The Bribery Act 2010 - Government Guidance issued on Adequate Procedures

The Government has now published its Bribery Act 2010 guidance on procedures that commercial organisations should be putting in place to prevent bribery. With the publication of the guidance, the Act is now expected to come into force at the beginning of July 2011.

The guidance, which applies to both public and private sectors, explains six principles which are intended to provide a flexible guide for the development of appropriate procedures, namely: proportionality, top-level commitment, risk assessment, due diligence, communication (including training), and monitoring and review.

Organisations are expected to adopt a proportionate ‘risk-based’ approach to managing bribery risks and ultimately it will be for each organisation to adopt procedures that are appropriate for their own particular activities and operations.

The guidance is important because it will be an offence under the Act if a commercial organisation does not have adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery.

The Ministry of Justice has also published what is described as non-statutory “Quick Start” guide that will be of particular interest to small businesses, and which contains a useful summary of the issues in the statutory guidance.

At the same time, the Director of Public Prosecution and the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, who are responsible for the enforcement of the Act, have issued guidance to prosecutors on how they should approach the prosecution of offences under the Act.

To view the Government guidance, visit the Ministry of Justice website here:

Click Here to Contact Dominic Hopkins, head of Corporate Services, for further information.