Counsel Alison Geary and Associate Josef Rybacki discuss The Bribery Act 10 years on in this article published by The Law Society Gazette on July 19, 2021.
Excerpt: When the Bribery Act 2010 was introduced it was feted and condemned in equal measure. While supporters claimed it would be the international gold standard for bribery legislation, critics called it draconian. A decade later it seems that, at least in terms of prosecutions, the act falls far short of Draco’s standards. The Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office have prosecuted a handful of individuals, and use of the corporate offence under section 7 (failure to prevent bribery) has almost exclusively been confined to deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), rather than convictions.