Bribery Act 2010: Post-legislative Scrutiny (Select Committee Report)

Lord Bhatia Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd February 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Bhatia (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, in November 2009, the then Bribery Bill was introduced in the House of Lords. Its purpose was to reform and update bribery and corruption legislation. This included creating offences for offering, promising or giving an advantage—bribing another person—and requesting, accepting or agreeing to receive an advantage: being bribed. Both offences carry the same maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a limited fine for individuals, with offences relating to commercial organisations carrying a maximum penalty of a limited fine. In addition to the UK, the jurisdiction scope of these offences covers those which took place either partly or entirely outside the UK, providing that the alleged perpetrator of the offence is a British citizen or is considered to have close connections to the UK.

On 17 May 2018, the House of Lords Select Committee on the Bribery Act 2010 was established to conduct a post-legislative review of the legislation. The House of Lords recommended that the committee focus on several areas around bribery, including whether the Act has led to stricter prosecution of corruption conduct or a higher conviction rate in the reduction of such conduct. Can the Minister state whether the directors of commercial organisations can be imprisoned instead of the company paying the higher fine?