Bribery law around the world: Lords to question international experts

Friday, 23 November 2018 09:37

The House of Lords Bribery Act 2010 Committee will hear evidence from international experts on bribery law and senior officials from the National Crime Agency (NCA) on Tuesday 27 November. The Committee’s inquiry is tasked with examining: the effectiveness of the Bribery Act 2010; whether there has been stricter prosecution of corrupt conduct, a higher conviction rate, and a reduction of such conduct; the impact of the Act on SMEs; and the...Request free trial

The House of Lords Bribery Act 2010 Committee will hear evidence from international experts on bribery law and senior officials from the National Crime Agency (NCA) on Tuesday 27 November.

The Committee’s inquiry is tasked with examining: the effectiveness of the Bribery Act 2010; whether there has been stricter prosecution of corrupt conduct, a higher conviction rate, and a reduction of such conduct; the impact of the Act on SMEs; and the use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements in relation to bribery offences.

Giving evidence to the Committee at 10.30am will be:

Roger A. Burlingame – Partner, Dechert LLP
Dr Branislav Hock – Lecturer in Counter Fraud Studies, University of Portsmouth

They will be asked questions including:

What effect do you think the Bribery Act 2010 has had on business practices of UK and international companies?
How prevalent do you think bribery by UK companies is?
How does the Bribery Act compare with equivalent legislation in other countries?

Giving evidence to the Committee at 11.35am will be:

Donald Toon - Director of Prosperity (Economic Crime and Cyber Crime), NCA
James Mitra - Senior Operations Manager, International Corruption Unit, NCA

Questions are likely to include:

What kind of bribery cases does the NCA typically handle, and what trends have you observed in the time since the Bribery Act has been in force?
Has the Bribery Act made securing convictions easier?
Is the funding model of the NCA capable of delivering effective enforcement of bribery in the UK and by UK companies abroad?

The evidence session will start at 10.30am in Committee Room 4 on Tuesday 27 November 2018.