The Netherlands, Canada and Ecuador supported calls for the establishment of an international anti-corruption court, explaining that this judicial body would contribute to addressing what it called the "thieves' rule".
The foreign ministers of the three countries have backed a campaign to create an anti-corruption court whose backers say it will operate under similar frameworks to the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague.
After the meeting in The Hague, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that the Netherlands, Canada and Ecuador share a common view that this could eventually lead to the establishment of an international anti-corruption court.
The Dutch minister tweeted that this court "will provide the international community with an additional tool to implement existing anti-corruption laws."
According to United Nations figures, the world loses about two billion dollars annually in spending on purchases due to corruption.
US District Judge Mark Wolf, who is leading the campaign, said the court would focus on the highest level of officials and the people they bribe.
He said, in a panel discussion on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting, that the culture of ending corruption starts from the top down.
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And 189 parties, including 181 countries, have signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption, a treaty aimed at stopping graft around the world, "yet corrupt rulers get away with it because they control the administration of justice in the countries they rule," according to Judge Wolf.
But supporters of the court acknowledge that there is still a long way to go before it becomes a reality, and they agree that it could face challenges similar to those facing the International Criminal Court, which was set up in 2002 to prosecute individuals for war crimes.
The International Criminal Court, for example, is unable to arrest suspects, and it relies on member states to do so, with varying success.
The Dutch city of The Hague already hosts a large number of international courts including the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, which deal with disputes between United Nations member states.