Introduction
Significant new UK anti-bribery legislation, the Bribery Act,
received Royal Assent in April 2010, and is likely to come into
force later this year. The Act reforms UK criminal anti-bribery law
and covers bribery both within and outside the UK. As well as
containing general offences concerning paying and receiving bribes,
the Act makes it a specific offence to bribe foreign public
officials. However, perhaps the most notable aspect of the new Act
is that the failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery
is also an offence. This strict liability offence extends to non-UK
organisations which carry on business in the UK.
Background to the New Legislation
Previous UK anti-corruption law was based on common law and on
statutes dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. It was generally viewed as in need of reform.
