Failure to prevent bribery—the offence


Published by a UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Corporate Crime expert
Practice notes

Failure to prevent bribery—the offence


Published by a UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes
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This Practice Note explains the corporate criminal offence of failing to prevent Bribery under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010). This was the first economic crime offence of its kind in attaching culpability to failing to prevent an offence that was committed on the company’s behalf. See Practice Note: Corporate criminal liability. For more information on the development of corporate criminal liability, see Practice Note: Corporate criminal liability reform—tracker.

Corporate criminal liability for bribery—section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010

The failing to prevent bribery offence can only be committed by relevant commercial organisations (RCOs), not individuals. RCOs are defined in BA 2010 as:

  1. •

    bodies incorporated, or partnerships formed, under the law of any part of the UK, that carry on a business anywhere, ie within the UK or elsewhere, or

  2. •

    bodies incorporated, or partnerships formed, anywhere that carry on any business in the UK

A business includes a trade or profession.

An RCO is guilty of failing to prevent bribery if a person associated with it bribes another person with

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Bribery definition
What does Bribery mean?

The Bribery Act 2010 consolidated and reformed the law on bribery.

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