Deferred Prosecution Agreements and Non-Prosecution
Agreements
Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) are sentencing agreements
negotiated between a prosecution authority and a corporation
charged with an offence, usually in the context of white collar
crime. A typical DPA will include an admission of wrongdoing and of
the relevant facts giving rise to the criminal charges, payment of
a financial penalty, waiver of statutory limitation periods,
cooperation with future investigations, fulfilment of strict
compliance and remediation requirements, and restraint from issuing
exculpatory media statements.
Using a DPA, the prosecuting authority will file criminal
charges at court along with a concurrent request to defer or
suspend the prosecution. If the corporation fails to fulfill the
terms of the DPA agreed to, the prosecutor can proceed with the
charges at a later date because the company has waived the
statutory limitation periods as part of the DPA. Where a
