Bribery and corruption

The key piece of legislation dealing with bribery and corruption is the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010).

BA 2010 applies to any business that is incorporated, or trades, in the UK. It covers bribery committed by such a business, or on its behalf, anywhere in the world. For an overview of the provisions of the BA 2010, see Practice Note: The Bribery Act 2010—introductory guide.

Offences under BA 2010

BA 2010 contains four offences:

•
bribing another person
•
soliciting or accepting a bribe
•
bribing a foreign public official, and
•
failure to prevent bribery, which can only be committed by a ‘relevant commercial organisation’ (as defined in BA 2010, s 7)

Common to each of these offences is that:

•
an advantage is given, promised or requested, and
•
a function or activity is performed improperly

For more information on these offences, see Practice Notes: Active bribery, passive bribery and bribing foreign public officials and Failure to prevent bribery—the offence.

Scope of BA 2010

BA 2010 has a wide scope. It should be noted in particular that:

•
the

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