Bribery Act 2010 to be implemented 1 July 2011

The remainder of the Bribery Act will come into effect following extensive consultation.  Guidance is now available about procedures which relevant commercial organisations can put into place to prevent persons associated with them from bribing is intended to inform businesses of the safeguards they will need to put into place to avoid falling foul of the provisions of the Act.  A breach of the Act may result in a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.  Offences include: committing bribery; receiving bribes; and a separate offence of bribery of a foreign public official.

The Act creates a new offence under section 7 which can be committed by commercial organisations which fail to prevent persons associated with them from bribing another person on their behalf.

An organisation that can prove it has adequate procedures in place to prevent persons associated with it from bribing will have a defence to the section 7 offence.

The guidance, published here under section 9 of the Act, will help commercial organisations of all sizes and sectors understand what sorts of procedures they can put in place to prevent bribery.

A quick start guide has also been published which sets out the key points.