Deferred Prosecution Agreements: The UK Proposal

Previously published in Westlaw Journal White-Collar Crime, July 2012

Deferred prosecution agreements have been a feature of the U.S. legal system for many years. They have generally been viewed as a success and an invaluable tool in the arsenal of prosecutors in a modern commercial environment, particularly in the field of corruption. Accordingly, their absence from the U.K. legal system has been increasingly questioned. The U.K. solicitor general and the director of the Serious Fraud Office have sought to address this apparent deficiency and have been strongly advocating for the introduction of DPAs into the U.K. This has culminated in the U.K. Ministry of Justice's recently released consultation paper on the subject.¹ The U.K. DPA aims to increase self-reporting by corporations by providing a degree of certainty and efficiency. Its broad intention is to take the best of the U.S. system and complement it with the U.K. legal system.