For immediate release - 21 July 2010
The anti-bribery legislation that was rushed through Parliament ahead of the Election will now not come into force until next April, a whole year after the Bribery Bill received Royal Assent.
The Bill, which received cross-party support, sends an unequivocal message that bribery by British companies will not be tolerated at home or abroad, says Tearfund, a UK Christian development agency committed to fighting poverty and injustice. The charity adds that, while it welcomes the non-statutory guidance being drawn up for UK businesses as a requirement of the Act, the process should not delay implementation when this legislation is already long overdue.
‘This delay sends a confusing signal over the new Government’s commitment to tackle bribery by UK companies,’ says Paul Cook, Tearfund Advocacy Director. ‘In the meantime, law enforcement bodies will continue to struggle with antiquated and fragmented legislation making it very difficult to secure prosecutions. And it’s the poorest people that suffer the most when acts of bribery persist and justice cannot be secured.
‘The planned provision of guidance was to be released in July for implementation in October, but now post-election it has been kicked into the long grass for another six months, which seems completely unnecessary.’
Tearfund says that bribery undermines the rule of law, entrenching bad governance in developing countries, which in turn can hinder efforts to alleviate poverty. Bribery, like other guises of corruption, can impede the delivery of vital services, denying people the access to water, health and education.
The Bribery Act brings UK laws up to date by creating a new offence of bribery of foreign public officials and a corporate offence for companies that fail to prevent bribery. It will go some way to restoring the UK’s international reputation, tarnished by government intervention to prevent the investigation into the BAE Systems - Al Yamamah military contract with Saudi Arabia, and past failure to bring UK laws into line with obligations under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.
In September there is to be a consultation process on the procedures that commercial organisations can put in place to prevent bribery on their behalf.
‘The Ministry of Justice must ensure that this is not delayed any further and that it includes a broad range of stakeholders affected, such as those impacted by companies complicit in bribery activity overseas,’ adds Paul Cook. ‘And with government spending being radically cut, ensuring that there are sufficient resources available to enforce the Act is going to prove a crucial factor if this new legislation is to have teeth.’
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) conservatively estimates that multinational companies pay bribes totalling US$80 billion a year.
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