Bribery Act 2010: Ten Years On

Ten years have passed since the introduction of the UK's primary anti-corruption law, the Bribery Act 2010 ("the Act"). This article examines the extent to which the Act has lived up to its billing as the international "gold standard"¹ for bribery legislation and looks ahead to future trends in UK economic crime enforcement.

Introduction of Bribery Act Prompted Compliance Overhaul

Section 7 of the Act, which criminalises the failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery, has had a significant impact on corporate culture in the UK.

Whereas corporate criminal liability is ordinarily attributed through the 'identification principle', where a company's state of mind is determined by reference to the actions of its senior officers, a section 7 offence is made out if a person associated with the corporate bribes another person and the corporate cannot prove on the balance of probabilities that it had in place 'adequate procedures' to prevent