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Click the images above to download the McGrigors Magazine. Click here to ensure you receive a hard copy of the next edition of the magazine. On the email simply list your name, company and postal address and you will receive the next edition. First Bribery Conviction Secured Munir Yakub Patel, 22, has become the first person to be convicted of bribery in the UK, pursuant to the Bribery Act 2010 ("the Act"). Mr .Patel worked in Redbridge Magistrates' Court and on 1 August 2011, accepted £500 to avoid putting details of a traffic summons on a court database. At Southwark Crown Court today, Mr. Patel pleaded guilty to taking a bribe. Mr. Patel is to be sentenced on 11 November 2011, however the Judge has warned that Mr. Patel could face immediate custody. The maximum sentence under the Act is 10 years. With the ink barely dry on the Bribery Act, it is clear that prosecutors are diligently and swiftly considering prosecutions. Moreover, prosecutors are clearly not just concerned with large scale corruption on an international scale - £500 in a Magistrates' Court did not go unnoticed. We are yet to see a prosecution brought for a commercial organisation failing to prevent bribery but it is to be expected that it is only a matter of time. If a bribe is paid on behalf of a company to retain a business advantage for it, the company will be automatically guilty of a criminal offence. This offence not only relates to bribes paid by employees of a company but also to "associated persons" which will include people such as agents (at home and abroad), joint venture partners and subsidiaries. It will be a defence to show that the company had "adequate procedures" in place to prevent bribery taking place. Companies should be carrying out risk assessments and due diligence to identify where any areas of weakness lie and have in place procedures to prevent bribery occurring. Following the publication of the Government's "Adequate Procedure" Guidance, the Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. It creates a new corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery by third party service providers, to which there is a complete defence of having in place “adequate procedures” designed to prevent service providers from engaging in bribery. To assist businesses develop anti-bribery procedures to avoid committing the new corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery, McGrigors has devised a Bribery Act 2010 e-learning tool, which supplements our existing anti-bribery compliance tool and templates. If you would like to learn more about the tool, or discuss how your business can implement 'adequate procedures', please contact Laura Gillespie, a director in McGrigors by email Content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute professional or other advice.
Why not have a look at some past insights provided by McGrigors... Contracts conditional upon planning The Hierarchy of Civil courts in Northern Ireland Directors Beware - Do you know the risks around your personal liability? Directors Duties - The magnificent seven and their practical impact New Rules for Vertical Agreements
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