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25 November 2010 / Robert Amaee
Issue: 7443 / Categories: Opinion , Company
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Dawn of new ethics

It is hard to think of a piece of legislation in recent times that has caused as much interest and consternation, among the business community, as the Bribery Act 2010...

The Bribery Act 2010: wholesale behavioural change, says Robert Amaee
It is hard to think of a piece of legislation in recent times that has caused as much interest and consternation, among the business community, as the Bribery Act 2010 (the Act), which is expected to come into force in the early part of 2011. Much of the coverage and commentary though has to date focused on the risks associated with the provision of gifts and corporate hospitality and the making of facilitation payments. These topics, while clearly of importance, are in my view the least of the concerns arising from the Act for many boards of directors.

Hospitality

Corporate hospitality, as the Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC made clear in a speech in September, is largely a matter of simple common sense. He used the example of a company flying a foreign official

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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