The Bribery Act 2010 was introduced to update and enhance UK law on bribery, including foreign bribery. It is now among the strictest legislation internationally on bribery.
The Act imposes criminal liability on individuals for the offering, promising or giving of a bribe as well as the acceptance of a bribe. There is also a specific offence relevant to the bribery of a foreign public official.
In addition to imposing criminal liability on individuals, the Act contains a corporate offence relevant to the failure of a commercial organisation to prevent a bribe being paid by persons associated with it for the purposes of obtaining or retaining business or a business advantage. This is a strict liability offence meaning the prosecuting authority does not need to prove any intention or positive action on the part of the commercial organisation. In order to protect against criminal liability in relation to the corporate offence, commercial organisations need to be able to demonstrate that they have in place adequate procedures to prevent bribery.
