relies on member states to do so, with varying degrees of success.