12 Bribery
Bribery is the ‘offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of anything of value to influence an official act’ (Wells, 2011, p. 281).
Bribery does not have to involve cash or an actual payment exchanging hands. It can take many forms, such as a gift, lavish treatment during a business trip or tickets to an event. Under the Bribery Act 2010, there are four main offences of bribery:
- bribing another person (section 1)
- requesting or accepting a bribe (section 2)
- bribing a foreign official (section 6)
- failure by a commercial organisation to prevent bribes (section 7).
The Bribery Act 2010 makes it a criminal offence in the UK to offer, promise or give a financial or other advantage where that advantage is intended to reward a person for performing an activity or function improperly, or to induce them to do so. It is also a crime to request, agree to receive or accept such an advantage (section 1 and section 2, Bribery Act 2010).
The Bribery Act 2010 applies to businesses. If a person bribes a foreign official to retain or gain an advantage in the conduct of the business, this will be seen as a criminal offence (section 6, Bribery Act 2010).
Section 7 of the Act further requires businesses to ensure they have sufficient internal controls to prevent bribery by any of its employees or agents, and to detect bribery when it occurs. This requirement applies to organisations carrying on a business in the UK as well as those incorporated or formed in the UK. It is irrelevant whether the act of bribery occurs inside or outside the UK.
Under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010, it is a defence to have ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent bribery. Those procedures include anti-bribery procedures.